SILENCE IN HIS PRESENCE
“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
-John 18:37
As we come to the final Sunday of the Liturgical Year there is a clear invitation—unheeded though it is by Pontius Pilate—to truly listen to Christ’s voice. Faith comes through hearing but not all who hear with their ears understand with the heart. Perhaps the din of the crowd crying for blood was too loud for Pilate to really hear the inflections of the divine voice and the subtle invitation to acknowledge the truth of His Kingship. The Roman Prefect thus becomes a wholly tragic figure: “Skepticism has eaten away even the confident sanity of the conquerors of the world. He who is enthroned to say what is justice can only ask: ‘What is truth?’” (G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man).
When a king speaks, subjects must pay heed! Pilate can only stand dumb, speechless, indecisive and ineffectual in His royal presence (see Isaiah 52:15). Amazingly Pilate is one of only three proper names immortalized for all times in the Creed: Jesus, Mary and Pontius Pilate. His mention of course serves to anchor the Passion of Jesus into a historical context but also as a stark reminder of the folly of closing our heart to the true nobility of Christ our King. Mary, the mother of Jesus belonged fully to the truth having replied to the Archangel Gabriel, “Be it done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Pilate would be cast down from his thrown in due time while the lowly Mary would be lifted up to heaven and crowned in turn as queen-mother (see Luke 1:52). I share the magnificent 13th century apse-mosaic from Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the holy sites I visited while on pilgrimage in Rome.
Silence is one of the great means at our disposal to ponder the mystery of Christ. Mary is a model of attentiveness to the voice of Christ as she will ever be remembered saying, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5). Without silence we will be unable to truly grasp who Christ is and what He calls us to. Throughout the coming Advent Season we are going to be highlighting opportunities in and around the Sacred Liturgy to savor and foster silence, but internal and external. Before and after Mass we can know a peace surpassing all understanding and give one another the gift of silence to collectively welcome the presence of Jesus. Along with Mary, two of the other great figures of Advent are St. John the Baptist and St. Joseph, both figures content with quiet and solitude. God speaks most eloquently in the silence: No wonder that so many of the great sacristies throughout Italy have the bold words emblazoned over the door: SILENTIUM! (that is, silence).
United under the Kingship of Jesus Christ!
-Fr. Howe