Psalm 95: 7-8
Oh, that today you would hear his voice. Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day of Massah in the desert.
Commentary:
Hearing the voice of God is very challenging. One of the greatest challenges for the addict to hearing God’s voice is staying quiet enough to hear God speak. The unclean spirits of resentment and fantasy lead the addict to hear and follow the voice of the ego. A good friend of mine sent me this excerpt from Robert Cardinal Sarah that may shed some light on the importance of silence to hearing the voice of God:
“It is necessary to protect precious silence from all parasitical noise. The noise of our “ego”, which never stops claiming its rights, plunging us into an excessive preoccupation with ourselves. The noise of our memory, which draws us toward the past, that of our recollections or of our sins. The noise of temptations or of acedia, the spirit of gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, sadness, vanity, pride—in short: everything that makes up the spiritual combat that man must wage every day. In order to silence these parasitical noises, in order to consume everything in the sweet flame of the Holy Spirit, silence is the supreme antidote.” ~Robert Cardinal Sarah, The Power of Silence
Saint Joseph Men of Integrity Group 