I want to be part of the solution, I know that I have to be if we are ever going to confront evil in our day. But there is a voice inside that is telling me there is nothing I can do. In fact, the voice is saying, “if you write and send this, you are actually contributing to the problem, doing more harm than good.” I hear that, and I see and hear people writing, posting, talking, yelling, debating… and I think to myself, this happens every time, and in the end it yields zero results, inspires little to no action, and further divides an already broken society.

But, praise the Lord, because as I was wrestling internally with the emotions of anger, sadness, grief, heartbreak, etc… I found myself in the stillness of the Chapel and another voice, in the midst of that internal chaos, was able to break through with one word - silence.

In that all but empty chapel, the word silence broke through to remind me of a truth I learned long ago, a truth which brings with it deeper richness the longer I live. The greatest things are accomplished in silence.

The world is noisy. Moments after news broke of a school shooting in Uvalde yesterday we were flooded with noise. Gun control, armed guards, finger pointing, name calling, empty rhetoric, and on, and on, and on… many people are even saying something to the effect that prayers are worthless. Again, a voice inside is trying to tell me I have nothing to add, anything I say will simply contribute to the noise.

I tried to go about my day today. I finished praying in the chapel. I went to Mass. I prayed for those 21 innocent souls, their parents, their families, their teachers, the shooter… And again I was reassured that the greatest things are accomplished in silence. Prayer actually does something. Do you believe that? Through prayer God invites us into his saving grace and power. Through prayer we get to share in God’s love and mercy. Prayer not only does something, prayer does everything. Prayer changes us. It changes us so we can in turn allow God to change the world through us.

The greatest things are accomplished in silence.

And I was reminded, God has already solved this problem. Evil tried to take over and failed. God himself was a victim of the noise; the curses, the calls to crucify, the crown, the cross. But in one last breath, God, in the silence, defeated the noise and conquered evil once and for all. And while he didn’t take away pain and suffering he transformed them by his death. He knows what it is to be human because he became human. He knows pain and suffering because he has felt them and has been their victim. His death and resurrection solved the problem, pain and suffering aren’t the end there is life beyond them, and there is even life beyond death.

In the silence I am assured that I can be part of the solution. I can pray, and that prayer actually does something. I can raise my two girls to know the love that the Father has for them, to encounter the saving grace the Son has won for them, and to experience the power that the Holy Spirit has to transform their lives and the lives of those around them. We can pray together as a family so that God can transform the world through us. 

The greatest things are accomplished in silence. Those little moments day in and day out, the ones that seem insignificant, that aren’t loud or flashy, the moments that can barely break through the noise of our emotions, of our busyness, of our lives… those moments are the greatest. I’m praying that in those moments, my family, and yours, can remember to turn to prayer, be transformed, and allow God to transform the world through us. The greatest things are accomplished in silence. Everything else is noise.

Please pray for all the souls who were senselessly taken yesterday in Uvalde, all those that go unreported in the news on a daily basis, their families, their friends, etc… Ask God to bring them home to eternal life with him. 

Know of my prayers for all of you as well.

Peace,

Zach Rawson

Director of Children, Youth, & Family Ministry

Pax Christi Catholic Church