self-imposed excommunication

A great sadness of the church in this new century is the number of people within her Body who decide for whatever reason to no longer eat at the Table. Years ago, before the Reformation, it was a practice of the church to excommunicate those who were grave sinners in order to encourage them to repent. In this day, as the church seeks to embrace everyone, some of her members find openness so intolerable that they depart and move away from the Table.

Usually, the unhappy, angry, or disappointed depart without a word fading into society and the faith community is left to mourn their departure. It is as though they never were connected to the Life within the Body and unlike those that left they have no remorse. All of this goes on without a word, without dialogue, without a desire to interact with others in order to listen and to share one's pain in order that the Body may be enriched and strengthened.

I pray that these who 'wander the earth' in search for refreshing Bread and gladdening Wine will discover a new homeland, a faith community that is open wide to welcome them home.

The Twentieth Day of Easter

Father, by the love of your Spirit, may we who have experienced the grace of the Lord’s resurrection rise to the newness of life in joy 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 69

That the Monks Presume Not to Defend One Another

Care must be taken that no monk presume on any ground
to defend another monk in the monastery,
or as it were to take him under his protection,
even though they be united by some tie of blood-relationship.
Let not the monks dare to do this in any way whatsoever,
because it may give rise to most serious scandals.
But if anyone breaks this rule,
let him be severely punished.

The Nineteenth Day of Easter

Father, in this holy season we come to know the full depth of your love. You have freed us from the darkness of error and sin. Help us to cling to your truths with fidelity 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, Chapter 68

If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things

If it happens
that difficult or impossible tasks are laid on a brother,
let him nevertheless receive the order of the one in authority
with all meekness and obedience.
But if he sees that the weight of the burden
altogether exceeds the limit of his strength,
let him submit the reasons for his inability
to the one who is over him
in a quiet way and at an opportune time,
without pride, resistance, or contradiction.
And if after these representations
the Superior still persists in his decision and command,
let the subject know that this is for his good,
and let him obey out of love,
trusting in the help of God.

Sinfully Wrong

There is something gravely and sinfully wrong with a world where the division between the rich and the poor continues to expand, where some still live in palaces and recline on ivory couches while others starve outside their gates. In our day, the prophets still speak for a world where the hungry are fed, the ill are healed, where all children are educated and no one is denied the basic necessities of life.

+Katharine,
Presiding Bishop and Primate
of The Episcopal Church

A Secret Life

this town likes its secrets, so many masks worn to hid the pain, doors slammed shut to prevent the eye from seeing the truth, people separated, walled off from one another, unwilling to acknowledge the abyss within and around them, they push others away with a smile or a frown, shunning god, they hold to their fragile self respect in order not to become undone by their unveiled selves.

what is a little weird is that their masks are cracked, you can see their faces in their absence, in their silence, in their fear, and yet they will not come too close, hold back, desiring to remain under the fig leaf, waiting ....

A Poem: ICU

motionless
she laid
in her bed
staring into
the emptiness
of the room

hopeful and scared
following triple bypass
surgery and beginning
dialysis

pictures of family
on table
to her right

she smiled when
i acknowledged her
teddy bear

together we prayed.

Let us remember

The conscious of the world was destroyed by those who were wont to blame others rather than themselves. Let us remember. We revered the instincts but distrusted the prophets. We labored to perfect engines and let our inner life go to wreck. We ridiculed superstition until we lost the ability to believe. We have helped to extinguish the light our fathers had kindled. We have bartered holiness for convenience, loyalty for success, love for power, wisdom for information, tradition for fashion.

Abraham J. Heschel
Man's Quest for God

The Feast of Saint Mark the Apostle

Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; 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 67

On Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey

Let the brethren who are sent on a journey
commend themselves
to the prayers of all the brethren and of the Abbot;
and always at the last prayer of the Work of God
let a commemoration be made of all absent brethren.

When brethren return from a journey,
at the end of each canonical Hour of the Work of God
on the day they return,
let them lie prostrate on the floor of the oratory
and beg the prayers of all
on account of any faults
that may have surprised them on the road,
through the seeing or hearing of something evil,
or through idle talk.
And let no one presume to tell another
whatever he may have seen or heard outside of the monastery,
because this causes very great harm.
But if anyone presumes to do so,
let him undergo the punishment of the Rule.
And let him be punished likewise who would presume
to leave the enclosure of the monastery
and go anywhere or do anything, however small,
without an order from the Abbot.

