The Rule of Saint Benedict

On the Divine Office During the Night

In the winter time,
that is from the Calends of November until Easter,
the sisters shall rise
at what is calculated to be the eighth hour of the night,
so that they may sleep somewhat longer than half the night
and rise with their rest completed.
And the time that remains after the Night Office
should be spent in study
by those sisters who need a better knowledge of the Psalter
or the lessons.

From Easter to the aforesaid Calends of November,
the hour of rising should be so arranged that the Morning Office,
which is to be said at daybreak,
will follow the Night Office after a very short interval,
during which they may go out for the necessities of nature.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

O God from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that were right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The twelfth degree of humility
is that a monk not only have humility in his heart
but also by his very appearance make it always manifest
to those who see him.
That is to say that whether he is at the Work of God,
in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road,
in the fields or anywhere else,
and whether sitting, walking or standing,
he should always have his head bowed
and his eyes toward the ground.
Feeling the guilt of his sins at every moment,
he should consider himself already present at the dread Judgment
and constantly say in his heart
what the publican in the Gospel said
with his eyes fixed on the earth:
"Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up my eyes to heaven" (Luke 18:13; Matt. 8:8);
and again with the Prophet:
"I am bowed down and humbled everywhere" (Ps. 37:7,9; 118:107).

Having climbed all these steps of humility, therefore,
the monk will presently come to that perfect love of God
which casts out fear.
And all those precepts
which formerly he had not observed without fear,
he will now begin to keep by reason of that love,
without any effort,
as though naturally and by habit.
No longer will his motive be the fear of hell,
but rather the love of Christ,
good habit
and delight in the virtues
which the Lord will deign to show forth by the Holy Spirit
in His servant now cleansed from vice and sin.

Columba of Iona

O God, you called your servant Columba
from among the princes of this land
to be a herald and evanglist of your kingdom:
Grant that your Church, remembering his faith and courage,
may so proclaim the splendour of your grace
that people everywhere will come to know your Son
as their Saviour, and serve him as their king;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer, Church of Ireland

O God, by the preaching of your blessed servant Columba
you caused the light of the Gospel to shine in Scotland:
Grant, we pray, that, having his life and labors in remembrance,
we may show our thankfulness to you by following the example
of his zeal and patience; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, TEC

Almighty God,
who filled the heart of Columba
with the joy of the Holy Spirit
and with deep love for those in his care:
May your pilgrim people follow him,
storng in faith, sustained by hope,
and one in the love that binds us to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Daily Prayer, Church of England

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The eleventh degree of humility
is that when a monk speaks
he do so gently and without laughter,
humbly and seriously,
in few and sensible words,
and that he be not noisy in his speech.
It is written,
"A wise man is known by the fewness of his words"(Sextus, Enchidirion, 134 or 145).

What Now!

With the Easter Season behind us, how are we to live? Do we embrace the new life that we have freely received in Christ, or do we return to our old selves awaiting once again the cyclical return of the resurrection story?

It seems to me that the focus of this Season of Ordinary Time invites us more deeply into the promise of the risen Christ and calls us to shed the dying skin of our mortality by learning to do those things that do not come easy for us.

Only through faith have we been transfigured and changed. The resurrection was not magical, nor does it require of us to do something against our will. It does, however, challenge our old way of doing things calling us into a new creation. At the heart of our risen life is our willingness to live for God, to serve and worship him, and draw all people into unity with him through Christ. When we are unable to live the new life it means that we have allowed the gravitational pull of our former self to have its way with us.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The tenth degree of humility
is that he be not ready and quick to laugh,
for it is written,
"The fool lifts up his voice in laughter" (Eccles. 21:23).

Oh, my!

This afternoon, we received a call from a nearby Episcopal Parish asking if we would check in on one of their parishioners who is in the medical center. The reason why they needed our intervention was due to the fact that the grandson told them that "under no uncertain terms, were they to see her, because she had been in the hospital for over a week, and they failed to visit her!" He went on to say that he was "going to contact the local vicar and ask him to watch over his grandmother." Well, it turns out that the clergy of the nearby parish was never told that their parishioner was sick and in the hospital. The grandson made several assumptions and now is condemning his grandmother's clergy for the lack of care, and they didn't even know!

As I talked with the secretary of the parish, I told her that I would not get involved until the grandson called me, and then I would do absolutely nothing until I reported my conversation with her. Well, I never heard from the grandson!

It is amazing how many people think clergy are blessed with clairvoyance and the ability to know things without being informed! I think such thinking is a trap and a way for people who are upset with the parish to discover an excuse to remove themselves. Oh, my!

The New Monastics

"New Monasticism" is the term used for a current religious movement of groups of Christians living within and serving communities of need. According to the site for the Rutba House, a New Monastic community in Durham, North Carolina, the term was coined by Jonathan Wilson, in his book, Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World. Wilson drew heavily on writings of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who wrote in After Virtue:

What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us. And if the tradition of the virtues was able to survive the horrors of the last dark ages, we are not entirely without grounds for hope. This time however the barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers; they have already been governing us for quite some time.

The Rutba House defines new monasticism as having 12 distinguishing characteristic, including:

1 Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.
2 Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3 Hospitality to the stranger
4 Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
5 Humble submission to Christ's body, the church.
6 Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate.
7 Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
8 Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children.
9 Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
10 Care for the plot of God's earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
11 Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
12 Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.

You may read more:

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/newmonastics/particulars.shtml

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The ninth degree of humility
is that a monk restrain his tongue and keep silence,
not speaking until he is questioned.
For the Scripture shows
that "in much speaking there is no escape from sin" (Prov. 10:19)
and that "the talkative man is not stable on the earth" (Ps. 139:12).

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The eighth degree of humility
is that a monk do nothing except what is commended
by the common Rule of the monastery
and the example of the elders.

The Feast of Boniface of Mainz

Almighty God, you called your faithful servant Boniface to be a witness and martyr in Germany, and by has labor and suffering you raised up a people of your own possession: Pour out your Holy Spirit upon your Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many your holy Name may be glorified and your kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one god, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The seventh degree of humility
is that he consider himself lower and of less account
than anyone else,
and this not only in verbal protestation
but also with the most heartfelt inner conviction,
humbling himself and saying with the Prophet,
"But I am a worm and no man,
the scorn of men and the outcast of the people" (Ps. 21:7).
"After being exalted, I have been humbled
and covered with confusion" (Pa. 87:16).
And again,
"It is good for me that You have humbled me,
that I may learn Your commandments" (Ps. 118:71).

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The sixth degree of humility
is that a monk be content
with the poorest and worst of everything,
and that in every occupation assigned him
he consider himself a bad and worthless workman,
saying with the Prophet,
"I am brought to nothing and I am without understanding;
I have become as a beast of burden before You,
and I am always with You" (Ps:22-23).

Humility: Open Hearts

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect for Purity, at the opening of the eucharistic liturgy, holds before us the fifth degree of humility found in the Rule of Saint Benedict. Imagine what our lives would be like if they were totally translucent, self-revealing, holding nothing back, living in a freedom and openness known only to those in the Garden of delight, the land of Eden. What amazing things would happen if we could empty the dark resentments, the bitter poison that destroys relationships, and break open the secrets that separate and hinder intimacy.

