High school youth minister Nick Calaprico finds God in the silence

By Nick Calaprico

If you’ve never found yourself alone in a foreign country—I highly recommend it.

This past February, I traveled to Rome by myself. It wasn’t my original plan, but one that God apparently had planned for me. On my first evening, I explored the neighborhood around my hotel. I saw the Colosseum, attended Mass at a small church, and visited the Scala Sancta—the “Holy Stairs.” As dusk began to fall, I decided to find dinner and head back.

Then I noticed an immense building nearby, surrounded by railings and a security gate. I almost kept walking, assuming it was off-limits—but something inside nudged me to turn around. I followed that prompting and stepped through enormous brass doors into one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen. Later, I realized I had entered the Basilica of St. John Lateran—and had unknowingly walked through its Holy Door. It was a moment of grace I could only describe as the Holy Spirit leading me.

What made it possible was silence. Alone and without distraction, I was awake to God’s presence. The prophet Elijah reminds us that the Lord is not always in wind, earthquake, or fire, but in the quiet whisper. How often, in our busy lives, do we allow ourselves to hear that whisper?

God is present in ordinary moments—waiting in the smile of a coworker, the laughter of a friend, the stillness of early morning. To be attentive is to practice being awake: to pause, to notice, and to respond. We may not travel to Rome, but we can make space to walk through the doors God sets before us, even in the ordinary rhythm of our days.

Let us ask the Lord not for extraordinary experiences alone, but to see and receive God’s presence here and now, among us, and within us.

Editor’s note: Nick Calaprico is director of youth ministry at St. Augustine, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and St. Mary of the Assumption in Baldwinsville. He is also a teacher in the Baldwinsville School District.