A call for silence

This year I have been hearing a lot about World Communications Day and the Pope's call for silance of all things on this day.  First of all I haven't ever heard of this day before this year.  So lets back up a bit with some history of this day.  During Vatican II a document was drafted putting this day in the year.  It is meant to discuss ways of communicating the Good News to the world, according to the podcast Catholic Weekend (sqpn.com) This year the day is May 20.  The Pope letter about the day is titled Silance and Word: Path of Evangelization. In the letter the Pope discusses how silance is a must with communication.  In order to have diaologe we must take the time to listen to the other person speaking, so we must have silance .  We are showing that we care about what the other person has to say.  Silance is also a way to communicate.  Non-verbal communication can express a lot of emotions to the people around us.  The Pope also discussed how communication through social media or the internet should be used with caution.  These are tools that can be great for sharing the Good News, however we must always remember to much of a good thing is not a good thing. 

The point I liked the most is that silence means we have to listen, and I don't mean in conversation like I discussed above but to listen to God.  This is the time to listen to God's word, consider what God wants for us.  Everyday we should consider taking some time to be silent with God.  Although this day is not until May consider taking some time to start making silent time for the Lord.  Ash Wednesday is fast approaching.  Maybe consider some sort of silence in your life.  Matt and I are doing turn off Wednesday.  We will be turning off the TV to spend more time reading and other activities such as board games.  The goal is to spend some quality time together other than staring at the screen all evening.  Maybe you to might consider a day like this in your home.  Or maybe you can consider waking up a few minutes early for prayer.  Consider looking into some prayer books, Catholic One app, or Relevant Radio morning prayer Daybreak at 5 A.M. (don't worry you can download it to IPODS for later in the day listening). 

If you would like to learn more and read the Pope's letter on World Communications Day check out this site: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20120124_46th-world-communications-day_en.html