On this day,
in my distant past, we celebrated this day, November 13th, as the “Feast
of Benedictine All Saints.” That was a
special day for us Benedictines. After
all, there are over 1500 years of women and men Benedictines who have passed on
to eternal life over that time. hat
would have been countless Saints, canonized or not. St. Paul says, we are all saints of God. Now, of course they are not celebrated
separately, but included with the whole Communion of Saints on All Saints Day,
and individually through-out the year.
St. Benedict & St. Scholastica
provided a Gospel way of life for us that has endured through-out the ages for,
not only the women and men monastics, but also for the oblates who live out the
same charism in their everyday lives. “Preferring nothing to Christ, and
allowing Christ to lead us all to life everlasting.” (H.R. Ch. 72:11-12) Christ
is our Guide and Leader on this Way.
How does Christ form and transform us into
his disciples? Just as Jesus did the
disciples in Galilee some 2000 years ago.
In his book, Jesus the Gift of
Love, Jean Vanier sums up his method:
Jesus formed these men and women not in a formal way by
teaching ideas, skills, or giving them classes in Scripture, but he formed and
transformed them by living with them, walking with them, being a model for
them.
He loved them and they loved him so naturally they learned
from him, to do things as he did them.
He taught them how to live the good news, how to trust the Father and to
read the signs of God in all the little events of each day.
He showed them that faith is trust in God, not ideas about
God, and that this faith and trust grow day by day through all that is
beautiful as well as through all that is painful, all that reveals our weakness
and poverty.He showed them that trust
is like a dialogue, a communion between hearts that is continually deepening.
Jesus gave them an example of how to live, how to love, how
to welcome the poor, how to become a friend of the powerless, how to be with
women and men and with strangers, even the Roman troops, how to be with
sinners, tax collectors, and victims of prostitution.
They saw how Jesus lived, simply
and poorly, open to each moment and to each situation, open to the will of the
Father, and how he was moved and motivated not by a codified, written law, but
by the law of love, the love of each person in need.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus
formed and transformed the disciples. Filled with that same Spirit we continue that way of life today in our
communities and in our homes. Jesus gave
us the Spirit as a guarantee of his accompanying us on our journey to the kingdom. In Christ we are formed and
transformed into the Communion of Saints with all God’s people and all creation. ALLELUIA!
Sr. Mary Tewes, OSB
Wow! Love all the threads in this. And I surely need to read some of the works of Jean Vanier!
ReplyDeleteDear Sister, Praise be to God for the Benedictine saints amen. Hundreds of years the monasteries lit the lamps of civilization, charity and beauty, we should not forget that the faith survived through the monasteries. This was especially true in Ireland, and also throughout Europe. Benedict, and your sons and daughters, thank you. There is great joy in discovering the Benedictine saints. How happy I was to discover those Benedictine Anglo-saxons. Many learned women saints. Benedictine saints pray for us in your height of heaven, amen. God bless OSB. Merry Christmas!
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