At one time, in the early church, it was very common for a member of the faith community to stand before his brothers and sisters acknowledging his hidden wretchedness, and today within the monastery the monk unveils himself before his spiritual father, and it is not uncommon for one to make his or her confession before an experienced priest. The honesty required to live in community comes only with a humble and hospitable heart for it is only in self-knowledge that we find healing from the demons that lurk behind the veil of hostile fear of the known. All revelation is of God, and we are called to practice this new freedom in the spirit of a loving Father.

The Feast of the Trinity

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father, who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The fifth degree of humility
is that he hide from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts
that enter his heart
or the sins committed in secret,
but that he humbly confess them.
The Scripture urges us to this when it says,
"Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36:5)
and again,
"Confess to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 105:1).
And the Prophet likewise says,
"My offense I have made known to You,
and my iniquities I have not covered up.
I said: 'I will declare against myself my iniquities to the Lord;'
and 'You forgave the wickedness of my heart'" (Ps. 31:5).

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The fourth degree of humility
is that he hold fast to patience with a silent mind
when in this obedience he meets with difficulties
and contradictions
and even any kind of injustice,
enduring all without growing weary or running away.
For the Scripture says,
"The one who perseveres to the end,
is the one who shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22);
and again
"Let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord" (Ps. 26:14)!

And to show how those who are faithful
ought to endure all things, however contrary, for the Lord,
the Scripture says in the person of the suffering,
"For Your sake we are put to death all the day long;
we are considered as sheep marked for slaughter" (Ps. 43:22; Rom. 8:36).
Then, secure in their hope of a divine recompense,
they go on with joy to declare,
"But in all these trials we conquer,
through Him who has granted us His love" (Rom. 8:37).
Again, in another place the Scripture says,
"You have tested us, O God;
You have tried us a silver is tried, by fire;
You have brought us into a snare;
You have laid afflictions on our back" (Matt. 5:39-41).
And to show that we ought to be under a Superior,
it goes on to say,
"You have set men over our heads" (Ps. 65:12).

Moreover, by their patience
those faithful ones fulfill the Lord's command
in adversities and injuries:
when struck on one cheek, they offer the other;
when deprived of their tunic, they surrender also their cloak;
when forced to go a mile, they go two;
with the Apostle Paul they bear with false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26)
and bless those who curse them (1 Cor. 4:12).

Scriptural Foundation for the Rule of Saint Benedict

When Saint Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule for his disciples, it was more than simply carving out a way of life in the midst of a profane world for those who wished to follow in the way of the Cross. From the very beginning of the Rule, one may see the influence of Holy Scripture permeating his teaching to monks of every generation:

Listen my son to the instructions of your Master, turn the ear of your heart to the advice of a loving father; accept it willingly and carry it out vigorously; so that through the toil of obedience you may return to him from whom you have separated by the sloth of disobedience.

From the Prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict

Listen, children, to a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good good precepts: do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, and my mother's favorite, he taught me, and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.

From Proverbs 8:1; 4:20; 6:20

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The third degree of humility is that a person
for love of God
submit himself to his Superior in all obedience,
imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle says,
"He became obedient even unto death."

A Prayer: The Horror of the Unspeakable

Lord,
yesterday, it was reported
that a young mother hung her four children
and herself. They were suspended in a row
beside their mom amid clothing in a
make-shift closet hanging from a two-by-four
piece of wood behind a sheet.

relatives and neighbors knew she was
suffering from depression following
the separation from her common law husband
who was very abusive.

where does this inner emptiness come from,
this sense of hopelessness that fills the
air of those so desperate? Everyone saw
her as a good mother.

this event will disappear from my memory
soon, it will carry no lasting effects, her
death and the children's will fade into
the darkness that surrounded her and
sucked away her hopefulness.

why do these things happen, O Lord, why
don't I feel the pain of such anguish?

there are others like her, others who live
in the shadow of death, without anyone
knowing their hidden secret - looking
for release from a world that has denied
them entrance.

bring them into the company of your saints,
and let them play again in the arms of
eternal blessedness.

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Father in heaven, by your grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The second degree of humility
is that a person love not his own will
nor take pleasure in satisfying his desires,
but model his actions on the saying of the Lord,
"I have come not to do My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).
It is written also,
"Self-will has its punishment,
but constraint wins a crown."

The "Best" Decision!

I spent the morning with the Citizen's Review Panel listening to four cases dealing with child neglect and abuse and making recommendations regarding the future outcome of these young lives. They ranged from one young man, age 15, who presently is in a group home, but was told that he would not be returning to his mother, but hopefully would be living out of state with a relative. Those who brought the case were very positive about this young man and about his future. He had two brothers, one his identical twin who he was very concerned about but mature enough to know that they would never again be able to live together because of anger issues in his twin. He wept at the recommendation, but showed strength of character and maturity. The second case concerned three young children, ages 13 to 9, and the recommendation was that suitable relative placement be sought, again the parent was unfit to raise the children. The third case was a continuation of the second, however a different father who is currently serving time in jail. He was allowed a few minutes with his children, but it was difficult for them to see their father in chains and handcuffs. Yet there is hope that if the father continues on the path that he has set he may be able to have his children returned to his home in a year. The final case was a young girl, age 5, who was born to a woman to young to be a mother, and the recommendation was simply that she will be placed in the home of a relative. These are always difficult decisions but the panel is responsible for the "best" recommendation in the interest of the child, and I think today we fulfilled our responsibilities. It is always hard to believe that there are parents within our community who lack the emotional and economic stability to care for their children.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

We must be on our guard, therefore, against evil desires,
for death lies close by the gate of pleasure.
Hence the Scripture gives this command:
"Go not after your concupiscences" (Eccles. 18:30).

So therefore,
since the eyes of the Lord observe the good and the evil (Prov. 15:3)
and the Lord is always looking down from heaven
on the children of earth
"to see if there be anyone who understands and seeks God" (Ps. 13:2),
and since our deeds are daily,
day and night,
reported to the Lord by the Angels assigned to us,
we must constantly beware, brethren,
as the Prophet says in the Psalm,
lest at any time God see us falling into evil ways
and becoming unprofitable (Ps. 13:3);
and lest, having spared us for the present
because in His kindness He awaits our reformation,
He say to us in the future,
"These things you did, and I held My peace" (Ps. 49:21).

Tolerance is not my word

The past two weeks during our Education for Ministry (EFM) class, our lessons for the week and occurrences in the church and our community led us into a discussion of bigotry, its causes and roots. As we talked about such feelings and the problems in the Communion, I looked down at a trivet on our conference table and saw this: "Episcopalians embrace love, inclusion, tolerance and respect for everyone."

Do we? This word, tolerance, has been a thorn in my side. When I read this to the class and stated my dislike of the word tolerance, the reactions from my classmates were almost unilaterally negative. No one had a good feeling about the word.

