SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Fr Peter Fernandes
Silence can answer the question; words may fail to answer. Silence is not passive, but dynamic. Creating an inner stillness from unwarranted thoughts is an insurmountable challenge, but it leads to the awareness of the golden echo from an eternal being: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Ps 42/10) Therefore, ‘inner stillness’ or ‘inner silence’ is not about the absence of sound; instead, it is understood to bring one in contact with the divine, the ultimate reality, or one’s own true self, one’s divine nature. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Ps 62/5) That’s why it is said that silence is golden. The language of the cross is expressed through silence. Good Friday is aptly described as a day of noble silence. Silence keeps the odor of sacrifice for God alone. It prevents suffering from being dissipated and seeks and finds its reward on this earth. The great silence of Good Friday is in the words of Prophet Isaiah: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Is: 53/7)
This is the most famous trial in history, and Jesus is mostly silent. The book of lamentations exhorts: “Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him.” (Lam 3/28) In the silence of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, before Herod Antipas, and before the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate, the common intuitive tendency would be to infer guilt. Innocent people do not need to resort to silence, as they have nothing to hide. Innocence claims the right to speak, while guilt demands the privilege to remain silent. Hence, silence implies guilt. Jesus’ silence; however, the intuition of the average person retreats in the face of the belief that Jesus was an innocent victim. In his quietness, we hear no eloquence, no powerful reproaches, and no clear condemnation of wickedness. The loud speaking of the people appeared to have defeated the silence of Jesus; yet, nothing could be further from the truth. It argues that Jesus’ silence may be of broader relevance to the connection between the right to silence and the justifications underlying it. Jesus’ silence is exalted as dignified as well as noble and majestic. The reason Jesus stayed silent was because he was expressing his strength, power, and authority.
Jesus stays utterly silent, and in silence, Jesus showed his authority to the Jews by confirming that he was the Son of God. He showed his authority before Pilate by confirming he was the King of the Jews. He showed his authority again to Pilate by reminding him that God was truly in control, not Pilate. If Jesus had answered Pilate, he would have submitted himself to Pilate, who had no authority of his own. And Jesus shows Herod his authority by remaining silent. By not speaking to Herod, Jesus showed us all that he really does have all the power. If Jesus would have spoken to Herod or performed a miracle at Herod’s command, Jesus would have been obeying Herod, thus showing Herod had authority over Jesus. Sometimes silence shows our power more than anything else will. Consequently, truth cannot be submissive to any authority on earth, for it has its own authority. Therefore, when leaders try to subvert the truth for their own personal gain by promoting immoral and unjust laws, they are violating the eternal code. Such draconian laws ought to be resisted not only with words and actions but also through silent agitation, for silence speaks louder than words. The noble silence on Good Friday speaks volumes.
The difference lies in the fact that the wisdom of the word, or the world, is expressed through words and fine discourses, whereas the language of the cross is expressed through silence. What counts is not one’s own cross but Christ’s cross. It is not suffering that counts, but believing, thereby making Christ’s sufferings our own. The main thing is faith.
Mary is a perfect example for the church and for the people of the world to emulate. There is no mention of Mary bewailing and lamenting on the way to Calvary. No words from her have been transmitted to us, as for the finding in the Temple or at Cana in Galilee. Only her silence is transmitted to us. In Luke’s Gospel, Mary was silent at the moment of the birth of Jesus, and in John’s Gospel, she was silent at the moment of the death of Jesus. Consequently, even if the world silences us with death, we have the sure confidence that the silence of Christ is more powerful than all the rhetoric of the world.
Jesus showed his power in many ways, and one of those ways was through his silence. Thus, let us root our faith and confidence in the Word of Christ that never fails and the silence of Christ unto death that won for us the resurrection. At times, truth and justice may appear to have disappeared in silence, but they never die. May we too seek to show the world the power of God through our words and deeds, but also through the sound of silence.
