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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the First Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, 07 December 2023 Isaiah 26:1-6 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 7:21, 24-27
Unlike Lent, this Season of Advent is always superseded by too much ado and noise of commercialism as Christmas approaches; there is hardly a hint not even among us in the church of the need to be silent, of the value of silence, and essence of silence in life no matter what is the season.
Although our first reading evokes in us a great feeling of joyful celebrations following the salvation of people, there is still the underlying tone of silence in you and with you, dear God our loving Father, of silent witnessing to your justice and righteousness.
How lovely that today we also celebrate the Memorial of St. Ambrose, a great bishop and Doctor of the Church whom St. Augustine deeply admired and converted him to Christianity; may we appreciate like St. Augustine the silence of St. Ambrose:
When [Ambrose] read, his eyes scanned the page and his heart sought out the meaning, but his voice was silent and his tongue was still. Anyone could approach him freely and guests were not commonly announced, so that often, when we came to visit him, we found him reading like this in silence, for he never read aloud.
Confessions of St. Augustine
At that time, knowledgeable and learned people read aloud for everyone to be aware of their presence but not St. Ambrose who deeply moved St. Augustine to notice it in his Confessions.
This Advent, teach us O Lord to cultivate the discipline and virtue of silence, especially in doing what is good, in witnessing Jesus Christ who warned us, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). May our deeds speak louder than our words and beliefs. Amen.
