The Silent God

Holy Saturday

There are no readings, no Mass today, no activity.  The tomb is sealed and all is silent.  It is the most uncomfortable day of the Church year.  We do not know what to do with ourselves.  We do not know how to handle the silence and inactivity of the day.  Today is the day of the silent God, the one we pretend does not exist but in reality is the one we encounter day in and day out in our lives.  It is the God who does not speak, the God who just is and is present to us.

We often hear from people how God has spoken to them, but this is mostly projection in an attempt to justify what we would believe and do anyway.  The silent God is much more challenging to us.  The presence makes us uncomfortable.  We demand that God speak to us, but God does not.  God just remains present to us, and the entire path of spirituality lies in coming to realize that the presence of God is enough for us, that this presence fills us entirely and that we need nothing else from God but that presence.

How often do we just need others to be present to us, to listen to us without saying or doing anything?  We often do not get that from most people, as they will insist on saying and doing something, very often not helping at all in the process.  We have such a presence accessible to us at all times, the God of presence we encounter in silence.  Today is the day to encounter this God, to become comfortable with this God, for this is the only God we have, and it is enough.