Living the Scriptures

The readings from the Rule at this point address community prayer--how the prayer is to be structured, what psalms are recited at each hour, all the practical aspects of praying as a group.

One of the things that strikes me from our passage from Chapter 10 of the Rule (today's selection) is the mention of the reading from Scripture being recited by heart. I happen to have a good memory and find memorizing selections from literature fairly easy. In order for me to be able to memorize and recite a piece fluidly, I need to make the passage part of who I am. I need to develop a relationship with it and incorporate it into my daily life.

That is what ideally should happen to my from praying the psalms daily and from my personal lectio. After engaging with Scripture daily over a period of time, whether 5 years, 50, 70 or a lifetime, ideally my own life would be a version of the Scripture....a vibrant retelling of God's message of love to the world.

I need to ask myself regularly: is the Gospel message that I am living authentic and life-giving? Is it the message that will attract others to follow Christ and to consider living our monastic way of life?

Sr. Catherine, OSB

Mixing the Generations

What happens when you get people from different generations interacting with one another? What teenager or young adult would find it interesting to spend an evening praying, eating and sharing with religious women and seminarians? These were questions that surfaced in my mind when I was approached by members of the vocations committee for the Church of St. Benedict in Broken Arrow, OK.

Last evening, our community joined with this parish in hosting a Seminarian and Sisters Summer Social which included evening prayer, dinner, games and prizes. Everyone had an opportunity to make new friends and to visit with one another.

Our community was able to show our hospitality in various ways including sharing in an informal interview game that showed how diverse our Sisters are in their interests and personalities.

Benedict envisioned a community that would embrace the old and the young, the weak and the strong, the healthy and the ill. In our day, it is our task to give a face to that spirituality and to Gospel living.

How have I shown God's hospitality to others today?

Sr. Catherine, OSB

Praying the Full Psalter

Above all else we urge that if anyone finds this distribution of the psalms unsatisfactory, he should arrange whatever he judges better, provided that the full complement of one hundred and fifty psalms is by all means carefully maintained every week, and that the series begins anew each Sunday at Vigils. For monks who in a week’s time say less than the full psalter with the customary canticles betray extreme indolence and lack of devotion in their service. We read, after all, that our holy Fathers, energetic as they were, did all this in a single day. Let us hope that we, lukewarm as we are, can achieve it in a whole week. (RB80.18.22-25)

This passage from the end of Chapter 18 of the Rule is reminiscent of the concern many elders have about subsequent generations. Oftentimes, the elders among us lament the fact that the younger generations don't have the same energy, fervor or zeal as they had--sometimes forgetting that the same was said of them 50 or 60 years ago.

There is a sense in reading this passage from the Rule that Benedict is trying to encourage his followers to maintain the fervor, zeal and love for prayer, scripture and lectio that previous generations possessed. He points out that our monastic ancestors in the desert managed to recite the entire psalter in one day--we should at least be able to do this is 7 days.

Benedict is not so much promoting mindless recitation of prayers as he is emphasizing the spirit which needs to be present in disciples. He is promoting us taking the psalms so seriously that in a sense we become a living "scripture" through the continued recitation, prayer and encounter with the sacred texts.

There is a saying that states that I might be the only version of the scripture that others encounter today. What is the message that I am giving others? How am I reflecting God's word to others today?

Be Alert

RB 53: “All are to be welcomed as Christ……all humility is to be shown on arrival and departure…”

Last week, I walked into a local sandwich shop for lunch. The young woman behind the counter looked at me and said in a cheerful voice, “Welcome. Can I take your order?” As she prepared the sandwich to my wishes, she looked at me with a smile and said, “Have a blessed day.” This young woman understands the welcome and gift of hospitality by her words and her attitude. The food service industry aims to make people feel welcome. They train their employees to have the attitudes and behavior that convey the message: “We are at your service.” While their motivations may be different, we are followers of the Gospel of Christ as called to no less, but to have the same attitudes and behaviors that welcome the Christ present among us. St. Benedict points out the motivation for us Christians – to seek Christ in all who present themselves to us in our daily lives. We who give our lives in service of our brothers and sisters for the sake of the Gospel are called to welcome unconditionally the greatest and least, rich and poor, the expected and unexpected.

Be alert today as Christ comes to your door. Who will he look like today?

Sr. Marie Therese, OSB

God's Return on Investment

Chapter 33 of the rule reminds me of Mark’s gospel story about the poor widow and her contribution of two coins; “she contributed her whole livelihood.” In a sense she was left with no money, with nothing to provide for her own well-being. And yet, at the same time she was left with everything, with a faith in God to sustain her, a hope in God to encourage her and a love of God to nourish her. She contributed her whole livelihood, but God returned it to her in a more precious kind of livelihood.

When people ask us how we can live without owning something, without having something to call our own, our response is the poor widow’s response. We may have contributed a livelihood with possessions , and yet , we have a more precious livelihood without possessions. We are cherished by God and community and have time to share our faith, our hope and love with others.

Sr. Veronica, OSB

Living the "Good News"

“…he must point out to them all that is good and holy more by example than by words,…” (RB 2.12)

You’ve no doubt heard this saying, “You may be the only Gospel that some people ever read”. We are all called to holiness as baptized members of the Body of Christ. Living the “Good News” what does that mean in your life?

Sr. Barbara, OSB

With the Gospel for Our Guide

“…let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide,…” (RB Pro. 21)

Now, the journey begins. I love traveling…not so much the packing and unpacking part of it but the excitement of new experiences, the dreaming of what sites might be visited, the planning of the trip…maybe even more than the trip itself.

Benedict invites us to look at our life as a journey also. For this journey, we are not asked to pack many things to take along, become familiar with new languages, currencies or cuisine, we are asked only to be willing to take the Gospels along with us for our ultimate guidebook for life.

Sr. Catherine, OSB