Rule of St. Benedict for Lent

 

Rule of St. Benedict for Lent

My husband and I are Benedictine Oblates with Silverstream Priory in County Meath, Ireland. Back in 2011, we met with Dom Mark Kirby, the former Prior, while he was still living in Tulsa, Oklahoma where we reside for an explanation of The Rule of St. Benedict on Lent.  

I published this explanation in a post on this website shortly after and want to share it again, now 14 years later. 

St. Benedict

Dom Mark reminded us that Benedictine life is "an infirmary not Olympics. The Father monk applies the appropriate remedies to the other monks. God came to heal the sick and St. Benedict was fully aware of our human weaknesses and our tendencies toward discouragement."

"We urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure...," said St. Benedict. This, Father Mark told us, is singleheartedness--keeping our hearts and minds fixed on the Lord. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Mt 5:8

The Rule continues, "...and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times." This is a time of reparation, a time to make up for sins, especially those of omission. The sins we commit by failing to do something, like not reconcile with a friend or relative, for example, or reach out to a neighbor in need.

"Compunction of heart" is something St. Benedict stresses for Lent. Allowing our hearts to be open and touched. It is humility and contrition that bring us closer to God.

Adding to the "usual measure of service," St. Benedict encourages us to abstain from food and drink. Father Mark explained that means to go without something, but to do it in moderation.  "Our usual measure of service," he said, "is our worship. Everything is worship. It's all integrated and everything is sacralized."

We offer to God an oblation--a free act of self offering--"with the joy of the Holy Spirit," wrote St. Benedict. 1 Thess 1:6  Yes, Lent is a time to have the joy of the Lord, the joy of spiritual desire--Holy Pascha.

And finally St. Benedict warned against doing anything with "presumption and vainglory," so Father Mark recommended for those who are married that we seek our spouse's approval for our spiritual observances. This will help safeguard peace and harmony in our marriage relationships.

HOPE

During Advent we hear many scriptures from Isaiah. Today's first reading is from Isaiah 40:25-31. I don't know about you, but I love thinking of our Creator God every morning when I wake up and how he created everything out of His infinite love for us. He is so mighty and powerful. Omnipotence!  He knows every detail of our life. Like he knows the number of hairs on each of our heads, he also knows the number of stars in the sky and is all-knowing. Omniscience! And he is everywhere. Omnipresence! 

Sometimes due to circumstances in our lives we think God has not heard our prayers, or the cries of the heart, but as Isaiah instructs, God knows all. He's heard our prayers and He will answer them in an intelligent purposeful way with His perfect timing.

The verse that really struck me this morning was, "They that HOPE in the LORD will renew their strength." It reminds me of a song my husband and I used to sing for many years. The words were, "They that wait upon the Lord, will renew their strength..." 

Starting this Christmas Eve, we will begin a Jubilee 2025 Year of Hope. That's one good reason the word "hope"resonates so much. More than anything I do pray that you will be filled with hope, and believe that you have a future full of hope no matter what you are facing. (Jeremiah 29:11) Some of you may be facing great tragedy, may reside in war-ravaged areas, may be abused, neglected or persecuted. Whatever the cry of your heart, the Lord hears you. Keep trusting, keep waiting, keep hoping! One day at a time.

Here is the living and active Word of God from Isaiah. It is "sharper than any two-edged sword." (Hebrews 4:12) May it pierce your heart with its truth, lead you on your way with far-sighted vision, and fill you with renewed life and strength:

“To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
and see who has created these things:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!
Why, O Jacob, do you say,
and declare, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God"?

Do you not know
or have you not heard?
The LORD is the eternal God,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
He gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles' wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.” Is 40:25-31

God bless and keep you always close to His Most Sacred Heart!

Urgent request from Our Queen of Peace

Some of you may have already heard about this urgent request from Our Lady of Medjugorje to the visionary, Marija. She received this unusual message from Our Lady on June 15^th for us, her children, to  pray a Rosary Novena (3 mysteries a day) for World Peace June 16 - 25, 2024. 

 Dr. Mark Miravalle, posted this 5 minute video from Rome to help the Church understand why it is important to respond to Our Lady’s plea for help. Dr. Miravalle believes Our Mother is trying to alleviate or mitigate grave danger to world peace.

 

Let us pray for the grace to join Our Queen of Peace as she intercedes for global peace.

