Press Summary: Jesus’ attitude towards those who seek division was often silence and prayer, two pillars of spiritual combat.

As Pope Francis says, we must ask the Holy Spirit for help to discern when it is appropriate to speak and when to remain silent. Pope Francis said in a homily on September 3, 2018, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, that on some occasions it is only appropriate to “express what you feel and just remain quiet. Because the truth is meek, the truth is silent, the truth is not noisy. What Jesus did is not easy, but it shows the dignity of the Christian who relies on the strength of God. With people who do not have good will, with people who seek only scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction also in families: what is needed is silence and prayer.”

Sometimes we are eager for things to change and our good intentions can make us go astray. Sometimes it is through silence that changes will occur. In silence, in prayer, we wait for the evil to be exposed by the silent force of love that makes no noise. Often times we will have to leave our anger and allow love to work in the logic of the Kingdom: in the smallness, in the secret, and without noise.

Take some time this month to pray with step 2 of The Way of the Heart, which will help you enter into the dynamics of discernment and spiritual combat, finding the logic of the Kingdom in the concrete circumstances of your life. Step 2 invites us to look at, “The human heart, restless and needy,” and how, “It is the way of the humble, where our weakness of heart will not be a hindrance, but rather, our greatest asset.” Dare to discover those things that you must give up so that God’s grace can work in silence and prayer.

Bettina Raed
(International Coordinator of Click To Pray)