Category: Rule of St Benedict

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Celebrating St Benedict.

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Celebrating the feast of St Benedict, I’m reflecting on Jesus’ call to service. He interrupts the disciples’ arguments about greatness by turning their perceptions upside down, telling them:

“The greatest among you must be as the youngest, the leader as the one who serves. For who is greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table surely? Yet, I am among you as one who serves!”

His words remind his disciples that they are called to put the needs of others first. That was a startling call to his disciples. It can seem an even more challenging call to us living in a time when individual fulfilment and satisfaction are so much to the fore.

St Benedict puts the call to service at the very heart of his Rule, telling us that we should pursue what is better for others instead of for ourselves. He knows that this is not an easy call, and reminds us that we should bear patiently with one another as we strive to fulfil it.

Community life offers us many opportunities to practice both service and patience throughout the day, whether in big things or small. I often find it’s easier to do in the big things of life. When we know someone is facing something really difficult or challenging it’s easy to be loving and supportive.

It can be much harder in the myriad of little mistakes and annoyances that make up the bulk of most days. However hard it might feel St Benedict is clear that if we “long for life and to see good days” the only way is a life of loving service.

How are you being called to serve today?

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Discovering Glory.

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Beginning with Jesus’ prayer for his disciples the word “glorify” repeats again and again throughout today’s gospel:

“Jesus said: ‘Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your son may glorify you; and, through the power over all humankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him.’”

In an age that sees itself as egalitarian his words seem baffling or even downright uncomfortable. We’ve seen too many misinterpretations of glorification to be comfortable with it. But John’s Gospel is not speaking of the human glory that we’ve seen misused and abused in so many areas.

The glory of the gospel is discovering the reality of divine presence in the midst of ordinary life. We’ve seen that unfold in Jesus’ in miracles and life transforming encounters. Now Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure and the coming of the Spirit. His prayer for them is that the presence of God will continue to break through into their lives.

That presence won’t remove the challenges, difficulties and dangers they face. Instead the presence of God with them will transform them, giving them courage to move forward in hope and trust. In our own challenging and uncertain times that presence still has the power to break through and transform our lives.

It is unlikely (though not impossible) that we will see it in grand gestures and actions. It’s more likely to be apparent in glimpses and glimmers in the midst of the most ordinary and mundane activities of life. If we are attentive and alert it will come to us in the most unlikely of circumstances.

Where is God calling you to be attentive to the presence of God’s glory in your life?

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Chosen to bear fruit.

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“You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last…”

We live surrounded by choices that often require a lot of time, thought and effort. This can give us a sense of control, but if I’m honest it can also feel overwhelming and limiting. As is so often the case Jesus’ words draw me to a deeper reality that is both truer and more liberating. Going to the heart of our Christian vocation they recall the words of psalmist quoted by St Benedict:

“Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days?”

I find these gospel words both hopeful and humbling. They remind me that my role is to listen and respond. They call me back to humility, telling me that control is not in my hands, but in the hands of Christ. They fill me with hope as they tell me I am already chosen, Christ has already chosen me, and each one of us, and is waiting with love for us to respond to his call to life.

How are you listening and responding to the call of Christ in your life today?

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Shaped by and for Love.

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Today is both Good Shepherd Sunday and vocations Sunday. The Gospel with it’s call to listen makes the link between the two very clear:

“Jesus said “the sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and the follow me…They will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me.’”

It takes me back to the heart of Benedictine spirituality and so of my vocation, the call to

“Listen with the ear of your heart”.

There’s no shortage of voices trying to attract our attention in today’s world. We’re exposed to a constant cacophony of voices drawing us in opposing directions. It can be confusing, unnerving and debilitating.

In the midst of all those voices there’s another one, gentle and persistent that calls to us. It’s the voice of the Good Shepherd reminding us that we are made for love, and are held in being by love. It’s a voice that calls us back to our true selves.

It tells us that however uncertain or chaotic our times the love of Christ will never let us go. The Good Shepherd calls us to allow his voice to silence the confusion of the myriad voices around us and to focus on the one really matters, the one that can lead us to a life shaped by and for love.

Where is the Good Shepherd calling you to respond to his love today?

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Being Kind

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The 29th word in my Lent lexicon is

KINDNESS.

Kindness is a small word. It carries no great intellectual, theological or spiritual weight. While we might admit the value of kindness many of us would not even think of it as part of a spiritual practice. It doesn’t speak of grand plans, actions or gestures. This can mean means that it’s easily overlooked.

It often relates to small things that we do for one another during the day that we don’t always even notice. Today’s responsorial psalm (144/145), provided the perfect opportunity to reflect this often overlooked practice. The psalmist writes:

“The Lord is kind and full of compassion.”

Often it’s something we recommend to little children, but don’t really think about allowing it consciously to shape our own practices or interactions. I can’t help feeling that this attitude means we miss out on a really valuable practice.

It seems to me that it’s the “smallness” of kindness that makes it possible for us to act on it. To be kind require a lot of energy or a huge amount of resources. It doesn’t mean we have to have answers or solve problems.

Kindness asks one very simple, straightforward thing from us… that we put others before ourselves. To be kind all we have to do is ask ourselves what would make another person feel more comfortable, more loved, more welcome in any given situation.

Yet, those small, seemingly insignificant actions can change lives and lighten burdens in ways we could never imagine.

Where is Christ inviting you to be kind this Lent?

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The call of humility.

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The 25th word in my Lent lexicon is

HUMILITY.

