Silence and speech belong together. The one presupposes the other. 

Our modern culture is suffused with noise. Non-stop chatter (the stuff of Cable TV), incessant music, advertising and talk, talk, talk surround us. No room for silence. No space for reflection. No opportunities for clear, quiet thinking let alone thoughtful conversation among colleagues or friends.

The truth is that genuine speech requires periods of reflective silence. I cannot really say what is in my heart—or on my mind—if I have no time to gather my thoughts and emotions, to make sense of my innermost hopes and my most penetrating fears.

Silence can be liberating—freeing me from the tyranny of ideas, values and habits imposed on me by the external world. In silence, I can sort things out. I can discover what is true. I can decide what is real.

Following an appropriate period of silence, I can speak wisely, thoughtfully, with loving care. I can turn down the noise and separate myself from the blabbering crowd.

Help me, Lord, to be silent sometimes. To listen to the soft, still whisper of your voice.

How I long for the stillness of your Word and the fullness of your holy silence!

Stillness is the tranquility of the inner life; the quiet at the depths of its hidden stream. It is a collected, total presence, a “being all there,” receptive, alert, ready. There is nothing inert or oppressive about it.  

Attentiveness that is the clue to the stillness in question, the stillness before God. (Romano Guardini)

What a foreign idea—stillness, tranquility, complete openness to “the inner life,” to God!

Our culture thrives on motion, restlessness and noise 24/7. Nonstop activity and anxiety. No standing still. No keeping quiet. No reflective pausing. No inner peace. 

Where can we go to find stillness? Nature offers possibilities—breathtaking vistas, quiet streams, starlit nights—almost anywhere that people are not (at least not in great numbers). Churches used to be tranquil places. Now they are too often frenetic places of busyness—centers of fellowship and enthusiastic entertainment. Sometimes there is stillness in an Adoration Chapel or in the main body of the Church after all the worshippers have gone. 

Stillness can sometimes be found in the quiet of a room with all electronic devices turned off and with no interruptions permitted. Such moments are rare, but possible if we seek them out, cultivate them and cherish them. 

Attentiveness is the clue to stillness before God. 

Please, Lord, help me be quiet, tranquil and at peace—at least sometimes. 

Critics of Pope Francis aren’t wrong—or right

Pope Francis has many critics. Some think he goes too far. Others say he doesn’t go far enough. In a way, they’re both right. And, of course, they’re both wrong. 

There’s no question that Pope Francis has taken the teaching of his predecessors and applied it to contemporary challenges facing the Church and society. Immigration, the environment and the needs of the poor and vulnerable are obvious examples. Nothing the current pope has said about these issues is new, but he has given Church teaching a new urgency and an increased visibility through his preaching and his presence among those who have been marginalized by contemporary political, economic and cultural forces. 

On matters of sexuality, the pope has been especially controversial. Without making any substantive changes in Church teaching, he has adopted what might be called a more pastoral approach, opening his arms to those whose lifestyles are at odds with the more traditional practices sanctioned by the Church. “Who am I to judge?” was the pope’s response to a reporter’s question about homosexuality quoted out of context. Not unlike our Lord’s response to the woman caught in adultery, the pope was not sanctioning behavior that is immoral. He was attempting to disarm his questioner and to illustrate God’s love and mercy for all of us, saints and sinners alike. 

Of course, those who expected a strict repetition of the Church’s teaching on homosexuality were disappointed—even angry. And those who cheered the pope’s response as a sign that he would change Church teaching were eventually disappointed—even angry. 

There are many other examples of this kind of dialectic including the infamous footnote in Chapter 8 of this pope’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (On Love in the Family):

In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments. … I would also point out that the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

Why is this footnote controversial? Because read in a certain way it can suggest that couples who are divorced and remarried without the Church’s blessing should be given access to the Eucharist. 

Perhaps Pope Francis’s most significant, controversial teaching can be found in his most recent apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World). Here the pope makes his position perfectly clear:

Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection. (Gaudete et Exsultate, #101).

