Sunday Meditation: Meet Your Guardian Angel in Silence

One of my favorite spiritual masters is St. Alphonsus Liguori. What a body of wisdom he left us. Today I want to share his thoughts about our "Noisy World" from Love God and Do What You Please.

To such as these [those attached to worldly things] the Lord does not even speak; He sees it would be a waste of time. That is what He said one day to St. Teresa: "There are many to whom I long to speak, but the world makes such a noise in their ears that they cannot hear Me. If they would only detach themselves a little from the world!"

Even after over a decade of attending silent Ignatian retreats, I still have a long list of things to which I know I'm overly attached. Detachment is a lifetime struggle, but if we don't detach ourselves from creatures we can never fully belong to the God Who loves us so much and longs for our whole-hearted love in return. One of the greatest helps in the struggle is your guardian angel. 

St. Alphonsus continues:

On Retreat with Brendan

I just returned from my annual five-day silent retreat using the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I asked my blogging partners, Susan and Chriss, to fill in for me while I was gone and they did a stellar job of it. Thanks Chriss and Susan! And, really, you need to post more often.

Having the time and freedom to retreat from the world is a great gift. Doing it in silence is an even greater gift! I think of the movie a few years ago, Into Great Silence, about life in a Carthusian Monastery where the monks live in profound silence offering their lives and work for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. What a blessing it is to be engulfed, even for a few days, in profound silence.

I was awake and walking one morning before sunrise and heard the birds in symphony as they welcomed the new day. The wind was blowing rustling the leaves. I felt like I was hearing God's voice as Elijah did in the small whispering sound which is often lost in our noisy world.