I had the blessing to come into the church at All Saints, Indianapolis, a parish that is very open and affirming, where gay and straight could just as easily describe the weather or the way a road runs as a person's orientation; a parish where black and white more often describes the victory flag for the "500." I was fortunate to have a community teach me compassion and understanding for everyone.

Read the whole article

The Season of the Spirit

With the coming of Pentecost, the remembrance of our Lord's crucifixion, death, and resurrection become a part of the fabric of our humanity, for we have been invited into a reality that will transform our lives, the letting go of the old self and the embracing of a new self; the putting behind us those things that prevent us from living fully and embracing the abundance that comes only from God.

The Season after Pentecost is the longest season of the Christian Year, from Trinity Sunday until the Feast of Christ the King. This season carries us through the heat of summer into late fall, and in the midst of this ordinary time we celebrate major feasts that continue to recall us to the new milieu of our existence: The Transfiguration (August), The Veneration of Holy Cross (September), and All Saints Day (November). At the heart of our faith is the continual conversion of life that is asked of us as a baptized people, letting go more and more of the old and embracing the new. In the incarnation, God has brought humanity into God through Jesus Christ, and as a result of this mystery we are invited to live more deeply and truly into this reality of Divine Love.

You Will Be Missed!

I am troubled by the news today that Cindy Sheehan, the outspoken critic of the Iraq War, is withdrawing and returning to her native California after standing in the brink to hold before the American people an unpopular view. What is amazing to me is that she has been criticized and denounced by both Republicans and Democrats, from the right and from the left for her position on the war.

It is troubling that we, who hold a different view point, are deaf to those views that we wish to deny and go away. Why can't we listen and learn from one another? Do we really think that someone, or some group, holds all the answers to all the questions regarding the morality of war? Why can't we be open to opposing points of view and allow ourselves to be challenged by the diversity of opinions?

I am sorry that she is returning to "normal" life and departing the market place of ideas. She has contributed well to the ongoing debate, and I am grateful for her presence among us. She has been strong against those things she believes are wrong. Perhaps, as she departs, we may begin to raise our voices against the evils of our day.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

As for self-will,
we are forbidden to do our own will
by the Scripture, which says to us,
"Turn away from your own will" (Eccles. 18:30),
and likewise by the prayer in which we ask God
that His will be done in us.
And rightly are we taught not to do our own will
when we take heed to the warning of Scripture:
"There are ways which seem right,
but the ends of them plunge into the depths of hell" (Prov. 16:25);
and also when we tremble at what is said of the careless:
"They are corrupt and have become abominable in their will."

And as for the desires of the flesh,
let us believe with the Prophet that God is ever present to us,
when he says to the Lord,
"Every desire of mine is before You" (Ps. 37:10).

REMEMBER ME

Of The Holy Spirit

Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one god, now and for ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

Let a man consider
that God is always looking at him from heaven,
that his actions are everywhere visible to the divine eyes
and are constantly being reported to God by the Angels.
This is what the Prophet shows us
when he represents God as ever present within our thoughts,
in the words "Searcher of minds and hearts is God" (Ps. 7:10)
and again in the words "The Lord knows the thoughts of men" (Ps. 93:11).
Again he says,
"You have read my thoughts from afar" (Ps. 138:3)
and "The thoughts of people will confess to You" (Ps. 75:11).

In order that he may be careful
about his wrongful thoughts, therefore,
let the faithful brother say constantly in his heart,
"Then shall I be spotless before Him,
if I have kept myself from my iniquity" (Ps. 17:24).

The Feast of Pentecost

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as

Christ's own for ever. Amen.

Commentary:

The Spirit, however, does not accomplish His work in us if we remain completely passive and inert. If we are to enter fully into the mystery of his supernatural union in Christ, we must respond to God's gift of grace and consent to live as a child of God. Such consent must be elicited by our own free will ..... If we would live like sons of God, we must reproduce in our own lives the life and charity of His only begotten Son (Thomas Merton). It is the exercise of this new freedom as children of God that makes us capable of achieving our true likeness to God. And what is required of us to exercise this freedom in our life is an openness to the Spirit in faith and in love.

John J. Higgins SJ, Merton's Theology of Prayer
* italics, mine

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

The first degree of humility, then,
is that a person keep the fear of God before his eyes
and beware of ever forgetting it.
Let him be ever mindful of all that God has commanded;
let his thoughts constantly recur
to the hell-fire which will burn for their sins
those who despise God,
and to the life everlasting which is prepared
for those who fear Him.
Let him keep himself at every moment from sins and vices,
whether of the mind, the tongue, the hands, the feet,
or the self-will,
and check also the desires of the flesh.

The Eve of Pentecost / Whitsunday

Come, Holy Ghost our souls inspire,
and lighten with celestial fire.
Enable with perpetual light
the dullness of our blinded sight.

Thou the anointing Spirit art,
who does thy sevenfold gifts impart
Anointed and cheer our soiled face
with the abundance of thy grace.

Thy blessed unction from above
is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and thee, of both, to be but One.

that through the ages all alone,
this may be our endless song:
praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Veni Creator Spiritus,
9th Century

Mystagogia #8

In the week following the Ascension, the Collects of the Day turn our hearts toward the coming of the Holy Spirit, the empowerment from on high. As disciples of Christ, we pray that with Jesus' ascent into heaven that we will not be left alone or comfortless, and beseech him to send us the strengthening presence of the Holy Spirit. It will be through the agape-love of the Holy Spirit that we will be raised to newness of life and continue to grow into the full maturity of our Lord and Savior. Through the Wind and the Fire, my the Spirit come now upon us with power distributing among us the gifts of the selfsame Spirit, that dedicating ourselves more and more to the service of God, and living more fully the riches of our faith,

The Feast of Augustine of Canterbury

O Lord our God, by your Son Jesus Christ you called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy Name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives, and reigns with ou, and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Humility

Holy Scripture, brethren, cries out to us, saying,
"Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled,
and he who humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).
In saying this it shows us
that all exaltation is a kind of pride,
against which the Prophet proves himself to be on guard
when he says,
"Lord, my heart is not exalted,
nor are mine eyes lifted up;
neither have I walked in great matters,
nor in wonders above me."
But how has he acted?
"Rather have I been of humble mind
than exalting myself;
as a weaned child on its mother's breast,
so You solace my soul" (Ps. 130:1-2).

Hence, brethren,
if we wish to reach the very highest point of humility
and to arrive speedily at that heavenly exaltation
to which ascent is made through the humility of this present life,
we must
by our ascending actions
erect the ladder Jacob saw in his dream,
on which Angels appeared to him descending and ascending.
By that descent and ascent
we must surely understand nothing else than this,
that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility.
And the ladder thus set up is our life in the would,
which the Lord raises up to heaven if our heart is humbled.
For we call our body and soul the sides of the ladder,
and into these sides our divine vocation has inserted
the different steps of humility and discipline we must climb.