What is controversial about this statement? The pope’s critics say that he has established a “moral equivalency” between the always evil crime of abortion and other moral issues. And of course the critics are right. “Equally sacred” is not an ambiguous statement. Pope Francis refuses to grant even hypothetically the possibility that disciples of Jesus Christ can pick and choose which moral issues they will support or oppose. We cannot be “pro-life” and “anti-immigrant” any more than we can be for protecting the environment but indifferent to the plight of the poor and marginalized. 

The teaching of Pope Francis sounds remarkably like the teaching of Jesus Christ. As the pope writes in Gaudete et Exsultate, #90:

Jesus himself warns us that the path he proposes goes against the flow, even making us challenge society by the way we live and, as a result, becoming a nuisance. He reminds us how many people have been, and still are, persecuted simply because they struggle for justice, because they take seriously their commitment to God and to others. Unless we wish to sink into an obscure mediocrity, let us not long for an easy life, for “whoever would save his life will lose it” (Mt 16:25).

Pope Francis’s teaching challenges both his critics and his supporters to take the Beatitudes and the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (vv. 31–46) seriously. “ For Christians, this involves a constant and healthy unease,” the pope says. 

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Wealth ensures nothing. Indeed, once we think we are rich, we can become so self-satisfied that we leave no room for God’s word, for the love of our brothers and sisters, or for the enjoyment of the most important things in life. In this way, we miss out on the greatest treasure of all. That is why Jesus calls blessed those who are poor in spirit, those who have a poor heart, for there the Lord can enter with his perennial newness (Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate #68).

Stewardship is the recognition that everything we have—our intelligence, our emotions, our personality, all our gifts and talents and, of course, all our material possessions—belongs exclusively to our good and gracious God. We are but trusted stewards of these precious gifts. 

Our job is to ask the question: Lord, what do you want me to do with the gifts you have given me? How can I develop and share my gifts for your greater glory and for the good of all my sisters and brothers?

Help me, Lord, to be poor in spirit so that I can be rich in your abundant grace!

What does St. Paul mean by “a thorn in the flesh”? And why would God refuse to remove it?

Paul acknowledges that he is not perfect, that he has weaknesses that are both spiritual (the tendency to become “too elated” (too full of himself?) and material (the thorn in his flesh). Here we have one of the greatest saints, a bold missionary whose influence continues to evangelize, admitting—even boasting about— his weakness. Why? To illustrate that God’s power overcomes all human weakness.

As Pope Francis tells us in Gaudete et Exsultate, holiness is not just for an elite group of super Christians. It is for all of us weak, sinful people. God’s grace is sufficient for us. His power is made perfect in our weakness. 

That’s why we should not be discouraged or lose hope. God’s mercy surrounds us. It lifts us up when we fall and, if we let it, the grace of God gives us everything we need to carry on. 

What does St. Paul mean by “a thorn in the flesh”? And why would God refuse to remove it?

A thorn in the flesh is any appetite or desire or tendency that urges us to do what we know we should not do. Why doesn’t God remove these thorns? He has given us the gift of freedom and the grace to resist temptation by surrendering our will to him in order that the power of Christ may dwell with us. For when we’re weak, then we are strong. 

A reading from the second 
Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians12:7-10

Brothers and sisters: That I, Paul, might not become too elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 

Religious freedom is not optional

“Religious freedom is the freedom to think, act, and shape one’s life according to one’s faith or religious beliefs without fear of sanction or pressure from government authority. It is a fundamental human right, derived from the inviolable dignity of the human person and also guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. Religious freedom includes, but is much more than, the freedom to worship.” (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

The Church in the United States observed Religious Freedom Week from June 22 to June 29. Religious freedom is a serious issue that must be addressed whether or not it’s comfortable or convenient. Why? Because threats against religious liberty challenge our most fundamental identity as Catholics and as Americans.

