The Still, Small Voice

There have been so many earthquakes, wars, economical collapses, upheavals of nations, bizarre disasters, prophetic utterances which have apparently been verified, and warnings of chastisements from heaven lately that it is hard, these days, not to get carried away with "the signs of the times."

At least for someone like myself, who easily sees a "supernatural" explanation alongside the natural one, it is increasingly evident that humanity cannot continue at its present pace. If nothing else, the speed at which we communicate globally has potentially severed us from the ability to lead a stress-free life.

More and more people yearn for simplicity and simple human bonding, the exercise of charity towards other elements of Creation, such as the earth, or fellow man. Companies have picked up on this need for simplicity and attempt to sell us complex systems which further enslave us packaged as "life simplifiers." (Among them computers, gadgets, phones, vehicles, etc.)Even atheists are certain that in our current global climate: "Something's gotta give."

Satan is indeed in complete control of the situation here on Planet Earth, and his reign continues more and more people worship him inadvertently, bowing down to him in submission unknowingly and through such innocent actions as buying a card or a t-shirt, spending a night on the town, or sitting down to watch a movie.
These examples may seem so extreme, but all it takes is a short trip to YouTube to see evidence that this is so-- our whole world is steeped in occult symbolism, in materialism, atheism, modernism, humanism, and overt satanism. Most of us scoff at this idea, but remember... one of the best tricks the devil ever pulled was convincing us he didn't exist. The second after that was convincing us he knew special, hidden knowledge we needed to get to God.

We Christians know that this control has been given to him only for a time, and that our task, as difficult as it may seem, is to detach from our own desires and the pace of human life and recognize that eternal things are our heritage- to proclaim to others that same understanding that we may all one day be reunited in a world that isn't broken by sin. In the meantime, we suffer. And though Satan likes to lie to people and tell them that suffering is not necessary, God would tell us that it is not suffering that is optional, but our negative response to suffering. He Himself suffered greatly for the good of His creation. For that fact alone we should recognize that we will not escape it.

Scripture has warned us that as we approach the End of Time, suffering will increase. This, in fact, will be a sure "sign" that we should be prepared.
Surely you can look around and see that suffering is a universal human experience, that even the happiest and most "well-adjusted" (whatever that means) of people experience moments of grief and sadness. Surely you can see how exponentially these things have increased in our time-- when social media allows us to experience not only our own pain but everyone else's.

This suffering, contrary to what televangelists and Church-growth focused pastors would teach, IS the point. As Bishop Edward Slattery so beautifully stated in his homily yesterday at the Basilica:

"He makes himself most present in the suffering of his people and this is the mystery of which we must speak today, for when we speak of His saving presence and proclaim His infinite love in the midst of our suffering, when we seek His light and refuse to surrender to the darkness, we receive that light which is the life of men; that light which, as Saint John reminds us in the prologue to his Gospel, can never be overcome by the darkness, no matter how thick, no matter how choking.

Our suffering is thus transformed by His presence. It no longer has the power to alienate or isolate us. Neither can it dehumanize us nor destroy us. Suffering, however long and terrible it may be, has only the power to reveal Christ among us, and He is the mercy and the forgiveness of God.

The mystery then, of which we speak, is the light that shines in the darkness, Christ Our Lord, Who reveals Himself most wondrously to those who suffer so that suffering and death can do nothing more than bring us to the mercy of the Father.

But the point which we must clarify is that Christ reveals Himself to those who suffer in Christ, to those who humbly accept their pain as a personal sharing in His Passion and who are thus obedient to Christ’s command that we take up our cross and follow Him. Suffering by itself is simply the promise that death will claim these mortal bodies of ours, but suffering in Christ is the promise that we will be raised with Christ, when our mortality will be remade in his immortality and all that in our lives which is broken because it is perishable and finite will be made imperishable and incorrupt.

This is the meaning of Peter’s claim that he is a witness to the sufferings of Christ and thus one who has a share in the glory yet to be revealed. Once Peter grasped the overwhelming truth of this mystery, his life was changed. The world held nothing for Peter. For him, there was only Christ.

This is, as you know, quite a dramatic shift for the man who three times denied Our Lord, the man to whom Jesus said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Christ’s declaration to Peter that he would be the rock, the impregnable foundation, the mountain of Zion upon which the new Jerusalem would be constructed, follows in Matthew’s Gospel Saint Peter’s dramatic profession of faith, when the Lord asks the Twelve, “Who do people say that I am?” and Peter, impulsive as always, responds “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Only later – much later – would Peter come to understand the full implication of this first Profession of Faith. Peter would still have to learn that to follow Christ, to truly be His disciple, one must let go of everything which the world considers valuable and necessary, and become powerless. This is the mystery which confounds independent Peter. It is the mystery which still confounds us: to follow Christ, one must surrender everything and become obedient with the obedience of Christ, for no one gains access to the Kingdom of the Father, unless he enter through the humility and the obedience of Jesus."

