St. Benedict and Me

Today is the feast of Holy Father Benedict. No, not Pope Benedict, but St. Benedict of Nursia, the sixth century saint who is considered the founder of Western monasticism.  Today is also a feast day for me because I am an Oblate of St. Benedict.

When I tell people I am an Oblate, their first question is, "What's an Oblate." Their second question is, "Why?" Some people wonder if I really wanted to be a nun. Others think I'm just the crazy church lady. Some are very curious, ask a lot of questions and seem genuinely interested. The real reason is that, for me, it is a path to holiness. The link above explains what an Oblate is, but why did I decide to make my oblation is a very good question.

I first read the Holy Rule of St. Benedict many, many years ago. I picked it up while visiting the Weston Priory in Vermont which was one of my favorite places to visit with a group from my parish. I understood it as a good rule for life but never took it any further by applying it to my own life. Years later I read The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris and realised that the Rule can apply to our ordinary lives and didn't require living in a monestary or abbey. I began to see how living the Rule made a lot of sense in this crazy world of ours. It was, in a sense, a call to go back to basics, not so much in an ascetical sense but in getting back to spiritual basics and living a simple and happy life in the here and now.

The next expereince that drew me closer to a Benedictine spirituality was when I began my liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame. I learned that the Benedictines and liturgy just go together like paper and glue. They were known througout the centuries to be the center of liturgical reform and the Pontifical Liturgical Institiute located at Sant'Anselmo in Rome is run by the Benedictines.  The more I studied the more I came to undertand why I love liturgy so much. I met quite a number of Benedictine religious and oblates during my time at Notre Dame and had the opportunity to see how Benedictine spirituality affected their lives.

In discerning how I could deepen my relationship with God, it was suggested to me that I look into a third order or affiliate myself with a religious community. After much prayer, a search into the charisms of different orders and communities, and reflection on where God may be calling me, I kept coming back to the Benedictines.  I re-read the Rule and did a search on Monestaries or Abbeys near where I lived. The closest was St. Walburga Monestary in Elizabeth, NJ. If I was going to make an oblation with a community, I wanted it to be one where I would be able to travel to easily.

I began to attend Oblate meetings and after a year of discernment decided to enter formation for my oblation. I made my final oblation a year later. Being an Oblate has had such a positive affect on my life. I have learned to live a simplier life, to appreciate people and things more. I have learned that humility and obedience are not "dirty words" and that in living these virtues I am a much happier person. I have come to realize the beauty of the Divine Office and look forward to praying the psalms every day, several times a day. But most of all my relationship with God has grown deeper.

Reading the Rule every day has shown me that the wisdom of St. Benedict does not lose anything 1500 years later. It is a relevant today as it was in the sixth century.  Today as we celebrate our Holy Father Benedict's feast I can't help but call to mind a quote from the Holy Rule, one that is on the stained glass window at our monestary and taped to my computer at work: "Prefer nothing to the Love of Christ."

Happy feast day. PAX

Making the Mundane Holy

Most of my time at work these past two weeks have been filled with paperwork, forms, inputting data and checking the status of our many, many parish volunteers. Thanks to the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People all our parish and school volunteers have to undergo background checks and Virtus training. I agree that, unfortunately, all this is necessary but it seems that each year we are required to add more requirements and paperwork to achieve compliance before the national auditors visit the diocese. Since one of my responsibilities in the parish is volunteer administrator, all this falls on my shoulders.  Yesterday found me complaining to whomever would listen about how all this monotonous work had nothing to do with the ministry I was well educated for and was leaving me little time to do my other work like prepare for classes I am teaching, RCIA, getting ready for the "Missal launch," and for meetings with different ministry groups.

Last evening, after complaining to my husband, he reminded me that St. Benedict asked that those who follow his Rule view work, even the most mundane, as prayer and necessary for the journey toward holiness. As an Oblate I know this, but when it came down to doing this tremendously boring and arduous task, all I thought about was the fact that I didn't want to do it.  He also reminded me that out of obedience I am called to do all that those who have authority over me (my pastor/boss, the diocesan offices) require me to do as part of my job. Again I was given a healthy dose of humility.

