July 22, 2007 Sunday: 16th Sunday Ordinary (C)
It takes a great deal of effort to try to carry a conversation on a cell phone while we are simultaneously doing something else. Recently researchers found that if we are on the cell phone while driving, look out! We are more dangerous than people who are driving drunk. The researchers found that drivers on cell phones were 5 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers. In fact several countries have banned cell phone use while driving. That includes countries such as Australia, France, Germany, Japan, China, and England.
Silence your eyes. Silence your ears. Silence your mouths. Silence your minds. In the silence of the heart, God will speak to you.
We cannot find God in noise and agitation.
We know how agitated we are when our loved one is tuning us out. Some of our children eat dinner with their iPods in their ears or Gameboy in their hands. Some husbands cannot be pried off the sofa in front of the TV. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to have a conversation with someone who is watching TV at the same time.
It’s so important for our mental and spiritual health to create silence during the day. How God waits patiently for us to give him the permission to talk to us. Even as I speak, he is waiting here in the tabernacle waiting for us to choose to take our attention away from our cell phones and all the activities that we have planned for the rest of today. If a mother is so heart broken not being able to talk to her children, how much more is our God’s heart broken not being able to talk to us.
And I would further propose that we should ban carrying a cell phone when going into prayer or going to mass. I have carried my phone into the chapel numerous times, and in the midst of real intense prayer conversation with God, I get a ring! And after the distraction, I forgot what I was talking to God about. Other times I have taken the phone into a mass expecting a call. My phone is on vibrate not to disturb anyone around me, but the whole time I was more anxious about missing a potential call than focusing on the mass. My mind was distracted and far away from the mass. And if I did not receive a call, I’m anxious to dial my voice mail after mass to see if a voicemail was left.
Although modern technology has allowed us to communicate and to entertain us anytime and anywhere, it has diminished the exterior and interior silence necessary to talk to God. It is easy for me to grab a cable remote and check out what’s on the 250 digital cable channels and spend an entire evening. I can do the same with surfing the web, spending an entire night checking out new songs in iTunes, or new videos on YouTube. But to sit still for 10-15 minutes to gaze at Jesus and listen to him intently like Mary in today’s Gospel is difficult for us. There are just too many compelling things and activities that are beckoning us to spend time with them. We can be overloaded and over-stimulated like Martha, sometimes by choice. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” This can easily be us, “Paul, Paul you are anxious and worried about many things. But, you only need to do one thing.
Silence your eyes. Silence your ears. Silence your mouths. Silence your minds. In the silence of the heart, God will speak to you.
Mother Teresa has some words of wisdom for all of us who are bombarded by things and activities. She says,
We cannot find God in noise and agitation.
Nature: trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence. The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence.
What is essential is not what we say but what God tells us and what He tells others through us.
In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice.
We know how agitated we are when our loved one is tuning us out. Some of our children eat dinner with their iPods in their ears or Gameboy in their hands. Some husbands cannot be pried off the sofa in front of the TV. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to have a conversation with someone who is watching TV at the same time.
Likewise, how frustrating is it for God to reach us through our noise and activities. During the 24 hours of non-stop activities and noise that we surround ourselves with, when do we give God permission to sit down and talk to us? Do we even miss his voice?
I’m sure all of us miss our mother’s voice and presence. My mother who lives in Texas always fuss that I don’t call her enough. And you know, as much as she misses my voice, really I’m the one who miss her voice. To connect with someone who loves me unconditionally even for 5 minutes is comforting and gives me strength. And how much more do we receive when we connect with God who loves us unconditionally and so intimately.
It’s so important for our mental and spiritual health to create silence during the day. How God waits patiently for us to give him the permission to talk to us. Even as I speak, he is waiting here in the tabernacle waiting for us to choose to take our attention away from our cell phones and all the activities that we have planned for the rest of today. If a mother is so heart broken not being able to talk to her children, how much more is our God’s heart broken not being able to talk to us.
