5th Sunday of Easter, B April 28, 2024
Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Darkness is the absence of light. Cold is the absence of heat. You can’t “get rid of” darkness and cold. You can only overcome them by adding light and heat. So also with evil. Evil is the absence of good. We don’t defeat evil just by fighting it really hard or running away from it. We defeat evil by running toward what is good and by allowing good to fill us such that it pushes evil away.
But what about silence? Sure, it’s technically the absence of sound, but when you’re talking about human beings, there’s more to it than that. Ever heard the expression “the silence was deafening” or “a pregnant pause?” As persons, as individuals with unique inner worlds, silence says something to us. It is often full. That’s why so many people are afraid of silence, so eager to always have noise and distraction. That noise might block silence, but it doesn’t really remove it the way that light replaces darkness, heat cold, and goodness evil.
Silence has something to say because it is the language of our hearts. St. John in our second reading says, “this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn.” How can our hearts condemn anything? Sit in silence long enough and you’ll know.
That silence which is more than the absence of noise speaks to us about who we truly are. It condemns us for our sins, yes, but it also condemns us by exposing our illusions. To sit silently with another person can tell you a lot about what you really think of that person, how you feel about them. To sit silently by yourself can tell you a lot about your priorities, your worries and desires, your image of yourself.
And that silent condemnation of the heart can be exhausting. No one would blame us for wanting to escape it, to set it aside for the sake of music, conversation, or the sounds of a million possible activities. And life is meant to have sound too! Still, if our hearts condemn us in the silence, no amount of sound will cure that. Eventually, that silence will grow that we hear it even in the midst of roaring distraction.
But St. John tells us how we can overcome the condemnation of our hearts: by remembering that “God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.” For all the power our hearts, our consciences have over us, they are not omnipotent, they are not all-knowing.
So, the first step to reassuring our hearts, to becoming comfortable with silence is to remember this: the truth does not depend on us. It’s not our burden to carry. We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. The truth simply is. Even better, the truth can take care of itself. We killed it… we killed truth incarnate and he just rose from the dead.
The second step to reassuring our hearts is to teach them the truth. The truth does not depend on us, but we do depend on it. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Our lives need the truth. We don’t get to decide what is right and wrong, but we do have to learn it. Sometimes our hearts condemn us but don’t tell us why, so we need to learn from God, from study, and from others how to recognize the hidden sins in our lives, the things we did not know were wrong.
The third step to reassuring our hearts is to put that truth to work in us. If our hearts condemn us for ignoring the truth, for contradicting the truth, for lying to ourselves and others, we need to change that. If silence reminds me of my sins, I need to admit it was wrong, seek forgiveness or remember that is was forgiven, and resolve not to sin that way again.
On the other hand, our hearts sometimes condemn us for things that aren’t actually sinful because they are still full of fear and error. The pain of scrupulosity is real and it can rob us of peace even though we’ve done nothing wrong. Especially when we become convinced that salvation is impossible, that we can never do the right thing, we must learn to place our hearts, our trust in God. This means remembering that God knows better than our anxious hearts and then putting ourselves in the hands of wise confessors, advisors, and teachers who can, by God’s grace, pare away the excessive worry of our hearts until they no longer condemn us falsely.
The fourth and final step to reassuring our hearts is to put that assurance to work. Just because we’re comfortable with the silence, confident in who we are and what we’re doing, it doesn’t mean our work is done. “If our hearts do not condemn us,” St. John tells us, “we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask.” He does not say “we can rest and be done. No, this inner peace, this assurance of the heart is important, but it is important because it makes us fruitful. And, as Jesus says, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
God can and often does answer the prayers of even the most hardened and chaotic sinners, especially when their prayers are for help to escape chaos and sin. Please never believe the lie that you can’t pray because you’re a sinner. But God absolutely does answer the prayers of his peaceful disciples far more often. Yes, these readings are literally telling us that if we form our consciences, keep God’s commandments, and love each other, God will answer more of our prayers. But the answered prayers aren’t a reward for good behavior. They are the tools for your mission. It isn’t “be good so God will answer your prayers for a nice house.” It’s “get your act together so that God can trust you with the power tools you need to build homes for everyone in heaven.”
If the silence is deafening, if your hearts condemn you, then do not be afraid! God is greater than your hearts. If you trust him, listen to him, and strive to follow him, he we reassure your hearts and fill you with peace like a vine fills its branches with life. If your hearts are already at peace with God, do not stop! So many people in this world are still in the darkness of unbelief and fear, still cold with indifference, still trapped by evil and sin. How can we help them? By staying on the vine. Filled with the peace of Christ, we tap into his grace to bear fruit in the light of a faith that never stops interceding, the warmth of active charity that truly seeks the good of others, the goodness of God who wants nothing more than to dwell in every heart until every last trace of evil is completely wiped away.