The Seventeenth Day of Easter

Father, you opened the kingdom of heaven to those born again by water and the Spirit. Increase your gift of love in us. May all who have been freed from sin in baptism receive all that you have promised through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 66

On the Porters of the Monastery

At the gate of the monastery
let there be placed a wise old man,
who knows how to receive and to give a message,
and whose maturity will prevent him from straying about.
This porter should have a room near the gate,
so that those who come may always find someone at hand
to attend to their business.
And as soon as anyone knocks or a poor person hails him,
let him answer "Thanks be to God" or "A blessing!"
Then let him attend to them promptly,
with all the meekness inspired by the fear of God
and with the warmth of charity.

Should the porter need help,
let him have one of the younger brothers.

If it can be done,
the monastery should be so established
that all the necessary things,
such as water, mill, garden and various workshops,
may be within the enclosure,
so that there is no necessity
for the brothers to go about outside of it,
since that is not at all profitable for their souls.

We desire that this Rule be read often in the community,
so that none of the brothers may excuse himself
on the ground of ignorance.

Is This The Church For You?

"They have too much fun. They don't dress like church people. There are too many children. Even teenagers like going to church now. They make the Bible interesting. The pastor tells jokes. Their music doesn't sound like church music. You might actually understand what's going on. They aren't after your money. And who ever heard of going to church in a movie theater?"

For once, I have absolutely no comment!!!

Is There An Answer?

We will never know the hidden suffering of the murderer who massacred twenty-seven students and five teachers on Monday, April 16th. We know already of his insanity and his suicidal tendencies, but within the quiet, sullen Mr. Cho, lived a terrible fear unexpressed and repressed. I can't begin to imagine the psychic pressure that he used to hold within himself the turbulent emotions that would not be contained for ever. Such suffering continued to isolate him more and more from human community, he was indifferent to those about him, he was impossible to reach.

If only he could have found a language that would have led him out of his incomprehensible suffering that made him mute - a language of lament, a cry - a language which at last would define his situation. Indeed, being speechless, walled off from others, is death. A dreadful hell lived within him.

His crude writings in English Class expressed only the outer boundaries of a life so hidden that the day would come that he would explode.

The Sixteenth Day of Easter

Let your people, O Lord, rejoice for ever that they have been renewed in spirit, and let the joy of our adoption as your sons and daughters strengthen the hope of our glorious resurrection in 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 65

On the Prior of the Monastery

To us, therefore, it seems expedient
for the preservation of peace and charity
that the Abbot have in his hands
the full administration of his monastery.
And if possible let all the affairs of the monastery,
as we have already arranged,
be administered by deans according to the Abbot's directions.
Thus, with the duties being shared by several,
no one person will become proud.

But if the circumstances of the place require it,
or if the community asks for it with reason and with humility,
and the Abbot judges it to be expedient,
let the Abbot himself constitute as his Prior
whomsoever he shall choose
with the counsel of God-fearing brethren.

That Prior, however, shall perform respectfully
the duties enjoined on him by his Abbot
and do nothing against the Abbot's will or direction;
for the more he is raised above the rest,
the more carefully should he observe the precepts of the Rule.

If it should be found that the Prior has serious faults,
or that he is deceived by his exaltation and yields to pride,
or if he should be proved to be a despiser of the Holy Rule,
let him be admonished verbally up to four times.
If he fails to amend,
let the correction of regular discipline be applied to him.
But if even then he does not reform,
let him be deposed from the office of Prior
and another be appointed in his place who is worthy of it.
And if afterwards he is not quiet and obedient in the community,
let him even be expelled from the monastery.
But the Abbot, for his part, should bear in mind
that he will have to render an account to God
for all his judgments,
lest the flame of envy or jealousy be kindled in his soul.

The Third Sunday of Easter

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of the bread: Open the eyes of our faith, taht we may behold him in all his redeeming work: who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one god, now and for ever. Amen.

A Prayer for the Presence of Christ:

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of the bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 65

On the Prior of the Monastery

It happens all too often that the constituting of a Prior
gives rise to grave scandals in monasteries.
For there are some who become inflated with the evil spirit of pride
and consider themselves second Abbots.
By usurping power
they foster scandals and cause dissensions in the community.
Especially does this happen
in those places where the Prior is constituted
by the same Bishop or the same Abbots
who constitute the Abbot himself.
What an absurd procedure this is
can easily be seen;
for it gives the Prior an occasion for becoming proud
from the very time of his constitution,
by putting the thought into his mind
that he is freed from the authority of his Abbot:
"For," he will say to himself, "you were constituted
by the same persons who constitute the Abbot."
From this source are stirred up envy, quarrels, detraction,
rivalry, dissensions and disorders.
For while the Abbot and the Prior are at variance,
their souls cannot but be endangered by this dissension;
and those who are under them,
currying favor with one side or the other,
go to ruin.
The guilt for this dangerous state of affairs
rests on the heads of those
whose action brought about such disorder.

To "Anonymous"

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