As I approached the pile of papers on my desk this morning, I also recalled the words of St. Benedict who wrote, “Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection.” So I began work today praying that I would please God through my work.  It is still boring, but at least I am not resenting it. I also realised that it doesn't all have to be done today and that if I do this work a little at a time it won't seem so overwhelming and I could still get my other work done.

I was also reminded of all those who work at mundane tasks day after day, month after month, year after year just to make a living and provide for their families. These are the forgotten workers, the ones on assembly lines and in factories, those doing repetitive office work, or work  no one else wants to do. They don't complain, they are just happy to have a job, and in these tough economic times that is a blessing.  I offer my work today for them.

Happy Labor Day

Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the community members should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading - Rule of St. Benedict

Today is Labor Day, and the day to celebrate all those who labor to support themselves and their families and contribute to the economy of our nation.  It is a day to be with family and friends, bar-be-que, and even though there are over two weeks left until the autumn equinox and the days and the ocean are still warm, it is the traditional end of summer and for most of us it means going back to our normal routine.

Labor Day originally began as a day when people who worked hard and for long hours would get recognition by the government and given a day off.  It was a day to acknowledge the hard work that people did in factories, in the fields, in service to the community, and has expanded to include all kinds of work in offices, schools, in anyway that people earn their way.  It acknowledges that work is important. It is important not only in an economical and financial sense but in a spiritual sense as well.

St. Benedict knew the value of work.  He made it an important part of the rule of his communities...ora et labora, prayer and work are the foundations of monastic life. "Idleness is the enemy of the soul", he wrote.  We have all heard it reworded "idleness is the devil's playground" or "idle hands make the devil's work."  These saying are not suggesting that we work until we drop, or push ourselves beyond what is reasonably required, but when we work, when we engage in labor of any kind, we keep our minds and our bodies focused on what we are doing and thus avoiding temptations that idleness can bring.

Work, when done in the sense of giving glory to God, can be a very spiritual experience.  When I start my workday with prayer all seems to go better.  OK, I admit, I work for the Church, so it might be a bit easier to focus my work on the Lord, but, as anyone knows who has ever worked in a parish office or in Church ministry, it can bring it's own kind of challenges and sometimes we can easily lose that focus.  When that happens, it is time to stop and say a brief prayer.  St. Benedict knew this when he established hours of prayer throughout the day when work would cease when the work of God or Opus Dei would be prayed with the community.  Try it when things on the job get tense or overwhelming.

I discovered that work is mentioned 480 times in the Bible.  Right at the beginning, God put Adam in the garden "to cultivate and to care for it (Gen 2:15), yet because of the fall, man's labor and toil increased (Gen. 3:17b-19). In the New Testament, Jesus teaches us in parables about workers in the fields and vineyards.  Paul writes,

aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your own hands, as we have instructed you, that you may conduct yourselves properly toward outsiders and not depend on anyone. (1Thes. 4:11)

The Church too views work as something that is important and necessary to the human state. Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1981 Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens (On Human Work):

Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfilment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes "more a human being".

All too often today however, work  has become a means to an end, so to speak for many.  It is a way to increase what we have but really don't need.  It has created a society where consumerism and materialism have become more important than earning our keep and keeping food on our table and a home over our heads.  On the other side, there are those who work tirelessly for unjust wages and in oppressive conditions.  I am thinking of those around the world in sweat shops and fields, especially children who are forced to labor like slaves, while those who "employ" them get rich.  There are those, many undocumented, who stand in front of home improvement stores or in parking lots waiting for a contractor or landscaper to choose them to work just for the day, for less than minimum wage.  I think of the elderly men and women in my supermarket who, at a time when they could be retired and enjoying their last days, are forced to keep working to make ends meet. The mothers who are forced into working instead of raising their children because of the high cost of living. And those, who because of our consumer mindset, are working this day in stores so we can take advantage of the best sales.  These are the forgotten laborers, the ones we really don't celebrate today. Many of them are working today while the we relax in our yards.  We need to remember them and to see that unfair labor practices are eradicated so that all may enjoy rest and fruits from their work.

