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The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise QUOTES

The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise QUOTES

1 " For someone who is far from God, silence is a difficult confrontation with his own self and with the rather dismal realities that are at the bottom of our soul. Hence, man enters a mentality that resembles a denial of reality. He gets drunk on all sorts of noises so as to forget who he is. Postmodern man seeks to anesthetize his own atheism. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

2 " Our world no longer hears God because it is constantly speaking, at a devastating speed and volume, in order to say nothing. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

3 " Without radical humility that is expressed in gestures of adoration and in sacred rituals, no friendship with God is possible. Silence manifests this connection in an obvious way. True Christian silence makes itself sacred silence first so as to become silence of communion. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

4 " Today, some priests treat the Eucharist with the utmost contempt. They see the Mass as a talkative banquet where Christians faithful to the teaching of Jesus, divorced-and-remarried persons, men and women in an adulterous situation, unbaptized tourists who participate in the Eucharistic celebrations of the large anonymous crowds can indiscriminately have access to the Body and Blood of Christ. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

5 " Why are men so noisy during the liturgies while Christ's prayer was silent? The words of the Son of God come from the heart, and the heart is silent. Why do we not know how to speak with a silent heart? The heart of Jesus does not speak. It radiates with love because its language comes from the divine depths. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

6 " Christ is certainly distressed to see and to hear priests and bishops, who ought to be protecting the integrity of the teaching of the Gospel and of doctrine, multiply words and writings that weaken the rigor of the Gospel by their deliberately ambiguous, confused statements. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

7 " There is a great risk that Christians may become idolaters if they lose the meaning of silence. Our words inebriate us; they confine us to what is created. Bewitched and imprisoned by the noise of human speech, we run the risk of designing worship to our specifications, a god in our own image. Words bring with them the temptation of the golden calf! Only silence leads man beyond words, to the mystery, to worship in spirit and in truth. Silence is a form of mystagogy; it brings us into the mystery without spoiling it. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

8 " Now, celebrations become tiring because they unfold in noisy chattering. The liturgy is sick. The most striking symptom of this sickness is perhaps the omnipresence of the microphone. It has become so indispensable that one wonders how priests were able to celebrate before it was invented. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

9 " Celebration toward the east fosters silence. Indeed, there is less temptation for the celebrant to monopolize the conversation. Facing the Lord, he is less tempted to become a professor giving a lesson throughout the Mass, reducing the altar to a podium centered on the microphone instead of the Cross. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

10 " Words often bring with them the illusion of transparency, as though they allowed us to understand everything, control everything, put everything in order. Modernity is talkative because it is proud, unless the converse is true. Is our incessant talking perhaps what makes us proud? "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

11 " Nouwen, Henri J. M. The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

12 " La oración consiste en imaginar en silencio la vida concreta y diaria de Jesús. No se trata de recordar un suceso histórico, sino de procurar que el Hijo de Dios entre silenciosamente en nuestro corazón. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

13 " But here is my hope: God willing, when he wills and as he wills, the reform of the reform will take place in the liturgy. Despite the gnashing of teeth, it will happen, for the future of the Church is at stake. To ruin the liturgy is to ruin our relationship to God and the concrete expression of our Christian faith. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

14 " Many fervent Christians who are moved by the Passion and death of Christ on the Cross no longer have the strength to weep or to utter a cry of pain to the priests and bishops who make their appearance as entertainers and set themselves up as the main protagonists of the Eucharist. These believers tell us nevertheless: "We do not want to gather with men around a man! We want to see Jesus! Show him to us in the silence and humility of your prayer! "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

15 " Celebrating Mass facing east, by breaking up the face-to-face, private get-together, helps to prevent turning the liturgy into the community's celebration of itself. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

16 " Some priests unfaithful to the "memory" of Jesus insist more on the festive aspect and the fraternal dimension of the Mass than on the bloody sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The importance of interior dispositions and the necessity of reconciling ourselves with God by agreeing to let ourselves be purified by the sacrament of confession are no longer in fashion today. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

17 " The Word of God and the doctrinal teaching of the Church are still heard, but souls that desire to turn toward God and to offer him the true sacrifice of praise and adoration are no longer impressed by liturgies that are too horizontal, anthropocentric, and festive, often resembling noisy, popular cultural events. The media have totally invaded the Mass and transformed it into a spectacle, when actually it is the Holy Sacrifice, the memorial of the death of Jesus on the Cross for the salvation of our souls. The sense of mystery disappears through changes, permanent adaptations that are decided on autonomously and individually so as to seduce our modern, profane mentalities that are marked by sin, secularism, relativism, and the rejection of God. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

18 " The devil invites mankind to rebellion and disorder. With his litany of subterfuges, he sows discord and incites us to pour out our hatred upon each other. "Old Scratch" always makes noise and a lot of racket so as to prevent us from resting in God. The devil will not be able to reach us in the stronghold of silence. Let us guard against multiplying sins by satisfying our little egotistical or revolutionary passions. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

19 " Sounds and emotions detach us from ourselves, whereas silence always forces man to reflect upon his own life. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise

20 " The real men of God have no fear of death, because they are waiting for heaven. "

― Robert Sarah , The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise