BUT WAIT: One essential actor in this Divine/Human drama
is not mentioned in our reading: Sarai…and we were told only
a few verses before this powerful call and promise from Yahweh,
the Lord, to his servant and son, Abram, that Sarai, his wife was
barren! (Gen 11:30) Furthermore we learn that Abraham is already
himself 75 years old!
Dear Sisters and Brothers, Allow me at this time to call on
the Holy Rule of St. Benedict frequently, since it is
Benedict’s way of life that Patrick is espousing this
Saturday morning in St.Mary’s Church in a most solemn and
final act of (radical) choice by pronouncing
solemn vows.
Pro. 1
Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s
instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.
The labor of obedience will bring you back to him from whom
you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience.
This message, this call, of mine is for you, Patrick, if
you are ready to give up your own will, once
and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of
obedience to do battle for the true King, the Lord Christ.
Holy Rule Pro. 9
Let us open our eyes to the light (faith) that comes from
God, and our ears (prayerful, humble listening) to the voice from
heaven that every day calls out (there’s that call, again)
this charge: If you hear his voice today, do not harden your
hearts.
Holy Rule Pro 40
But now what, Lord? How do I do the call that I have
listened to?? And what do I do with the call once heeded?
Remember that Abram’s beloved wife, Sarai, was barren!! So
are we, Brother Patrick. And yet, it was her barrenness that bore
the full weight and import of God’s promise of a great
posterity and a land. Patrick, what we are called to as
Christians and monks is to combine total trust in God with our
own barrenness, incompleteness and fragility. And Benedict
confronts the Monk-to-be with this very strange observation and
mysterious combination about his or her innate incapacities.
Our battles- encountered along the monk’s way of obedience
and work- point all too clearly to the specific places and spaces
in me where barrenness, incompleteness, pain and all sorts of
longings and ambitions make the life of Christian loving and
fidelity, plainly and simply said: a struggle.
In what disguise will self-will and Christ’s cross
come to you Patrick? Who could know now? Will it have to do with
Stability? Or perhaps chaste love? Or some particularly hurtful
circumstance? Or less drastically, sticking to prayer and not
giving up on daily conversion- not surrendering- but getting up
again and again, and yet again, to pray, work, and relate to the
monks of this monastery for the rest of one’s life! St.
Benedict is and remains the optimistic realist about the men and
women who dare his way, and so must we be optimistic for our self
and for all our brothers and sisters. Continuing from the Holy
Rule…
We must then prepare our hearts and bodies for the battle
of holy obedience to his instructions. (And battle, indeed, it
may often be! This Benedict tells us up front) "What is not
possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the
help of his grace".
Your monastic brothers and I would be guilty of a gross
deception, if, on this most notable occasion of Solemn vows, we
did not remind you and all your friends, but mainly us your
brothers, what Benedict says to the one recently come to the
monastery, the novice. RB 58,7:
"The concern of the novice master [and Father Albert
is a great one] must be whether the novice truly seeks God and
whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God (Divine Office and
Eucharist), for obedience and for trials. The novice should be
clearly told all the hardships and difficulties that will lead
him to God".
Again, in Chapter 60 of the Holy Rule Benedict asks this
question of why have you come--- to priest candidates for the
monastic/community life: "Friend, what have you come
for?" We know Benedict’s answer.
We praise the Lord! Patrick, that you have been brought
here by the Lord and your own graced cooperation with His
personal invitation. You have heeded the leading ways of the Holy
Spirit. You have been obedient and eager for the works of this
community and the Work of God, and, best of all,
to my mind, you have grown to trust. You trust the Novice master,
the Abbot and other good advisors- with yourself. It has become
obvious to me and your elder Brothers that you have also grown
more and more aware of the needs of others in the monastery and do
choose to respond to them generously and promptly.
That’s who a monk needs to be- more and more- as he grows in
love of the brotherhood and all those who are associated with us
here in Newark, on Martin Luther King Blvd., particularly the
School and Parish communities.
Holy Rule Pro 14
Seeking his workman in a multitude of people, the Lord
(again!) calls out to him and lifts his voice: Is there anyone
here who yearns for life and desires to see good days? (Brother
Patrick you have already, many times, answered the Lord: "
Yes, Lord, I have listened, and in pronouncing Solemn/final vows
to a particular Community of monks, would beg to continue to
listen to You, Lord.)