What ever we do, where ever we work, we must always remember that we are called to work in the Vineyard of the Lord, to do His bidding, and to labor tirelessly so that His Kingdom will come.  It is this kind of work that we should never rest from.  Today is the fourteenth anniversary of the death of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. If ever a woman worked for the Lord, it was she. She labored physically every day to help the poor and the dying, to protect the unborn, and to bring Christ to the world.  Her work brought glory to God.  She writes:

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

There is a lot to think about in that quote. Whatever we may do to earn a living, do we do it just for the sake of work, or do we, in some way, consider our work as a means of living the Gospel and bringing Christ to others?

Happy Labor Day, enjoy your rest, but don't rest from praying.

 

LISTEN

As a Benedictine Oblate I read the Holy Rule of St. Benedict three times a year. Today, September 1st, we again begin the Prologue.

L I S T E N carefully, my child,
to your master's precepts,
and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20).
Receive willingly and carry out effectively
your loving father's advice,
that by the labor of obedience
you may return to Him
from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.

To you, therefore, my words are now addressed,
whoever you may be,
who are renouncing your own will
to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King,
and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.

And first of all,
whatever good work you begin to do,
beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it,
that He who has now deigned to count us among His children
may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds.
For we must always so serve Him
with the good things He has given us,
that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children,
nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions,
deliver us to everlasting punishment
as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.

The Prologue sets the tone for the whole Rule. It is a loving father speaking to his children and teaching them the ways of God and how to live a life prefering "nothing to the Love of Christ."  Holy Father Benedict begins with the word "LISTEN." In Latin the word is "obsculta" which not only means to listen but to obey.  Humble obedience is the hallmark of the Holy Rule. To obey someone is to listen carefully to what someone in authority has to say to us and then to follow what is asked of us.

To someone who first picks up the Rule it may seem harsh and difficult, but as one delves into the fatherly guidance and loving admonitions found in its brief pages, he or she begins to understand that the path outlined in the Rule is not harsh but challenging. To live the Rule is to live life in union with God.  We are to "listen" not just with our ears but with the ears of our hearts for God speaks to us in our hearts. Obedience to God and to the Rule brings with it a freedom and opens our hearts to be truly human, truly children of God.

True Humility

Detail of Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck

On Saturday I heard an interesting quote during the homily at Mass. "Humility is a strange virtue. You lose it the moment you think you have it." The priest was preaching on the last line of Saturday's Gospel which states, " Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt. 23:12). It is a bit of a paradox, for how do you humble yourself without being aware that you are being humble?

I have been reflecting upon the virtue of humility for quite awhile now. It is something that we as Christians should strive for, and certainly as a Benedictine, humility is a virtue that I should be assimilating into my life.  In the Holy Rule, Father Benedict writes:

"Accordingly, if we want to reach the highest summit of humility, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in heaven to which we climb by the humility of this present life, then by our ascending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw "angels descending and ascending" (Gen 28:12). Without a doubt, this descent and ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by humility. Now the ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our heart God will raise it to heaven."

True humility comes with knowing who we are before God and in our complete dependence upon Him, being always aware of His presence.  True humility also comes with  obedience to the will of God.  Both require trust and turning over our will to our Creator.  This doesn't come easy. I know it is difficult to not desire recognition or not feel pride in a job well done. Then there is the distinction between real humility and false humility.  Being humble does not mean that we let people walk all over us, or that we constantly put ourselves down. That is false humility.  True humility I think is attained when we be who God wants us to be.

Today we celebrate the memorial of the Queenship of Mary.  Mary is the perfect example of true humility.  We hear her humility reflected in her Magnificat:

 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
 My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
 For he has looked upon His handmaid’s lowliness;
 Behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
 The Mighty One has done great things for me,
 And Holy is His name.

Mary unconditionally accepted the will of God and by virtue of her humility and by virtue of her Love and obedience to God, she was crowned as Queen of Heaven and of earth.  We are called to imitate Mary in all her virtues but especially in her humility. To be humble is to "prefer nothing to the Love of Christ", to put all my trust in God and to proclaim His praises in all that I am and all that I do.

Pope Benedict XVI beautifully expressed following Mary's way of humilty in a homily addressed to the youth of Loreto in September of 2007.

