The community gathered with the Rev. Kenneth Leech for the week prior to taking the promise on January 30, 1988. Here's what the Order's newsletter reported later that Spring. He reflected on the role of silence in our prayer life and Thomas Merton's ideas of confronting our false selves. The importance of recognizing the helplessness in the condition of people. This ministry should develop awareness rooted in listening.
Silence is often misunderstood, as is noise.
There is a need to hear the voice of God. Only those who are at home with silence and darkness will be able to survive in, and minister to, the perplexity and confusion of the modern world. He called on us to be a sign of contradiction, hope and love to the world, and to the Church. He called us to friendship with God and with each other. We are created to be God's friends.