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May 11, 2014
Fourth Sunday of Easter
1 Peter 2:24-25
By his wounds you have been healed. Â For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
We attended a Taizé service in Oak Park. These services are held at 7:30 on first Fridays at Ascension Catholic Church in Oak Park, Illinois. It is a beautiful church, packed with several hundred worshippers.
A sweet-toned songleader and small orchestra with harp led us in some of the simple choruses sung by the Taizé Community in France and throughout the world. Sometimes in Latin, in English, in Polish, all of them are easy to learn and filled with quiet joy.
After the lectionary readings there was no homily, no sermon, no words. Â Just fifteen minutes of silence.
Wow.
Children are rarely silent and don’t need to be, even though we shush them for our own sakes. Adults are rarely silent, either, but we need that silence desperately for our well-being. It is in the quiet parts of my heart that I change, not in my noisy, bombarded brain.
I am awed by Jesus’ silence as he approached death. Both by his wounds and his silence I am healed. I watch Jesus carry his cross and am called to join him, and there is nothing to hear except the breathing of God and my own breath, mixing in the air and calling me home.
Is there anything sweeter than this invitation: the long hug of Jesus where I feel his heartbeat and he feels mine? No foolish promises, but real ones. No pie in the sky by and by. But the kingdom of God is within you. You are not far from the kingdom of God. Listen to my voice, Jesus says. I am the gate to the pastures of abundant heaven.
Hold me, Jesus, I’m shaking like a leaf. Hold me and feel the frantic beating of my heart, and let me feel yours, all the quiet beating of your heart for me, for us all, for those you love.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1290
