Silence and Contemplation

From Founding Parousian Caleb Bernacchio:

On Monday, a Mass was said by Cardinal Zenon at St Peter's for students of the Pontifical Universities. Opening with the Veni Creator Spiritus, it was a solemn mass that emphasized that God was the interior teacher, as St Augustine liked to say.

In his homily Cardinal Zenon, in the light of the Gospel reading from Luke, asked everyone to consider the motivation behind their studies, and likewise, to remember that we should strive to be rich in front of God.

After Mass Pope Benedict processed into St Peter's. I was sitting in the very back row, next to the barrier where the Holy Father was walking in. The Pope, as Peter's successor, carries with himself a palpable sense of the unity of the entire Church. He is obviously a very a holy man, but this is in a sense overshadowed by the Office that he fulfills. I was able to shake the Holy Father's hand as he processed towards the altar.

In his address, Benedict said that students of theology cannot study God as if he was some object, something outside of ourselves, like we would study chemical engineering, or something of that sort. But rather, that God must not be separated from us when we seek to understand our Faith, that theology cannot be merely an academic enterprise, but instead it must one dimension of our efforts to be holy as God is holy.

He said that in today's world many things are said, but that sometimes silence and contemplation are best. In this way, when we are silent, we can contemplate the face of Christ and listen to what he has to say.