S E S S I O N 19

Enter into Great Silence

We have set for ourselves a lofty goal this Lenten season. Create Nazareth in our hearts so that we

may hear and fulfill God’s will in our life.

Entry into the Spirit of Nazareth

• “O Mary Immaculate, O glorious Joseph! And you, St. John, beloved disciple of the Divine Heart, teach me the great science of love” (St. Bernadette).

• “The Church must make this journey which takes her from the temple she has built for herself to this house that God makes for her … that is, to true interior life, the life of the Holy Family … Mary makes Christians take the road to the Holy Family, where the Gospel is lived in its plenitude” (Fr. Andrew Doze).

Source: Doze, Fr. Andrew, “Saint Joseph: The Shadow of the Father,” Trans. Audett, F., Alba House, New York, 1992, p. 68 and pp. 72-73.

The Daily Lenten Program

1. Begin the day with a consecration of the day and ourselves to Our Lady.

2. Daily Lectio Divina using Scriptural passages and meditation starters.

3. Recitation of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

4. Brief examination of conscience at the end of the day.

St. Joseph at Nazareth1. Divine Dialogue

2. Our Lady

3. Silence

4. Obedience to God’s Representatives

5. Fidelity to State-in-Life

6. External Signs

7. Peace

Create Nazareth within our hearts.

Discern the movement of the Holy Spirit in our

hearts.

The Weekly Lenten Program1. Discernment at Nazareth

• Enter into profound silence in the presence of the Lord.

2. Practical Recommendation• Establish a dedicated prayer place in your

home.

• Place an image of Christ that resonates to you personally in this place.

• Begin and end the day with 10-15 minutes of silence in this place of prayer.

• Establish time to “come away” with Christ.

Now comes the tricky part!

We must learn St. Joseph’s great lesson on silence – but he didn’t tell us how!

He showed us!

The Silence of St. Joseph• Does not speak a single word in Scripture.• Royal line, but is poor.• Know nothing of past, parents, death.• Amazingly absent from Church Fathers.• No major church in Holy Land.• No major church in Rome.• 1129: 1st church in west (Bologna)• 1479: Feast in Universal Church• 1729: Name added to Litany of Saints.• 1870: Patron of Universal Church.• 1962: Name added to Roman Canon.

The Silence of God“For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

Psalm 62:5-8

Developing Interior Silence“And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling … they woke Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care if we perish?’  And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace!  Be still!’  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm … And they were filled with awe.”

Mark 4:37-41

On a daily basis, we need to enter into silence to listen to the voice of God. A perfect means to

accomplish this is the practice of Lectio Divina.

Finding Christ in the Scriptures• “You search the Scriptures, because you think

that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me” (John 5:39).

• “Let [the faithful] remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For ‘we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles’” (Catechism #2653).

• There are four elements to Lectio Divina: Reading, Meditation, Prayer and Contemplation.

Lectio or Reading• Place the Word of God on your lips.

• Gently read a passage from the Bible.

• When a thought, word or line strikes you, stop and dwell on that text, repeating it slowly over and over.

• When the passage has “dried up,” move on to the next passage.

Meditatio or Meditation• Dwelling at leisure on a morsel of text.

• Personalize passage: “What is God saying to ME through the passage?”

• Do not work hard to actively try to “crack” the text.

• Listen so that the text might speak.

• Let God speak through the text.

Oratio or Prayer• The Word moves from the lips to the

heart.

• Desire for the text to be “opened up.”

• “Lord, that I might see!”

• It is personalized.

• It is ultimately desire for communion with God.

Contemplatio or Contemplation• God comes to the soul.

• The soul experiences God’s love being poured into it.

• This is God’s initiative to be received by the soul as “gift.”

• The soul is passive and receives or “lingers” as long as God’s presence is experienced.

God speaks through the Scriptures.

God speaks through the Magisterium.

God also speaks directly to our heart.

We must create the opportunity to hear him.

Time for Christ“Jesus said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.

Mark 6:31-32

God Speaks in the Silence“Kneeling here, before the grotto of Massabielle, I feel deeply that I have reached the goal of my pilgrimage. This cave, where Mary appeared, is the heart of Lourdes. It reminds us of the cave of Mount Horeb where Elijah met the Lord, who spoke to him in ‘a still, small voice’ (1 Kings 19:12) … When the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in the grotto of Massabielle, she began a dialogue between Heaven and earth … Mary asked that people should come here in procession … for more than a century the Christian people have faithfully responded to that maternal summons … This year the Pope joins you in this act of devotion and love for the Most Holy Virgin, the glorious woman of the Book of Revelation, crowned with twelve stars (cf. Rev 12:1) … Dear brothers and sisters! From this grotto of Massabielle the Blessed Virgin speaks to us too, the Christians of the third millennium. Let us listen to her.”

Pope John Paul II

Pilgrimage to Lourdes, August 14-15, 2004

Pilgrimage: Time with God• Pilgrimage: Combines time with other people and the

opportunity to see a place where heaven and earth have touched in a special way.

• Paradisus Dei leads pilgrimages to important sites:• Lourdes: Apparition site of Our Lady in 1858.• Rome: Seat of Pope, tombs of 7 Apostles, filled

with spiritual treasures.• Holy Land: The land where Jesus Christ physically

lived, died and rose from the dead.• University of Notre Dame

• Spiritual tie to Lourdes, Frances.• One of the most beautiful churches in U.S.• Grotto of Lourdes as spiritual heart of campus.

Creating Silence at Home• The TMIY Don Bosco – Lourdes “12 Day Novena”

• January 31 – February 11• Time to evaluate spiritual plan-of-life and/or

apostolic activities.• The TMIY Miraculous Medal – Immaculate

Conception “12 Day Novena”• November 27 – December 8• Time to evaluate spiritual plan-of-life and/or

apostolic activities.• Weekly or Monthly gathering with TMIY men.

If we are willing to create silence in our lives, then we will be able to hear when God speaks in his

“still, small voice.”

A Practical Recommendation• Have a dedicated place of prayer in your home or in

nature.• Have images of Christ that speak to you personally.• Place yourself in God’s presence.• Have at least 5 minutes of silence.• Read Scripture practicing Lectio Divina.• Attend a Retreat or make a TMIY “12 Day Novena”

each year.• Attend a pilgrimage when possible.• Get together with other TMIY men to work on your

spiritual life.

Small Group DiscussionStarter Questions

1. What are the major obstacles for you having silence in your life? What are going to do about them?

2. When is the best time for you to have silence?

Next WeekHearing the Voice of God