On Tuesday, we, the 22 sisters of the renewal course in Bolivia, begin the Spiritual Exercises. Silence will reign. Silence is the place where God meets us. We are fortunate to be able to access it every day, but in some SE this silence can take on a different dimension.
In this silence everything disappears to give way to a Word, a Voice, a Light, a Presence. It is God who comes to meet us in a context always of affection; in which what the ego has to do is listen, understand and obey Him who is everything for us.
There is only one goal, to seek the will of God; and for this we must order our hearts so that nothing and nobody prevents that search. St. Ignatius tells us very clearly: “We have to rid ourselves of all inordinate attachments, and after their removal, seek and find the will of God in the disposition of our life.”
Then let us be silent. Let us go to that holy place, to that moment of fascinating encounter, to that space where you can only be on your knees because, before God, who is able to stand?
Sometimes it does not matter much how we come to the Spiritual Exercises, but at least we have to realize where and how our heart is. Today I find helpful those words that Leonard Cohen says in his song “Hallelujah” referring to King David and himself: “Y aunque todo salió mal, en pie permaneceré ante el Dios de la canción sin nada en mi lengua más que Aleluya” [“And although everything went wrong, I stand before the God of song with nothing on my tongue other than Alleluia.”] It could not be said better.
I have come to this moment of my life still on my feet only because He has willed it so, because He has sustained me, and my thanksgiving can only be when I am on my knees. When we stop to see what God has done to us, how God’s story has been in me, then we understand how small we are and that there is nothing and no one above Him. That is why my soul constantly sings with joy, that is why my heart only sighs for a King, that of the Universe, Jesus Christ, and that is why my entire person wants only to live to love and serve Him. And from my confused mouth may an Alleluia always come, as a declaration of love.
It’s time to keep quiet. Let us enter into the realm of silence.
We need prayers. I know that many of you are very close to us and we want you to give us the strength and availability before the Lord that only your prayer can give us. We also pray for the Whole Congregation, for the Entire Family of the Daughters of Jesus and for your daily chores.
Pilar García-Junco fi
