From Silence Came Faith
by Father Robert A. Dalton

Father Gus preaches in North Carolina

Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God!

The words above paraphrase a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. They seem particularly appropriate as an introduction to the story I am about to tell.

Anyone who knows Glenmary's Father Gus Guppenberger will attest to his "gift of gab". Yet the talkative Father Gus recalls the story of a man who found faith in silence!

It happened several years ago, when Father Guppenberger was pastor of Holy Redeemer mission in Andrews, North Carolina. It was there that he first met Steve and his wife, Pat.

Steve had been born and lived most of his life in Andrews--until one day the wanderlust called. He soon found his future as owner of an auto repair shop in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he met and married Pat.

Now Pat was Catholic; Steve was not. So they worshipped in separate churches, yet their differences in beliefs could not dampen their deep devotion to one another.

Some years later, Steve returned to Andrews with Pat and they settled in to live out their days amid the beauty of the North Carolina mountains. Meanwhile, Steve opened another auto repair garage.

Pat began attending Mass at Holy Redeemer, and before long she had become the volunteer parish bookkeeper, typist for the church bulletin, and organist for Sunday Mass.

After awhile, Father Gus noticed Steve was accompanying his wife to Mass regularly, sitting right up front with her and listening intently.

One morning after Mass, Father Guppenberger decided to ask Steve what he liked about coming to Mass at Holy Redeemer.

"Of course, I thought he'd say my sermons were the main attraction," Father Gus says with a mirthful twinkling in his eye. Instead, Steve paused for a moment, then admitted: "I like the periods of silence during your service ... they give me time to sit back and listen to God speaking to me.

"At other churches, there's a lot of good preaching and singing, but they don't have a time for reflection," Steve concluded.

Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God!

Indeed, Steve found a new faith amid the silence.

Shortly thereafter, he was invited to join the Church and, after proper instruction, made his Profession of Faith. Steve later told Father Gus that the most wonderful thing about being Catholic and coming to Mass was that he could receive the Eucharist any time he wished—a contrast to the quarterly communion services offered by the protestant churches Steve had attended.

In the years that followed, Steve would frequently repair Father Gus' car or the parish lawnmower. And each time the Glenmarian visited the mechanic's shop, he noticed something very unusual. The beautiful covers of several parish bulletins, with their Scripture quotations, were posted here and there around the garage.

"They weren't exactly the kind of pin-ups you'd expect to find in an auto shop," Father Gus recalls with a chuckle.

There was one such bulletin permanently affixed to the front door of the shop. It carried this quotation from Joshua (24: 15): As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.

What better pledge of faith!