The Feast of Bede the Venerable

Heavenly Father, you called your servant Bede, while still a child, to devote his life to your service in the disciplines of religion and scholarship: Grant that as he labored in the Spirit to bring the riches of your truth to his generation, so we, in our various vocations, may strive to make you known in all the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On the Spirit of Silence

Let us do what the Prophet says:
"I said, 'I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue.
I have set a guard to my mouth.'
I was mute and was humbled,
and kept silence even from good things" (Ps. 38:2-3).
Here the Prophet shows
that if the spirit of silence ought to lead us at times
to refrain even from good speech,
so much the more ought the punishment for sin
make us avoid evil words.

Therefore, since the spirit of silence is so important,
permission to speak should rarely be granted
even to perfect disciples,
even though it be for good, holy edifying conversation;
for it is written,
"In much speaking you will not escape sin" (Prov. 10:19),
and in another place,
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21).

For speaking and teaching belong to the master;
the disciple's part is to be silent and to listen.
And for that reason
if anything has to be asked of the Superior,
it should be asked
with all the humility and submission inspired by reverence.

But as for coarse jests and idle words
or words that move to laughter,
these we condemn everywhere with a perpetual ban,
and for such conversation
we do not permit a disciple to open her mouth.

On The Liturgy

Father Aidan Kavanagh, OSB reminds us of some first principles regarding the liturgy:

What this Word has always told those who celebrate the liturgy is that the Holy One in whose presence they stand is pleased to have them stand there precisely because of their sin, which merited so great a redeemer, and that because of this they have no abiding city. Their home is with God in Christ, who reveals his Father just as the Holy Spirit reveals him to them as the Christ of God. Their liturgical worship belongs to these three, who allow us to take our unmerited and gratuitously given part in it, and it discomforts us as it comforts. In no way must it confirm us in our illusions—that this liturgy belongs to us, or our social class, or our culture, or our world; that we are without sin; that our salvation is sure in spite of what we do; that our prognosis is only progress; that our city will abide; that our glands preside; that more education has all the answers. A “divine liturgy” is a countercultural tornado, and we do it not for ourselves, or the parish, or the Church, but for the life of the world.

Taddled from the online version of Commonweal: A Review of Religion, Politics and Culture, May 23, 2007

A Waiting Place

The season between Ascension Day and Pentecost is a time of "waiting" for the church. It is a mini-Advent but with a difference. Where Advent anticipates the coming of God in the midst of human history with the birth of Jesus. This season opens us to receive the strength and power of God for our lives and ministry. The Holy Spirit renews the face of the earth and quickens our hearts for the joy which is to come. This Gift forms faith and draws us into community, it quickens the hearer in his encounter with Holy Scripture, it enlivens our gifts of bread and wine transforming us into the Body of Christ, it forgives our sins and makes it possible for us risk ourselves in the proclamation of the Word. Indeed, we who are followers of Christ are intoxicated with the love that his given birth to creation and saved us in spite of ourselves. May we begin to see in the coming days the brightness of the flames that warm the hearts of all people and inflame our love for God.

The Forty-Sixth Day of Easter

Father, let your Spirit come upon us with power to fill us with his gifts. May he make our hearts pleasing to you, and ready to do your will, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Obedience

But this very obedience
will be acceptable to God and pleasing to all
only if what is commanded is done
without hesitation, delay, lukewarmness, grumbling, or objection.
For the obedience given to Superiors is given to God,
since He Himself has said,
"He who hears you, hears Me" (Luke 10:16).
And the disciples should offer their obedience with a good will,
for "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7).
For if the disciple obeys with an ill will
and murmurs,
not necessarily with his lips but simply in his heart,
then even though he fulfill the command
yet his work will not be acceptable to God,
who sees that his heart is murmuring.
And, far from gaining a reward for such work as this,
he will incur the punishment due to murmurers,
unless he amend and make satisfaction.

Mount Saviour Monastery

Mount Savior Monastery is a Roman Catholic Benedictine Community a few miles outside of Elmira, New York. The rector is an ecumenical oblate of this community and spent a month of his sabbatical with the monks in August of 2000.

The Forty-Sixth Day of Easter

God of mercy, unite your Church in your Holy Spirit that we may serve you with all our hearts and work together with unselfish love through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Obedience

The first degree of humility is obedience without delay.
This is the virtue of those
who hold nothing dearer to them than Christ;
who, because of the holy service they have professed,
and the fear of hell,
and the glory of life everlasting,
as soon as anything has been ordered by the Superior,
receive it as a divine command
and cannot suffer any delay in executing it.
Of these the Lord says,
"As soon as he heard, he obeyed Me" (Ps. 17:45).
And again to teachers He says,
"He who hears you, hears Me" (Luke 10:16).

Such as these, therefore,
immediately leaving their own affairs
and forsaking their own will,
dropping the work they were engaged on
and leaving it unfinished,
with the ready step of obedience
follow up with their deeds the voice of him who commands.
And so as it were at the same moment
the master's command is given
and the disciple's work is completed,
the two things being speedily accomplished together
in the swiftness of the fear of God
by those who are moved
with the desire of attaining life everlasting.
That desire is their motive for choosing the narrow way,
of which the Lord says,
"Narrow is the way that leads to life" (Matt. 7:14),
so that,
not living according to their own choice
nor obeying their own desires and pleasures
but walking by another's judgment and command,
they dwell in monasteries and desire to have an Abbot over them.
Assuredly such as these are living up to that maxim of the Lord
in which He says,
"I have come not to do My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).

A Poem: empty darkness

at arms length she
holds the church
withholding herself
she hides from grace

reclusive and alone
yet isolate and pure
she holds herself erect

now in death
her company no more
she awaits
the darkness
without definition

Fellowship Conversation?

I wonder what goes on during fellowship hour? What are most of the conversations about? Do people introduce themselves to one another? Do they share a little bit about where they are from and how long they have been members and communicants of the parish? Do they talk about world events and the tragedy of war and poverty? Do they talk about the needs people have within the parish family as well as beyond? Do they talk about their involvement in a servant ministry and the difference that ministry makes in the life of the parish? Are there suggestions about how the congregation might become more involved in the larger community reaching out to those in need? Do they make suggestions about how our life together might be strengthened, and do they share names with one another of people they haven't seen at worship for awhile and promise to call them sometime during the week? Do they engage those who are responsible for Christian formation and education and let them know how that ministry may help them be better Christian parents? What really goes on during fellowship hour?

Besides being a place of meeting following the liturgy it always has the possiblity of becoming the launch pad for ministry and mission.

The Eucharistic Offering

Why, on occasion, are the people incensed within the context of the eucharistic liturgy? What does this action imply?

Immediately following the procession, the Altar Table is incensed reminding us of the sacrifice of Christ, his offering of himself to the Father; during the offertory, incense is also used as the offering of bread, wine, and alms are presented on the altar; and the people are incensed as a sign of their own self-offering to God in the context of the Eucharistic Liturgy - "And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls, and our bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee." Those who believe gather week by week to make their offering to God and through their offering they become the Body of Christ.

Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us,
a (fragrant) offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:2

Preparing for Pentecost

The unfolding mystery ... is the paschal drama, the tale of the Son's dying and rising and ascending with humanity to the Father, a tale retold in the small circle of the monastic day, again in the wider sphere of the Christian week, and again in the cosmic cycle of the Christian year - an archetypal pattern made real by the power of the Holy Spirit, inexhaustible renewer of exhausted hearts. From the 40 days of Lent, whose knots and loopholes tell us that we are still in our sins, we reliably do make it to the 50 days of Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, where we hear the final word God wants to say to us.

The Easter Monday prayer Vivendo teneant! .... "may we hold on to this in our lives!" - sums up ... monastic wisdom. The Christian regularity for which monasticism provides a template, daily rehearsing the paschal mystery, singing the psalms until they repeat in the heart, sitting at table with the same companions over the same unremarkable food, all this repetition leads not to boredom but to joy - objective Christian joy, the precise opposite of happiness on demand. We are to be sunk in joy whether we like it or not. Joy is ... a "Trinitarian conspiracy."

Carol Zaleski reflecting on Don Hugh Gilbert's
Unfolding the Mystery in Christian Century, May 1, 2007

The Forty-Fifth Day of Easter

O God, by the glorification of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit you have opened for us the gates of your kingdom: Grant that we, who have received such great gifts, may dedicate ourselves more diligently to your service, and live more fully the riches of our faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Chapter 4: What Are the Instruments of Good Works

62. To fulfill God's commandments daily in one's deeds.
63. To love chastity.
64. To hate no one.
65. Not to be jealous, not to harbor envy.
66. Not to love contention.
67. To beware of haughtiness.
68. And to respect the seniors.
69. To love the juniors.
70. To pray for one's enemies in the love of Christ.
71. To make peace with one's adversary before the sun sets.
72. And never to despair of God's mercy.

These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft.
If we employ them unceasingly day and night,
and return them on the Day of Judgment,
our compensation from the Lord
will be that wage He has promised:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9).

Now the workshop
in which we shall diligently execute all these tasks
is the enclosure of the monastery
and stability in the community.

The Forty-Fourth Day of Easter

O Lord, you have given us the grace to know the resurrection of your Son: Grant that the Holy Spirit, by his love may raise us to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Are the Instruments of Good Works

44. To fear the Day of Judgment.
45. To be in dread of hell.
46. To desire eternal life with all the passion of the spirit.
47. To keep death daily before one's eyes.
48. To keep constant guard over the actions of one's life.
49. To know for certain that God sees one everywhere.
50. When evil thoughts come into one's heart, to dash them against Christ immediately.
51. And to manifest them to one's spiritual father.
52. To guard one's tongue against evil and depraved speech.
53. Not to love much talking.
54. Not to speak useless words or words that move to laughter.
55. Not to love much or boisterous laughter.
56. To listen willingly to holy reading.
57. To devote oneself frequently to prayer.
58. Daily in one's prayers, with tears and sighs, to confess one's past sins to God, and to amend them for the future.
59. Not to fulfill the desires of the flesh; to hate one's own will.
60. To obey in all things the commands of the Abbot, even though he himself (which God forbid) should act otherwise, mindful of the Lord's precept, "Do what they say, but not what they do."
61. Not to wish to be called holy before one is holy; but first to be holy, that one may be truly so called.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Are the Instruments of Good Works

22. Not to give way to anger.
23. Not to nurse a grudge.
24. Not to entertain deceit in one's heart.
25. Not to give a false peace.
26. Not to forsake charity.
27. Not to swear, for fear of perjuring oneself.
28. To utter truth from heart and mouth.
29. Not to return evil for evil.
30. To do no wrong to anyone, and to bear patiently wrongs done to oneself.
31. To love one's enemies.
32. Not to curse those who curse us, but rather to bless them.
33. To bear persecution for justice' sake.
34. Not to be proud.
35. Not addicted to wine.
36. Not a great eater.
37. Not drowsy.
38. Not lazy.
39. Not a grumbler.
40. Not a detractor.
41. To put one's hope in God.
42. To attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good one sees in oneself.
43. But to recognize always that the evil is one's own doing, and to impute it to oneself.

A Community of Love

The church is a community of love where the personal presence of Jesus Christ is known and where his love masters the community and builds it into a genuine unity. Normal human communities are characterized by a clearly defined restriction on membership, by a definite limitation on the commitment required of its members, and by demands which are quite explicit and acceptable to those who join. In God's church, men and women are called to go beyond this and to find intimate community with people who are incredibly different, with whom they have no natural human homogeneity, and who they usually would have no other occasion to know.

George W. Webber, The Congregation in Mission, 1964

Mystagogia #6

The Paschal Mystery of our Lord's dying and rising has transformed our lives and given us hope in our temperal life as well as in the life to come. The collects for this week ask God to refresh us with his agape love that we may in faith and hope obtain his promises that exceed all that we may hope for; always offering thanks (make eucharist) for all the good things that we constantly receive from his hand; responding to his will, giving us pride in all we do; making us faithful stewards of all the Father has given us; lifting our hears and minds to heaven where our Lord continually dwells; giving us power, wisdom, gentleness so that we may shine as lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear; giving us discernment to behold in God the source of all our talents, offering them to your glory.

The Feast of Dunstan of Canterbury

O God of truth and beauty, you richly endowed your bishop Dunstan with skill in music and the working of metals, and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal: Teach us, we pray, to see in you the source of all our talents, and move us to offer them for the adornment of worship and the advancement of true religion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Are the Instruments of Good Works

1. In the first place, to love the Lord God with the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength.
2. Then, one's neighbor as oneself.
3. Then not to murder.
4. Not to commit adultery.
5. Not to steal.
6. Not to covet.
7. Not to bear false witness.
8. To honor all (1 Peter 2:17).
9. And not to do to another what one would not have done to oneself.
10. To deny oneself in order to follow Christ.
11. To chastise the body.
12. Not to become attached to pleasures.
13. To love fasting.
14. To relieve the poor.
15. To clothe the naked.
16. To visit the sick.
17. To bury the dead.
18. To help in trouble.
19. To console the sorrowing.
20. To become a stranger to the world's ways.
21. To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.

Ezekiel 1:28-3:3

Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking. He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD." Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house. But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you. I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it. He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe. He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.

Friday after Ascension Day
Matins

The Feast of Florence Nightingale

Life-giving God, you alone have power over life and death, over health and sickness: Give power, wisdom, and gentleness to those who follow the example of your servant Florence Nightingale, that they, bearing with them your Presence, may not only heal but bless, and shine as lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear; through Jesus Christ, the healer of body and soul, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Calling the Brethren for Counsel

In all things, therefore, let all follow the Rule as guide,
and let no one be so rash as to deviate from it.
Let no one in the monastery follow his own heart's fancy;
and let no one presume to contend with his Abbot
in an insolent way or even outside of the monastery.
But if anyone should presume to do so,
let him undergo the discipline of the Rule.
At the same time,
the Abbot himself should do all things in the fear of God
and in observance of the Rule,
knowing that beyond a doubt
he will have to render an account of all his decisions
to God, the most just Judge.

But if the business to be done in the interests of the monastery
be of lesser importance,
let him take counsel with the seniors only.
It is written,
"Do everything with counsel,
and you will not repent when you have done it" (Eccles. 32:24).

