Illustration about Benedict: "The knots in the ropes which bound the man suddenly unravel, and he stands there completely free. He, of course, was not displeased; and the barbarian was terribly impressed. This latter in fact threw himself at St. Benedict's feet, asking for his prayers. Benedict effortlessly returned to his reading, ordering several of the monks to prepare some refreshment for the barbarian. As he was about to depart, Benedict simply took the occasion to tell him not to treat others so cruelly. So, how to state the monastic contribution? In the midst of the massive inhumanity we direct toward one another, to stay calmly anchored in the Word of God and to let its power set us free."
COMMENT Mass Memorial this morning: Similarly re St. Scholastic, Gregory the Great's moral said 'the sister had the greater love than Benedict in charity on the occasion!
American Benedictine Review
66:4 December 2014
Monasicism and the new Evangelism, 1-11
Jeremy Driscoll OSB
++++++++++++++++++
The whole world can be seen in
a single glance in Christ. It is beautiful and stunning and something to be loved, but in Christ
my heart becomes bigger than the world and contains it. This is the monk as a type in that technical sense in which I
wish to
use the term. The monk is meant to behold the world in a single contemplative glance and to contain it within something larger, something larger that paradoxically lies within. "The inside is bigger than
the outside" (C.S. Lewis, The
Chronicles of Narnia). And although a type must really. live the reality of his calling,
the type bodies forth a truth that is valid for the whole society. Others too can learn the
monk's vision. When this happens, it can be
called the monastic contribution. Concerning
a contemplative
vision of this
sort, we monks need new ardor, new methods, and new expressions.
The Dialogues of St. Gregory
Dial. II.3I provide us with yet another image of St. Benedict that can serve as a representative summary of how the monastic practice of reading might also be a contribution to Church and world. And here I mean the kind of reading that arrives at reading the mystery of the Holy Trinity in all of life, the kind of reading that leads to being able to hold the world in a single contemplative glance in Christ. The scene which Gregory
describes
begins with St. Benedict seated quietly at the door of his monastery, absorbed in reading.' I am inspired in part in the
following
by B. Standaert, Les trois colonnes
du monde, carnet de route pour le pelerin du XXI siecle?
Suddenly, crashing unexpectedly into the peace of the scene, there comes riding up on a horse a rough-mannered and haughty barbarian, shoving before him a poor peasant, who is bound with ropes. The peasant owes the barbarian money and has claimed that his goods are deposited in the safekeeping of Benedict's monastery. Without any introduction or any attempt at graciousness,
the barbarian shouts at Benedict, "Get up!
Get up!
No tricks,
just get me this scum's money, which he says you have." (I am paraphrasing loosely, but I think thus to have captured the feel of the text.)
What follows is important for our understanding of the power of the practice of lectio. I would call it a quintessential monastic moment. It is, if you will, the monastic contribution to the world, here represented
2 Dial. II.3I.
3 Paris: Desclee, 1987.
377 - - -
in one of its unhappier aspects by the barbarian. We are told that, in response to the barbarian's rude and abrupt command, St. Benedict calmly raised his eyes from his reading and looked for a moment at the barbarian. Slowly his gaze turned toward the poor peasant, noting how cruelly he was bound. Here too the task of monastic reading is represented: the monk, looking up from the Scripture, fixes his gaze on the suffering of the world. In that moment in which Benedict's eyes fall on the suffering man, let us call it the moment in which the light of Scripture penetrates the darkness of human suffering and injustice, a tremendous wonder is worked.
The knots in the ropes which bound the man suddenly unravel, and he stands there completely free. He, of course, was not displeased; and the barbarian was terribly impressed. This latter in fact threw himself at St. Benedict's feet, asking for his prayers. Benedict effortlessly returned to his reading, ordering several of the monks to prepare some refreshment for the barbarian. As he was about to depart, Benedict simply took the occasion to tell him not to treat others so cruelly. So, how to state the monastic contribution? In the midst of the massive inhumanity we direct toward one another, to stay calmly anchored in the Word of God and to let its power set us free.
This image has been tremendously helpful to me in my own life.
I do not know if I have successfully evoked it or not. I want to let the image itself speak and not to say too much about it. But the book is in my hand, the Word of God in my hand, I look up from it and see terrible things going on in the world, and I see people all around me, in the Church and outside the Church, completely discouraged and dismayed. From deep inside the book I hold, I want to be able to offer a word to this troubled world and Church and return my eyes to the book for further nourishment. A quiet word, an attractive word, a word of power, an effective word, a word that changes things. The world and Church need this kind of word, a "monastic" word. Given more frequently by us and from a greater depth, it could certainly be a monastic contribution to New Evangelization.
In 2009 we held at Sant' Anselmo a very interesting symposium
called "Monasticism and Mission." It was sponsored jointly by the Monastic
Institute of Sant' Anselmo, the St. Ottilien Missionary
JEREMY DRISCOLL, O.S.B.
THE DIALOGUES OF SAINT
GREGORY, SURNAMED DIALOGUS AND THE GREAT, ...
... of a real man – St
Benedict, in this case – Gregory wished to illustrate ...
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