How Stillness Helps Us Encounter God

When we are always on the move, it's easy to overlook God's presence in our lives. Sr. Mary Grace, Sr. Ann Immaculée, and Sr. Marie Veritas explore how stillness allows us to encounter God and discover peace amidst our busy days. The Sisters also discuss how idleness and constant busyness can cause restlessness in our souls while true leisure fosters hope.

Snippet from the Show

When we are still, we have a greater capacity to be surprised by God.

Shownotes

Quotes

"The opposite of Acedia is not the industrious spirit of the daily effort to make a living, but rather the cheerful affirmation by man of his own existence of the world as a whole and of God."- Josef Pieper

"Acedia is the despairing refusal to be oneself.-Søren Kierkegaard

"Idleness meant that the human being had given up on the very responsibility that comes with his dignity. That he does not want to be what God wants him to be, and that means he does not want to be what he really and in the ultimate sense is."- Josef Pieper

 "Leisure is a form of that stillness that is the necessary preparation for accepting reality.  Only the person who is still can hear and whoever is not still, cannot hear."- Josef Pieper

"Man cannot live this way in so far as he's man, but only insofar as something divine dwells in him."- Aristotle

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where for forty days he was tempted by the devil." (Luke 4:1)

Example of True Leisure

• Art making
• Listening to good music
• Reading good books
• Creative writing
• Going for a walk
• Good uplifting conversations
• Recreational sports

Examples of activities that are not true Leisure

•  Binging on Netflix
• Excessive sleep
• Video games
• Social media
• Doom scrolling
• Gossiping
• Gambling

Challenges of the Week

• Where in your heart are you experiencing restlessness? Invite Jesus into that place and let Him show you how to enter into leisure.
• Turn to Jesus in a moment of temptation and let him give you strength.

• If you're stuck in a spiritual desert, turn to the Holy Spirit and ask him to lead you.