Pervasive Peace

At Tyburn Monastery, the world seems to stand still. Every so often, a bell will ring to signal the hour or to call the Mothers to prayer. But except for those few reminders that time does indeed inch forward, moments might be eternities, and eternity a moment.  

Standing on the balcony of the guest house, looking out over this beauty God created for you, it's hard not to be overcome with peace. It worms its way into your heart, silencing the fears, the voices, the petty concerns. When you breathe, it feels like respiration ought to - deep, refreshing inhalations of pure delight. You can taste the majestic, ever-changing countryside; the reflections of sunlight on the lake are tangible; and you wish, for that moment, that your arms were big enough to embrace the whole, unending sky.

Many unbelievers - and indeed many believers - who come to Tyburn feel uncomfortable. Something in their heart is stirred by the serenity of eternity... and it shakes their very core. The beauty, the silence, the pervasive peace strip away the noise and the business that blind us to God. And that makes many people uneasy. We don't want to face the reality of God. He makes us uncomfortable. He offers us eternal Peace but challenges us to be worthy of that peace. When we listen to the quiet of our hearts, our deepest desires and longings, we cannot run away from the Creator.

In the quiet, in the stillness

 I know that You are God.

That stillness, that sureness scares us beyond measure. And so we fill our lives with noise and chaos, with good things and with bad things. Even if we have faith; even if we speak that faith through charitable action and goodness of character - still we cower when faced with silence.

Tyburn forces you to quieten your heart in order to understand WHY

Why do I fear silence?

Why do I fear God?

Why did that God become man for me?

Why does He love me?

Why do I falter in my love for Him?

Advent, if entered into fully, should have the same effect as a day at the monastery. We should be so pervaded by peace, so discomforted by the quietude of our own hearts, that we are forced to contemplate the mystery of Christ's coming and its impact on our lives.

Advent allows us to steep ourselves in silence: waiting, watching, wondering. We pray for reverent hearts, hearts that are willing to offer themselves as gifts to the newborn King. Hearts that aren't overburdened by the noise and the cares of this world, but are content to sit at His manger-side, adoring the beautiful face of the Prince of Peace.

A friend of mine recently shared her thoughts on speaking to the Lord during Advent:

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I always found it pretty hard to truly get into the spirit of Advent. Coming from a " Catholic " family where Christmas was more about presents than God's presence, it wasn't until I really started to get into my faith that I recognised the need to give to God at Christmas as well as receive the gift of His Son. Someone suggested that a good way to prepare my heart during Advent was to speak to Jesus as a baby in my prayer. When I tried this in Adoration, it was quite tricky. I've always thought of Jesus as a big, powerful protector. He was the strong and almighty God. This Baby Jesus didn't offer any protection. He was weak and helpless Himself. How then, could He be God? 

As I thought about this further, I realised my mistake. I shouldn't love God because of the things He does for me, but because He is God. I think that's why God came as a Baby - to help us understand. Everybody loves babies, not for what they can do, but for who and what they are. Baby Jesus, like all babies, would have been adorable. And that's what God invites us to do at Christmas - come to the manger-side and adore him.

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O come, let us adore Him this Christmas! 

Let us sit with shining eyes and wondrous, quiet hearts by the cradle of our Lord and adore His majesty in the peace He brings. 

I  invite you to pray with me the words of the St Andrew Novena - beautiful, evocative words that prepare our little hearts for the miracle of Christmas:

Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin, at a stable, at midnight in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech thee, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through our Saviour Jesus Christ and His most blessed Mother.

AMDG