        …the way of humility is not the way of renunciation but that of courage. It is not the result of a defeat but the result of a victory of love over selfishness and of grace over sin. In following Christ and imitating Mary, we must have the courage of humility; we must entrust ourselves humbly to the Lord, because only in this way will we be able to become docile instruments in his hands and allow him to do great things in us.

                                           

Silence is Golden

Today I had to walk out of church after Mass lest I be led into sin.  No, it was not something that was said in the homily, or the fact that the priest ad libbed parts of the prayers, or that he chose not to celebrate the memorial of the Dedication of St. Maria Maggiore, one of my most favorite churches in all the world.  What caused me to leave was the behavior of the assembly after Mass.  I am not a stickler for absolute silence in church, however there is a certain etiquette that should be followed regarding being quiet in church, whispering if one must speak so that those who choose to pray are able to.  

Over the past week, the notion of silence has manifested itself to me in different readings and in my personal meditations. I had planned on writing about silence since God certainly was speaking to me about the need for it, yet I was procrastinating. After this morning Mass, I guess God was telling me that I should not put it off any longer. In the book Rediscovering Catholicism, Matt Kelly writes about how important silence is to prayer and how our lives are filled with so much noise that it is almost impossible to hear the voice of God.  He writes, "Our modern world is spinning out of control, and one of the chief contributors to the chaos and confusion of our modern age is noise. We are filled with noise. We are afraid of silence."  In this coming Sunday's first reading, God is found not in the loud thundering sounds of storms, wind and earthquakes, but in the "tiny whispering sound." 

In one of my readings from the Holy Rule this week, Benedict writes with regard to silence in the oratory, "After the Opus Dei, all should leave in complete silence and with reverence for God, so that anyone who may wish to pray alone will not be disturbed by the insensitivity of another."  Pretty strong words.

The benefits of silence are many.  It allows the mind to quiet itself and bring to the forefront things that are really important by taking away the distractions that come with noise.  It allows us to focus our prayer. Most of all, it allows us to hear the still, small voice of our Lord.  

Ridding ourselves of noise is not easy, especially when you live with others who do not share the same views on silence. I guess Jesus faced some of the same issues (although He didn't have to deal with modern electronic noise making devices), because he always went off alone to pray.  We don't always have that luxury, but there are ways to achieve times of silence.  For years I have not played the radio in the car.  Although I once loved listening to music all the time, I find that not listening, even at home, is a good thing, and also lets me appreciate music better when I do choose to listen.  Once a TV addict, I now only watch a little of it, and avoid the news and gossip stations.  My cell phone is usually on silent or vibrate, although I do get chastised for missing calls, most that really weren't that important anyway (what did we do without cell phones - especially in church).  I believe that noise is a huge obstacle to prayer. If we want to pray well, we need to turn off the noise in our lives, or at least a portion of it.  

This brings me back to this morning's incident at church. Several different groups of people were making a lot of unnecessary noise and it got louder and louder as each group tried to be heard over the other.  One group was actually shouting the Rosary, as if our Lady was hard of hearing.  The ladies setting up for a funeral were yelling across the church to each other. A large family group was loudly conversing. There were people in the church trying to pray.  I had the need to pray.  Finally the distraction got so unbearable that my thoughts were wandering far from God, so I left to continue my prayer at home.  I would have preferred to be in front of the Blessed Sacrament, but God is everywhere.  I could have offered up the annoyance, but it was so noisy that this thought didn't even come to my mind until I was home for awhile, and it still would not have given me the silence I needed to hear God.

What all this is telling me, and I hope telling some of you, is to make time for silence in your life, and in places of peace and quiet, to be aware of others need for silence. We can't always go away to pray, although a retreat is probably the best way of achieving silence. Yet even on retreats I have found that there is unnecessary noise and chatter. Why are we afraid of silence?  Why are we afraid to hear God?  One of the things that stand out for me during my travels to Italy, were the old ladies in the churches who would call out "silencio" when people started to speak above a whisper in church.  Perhaps we need some of those old ladies in our churches, on our street corners, in our homes and workplaces.  Maybe we need to be less afraid of silence and realize that it is in the silence that we meet God.

Post script:  Just in case I gave the impression that I lack patience, I did try to pray through this for 15 minutes before I left the church.