Scripture has also been telling people to be prepared from the departure of Christ-- God's Word is explicitly clear: No one knows the day nor the hour. However we have clear signs we need to be aware of... and our family has seen the signs. They escalate all around us. Whichever angle you want to take: Humanly-created disaster, an increase in wickedness, Natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars, a large harvest of people turning to Christ, powerful prophetic utterances, miracles, and supernatural events, you name it, we've got it going on now more than ever. We must be prepared.

Through prophecy and scripture the Lord has warned believers that there will be a time where the demonic realm is allowed to have complete free reign over the earth. This will be a dark time for humanity, darker than any other. I believe we see the beginnings of the unleashing already-- if we only look at the popularity of paranormal TV shows these days and the persistent use by so many clueless "investigators" across the globe of occult methodology which leads to the legal opening of portals between our world and the demonic world, one comes to understand. Satan is using all his same old tricks with such fervor that the whole world is falling for it, and not only is his larger plan in place (which, if I discussed here, you might find so wild that I will lose my readership :P) but his personal plan for each individual person is secured as he attempts to influence our free will through his most ordinary method: deception and temptation. The times are definitely dark.

This, then , has both a calming and a worrying effect on my soul: this knowledge gives me great peace because I know my Lord is returning. I see that there is evidence for my faith everywhere, and my inner "Thomas" is quieted-- I no longer need have any doubt whatsoever. At the same time, this knowledge produces panic in me: I am not even near being a HOLY person. And yet that, and nothing less is the standard. "Be Holy, as I am Holy," says the Lord. My whole life, it seems, has been a series of supernatural events to which I responded with an increase in faith... and yet as extraordinary as they have been, it has never been enough to keep me TOTALLY from sinning. Although our family has personally been graced with incredible miracles - the type of miracles which only ONE might convert entire populations-- it has not been the "One" thing I needed to stop sinning entirely. And so I pray, with the rest of the Church, "Lord, increase my faith."

Which is precisely what I was asking this morning when I went to mental prayer: How am I to reside at all times in your peace so that I might be completely converted?

1 Kings 19: 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
God’s Revelation to Elijah

11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.


The Lord was not in the Wind , the Fire or the Earthquake. And yet, Scripture elsewhere tells us that of course, He was. God is in all things because He is the creator and thus everything bears his "fingerprint.

Is this an inconsistency, as some "scholars" would have us believe? Not at all-- the story is speaking symbolically in a way that Elijah, and his children, those who exercise and interpret the prophetic gift, will understand.

Elijah has no greater children than the Carmelite Order- Carmelites revere the Prophet Elijah as their predecessor and even take his words as their motto: "With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts."
And yet, we must recognize that in this passage, Elijah is saying-- "my zeal was not enough. How can I KNOW YOU, God?"
This precisely is the Carmelite charism- and what Elijah learned in this passage--how to know God in union- and it is given through the practice of prayer and silence, two elements which cannot grow us on their own, but which, when fused together, are all we need.

You see, The story tells us the Lord was not in the wind. The Wind in my mind is the Spirit-- the miraculous workings of the spirit are what they are, but they are not the WHOLE of God's heart. Miraculous signs alone do not suffice to convert us and bring us to Union with Him. He was not in the fire, which in my mind is the demonic Spirit-- though through their manifestations we come to know and understand God better, we will not find union with Him through our conversion experiences of battle with them. He was not in the Earthquakes, or the natural and unnatural disasters, which point us to the "End" and make us tremble in Awe of God. Though they serve to "awaken" us to His majesty, they alone will not entirely convert us. No, He was in the still small voice which came after all of them--- in the interior silence of our own walks with Him.

This is why we must cultivate silence in a world which is screaming, this is why we must pray when all our inclinations are to run away, this is why we must stop and quiet our flesh, the loudness of our desires, our "stuff," and instead resolve to meet God in the quiet place and in the still, small voice... through the practice of mortification and prayer, when we will, as Peter, welcome the opportunity for transformative suffering in recognizing the glory that awaits us.

Christians, is the End of Times upon us? I believe the birth pangs have begun. Does that matter one iota in my own conversion or in anyone else's? No. We must not get caught up in the doom and gloom, the politics, the preparations, but instead work even HARDER to quiet everything around us and listen to that STILL. SMALL. VOICE, which is the Lord, for whom we are zealous, may all praise and honor be His!