The Holy Apostle Philemon and those with him; Post-feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God.
Nativity Fast. Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
1 Thessalonians 5:9-13, 24-28; Luke 12:2-12
Jesus expresses our worth before God in the most concrete and homespun of terms. We are of more value than many sparrows. The Lord knows us intimately. “All the hairs of our head are counted,” Jesus comments. The psalms likewise remind us that every tear we shed does not go unnoticed are “bottled up and written in his book” (Cf. 58:6). Yet this intimate knowledge stands in contrast to the sinking feeling we have sometimes at our worst moments, that we aren’t seen, or aren’t heard. What is the medicine for these feelings that can burden us to the point of depression, darkness, and apostasy?
Soren Kierkegaard tells us to take a lesson from the sparrows. He remarks that the sparrows and the lilies of the field can teach us silence. Since humans are gifted with speech, the ability to be silent is itself an art. The silence allows us the composure to receive what the Lord wishes to give us. Filled with idle chatter, we deafen ourselves to the call of the Lord to see where he is asking to seek the Lord and his righteousness.
To learn the art of silence means to learn how to receive. When the Lord goes on to say that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, he is saying those are the people who have denied the active ongoing presence of God calling us to repentance and greater unity with him here and now. This is perfected only in silence.
Learning from lilies and sparrows, let us perfect this art to receive more perfectly the gift brought about in silence.