Weekly HOMILY for February 7, 2010: The Place of Silence in the Mass

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
February 7, 2010

The Place of Silence in the Mass
(Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


Too Much Speaking

There is a story told about a reunion of retired business executives.

Each of them was invited to give a brief, two-minute talk after dinner about their retirement. The toastmaster was instructed to rap his gavel when the two minutes were up.

Well, the first speaker was still going strong at the end of two minutes. The kindly old toastmaster just couldn’t bring himself to rap the gavel.

On and on the speaker droned until the other guests started murmuring and signaling the toastmaster to end it. [“Tap watch with finger; signal “cut”]

Finally, the elderly toastmaster gave in.

He wound up and brought the gavel down full force, but he accidentally missed the table lecturn and hit the head of the man seated at the table next to him.

As that man was sinking down under the table from the blow, he was heard to say, “Hit me again, I can still hear him.”


Speaking and Silence

That story helps us to appreciate one of the core lessons in today’s readings.

Speaking on and on really has its limits and it can actually turn the hearer against the message, no matter how good it is. The truth be told, the absence of speaking or silence has an important place in our lives.

We see evidence of this truth in each of today’s Scripture readings: Isaiah, Paul and Peter each have had an experience of God.

Isaiah alone in the temple; Paul being knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus; and Peter in the great catch of fish!

Each of them encounters God in an experience that has few words or no words at all.

And these experiences changed them as persons. They are transformed.


Silence in the Liturgy

For us, the liturgy each week or even each day is meant to be transforming.

In the Mass, we sing the words of the hymns. We speak the words of the prayers.

We listen to the words of the readings and the homily. All of this is good and important.

But in the Mass, there are also three major places for silence. These silent spaces are important places if the experience of the liturgy is to be transforming.


The Three Silences

The first major silence is at the very beginning of Mass. The priest calls us to be aware of God’s presence or to be mindful of ourselves and our sinfulness.

At this point we are invited to be in touch with who we are and where we are in our lives today. Am I tired or upset or worried or hopeful or happy or what?

What do I need today in my life and in my relationship with God? So, this silence at the beginning of Mass gives us a chance to situate ourselves here and now.

And then, the second major silence follows the readings and the homily. Here the issue is: What am I now thinking or feeling?

What did I hear or how did this Word of God touch me? Was I comforted? Or challenged? Or encouraged? Or just bored?

What do I see myself doing with this message and my feelings and thoughts about it? So, this silence after the homily gives us a chance to situate ourselves again after God has spoken to me in the readings and homily.

The third major silence comes after communion. In Communion, Jesus is becoming part of me and I am becoming part of Jesus.

Here we ask ourselves: where am I going now with this nourishment? What change needs to take place in me or in my relationships?

How does this Eucharist empower me to hang in there or to grow as a person?

So, this final silence after Communion gives us a chance to situate ourselves for the coming day or coming week.


Conclusion

These are the three major silences in the Mass: at its beginning, after the Word, and after Communion.

Those three “events” or “encounters” are each part of the transforming power of the liturgy.

We priests need to be careful to make room for this time of silence and all of us need to use these opportunities to allow God to work within us.