The Silence of God
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Por: H. Jonathan Flemings, L.C | Fuente: Catholic.net

If God ceased to pronounce the world, it would cease to exist 
The Silence of God 
 
God's silence challenges and may even begin to undermine our faith. Wondering why He does not make himself heard is valid 

 
Many times in my years following God, I have complained saying: "Lord, why don't you speak to me more clearly? What's the matter with this? You're God; I don't think it's hard for you to contact me!” Then, there is always a great silence, and I am usually filled with frustration. 
 
God is seemingly distant most of the time, for many of us. It seems that it is involved in our lives more or less as much as the constellation of the Ursa Major. Of course, we know He’s there, but it does not affect our life. He doesn't make any changes or at least we don't expect it to change things. 
 

In my work, I find many people who tell me how they gradually lose their faith. 
 
"I pray, but I feel nothing. It doesn't seem to matter how much I pray. It's like talking to a wall. If God had something to say to me, I think he could tell me! "
 
God's silence challenges and may even begin to undermine our faith. Wondering why He does not make himself heard is valid; after all, He is almighty. As if it was difficult to find a way to contact us.
 
They say God talks incessantly. If that's true and we don't hear him, we're not listening. My Medieval Philosophy professor always repeated again and again that if God ceased to "pronounce" the world would cease to exist as my words disappear when I stop propelling air through my vocal cords. What theology calls the creation continua -the fact that God's creation does not end once and for all, but is constantly sustained in existence--means that God speaks without pause (CIC 301). To know what He's saying, you have to know how to listen. 
 
Not to crush in cold iron, but I still wonder, "Why does God demand that I listen attentively?" Why is He asking me such an effort? He can make things obvious. If He is, why doesn't He prove it? 
 
First of all, He doesn’t always wait until we pay attention to reveal Himself. Michael is a biker from the United States boasting an impressive collection of tattoos. He admits he's an alcoholic and sometimes he uses drugs. In his many frictions with death, he never questioned his lifestyle until one day he bought a curious mirror from a pawn shop. 
 
It was an interesting artifact with the print of a woman in the center. It was the engraving that caught his eye. It turns out that the image represented the Virgin of Guadalupe, and one day Michael heard a voice.
 
"I didn't bring you here to lose you now!" it said. Michael didn't know what to think, but he realized it had to do with the image. He began to investigate and a few days later he found a pamphlet for a pilgrimage to Medjugorje--the only problem was that the cost, 3.000 dollars.


"I’d like to go, but I don't have that amount of money to spend it like this," I thought. That weekend, playing bingo at the veterans club, Michael won the pot--and it was exactly 3.000 dollars. "I didn't bring you here to lose you now!" God sometimes speaks loud and clear. Michael went to Medjugorje.


Exactly what's the way we like God communicating with us: loud and clear. But He usually asks us to listen and pay attention. His seeming silence can be frustrating, discouraging, and dark. To the humble and simple of heart, the voice of God is perceptible even at times like this. I learned the lesson a few years ago amid hardship and suffering and it is still a truth that I need to learn again and again. Amid doubt and the seemingly superhuman effort to believe in Him, I wondered, "If God loves me, why would He be allowing me to suffer this?" So I came across the answer: God loves me. 


It is the attitude of the heart that determines our ability to perceive it. When you ask humbly, you get an answer. If God loves me and allows me to suffer his silence, there has to be a reason--his love! Then his silence is a tactic to evoke my freedom and my heart or conversion because something I do is preventing me from hearing his voice or should I put more silence and trust on my part because those are the necessary attitudes to allow Him to act on me.

God, who loves us, seeks our conversion so that He can give us happiness and peace. His silence is nothing but a constant call to renew the confidence in Him and to let go of the things that keep us away from Him. His silence is not silence but a soft and persistent invitation to trust Him.