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 4:32-35
The community of believers was of one heart and mind,and no one claimed that any of his possessions was
his own, but they had everything in common. With
great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no
needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses
would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at
the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each
according to need.
The word of the Lord.
St. Benedict knows from personal experience, Patrick, how
important possessions are to any one of us. Remember he
is a realist. Some of these ‘possessions’
can be easily disposed of before we enter the community:
one’s job and its salary, perhaps a car or house or …
some ambition. Benedict says " he should either give them to
the poor beforehand, or make a formal donation of them to the
monastery, without keeping back a single thing for himself."
This procedure makes good common living sense but this is not all
that Benedict is focusing our attention on, since he and you are
well aware that some possessions we do carry with us and, thanks
be to God! must bring into the monastery. It is precisely about
these Benedict tells us, " the monk… must be well aware
that from now on he may not keep back a single thing for himself,
since from that day he will not have even his own body at his
disposal." Think on that!
So that I can contribute to the oneness of mind and heart
of my, I mean our, monastic community life,
Benedict acknowledges and welcomes the possessions of an engaging
personality, a good character, physical and emotional strength
and health, keen intellectual gifts. Simply and decisively, he
would have us be happy with our brothers and sisters who possess
such gifts and remind each other that these are given you or him
or the other for the benefit of all. The real monk keeps nothing
back from his giving---ever. Obviously, Patrick, this genuine and
openhearted self-giving does not happen overnight-once and for
all- nor accidentally, nor automatically. Your intention and aim
in life must be the desire to be at the disposal of everyone, but
especially the poor-all the poor. Being this way and doing
it, doing it, is becoming Christ, and this
is the real community labor of the monk and the personal project
and struggle of a lifetime, dedicating one’s mind, heart and
energies to building up the Body of Christ with the special gifts
that you possess. This way of being, Patrick, is meant to define
you as a man.
It is not monastic, nor is it Christian, to covet
another’s gifts, gifts that might appear more influential,
important or attractive. Almost by definition a monk is a man who
is happy with himself, and shows it! I believe that the monastic
aim of purity of heart involves wanting to see myself as I really
am and being quite content to let God take the credit for it all-
minus my self-will and sin, since these are mine alone. Yes,
noticing a Brother’s special gift, admiring it and trying to
emulate him in this is to everyone’s benefit-me, him and us.
Yes, do that.
Finally, Patrick, you will recall- I am sure- that early on
in novitiate I made direct reference to the fact that you are a
young African American man among an all-Caucasian community of
elder monks. You will remember how we together worked through the
different and attendant questions and challenges for us all. I
now wish to place before you Chapter 68 of the Holy Rule as we
proceed to your pronouncing solemn vows. The title of the Chapter
itself is noteworthy and paradoxical. It should shock me! I
assert that this chapter’s spiritual teaching message is at
the very core of a monk’s aims and intention- and I must
insist on this with you. Believe, trust and love, Patrick,
perhaps in that order.
Chapter 68 Title reads:
The Assignment of Impossible tasks to a Brother.
Why would St. Benedict say and teach the following: " A
brother may be assigned a burdensome task or something he
cannot do." [Yes, all of you heard rightly: he
cannot do.] If so, he should, with complete gentleness and
obedience, accept the order given him. Should he see, however,
that the weight of the burden is altogether too much for his
strength, then he should choose the appropriate moment and
explain patiently to his superior the reasons why he cannot
perform the task. This he ought to do without pride, obstinacy or
refusal. If after the explanation the superior is still
determined to hold to his original order, then the junior must
recognize that this is best for him. TRUSTING IN GOD’S HELP,
HE MUST IN LOVE OBEY.
Dear Brother Patrick, please be sure you have
reckoned honestly with the spiritual and practical consequences
and meaning of this chapter’s teaching for you as a man, as
a Christian and now as we proceed to solemn profession, as a
Monk. Trust God, yes of course, Trust the Lord Jesus, trust your
fellow monks and trust your Abbot. This trust positions the monk
to hear what God has to say to him-today.
Then and only then will real loving be yours and in
God’s way and time. A reading from the holy
Gospel according to Luke
While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out
and said to him:
"Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts
at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, Blessed are
those who hear the word of God and observe it." The Gospel
of the Lord. AMEN. I do accept Brother Patrick in our monastic
community!