To "Anonymice"

Anonymous comments will not be posted, however, the writer of this journal would enjoy a dialogue and open communication. I look forward to an opportunity to explore those things that rest heavy on your heart.

i ain't tell'n!

Recently there was a discussion within the parish about the fact that there was an over abundance of "secrets". This is almost a contradictory phenomena for if someone knows there are "secrets", how come they don't know the secrets?

And besides, how do you end the perception that "secrets" are in the air? For if someone says there are "secrets" there must BE "secrets". Such a thought can easily put the rector on the defensive. For such a discussion is suggestive that the rector is to blame for these secrets. If he would be more forthcoming, more open with everyone, then these "secrets" will become know to everyone.

I have a more important question. I wonder what they (those aware of the secrets) want to know? All they need to do is ask, to enter into dialogue, to explore life more deeply. Now, no doubt, there will always be "secrets" we can't forget that somethings are told to me and others in confidence, most people don't want their private lives shared openly and indiscriminately. You know the more I think about it the more I realize how good it is that "secrets" abound for it means that the faith community is protected from one another.

Ascension Joy!

Today is our parish's name day. Ascension holds before us the full meaning of our humanity in Christ and reminds us of our interconnectedness with God and one another. Ascension is the spirituality of community, the realization that community is not something we created, but something that creates us.

In our scientific age, the Ascension has become more of a symbol than a literal fact leaving us still yearning for fuller meaning and hope. In, through, and with Christ our flesh has been received with all its limitations into the presence of God. Christ, who is our high priest, continually prays to the Father that we shall "be one" as he and the Father are one.

May we recognize the true meaning of ourselves, formed and molded by others, as a people reborn in the risen Christ who has filled all in all. Alleluia.

Second Homily on the Ascension of our Lord

From a homily by the former Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, III

Here we are faced with a paradox: What the Apostles perceived as Jesus leaving them once again, this time not by way of the cross by way of ascension, was in fact a prelude to a deeper, fuller and more substantial knowing of the risen One mediated by the Spirit.

... a new kind of knowing in which Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life is known inwardly and with such force that they will, in time, be able with St. Paul to cry out, “The life I now live is not my own, but the life Christ lives in me.”

Here I am put in mind of an observation made by Carl Jung that “the Western attitude, with its emphasis on the object, tends to fix the ideal -- Christ -- in its outward aspect and thus to rob it of its mysterious relation to the inner man.” “Too few people,” he observes, “have experienced the divine image as the innermost possession of their own souls. Christ only meets them from without, never from within the soul.

Christ’s ascension opens the way for a new mode of being present, being with ... What the Spirit takes from Christ is not information but life, life expressed as love and realized in the intimacy of communion whereby Christ dwells in us and we in him.

First Homily on the Ascension of our Lord

From a Homily of Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Ascension of the Lord:

The Lord says to us, mysteriously, that his going away and disappearing will also be a coming and an appearing: "I am going away, and I will come to you" (Jn 14:18). And to help us understand that his going away and coming are one and the same, he puts it even more clearly: "I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you" (Jn 14:18-20).

His disappearance from the world begins with his Passion and ends with his Ascension. For since he was laid in the tomb, no worldly person, no one who lacks the Spirit of Christ, has seen him anymore. His coming to us, however, starts on Easter morning, where he meets one disciple after another; it continues throughout the Forty Days and is brought to its fulfillment at Pentecost, when he pours out his Spirit over the Church and thus fills her with his own innermost being.

It is not that his presence changes into his absence; what changes is the mode of his presence.

(You Crown the Year with Your Goodness [Ignatius Press])

The Feast of the Ascension

Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

On Calling the Brethren for Counsel

Whenever any important business has to be done
in the monastery,
let the Abbot call together the whole community
and state the matter to be acted upon.
Then, having heard the brethren's advice,
let him turn the matter over in his own mind
and do what he shall judge to be most expedient.
The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel
is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.

Let the brethren give their advice
with all the deference required by humility,
and not presume stubbornly to defend their opinions;
but let the decision rather depend on the Abbot's judgment,
and all submit to whatever he shall decide for their welfare.

However, just as it is proper
for the disciples to obey their master,
so also it is his function
to dispose all things with prudence and justice.

Rogation Wednesday / Thirty-Nineth Day of Easter

O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

Above all let him not neglect or undervalue
the welfare of the souls committed to hia,
in a greater concern for fleeting, earthly, perishable things;
but let him always bear in mind
that he has undertaken the government of souls
and that he will have to give an account of them.

And if he be tempted to allege a lack of earthly means,
let him remember what is written:
"First seek the kingdom of God and His justice,
and all these things shall be given you besides" (Ps. 33:10).
And again: "Nothing is wanting to those who fear Him."

Let him know, then,
that he who has undertaken the government of souls
must prepare himself to render an account of them.
Whatever number of brothers he knows he has under his care,
he may be sure beyond doubt that on Judgment Day
he will have to give the Lord an account of all these souls,
as well as of his own soul.

Thus the constant apprehension
about his coming examination as shepherd (Ezech. 34)
concerning the sheep entrusted to him,
and his anxiety over the account that must be given for others,
make him careful of his own record.
And while by his admonitions he is helping others to amend,
he himself is cleansed of her faults.

Rest in Peace: J.F.

My first reaction to Mr. Falwell's death was a quiet alleluia; but the more I reflect on his voice within our culture the more I realize that he, like many of us, was caught in the net of chronic anxiety and fear. He was terrified of change and he wanted others to share his fear. He looked the future in the face and saw nothing but his own nihilistic reflection. He was against so many things that it almost was comic, if it wasn't for the many people he hurt in his quake. I wish him peace and joy and now that he has "full vision" in the life to come, may he able to see those things that he dared not to see while he was among us.

Rogation Tuesday / Thirty-Eighth Day of Easter

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life shared our toil and hallowed our labor: Be present with your people where they work; make those who carry on the industries and commerce of this land responsive to your will; and give us all a pride in what we do, and a just return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

The Abbot should always remember what he is
and what he is called,
and should know that to whom more is committed,
from him more is required (Luke 12:48).
Let him understand also
what a difficult and arduous task he has undertaken:
ruling souls and adapting himself to a variety of characters.
One he must coax, another scold, another persuade,
according to each one's character and understanding.
Thus he must adjust and adapt himself to all
in such a way that he may not only suffer no loss
in the flock committed to his care,
but may even rejoice in the increase of a good flock.

Rogation Monday / Thirty-Seventh Day of Easter

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that your gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them, that we, who are constantly receiving good things from your hand, may always give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

In his teaching
the Abbot should always follow the Apostle's formula:
"Reprove, entreat, rebuke" (2 Tim. 4:2);
threatening at one time and coaxing at another
as the occasion may require,
showing now the stern countenance of a master,
now the loving affection of a father.
That is to say,
it is the undisciplined and restless
whom he must reprove rather sharply;
it is the obedient, meek and patient
whom he must entreat to advance in virtue;
while as for the negligent and disdainful,
these we charge him to rebuke and correct.

