For the past few months we’ve been diving deeper into what is said & done during the Mass. In today’s column, I wanted to look at something that isn’t said during the Mass, but that is still a very integral part of the Mass & that is silence.

  There are a lot of words & actions that constitute the Mass, but without silence also being incorporated into the Mass, we end up risking losing some of the meaning behind all those other words & actions that we’re doing & saying. Even outside the Mass itself, silence is a very important & necessary part of our lives. We live in a world filled with noise & activity, a very chaotic world & at times we need a break from the noise. At times we need to step away from it all in order to center ourselves & ponder the true meaning of things, including our own lives. Sometimes we need to just be & allow the silence to help us to refresh & renew. In silence there’s nothing to distract us from the deeper questions of life, nowhere else to turn. The reality is that silence can be both rewarding & challenging. In the Mass itself, there are several times where we are called to silence. We are called to silence as we are invited to ponder our sins in the Penitential Rite & as we prepare to pray the Opening Prayer & we recall the needs that we bring to God that day. After each reading there should also be a brief moment of silence to allow what we’ve just heard to sink in, that’s why I don’t get up right away after the second reading to go over to proclaim the gospel.

  That brief moment of silence before any other music or words are proclaimed is an opportunity to hear God speaking to me, to us. After the Communion song we can also take a moment of silence to center ourselves on the God who dwells within us. But even before Mass begins, silence is an important part. A great way to prepare for Mass is to be silent. Yes, sometimes we rush in at the last minute, but that should be the exception rather than the norm. In order to prepare our hearts & minds to better hear what God is saying to us, we might consider arriving a few minutes early to Mass & just being. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t say hi to anyone, or greet anyone, or ask anyone how they’re doing, but we shouldn’t do that right up to the moment when the Mass begins. We can greet each other, but then we should greet God, we should allow ourselves to be silent, so that we can attune our hearts & minds to the great mystery that we’re about to celebrate.