Brian Mase, associate director of faith formation at Holy Angels Catholic Church in West Bend, shared a reflection in the July 26 weekly bulletin from the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

“As we know, opinions and words are not hard to come by these days on a variety of topics,” Mase wrote. “At times, the sheer volume of voices and verbiage is overwhelming, both to the mind and the soul.”

Mase recounted his childhood days, when his father would say “silence is golden,” as he and his sister played loudly. 

“Silence can also be a scary and intimidating place,” he wrote. “We crave noises and distraction; that’s how we have been trained by all the things that distract us. Deep down, we crave silence too; that is how God has wired us, whether we realize it or not, and He wants to spend some quality time with us that way.”

No matter how loud the distractions get, Mase encourages everyone to find a few minutes of silence to spend with God each day.