Introducing Sacred Silence Into Our Family

Celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family in the year of St. Joseph is a sign – St. John Paul wrote a beautiful meditation, a document on St. Joseph – one of the main points he focused on, a key point on the primacy of the interior life of St. Joseph –  he was a family man, a worker, a carpenter, but the first thing in his life was the interior life – that is the first thing in his life was his union with God – the life of his soul with his heart with God – think about the different words of St. Joseph in scripture, it is a short list, because there are no words from St. Joseph in scripture as St. John Paul points out and he sees that as a sign of the silent spirit of St. Joseph – St. John Paul says, “The same aura of silence that envelops everything about St. Joseph.”  He says, “An aura of deep contemplation.”  Joseph was in daily contact with the Divine Mystery which was dwelling under his roof – so, Joseph was living a simple life dedicated to his family and work, but it was a life where he experienced a deep mystery – there in what seemed to be a very ordinary life, he was experiencing the infinite mystery of God, dwelling there in his presence – Joseph surrenders himself to the will of God as Mary did at the Annunciation of abandoning herself to God – that gave him strength for such a difficult mission – think of the night Joseph was awakened in a dream and told he had to take the mother and child immediately to Egypt, because the king was trying to kill his son, so this was a life and death situation, and Joseph couldn’t go consult with anybody – he didn’t have time to think it over for a couple of weeks – he had to make the decision right away – he had to take them to a place he didn’t know anything about – he had to flee into an unknown, dangerous situation – so he needed a lot of courage and a lot of wisdom and guidance – where did he get all of that courage and wisdom? – it is the silent interior life, which was strengthening him and guiding him, which led to the supreme greatness of Joseph –  our society has all sorts of idols – most of them are very ordinary persons in fact less than ordinary – Joseph seemed ordinary, but was living the supreme greatness – so Father thinks the Holy Spirit through Joseph is giving us a hint an example today of these graces of silence in union with God – one of the struggles in a family life today in our country is often times family activities pull the family in all sorts of different directions – even sometimes church activities pulling in the families in different directions, it makes family life more complicated and they separate the members – something that is very simple and practical and you don’t need to drive anywhere to do –  and family members of all different ages can participate, because it draws the family together – a form of family prayer – one well known prayer is the Rosary –  St. Joseph was a very practical man , so what Father will be talking about is a simple, practical thing – all ages in families can participate, because it draws the family together – as a child, Father’s family said the Rosary almost daily and as a little kid he didn’t want to, because of watching tv or playing, but little by little as you are growing up, you begin to realize so many graces that came from the time of gathering together in prayer with the Rosary – the type of prayer Father is talking about can be combined with the Rosary – family prayer is often not easy with little kids and teenagers and different personalities of all of us and it isn’t easy to come together – type of family prayer that can help and is very simple, but is not so well known – this type of family prayer is about introducing silence into family prayer – what are the advantages of silence, it gives us an opportunity, each person an opportunity to talk to God about what they are going through – each person is different – that is one of the challenges in a family…each person is different, so this silent time gives each person a chance to share what they want with God – maybe they want to share is the difficulty they are having with another family member – maybe they need to complain to somebody  – God is a great one to complain to –  He is the best one to complain to – He will never misunderstand you – He will never repeat it to someone else – God talked to St. Faustina about how much He likes for us to talk to Him – it is good for each person in the privacy of our hearts to be able to share with God what we are going through – the second part of that silence is about listening to God – taking time to listen to God – that makes all the difference – it doesn’t mean we will always hear something right away, but try to be open to God’s guidance – might not be right away – could be tomorrow, next week, when you are taking shower, going to bed and response might come from the Lord – families have…like St. Joseph may have to make critical decisions – each family has to make important decisions – how can we know what to do? – we have general advice, but how do we know what to do in our specific situation? –  for instance it was important for Joseph to know when to go to Egypt…tomorrow or right away – that isn’t something Joseph could get from Scripture – in our families we have to make decisions, which are specific to our own situations – how can we do that? – the Lord wants to guide us, but we need to take the time to listen – to gather together, but to take time to listen – this is like opening a space in our life for God – one of the tactics of the devil is to keep us distracted by all of the noise and stuff in our life, so we can’t hear God – so opening a space for God in our family life –  becoming aware that he is with us and sharing with Him some moments of quiet and peace – how many of our families could use a little more peace – how practically can we go about doing this – start gradually – work up…maybe 10 min. or so – maybe it is just one minute to start with one minute of silence – the important thing is consistency – let people know in advance, so people are prepared – maybe start one time a week to begin with – one practical way is to arrive at Mass a little early and prepare for Mass and the family is together in silence with God – maybe gradually add more time at Holy Thursday in memory of the Last Supper – in Church or in our home – we can have a special place in our home like a little altar or prayer area with a Crucifix, blessed candle, holy images – a visual reminder of the Lord – we can begin by lighting a candle and turning off the lights…that simple act can help us focus and calm down – begin with a little music or something to sing or listen to – some prayer intentions – a little bit of the Rosary – read a little bit of scripture – then Father stresses to take a little bit of silence together – it is different with each family, because of little children, etc… – each one of us can be talking to God and open to listen to God – again listening doesn’t mean we are going to hear something, but we are trying to be open – for a moment we are letting a little bit of the agitation calm down and just trying to be open to His guidance – maybe end with an Our Father or Hail Mary, maybe slowly making the Sign of the Cross – begin very simple, but the important thing is consistency – make it easy to begin with – what if you don’t feel like you have a family?  Does this apply to me?  It can be especially for you, if you are in that situation, because you can realize you have a Divine Eternal family with God as my Father – this family prayer can be done by myself, but to realize I’m not by myself – St. Joseph on this Feast of the Holy Family is reminding us of the grace that is offered to us, which is accessible to sacred silence – it is so important before Mass, in Mass, and after Mass there is a time for silence, especially after Holy Communion, which is such a blessed time – even an act of Spiritual Communion you are still truly receiving Him in Holy Communion – with St. Joseph and the Holy Family in Mass, we can take a moment of sacred silence.