And let him not shut his eyes to the faults of offenders;
but, since he has the authority,
let her cut out those faults by the roots
as soon as they begin to appear,
remembering the fate of Heli, the priest of Silo (1 Kings 2-4).
The well-disposed and those of good understanding
let him correct with verbal admonition the first and second time.
But bold, hard, proud and disobedient characters
he should curb at the very beginning of their ill-doing
by stripes and other bodily punishments,
knowing that it is written,
"the fool is not corrected with words" (Prov. 18:2; 29:19),
and again, "Beat your son with the rod,
and you will deliver his soul from death"(Prov. 23:13-14).

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

O God you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all thing, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

Let him make no distinction of persons in the monastery.
Let him not love one more than another,
unless it be one whom he finds better
in good works or in obedience.
Let him not advance one of noble birth
ahead of one who was formerly a slave,
unless there be some other reasonable ground for it.
But if the Abbot for just reason think fit to do so,
let him advance one of any rank whatever.
Otherwise let them keep their due places;
because, whether slaves or free, we are all one in Christ (Gal. 3:28)
and bear in equal burden of service
in the army of the same Lord.
For with God there is no respect of persons (Rom. 2:11).
Only for one reason are we preferred in His sight:
if we be found better than others in good works and humility.
Therefore let the Abbot show equal love to all
and impose the same discipline on all

A Place for Healing

If the church has any meaning at all in this new millennium it is because she remains a source of hope and healing in a world filled with chronic anxiety, fear and death. Here the people of God gather to renew their relationship with the Ground of their being, to seek the grace to rise above the greed and envy that are daily impediments to a holy life, to embrace a life of gratitude for all God has given us. I was so taken by this vision, over a decade ago, that I wanted the vestry to consider purchasing the old hospital so that we might use the brick when it came time for us to renovate the church and parish center, because it would symbolize the healing mission of our parish-church.

Today, I no longer think so much about the symbolism that those bricks would have stood for, but I think more about how we as a community might become a home for all those searching for a place of welcome in the midst of the storms of this life, and what we, as rector and people, must do to prepare ourselves spiritually and emotionally to be healers among the people with whom we live.

It seems to me that this healing vision was very much a part of the parish's self understanding years ago when it opened itself to the needs of the homeless, the poor, and the hungry and when, as a congregation, she embraced those living with AIDS/HIV. There was an awareness then, that somehow we have lost, of our need to be involved in the suffering of those around us. It is true that several members of the parish, on their own, outside the faith community, continue to be very involved in some of these ministries, but the conversation among the faithful has ceased.

How important is it for us to reawaken to the true needs of the world around us?

Mystagogia #5

May we appropriate the mystery of the Paschal Feast of our Lord's dying and rising that we may with resolve follow in the way that leads to eternal life; strengthen our faith, confirm our hope, quicken our hearts to see you in all things and above all things, guide us to salvation, to behold the glory of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Thirty-Fifth Day of Easter

Loving Father, through our rebirth in baptism you give us your life and promise immortality. By your unceasing care, guide our steps toward the life of glory through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

Therefore, when anyone receives the name of Abbot,
he ought to govern his disciples with a twofold teaching.
That is to say,
he should show them all that is good and holy
by his deeds even more than by his words,
expounding the Lord's commandments in words
to the intelligent among his disciples,
but demonstrating the divine precepts by his actions
for those of harder hearts and ruder minds.
And whatever he has taught his disciples
to be contrary to God's law,
let him indicate by his example that it is not to be done,
lest, while preaching to others, he himself be found reprobate (1 Cor. 9:27),
and lest God one day say to him in his sin,
"Why do you declare My statutes
and profess My covenant with your lips,
whereas you hate discipline
and have cast My words behind you" (Ps. 49:16-17)?
And again,
"You were looking at the speck in your brother's eye,
and did not see the beam in your own" (Matt. 7:3).

Laughing with God

Sometimes I think that it is only laughter which saves us. George MacDonald says, "It is the Heart that is not yet sure of its God that is afraid to laugh in His presence." If we are sure of our God we are free to laugh at ourselves. It's all part of what keeps us in proportion; we can best take ourselves seriously if we are free to laugh at ourselves, and to enjoy the laughter of God and his angels. As William Temple remarked, "It is a great mistake to think that God is chiefly interested in religion."

Madeline L' engle

The Thirty-Fourth Day of Easter

Lord, by this Easter Mystery prepare us for eternal life. May our celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection guide us to salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

Let the Abbot always bear in mind
that at the dread Judgment of God
there will be an examination of these two matters:
his teaching and the obedience of his disciples.
And let the Abbot be sure
that any lack of profit
the master of the house may find in the sheep
will be laid to the blame of the shepherd.
On the other hand,
if the shepherd has bestowed all his pastoral diligence
on a restless, unruly flock
and tried every remedy for their unhealthy behavior,
then he will be acquitted at the Lord's Judgment
and may say to the Lord with the Prophet:
"I have not concealed Your justice within my heart;
Your truth and Your salvation I have declared" (Ps. 39:11).
"But they have despised and rejected me" (Is. 1:2; Ezech. 20:27).
And then finally let death itself, irresistible,
punish those disobedient sheep under his charge.

The Thirty-Third Day of Easter

Father, in your love you have brought us from evil to good and misery to happiness. Through your blessings give the courage of perseverance to those you have called and justified by faith through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

An Abbot who is worthy to be over a monastery
should always remember what he is called,
and live up to the name of Superior.
For he is believed to hold the place of Christ in the monastery,
being called by a name of His,
which is taken from the words of the Apostle:
"You have received a Spirit of adoption ...,
by virtue of which we cry, 'Abba -- Father'" (Rom. 8:15)!

Therefore the Abbot ought not to teach or ordain or command
anything which is against the Lord's precepts;
on the contrary,
his commands and his teaching
should be a leaven of divine justice
kneaded into the minds of his disciples.

The Cross

As one enters the nave of the church the cross above the altar is visible with it horizontal beam extended in welcome to all who gather for worship. Throughout the days, weeks, and months the cross continues to invite all those within its view to experience the life-transforming gift of new life that has been offered to us through Jesus Christ.

The Feast of Gregory of Nazianzus

Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nanzianzus, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Chapter 1: On the Kinds of Monks

It is well known that there are four kinds of monks.
The first kind are the Cenobites:
those who live in monasteries
and serve under a rule and an Abbot.

The second kind are the Anchorites or Hermits:
those who,
no longer in the first fervor of their reformation,
but after long probation in a monastery,
having learned by the help of many brethren
how to fight against the devil,
go out well armed from the ranks of the community
to the solitary combat of the desert.
They are able now,
with no help save from God,
to fight single-handed against the vices of the flesh
and their own evil thoughts.

The third kind of monks, a detestable kind, are the Sarabaites.
These, not having been tested,
as gold in the furnace (Wis. 3:6),
by any rule or by the lessons of experience,
are as soft as lead.
In their works they still keep faith with the world,
so that their tonsure marks them as liars before God.
They live in twos or threes, or even singly,
without a shepherd,
in their own sheepfolds and not in the Lord's.
Their law is the desire for self-gratification:
whatever enters their mind or appeals to them,
that they call holy;
what they dislike, they regard as unlawful.

