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Is silence just empty space, or is it something more?

In our modern world, we often view silence as a vacuum—an absence of noise. But true spiritual silence is actually a form of active receptivity. Just as you must be silent to truly hear a friend or imagine a story while reading, you must cultivate interior silence to perceive the reality of God. In the hustle of the holiday season, it is easy to miss the Incarnation if we are not prepared to listen.

In this week’s episode of Midnight Carmelite, we explore how to prepare for the feast of the Incarnation. We look to the Nativity story—where Christ was born into a silence—as our guide. We also discuss the practical tool of mortification. Far from being a negative practice, we frame mortification as the "shovel" used to clear the stable of our hearts, while our good deeds become the straw that cushions the manger for the Christ Child.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The definition of Active Receptivity: Why silence is not a void, but a necessary state of listening for God’s disclosure.
• Lessons from the Nativity: How the humility of the shepherds and Magi allowed them to notice what the rest of the world missed.
• The "Shovel" and the "Straw": A practical metaphor for using mortification to remove worldly attachments and good deeds to welcome the Lord.
• Practical Advent Steps: How to replace distractions (like excessive shopping) with ten minutes of Scripture and silence.