My dear brothers and sisters,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advent begins amidst a General Election campaign which surely invites\n us to pray for those offering themselves for election and for the \nchoice we must soon make as a nation. An election can be a time of many \nand conflicting words. Yet, Advent calls for a renewed attentiveness to \nthe Word, the word God spoke in His Son. For Christ himself is \u201cThe \neternal Word (who) became small \u2013 small enough to fit in a manger. He \nbecame a child so the word could be grasped by us\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI \nChristmas Homily 2006). We come to know Christ, the Eternal Word through\n the Scriptures and the living tradition handed down in the doctrine, \nlife and worship of His Church (Cf. Dei Verbum n. 8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the year ahead, we are celebrating a Year of the Word across \nEngland and Wales. This is an invitation to a renewed attentiveness to \nthe God who speaks. We will heed the words of Saint Paul who urges us \nto, \u201cwake up now\u201d (Rom 13: 11) and accept Isaiah\u2019s joyous invitation, \n\u201cCome let us go up to the mountain of the Lord \u2026 that he may teach us \nhis ways \u2026\u201d (Is. 2:5). In the Gospel, Jesus Himself tells us why we must\n be so attentive, \u201cStay awake \u2026 you must be ready \u2026\u201d because \u201cthe Son of\n Man is coming \u2026\u201d (Mt. 24: 42-44).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have need to read, study and, above all, to pray the Scriptures \nbecause as Saint Jerome memorably observed, \u201cIgnorance of the Scriptures\n is ignorance of Christ.\u201d I hope you may be able to take advantage of \nthe many opportunities in our 2020 Diocesan programme to deepen our love\n and knowledge of Scripture. However, the Sacred Liturgy is the \nprivileged place for us all to hear God\u2019s word. For when the Sacred \nScriptures are read in the Church, God himself speaks to his people (Cf.\n General Instruction to The Roman Missal 29, Sacrosanctum Concilium \nn.7). In the celebration of every Mass we see how the Word and the \nEucharist are so closely bound together that Christ\u2019s presence in the \nword proclaimed leads us to recognise Him anew under the forms of bread \nand wine (Cf. Saint Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei n. 39). As Emeritus Pope \nBenedict explained, \u201cUnless we acknowledge the real presence in the \nEucharist, our understanding of Scripture remains imperfect\u201d (Cf. Verbum\n Domini n. 55). In every Mass we want our hearts to burn within us as we\n hear all the Scriptures which speak of Christ so we can say with the \nfirst disciples He \u201cexplain(s) the Scriptures to us.\u201d For it is Christ \nHimself we seek through all the pages of Scripture leading us to open \nour eyes in faith to recognise Him in the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the\n Eucharist (Cf. Lk. 24: 13-35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A precondition for so recognising Him is something we can lack amid \nall the noise of contemporary life: that is attentive silence. Saint \nJohn of the Cross reflected that, \u201cThe Father spoke one Word, which was \nHis Son, and this Word He always speaks in eternal silence, and in \nsilence (He) must be heard \u2026\u201d (Spiritual Maxims). This leads us to \ngather quietly in preparation for Mass; to listen silently to the \nScriptures read and proclaimed; and to go to our knees in deepest \nsilence as the priest lifts the Host and Chalice that all eyes may be \nfixed on Him present as God and man (Cf. Lk. 4: 20). In a remarkable \nbook entitled \u201cThe Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise\u201d \n(2017) Cardinal Robert Sarah reflects on our need for silence. For \nwithout silence we cannot hear the God who speaks nor recognise Him in \nthe silence of the Eucharist. We all need to find this silence in our \nlives. Yet sometimes our parish churches can lack the attentive silence \nof prayer and an excess of talking can mark church life today when we \nhave such need of deeper and more attentive silence. Cardinal Sarah \nquotes the words of Saint Teresa of Calcutta who said, \u201cGod is the \nfriend of silence \u2026 the more we receive in silent prayer, the more we \ncan give in active life \u2026 The essential thing is not what we say, but \nwhat God says to us and through us. Jesus is always waiting for us in \nsilence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of Advent, may I invite you to seek such silence and\n to rebel in your own lives against \u201cthe dictatorship of noise\u201d so we \nhear the God who speaks. Let us find some time each day for silent \nprayer; quietly open the pages of the Gospel and take up the Gospel \nprayer of the Rosary which leads us into the silent prayer of Mary\u2019s \nImmaculate Heart (Cf. Lk. 2:19). Let us spend the precious time before \nMass coming to know the silence of Christ\u2019s presence in the Blessed \nSacrament. There, as Mother Teresa said so simply, \u201cJesus is always \nwaiting for us in silence.\u201d Together with Pope Francis, let us ask Our \nLady to help us listen (Cf. Aperuit Illis n. 15) so we can pray amid the\n confusion of conflicting words and the uproar of many voices, \u201cLet it \nbe to me according to your word\u201d (Lk. 1:38).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May I wish you an Advent blessed by such silence, and a truly happy Christmas,<\/p>\n\n\n\n