The fourth kind of monks are those called Gyrovagues.
These spend their whole lives tramping from province to province,
staying as guests in different monasteries
for three or four days at a time.
Always on the move, with no stability,
they indulge their own wills
and succumb to the allurements of gluttony,
and are in every way worse than the Sarabaites.
Of the miserable conduct of all such
it is better to be silent than to speak.

Passing these over, therefore,
let us proceed, with God's help,
to lay down a rule for the strongest kind of monks, the Cenobites.

What is Liberation Theology?

This week, Pope Benedict XVI, will be making his first pastoral visit to Latin America. He may be surprised to discover that Liberation Theology, a movement that he once called "a fundamental threat to the faith of the church," remains very much a live and a defiant force within the country. According to the New York Times (May 7, 2007) there are 80,000 "base communities and nearly one million "Bible circles" that discuss current eco-socio-political issues in the light of Holy Scripture. These gatherings conclude with the Lord's Prayer and a hymn:

In the land of mankind, conceived as a pyramid,
there are few at the top, and many at the bottom.
In the land of mankind, those at the top crush
those at the bottom.
Oh, people of the poor, people subject to domination,
what are you doing just standing there?
The world of mankind has to be changed,
so arise people, don't stand still.

Jon Sobrino, S.J. in Christology at the Crossroads (1978) states that "we live in the presence of so much death. there is the reality of definitive, physical death and of the death that people experience in the toils of oppression, injustice, and sinfulness. Any consideration of God that ignores such a basic datum of life is idealistic, if not downright alienating. .... Liberation theology must ... ask itself in what sense suffering and death can be a mode of being for God. People in Latin America, however, seem to feel almost automatically what Dietrick Bonhoeffer expressed in intuitive, poetic terms: 'Only a God who suffers can save us.' ... If God really is present in the cross of Jesus, then he is there first and foremost as someone contradicting the world and all that we consider to be true and good."

At the heart of Liberation theology is the pastoral care of the poor - helping to empower them in the midst of wealthy land owners. It supports pensions and worker's rights under the Brazilian labor code; it fights against other social problems, like the lack of sanitation.

The Roman hierarchy has never endorsed this movement. It has sought to dismantle it. And yet it remains very much alive. Martyrs mark the land including Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador and Sister Dorothy Mae Stang, an American, shot to death in February 2005 in the Brazilian Amazon.

Though this this theological movement has gone underground in recent years it remains a strong force of change in a world of degradation and oppression of the poor.

What do you think is the link, if any, between politics and faith?

Practicing Wisdom

+ Erik H. Erikson committed his life to understanding the various stages within the life cycle. In the eighth and final stage of human life, Dr. Erikson, understood the importance of ego-integrity overcoming despair. If a person achieves 'enough' ego integrity throughout his lifetime, then one's approaching illness and death will be accompanied by the virtue of wisdom. Yet, as the recent article in the New York Times (May 6, 2007), researchers in the field of psychology have yet to fully define "wisdom."

Gerhard von Rad, a biblical scholar, writing in Wisdom in Israel, states "No one would be able to live even for a single day without incurring appreciable harm if he could not be guided by wide practical experience. .... By and large man creates the experiences which expects and for which, on the basis of the idea which he has formed of the world, he is ready. Experience presupposes a prior knowledge of myself; indeed it can become experience only if I can fit it into the existing context of my understanding of myself and of the world. Thus it can even be that man misses possible experiences offered to him, that he lacks the capacity to register them, because he is incapable of fitting them into the limits of his understanding."

The New York Times article concludes that Wisdom remains elusive and thus may only be understood through a variety of concepts. Here is a summary of those characteristics that are found in the wise: The uncanny ability to remain calm in the midst of crises, ability to cope with adversity and regulate emotion; being content with one's own life; being humble; to examine an event from multiple perspectives; to step outside oneself and understand another point of view; having compassion toward others; ability to remain positive in the face of adversity; appreciating the fragility of life.

William James in The Principles of Psychology (1890) observes that "the art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." Such maturity takes a lifetime, and needs to be practiced now. In the Hebrew Scriptures, wisdom, chochmah, is the interweaving of the heart and mind in judging, reflecting, and deciding.

I remember times when I visited with two widows in a nursing home in the early 1990s. They both faced the same physical infirmities: confined to a wheelchair, needing assistance with the smallest things, etc. When I would visit one of them she would spent her time complaining about her life and situation. I would try to make her feel better, but she continued to point to all that was gone in her life. When I visited the other widow, she was filled with joy and thanksgiving, she was grateful for the life she had lived, for her children and grandchildren who she was so proud of, and all her friends who were still living. I usually had very little to say, for in her I saw the light that shines in the midst of darkness. It is this widow who had practiced wisdom her whole life, and in her presence I became her disciple.

The Feast of Dame Julian of Norwich

Lord God, in your compassion you granted to the Lady Julian many revelations of your nurturing and sustaining love: Move our hearts, like hers, to see you above all things, for in giving us yourself you give us all; throiugh Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Prologue

And so we are going to establish
a school for the service of the Lord.
In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome.
But if a certain strictness results from the dictates of equity
for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity,
do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation,
whose entrance cannot but be narrow (Matt. 7:14).
For as we advance in the religious life and in faith,
our hearts expand
and we run the way of God's commandments
with unspeakable sweetness of love (Ps. 118:32).
Thus, never departing from His school,
but persevering in the monastery according to His teaching
until death,
we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13)
and deserve to have a share also in His kingdom.

Thirtieth Day of Easter

Father your restored your people to eternal life by raising Christ your Son from death. Make our faith strong and our hope sure. May we never doubt that you will fulfill the promises you have made, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Prologue

So we have asked the Lord
who is to dwell in His tent,
and we have heard His commands
to anyone who would dwell there;
it remains for us to fulfill those duties.

Therefore we must prepare our hearts and our bodies
to do battle under the holy obedience of His commands;
and let us ask God
that He be pleased to give us the help of His grace
for anything which our nature finds hardly possible.
And if we want to escape the pains of hell
and attain life everlasting,
then, while there is still time,
while we are still in the body
and are able to fulfill all these things
by the light of this life,
we must hasten to do now
what will profit us for eternity.

The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Prologue

Hence the Lord says in the Gospel,
"Whoever listens to these words of Mine and acts upon them,
I will liken to a wise person
who built a house on rock.
The floods came,
the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it did not fall,
because it had been founded on rock" (Matt. 7:24-25).

Having given us these assurances,
the Lord is waiting every day
for us to respond by our deeds to His holy admonitions.
And the days of this life are lengthened
and a truce granted us for this very reason,
that we may amend our evil ways.
As the Apostle says,
"Do you not know that God's patience is inviting you to repent" (Rom. 2:4)?
For the merciful Lord tells us,
"I desire not the death of the sinner,
but that the sinner should be converted and live" (Ezech. 33:11).