Silence
Philippine‘s life is marked by many qualities. What stands out for me is her silence, which attracted many in her day and still seizes our hearts today. This legacy of silence was at the heart of Philippine’s life, enabling her to remain focused on the Lord’s ways interiorly and to act radically. The interior life she lived enabled her to risk new frontiers in response to calls of her time. She lived a life like that of Mary the mother of Jesus. Philippine’s silence is a lesson we want to understand as we navigate our own lives. We want to be silent interiorly and present to others, even though not using many words. Her extraordinary way of living daily in deep contemplation enabled her to grow in union with Jesus.
I pray that Philippine intercede for us so that we too may grow in interior life for mission, wherever God sends us. Even if the ordinary language of communication fails, dear Philippine, let your example and God’s graces make us believe in the quality of silence. May we walk unabated into untrodden paths to discover a language without words that seizes our hearts for things of God. Pray for us to remain anchored in our source of life, the Lord, who prepared you for mission in the New World. The Lord had all the instruments needed implanted in the storehouse of your heart. May you obtain for us the same graces to help us wait patiently, silently, and trustingly as God is preparing our hearts for new frontiers, our new callings today in the twenty-first century.
Ursula N. Bugembe, RSCJ, Province of ChadImage: Emil Frei
