Over the past four or so weeks, I have been writing about silence in the Liturgy. I will continue with that theme today. It has been my intention to systematically go through the Liturgy and talk about moments of silence. Last week in covering this topic, I was able to talk about silence up to the point of receiving Holy Communion. This week I will continue this topic.
So we have just received Communion, we have just received Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. We have our Savior in us in Bodily form. Let’s just think about how big, HOW REALLY BIG OF A DEAL THAT IS!!!! God, who took on flesh has become man, and now we can receive Him in Holy Communion. This is God, the only God, coming into us in Communion. Yes, it looks like bread and wine, but it is His Body and Blood. And now at Communion we have received Him. Now is the time to bring Him everything. Because we are going to say the Communion Antiphon, we are going to have silence at Communion, and we will have time to spend with the Lord. Here is a beautiful place in the Mass where we can have great intimacy with the Lord. Is there something that is bothering us? Tell Him about it. Was there something in the readings, Homily or prayers that struck our hearts? Bring it to the Lord. Are we thankful for being able to receive Holy Communion? Jesus wants to hear this. Whatever is going on in our lives, God cares and wants to hear about it. This time of Communion silence is going to allow for us to grow deeper and closer to the Lord. We can use this time to pray set prayers, or we can just talk to Him about our thoughts, feelings and desires. This is the time to do this.
We are going to have more silence because in this silence we will have the opportunity to experience His love for us in a deeper way. We are His beloved children, and He wants to tell us this!!
Fr. Thomas P. Galarneault