From the Rite of Baptism: "The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father."
If we are take this baptismal reality upon ourself we must question how we can further hear the Word of God and profess this same Word with our lips.
Saint Thomas Aquinas instructs us that we must hand on "what we have contemplated in prayer."
Therefore, if we are to both hear and profess the Word of the Lord we in return must learn to sit in the silent presence of Christ entering into contemplative prayer.
It is no secret that world in which we live is filled with a lot of noise. We fear silence because we do not know what to do with it.
If you think that silence is easy I challenge you to take a day to enter into silence. Silence by not talking, not watching television, not listening to music, turning off your phone, and see what it does to you.
We must learn to reclaim our relationship with God because this relationship is often pushed to the side when something gives rise which is seemingly more important.
The world is a noisy place; we cannot deny that. Therefore, we must realize that the Church as the building is the place to which we can flock to bring silence to our life.
When we flock towards the Church we find ourself in the presence of Christ our sovereign Lord.
The presence of Christ is felt here in this place because it is Christ who is the one present with us in the tabernacle.
If you are being attentive you would realize that the tabernacle has now been veiled. The veil serves as a reminder of our Lord's presence.
In the temple a veil hung to symbolize the presence of God and thus through this veil now placed upon the tabernacle may we too be assured of God's presence with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga states that he received Communion once a week and that he was accustomed to spend three days in preparation before it and three days in thanksgiving after it.
The Eucharist, therefore, is a great gift because we come into contact with Christ the healer. We come into contact with Him while inside of this Church and we commune with Him through the Eucharist.
From a recent homily given by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: "The truth, love, and goodness which come from God render man pure; and truth, love, and goodness are encountered in the Word, which frees us from 'forgetfulness' in a world which no longer thinks of God."
Therefore may we learn to enter into this silence amidst the busyness of this world. From this silence we will come to encounter Christ who desires to touch us with His healing touch.
Through Christ alone will we be given the ability to hear the Word of God and to respond to this same Word with our lips.
May we use the time that has been set before us to prepare ourself for this life giving encounter with Christ and in return always give proper thanksgiving for such a gift.
We have been trained over time to exist within this noisiness and thus often fail to enter into the silence of prayer.
May we reclaim the Church as a place of prayer, may we learn to always allow Christ to be a part of our life, may we reclaim our need to prepare ourself to receive the Eucharist, and may we always remember to give proper thanksgiving for such an abundant gift.
The further away we allow ourself to move from Christ the less we are able to hear the Word of God and thus proclaim it with our lips, but Christ continues to call out to each of us today: "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!"
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