Silent contemplation is not something one usually associates with today's teen-agers, who can typically be seen texting and talking and listening to iPods -- sometimes all at once. But when Pope Benedict spoke to more than 20,000 young people yesterday at St. Joseph's Seminary, that's exactly what he urged them to do: make a place for silence in their busy lives.
"St. John, for example, tells us that to embrace God's revelation we must first listen, then respond by proclaiming what we have heard and seen," he told the anything-but-silent crowd on the sun-drenched field. "Have we perhaps lost something of the art of listening? Do you leave space to hear God's whisper, calling you forth into goodness? Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness, listen to God, adore him in the Eucharist. Let his word shape your journey as an unfolding of holiness."
This morning, as we await the pope's visit to Ground Zero, his message for youth should be a message for all of us. Here's hoping that today you can find a way to make a space to hear "God's whisper."
-- Mary DeTurris Poust
DISQUS for OSV Daily Take