What do we mean by “religious freedom”? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) describes it as “the freedom to think, act, and shape one’s life according to one’s faith or religious beliefs without fear of sanction or pressure from government authority.”

We believe that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right that has its source in the inviolable dignity of the human person (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2104–2109, and the Second Vatican Council’s “Dignitatis Humanae” (“Declaration on Religious Freedom”). As Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson notes in his pastoral letter, “We Are One in Christ: A Pastoral Letter To the Clergy, Religious and Faithful People of Central and Southern Indiana On Fundamentals of Christian Anthropology,” “We consider the dignity of the individual human person to be the fundamental principle of all Catholic social teaching.”

Religious liberty is also guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. It is an American value as well as a universal human right. And as the bishops have repeatedly said, “religious freedom includes, but is much more than, the freedom to worship.” We Catholics believe it is a serious mistake to reduce religious freedom to something private or lived out only within a worshiping community one day a week. Religion is deeply personal, but it is not private. It influences how we think, speak and act—both as members of a community of faith (the Church) and as citizens of this great nation (the United States).

Religious freedom embraces both institutions and individuals. The history of Catholicism in the United States is the story of pioneering individuals and courageous communities who built churches, schools, hospitals and service agencies that are unparalleled in their service to their local communities and to our nation. To suggest that religious freedom only applies to congregations’ Sunday worship is to misunderstand totally the extensive impact of religious life and commitment on every aspect of American life.

Our Church serves people from all walks of life because we are Catholic, not because they are. That’s an integral part of our identity as Catholics. We are open to all.

In his apostolic exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World”), Pope Francis refers to what he calls “the great criterion” (#95; Mt 25:31-46). If we take Jesus’ words seriously, there’s no way we can restrict our faith to our interior life. “I was hungry and you gave me food,” the Lord says. “I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” These words compel us to go out among our neighbors—especially the poor and vulnerable—to minister to them in very public ways.

We are commanded to love God and to love our neighbor. Laws that protect our freedom to comply with one of these commands but not the other are unacceptable. Indeed, they must be rejected. All—not just some—of our religious institutions share equally in the God-given right to think, act, and shape our religious beliefs without fear of sanction or pressure from governmental authority.

As Americans, we believe that one of the reasons our government exists is to ensure that religious freedom is safeguarded for both institutions and individuals. We take our religious freedom seriously, and we call on all local, state and federal officials to make sure that religious liberty remains an integral part of our American way of life.

Our national celebration of Independence Day on July 4 carries forward the themes of Religious Freedom Week. Let’s thank God for the gift of religious liberty. May we never forget those who fought and died for this freedom. May their sacrifices never be forgotten.

—Daniel Conway

I first came to know God, and to believe in his love for me, through the faith of my parents. They were devout Catholics who suffered many troubles but who never let go of their faith. 

As an adult, I had to take the precious gift of my parents’ faith and make it my own. It wasn’t easy. Doubts and the cynicism of our age crept in and tried to minimize (or dismiss completely) the belief I grew up with. 

By the grace of God, I was surrounded by men and women—including my wife, Sharon—who took their faith seriously. I wanted what they had: the serenity, courage and wisdom to face the storms of life with an unshakable inmost calm. I assume they all had doubts at one time or another, but their faith prevailed. It assured them that they were loved and respected by a generous and merciful God, that good always overcomes evil in the end, and that our lives have meaning. 

How could I remain stuck in my unbelief when so many people I love and cherish are witnesses to the power of faith? How could I deny the miracles happening all around me? How could I maintain doubts that are so clearly without substance?

God touched me through the many men and women who have inspired me through their profound faith. Yes, I still have moments of doubt, but they quickly pass away if I can maintain a sharp focus on the everyday saints who surround me and share with me their experience, strength and hope. 

God’s speaking to us reaches us through men and women who have listened to God and come into contact with God; through men and women for whom God has become an actual experience and who, as it were, know him at first hand…. (Pope Benedict XVI)