Day 40: Silence and Contemplation
March 29
by Norma Flores Lovett
Readings:
Reflection:
Today, we begin the journey of Jesus's final week, called Holy Week
The text in Isaiah highlights a daily habit of silence, where our Sovereign Lord "wakens my ear to listen". This suggests that true contemplation in the silence of the morning is the foundation for having a "well-trained tongue" to comfort others. This silence is a deliberate choice of trust in the knowledge that God is our ultimate help. During this last week of the Lenten season, my spiritual focus is more on self-examination. Instead of judging others, let’s focus inward on our own need for God’s mercy.
In Matthew 26, we see that silence and self-examination are part of the setting of betrayal and prayer. During the Last Supper, when Jesus reveals a betrayer is present, the disciples are forced into a moment of internal, silent self-examination ("Surely not I, Lord?"). Then Jesus retreats to pray in the silence of the night. It’s difficult to imagine the pain Jesus was experiencing that evening after the betrayal of a friend, the knowledge of impending death, and most importantly, his separation from God as a result of taking my sin. It’s enough to bring me to tears, to bring anyone to tears.
Prayer: Lord and Savior, help me to sit in silence, open my ears to your word, and give me a heart that is full of compassion like yours. You alone, merciful God, only you can cleanse my heart. Thank you for enduring the cross so that I could have eternal life. Amen.
Song:
Patient & Kind – Jonathan Ogden
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