Kitchen Catechism: Featured Articles
WE'LL MEET IN THE QUIET
by Lois Donahue
"Be still and know that I am God”
I feel Him present in the quiet
Like a friend who’s happened by
In the wordlessness of silence
We talk - my God and I.
Oh I know He’s with me always
No matter when or where
But in the special place called ‘quiet’
He somehow lets me know He’s there.
Introduce Them to "Quiet"
by Lois Donahue
As Catholic women, we know how essentially important it is that the truths of our Faith be passed on from generation to generation. Consequently, each one of us, depending on the circumstances of our own lives and the role we play in the lives of others, must do what we can, when we can and how we can to help today’s children as they prepare to become tomorrow’s Church.
Our ongoing prayers for them must, of course, be the foundation for all our efforts and no doubt the most logical of those efforts is to help them learn the facts about God, about His Word and about His Church. However, we might have the opportunity to do something more. To be able to help them know God somewhat more intimately by simply helping them to “find” Him - “find” Him in the sense of discovering that He is real, that He is truly present with them, interested in them and lovingly active in their own personal lives. We could tell them about one place where God, Himself, told us He could always be found. “Be still”, He said. “Be still and know that I am God.” We must not forget to tell them about stillness - to introduce them to QUIET.
This may not be easy. Even the concept of ‘quiet’ is difficult for our children to grasp. They live in a sound-saturated world where noise is normal and silence is strange; but at least we owe them a chance to search for and hopefully discover an up-to-now unknown in their world.
Perhaps one of the best ways to help them “be still” and “know” God is to take them to church at a quiet time -- remind them that Jesus is there, -- ask them to sit for a few quiet moments, close their eyes and think of God. What might happen we may never know but wouldn’t it be wonderful if the next time they heard or sang the lyrics --- “I will come to you in the silence.” they would not only have some understanding of those words but they would have ‘experienced’ the reality of their meaning.
We must also help them realize there are many, many ways in which stillness can be found even mid the ever-present and distracting sounds of living and, equally important, help them discover they themselves have the ability to create ‘quiet’.
As for each of us, we must never forget that, although it is true we may never know for sure the results of our efforts, there is always the possibility that each time we help a child take a step closer to God, eternity may be recording the footprint of a saint.