“Have
no fear. Can I take the place of God? Even though you meant harm to me, God
meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the survival of many people.”
Genesis 50:19-20
“Therefore
do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor
secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the
light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” Matthew 10:26-27
Piety
[B]ut for all their necessities let them
look to the Father of the monastery. And let it be unlawful to have
anything which the Abbot has not given or allowed. Let all things be
common to all, as it is written (Acts 4:32), and let no one say or
assume that anything is his own. RSB 33
Study
There is a story that you might have heard
about a somewhat famous rabbi. A visitor
went to see him and was taken aback by the lack of furniture in an almost
barren house. It prompted an exchange
that went something like this:
“Why don’t you have any furniture?” said the
visitor.
“Why don’t you?” asked the rabbi.
“Well, because I am only passing through,”
the visitor said.
“So am I,” explained the rabbi.
On today’s memorial for Saint Benedict, the
reading from his Rule reminds us of the pledge in Acts of the Apostles that all
property would be held in common. That
is how the first Christian community lived.
That is how today’s communities of Benedictine men and women live. That also is how people in poor communities
live.
The Rule of Saint Benedict offers a simple
prescription for living. The Rule offers
people a plan for living a balanced, simple, and prayerful life. In it
Benedict tells his monks and nuns that ora et labor is their way
(work and prayer), that the Divine Office is their work (opus dei) and
the vows of stability, conversion, and obedience are
their commitments. These vows have much to say to those of us not living
in a monastery or convent.
Private property, 401(K) accounts, two cars
in the driveway, renters insurance, a curio cabinet filled with the tchotchkes
of life all get in the way of the Benedictine way. We cannot be present to the Kingdom
of God if we are tied by possessions to the Kingdom of Best Buy-Amazon.com-Sears-Famous
Footwear. We cannot proclaim from the housetops the need to change if we do not
change ourselves.
Action
Stability refers to the importance of
community and commitment in life. For the Cursillista, stability begins in the
community of a weekend and continues in the community of the family, the
parish, the diocese, the group reunion, the ultreya and more. We may not be a
monk or a nun but the vow of stability speaks to our current situation and the environments
in which we live. As the encyclical Si
Laudate reminds us, when we remain committed to the earth we learn how to be
good stewards of that which God has given us and that we share with the world.
Conversion is not confined to a one-time
experience. The experience of your Cursillo weekend may have felt like
you were on the mountaintop. But when
you are on the mountaintop, the only place to go is down. Conversion may occur for some when they are “born
again.” However, conversion for the Benedictine/Cursillista
is being ready to change when the present moment demands that we change. We need to be open to those “close moments
with God” every day. When I was in
college living next to (or as a part of) a Benedictine community that had been
present for 100 years, I probably was not aware of the community as much then
as I am now.
Obedience is obedience. As the Rule implies today, it is obedience to
the Abbott. However, the real obedience
is to God. Anything that gets in the way
of hearing and acting upon that message is the flotsam and jetsam of suburban
or city life. For a Cursillista, we must
have a way of cultivating a disciplined, intentional life that is yearning to
be obedient to God. It helps to have a
healthy dose of humility – and elsewhere in the RSB, St. Benedict outlines
twelve essential steps for humility.
How can you incorporate the spirit of St.
Benedict in your piety, study, and action?
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