It’s another word with deep Benedictine roots. St Benedict dedicates a whole chapter of the Rule to it. He describes humility the steps on a ladder. The sides of the ladder he describes as our body and soul. This is a hopeful and holistic view. St Benedict is aware that humility requires self-awareness and acceptance of our whole reality, physical, spiritual, emotional.

Already his approach goes some way to untangling the mixed messages we receive about humility that can make it more challenging than it really is. We often think of humility as admitting our failings, and this is definitely part of it. We never think about the other side of humility, acknowledging our gifts and talents.

Humility is not a call to put ourselves down, although it requires that we accept those openly. It’s a call to self-knowledge, which means admitting both our failings and our gifts.

The difference between the two men in today’s gospel is that one has an honest view of himself, while the other has chosen to believe the wholly positive image that he presents to the world. Both had a choice to make, as do we. Jesus points us in the direction of the best path to choose:

“Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Humility is a challenge both because we have to walk away from our false self and because we have to openly accept that our true self is a mixed bag of faults and talents.

Where are you learning humility this Lent?

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Conversion of life.

The 24th word in my Lent lexicon is

CONVERSION.

This is a particularly good word for a Benedictine to reflect on during Lent as conversion of life is one of our vows, and it’s always worth revisiting those from time to time. It’s a call always to be turning back to God, always to be open to the working of God in our lives.

It’s a call always to be open to the new life God offers us, even if choosing life sometimes doesn’t feel very life-giving. Conversion of life calls us to be prepared to change our ways, to try again.

In the first reading Isaiah presents conversion as a returning to God’s presence:

“Come back to the Lord your God…”

He invites us to acknowledge how far we have wandered from God and how we need to come back into God’s presence to be healed and restored. He promises us that if we find the courage and humility to do this we will be met with love as God says:

“I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them with all my heart…”

This brings us to the heart of the call to conversion. As Jesus points out in the gospel it is all about love:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

The call to conversion is a call to allow ourselves to be healed and loved by God, and to bring that healing love into our relationships with one another. Then, knowing ourselves to be loved we are able to reach out and love others.

Where is God calling you to conversion of heart this Lent?

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Listen with the ear of your heart.

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Today we’re celebrating the feast of the Passing of St Benedict, so for my Lent word I’ve gone back to the wisdom of his Rule. The 17 word in my Lent lexicon is:

LISTEN

Listen is the first word in the Rule of St Benedict. It takes me back to the basics of the Christian call. We’re getting close to the halfway mark in Lent. I always think of this as a bit of a “dead” time in Lent. The novelty of our Lent practices has worn off, and we’re still a long way from the impetus of Holy Week.

This means that it’s the time when it’s easiest to let our Lent practices slip. In such times I find it helpful to go back to the basics. St Benedict opens the Rule with these words:

“Listen carefully to the master’s instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”

The call to listen is at the heart of the Rule and of the gospel. We can’t follow the call of the gospel unless we allow ourselves to hear it. For that to happen we need to create space. We live surrounded by 24 hour sound. This can be very distracting.

If we are to allow God the chance to speak to our hearts, we have to switch off some of the other sounds that surround us, even the good & helpful ones. We have to create a quiet space where we can hear the gentle, loving voice of God calling us to follow.

What is helping you to listen to God’s voice this Lent?

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Fasting, a Lent challenge.

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The third word in my Lent lexicon is:

“FAST”

Often the first question anyone asks us about Lent is “what are you giving up? Fasting carries a heavy weight of history and of personal experience. This can make it a particularly sensitive issue. It can be an area that’s open to judgement and misinterpretation. It’s a word I find challenging and I’m coming to it with some trepidation.

I find St Benedict’s chapter on Lent helpful in facing the challenge. Instead of prescribing a particular fast for everyone he gives a list of things that we might fast from, food, drink, sleep, talking, idle jesting. He openly acknowledges that people have varying needs and capabilities. He knows that what might be manageable for one isn’t possible for another. His words carry a call not to judge ourselves or others harshly, allow people the freedom to choose the “fast” that will most help them on their spiritual journey.

In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah gives another perspective on fasting:

“Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks –to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the person you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin? Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over.”

While this is deeply challenging it is also helpful. It reminds me that our spiritual practices have to have a knock-on effect in the way we live our lives. They are not just for our personal benefit.

They are to draw us out of ourselves towards our neighbour, to help us become kinder and more compassionate. It seems to me that as Isaiah calls us to fast from the thoughts and behaviours that would harden our hearts to those around us.

How are your Lent practices helping you to become kinder and more compassionate?

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Taking risks

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We live with an almost constant temptation to divide the world into “them” and “us”. Although the criteria for each group might change according to circumstances we seem to have a natural tendency to want to stick with the people we perceive as being “like us” and distancing ourselves from those we think of as “other”.

This is especially true in challenging and unsettling times. When life feels threatening we tend to stay with what feel safe and to become more judgemental about anyone or anything that doesn’t fit our image of how things should be.

Today’s gospel sees the disciples falling into exactly this trap. When they see someone from outside of their group casting out devils in Jesus’ name and try put a stop to it. The response they get from Jesus is a surprise for them and for us. Instead of commending their diligence he says to them:

“You must not stop them: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”

His words are a challenge for the disciples and for us. He invites us to expand our horizons, and to reach out beyond our comfort zones. It’s a call that’s at the heart of the gospel. It brings to mind St Benedict’s instruction to welcome guests as we would welcome Christ.

It’s a challenge to be openhearted and to give others the benefit of the doubt. It’s an invitation to discover the best in others. In these difficult and frightening times to call we need to respond to more than ever.

Where is Christ inviting you to move out of your comfort zone today?