by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM                        Ireland                       12.03.2025

As we celebrate 50 years since Mother Mary’s death this year, I have been finding small nuggets of gold among the many memories of Mother Mary recorded over the years.

This is one of them.

“Sister Monica Prendergast (recently deceased in February this year) recalled that when the hospital was built in Drogheda, the chapel was placed opposite the telephone room. There were complaints that the noise from the telephone room could be heard in the chapel, disrupting prayer. Mother Mary commented, ‘I’ve been thinking about that – that God is in noise as well as in quiet. When I hear about an accident, I think of the staff going out and the patient coming in. I pray for them. The chapel should be in a public area.’ Perhaps this recollection illustrates most clearly how Marie Martin was a woman deeply aware of the world’s realities, who felt a call to contribute to its healing. With gratitude we celebrated her response to that call and the example she gave to others, encouraging them to share in the gift that she received.” Healing and Development 2017.

God is in the noise, as well as in the quiet. These are not words usually heard among religious people. But they gave me heart this morning as I listen to all the “noise” coming from social media, from our politicians, from complainers and protesters of every sort. Can I avoid the desire to flee from the noise and listen to the heartbeat beneath it? As Mother Mary implied, it is the world we live in, and we are called to reach out to the needy of this noisy, fractured world.

Do I also find God in the quiet? Of course, I do!  I love walking on a wind-blown beach in Donegal, or sitting at a lake, watching the swans glide by. Especially those of us who are introverts need the quietness and peace, so for me the challenge is not to box God into any one place or situation.  God is in everything – even the noise!