 

Here is the video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc7m_ThkfNY

 

Grace & peace,

 

Sheila

RATTLED

There are those times when we feel rattled, when there seems to be an endless list of things to do, when we do not know how it's all going to come together, when things seem almost impossible, when the weariness sets in, when the anxiety tries to creep back into the heart. 

When the mind doubts that it can all be done, but then the grace of God sweeps in and I find myself sitting at your feet. I cry out to you and I say, "Lord here I am--my rattled self. Take me as I am."

I know you love and accept me; help me to accept myself, help me to take a deep breath, and to know that everything will get done in the power of your spirit, with your overflowing grace, with your faithful love that flows like a river when I open up and say, " FIAT!"  

Come, Lord Jesus, I need you!'

Simple Blessing

I was admiring the stately and brilliant zinnias in our flower garden yesterday morning when a monarch butterfly came and posed for a photo. This simple blessing surely came from above. Over eleven years ago when my precious sister, Linda, passed away we released monarch butterflies in her honor after her Funeral Mass. You can imagine any time now that I see a monarch butterfly I sense her nearness.

What simple blessings do you experience each day as you gaze at the beauty of the earth--the sun, the moon and the stars above, or the flowers, the trees and birds of the air?

A New Creation

     One morning my husband and I were reading part of a letter from St. Paul to the Colossians, found in the New Testament of the Bible. It was actually the First Reading in Liturgy of the Hours. I know--too much information. Let me get to the point...As I read I was a struck by the great message contained in this Word. The title of the excerpt was Life of a New Man. Isn't that what we long to be--a new and better creation?--a better version of ourselves as author, Matthew Kelly, would say.

     I'll just list some of the things Paul says to the Colossians and let's imagine he's speaking to us. He starts out with strong commands about what to stop doing."Put to death whatever in your nature is rooted in earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and that lust that is idolatry." Col 3: 5 How's that for nailing it right off the bat? In other words, absolutely get rid of any of that. Either we put it to death or it puts us to death.

    "Put this aside now: all the anger and quick temper, the malice, the insults, the foul language...and stop lying to one another." Col 3: 8-9 So we need to renounce anger, renounce lies and other destructive behaviors that we might engage in and pray for the grace to act maturely, that is, to exercise self-control with the words that come out of our mouths and to have the courage to speak with honesty. When we simply begin to choose and practice these virtues it gets easier and easier to live as mature people who then get into the flow of being the creative people we are meant to be.

     As St. Paul continues speaking he softens and instructs the Colossians to do these things: "Clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another, forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you."  Col 3: 12-13 In order to bear the fruit of those five virtues of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, we need to become aware of who we might need to forgive and have the willingness to forgive them, even when we may not feel like it. We choose to take the higher road. We keep in mind we are setting ourselves free when we forgive others and more wonderful things can happen when blocks, like unforgiveness, are removed from within us. 

     And then my favorite part of St. Paul's admonition--"Over all these virtues put on love. Christ's peace must reign in your hearts." Colossians 3: 14-15 There is truly nothing more powerful than love. Love transcends everything. It can speak all the languages of the universe. It can powerfully impact the hearts of everyone.  We seek to be love in this world. And peace reigns in our hearts when we choose this path of life.

     Finally, Paul says..."Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness. Let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you. In wisdom made perfect instruct and admonish one another. Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns, and inspired songs."  Col 3: 15-16 Thanksgiving needs to be every day. Dedicate means to commit. We commit ourself to be a thankful person. When we remember to give thanks daily for all the gifts we take for granted--for breath, for life, for the people we love, for a place to live and food to eat, for the basics and all the extra surprises that happen unexpectedly, we enter into a more heavenly place on earth. Thanksgiving is a gateway into the presence of the Father Almighty.

    Imagine someone who is dressed in filthy garments. You are watching as they remove those dirty clothes and they say, "I don't need these anymore because there is something much better laying right here for me." When Paul spoke of "put to death" and "put this aside", it's getting rid of the filth that has turned us into selfish and, oftentimes, violent people. And now you can see them picking up clean, beautiful, royal-like garments and redressing themselves. They are choosing to clothe themselves with the beautiful virtues. Then they see a gorgeous velvet robe laying there too and put it over all the new clothes--that's the LOVE robe.

     And so I humbly pray+

     Lord Jesus, we desire to live as new creations, as new women and new men. Put to death, by the power of your Holy Spirit, whatever may be "rooted in earth" within us. Give us an increase of virtue to replace all that we need to put aside. Especially bless our mouths and all that comes from them. We command the stronghold of a lying spirit to leave us and ask for the spirit of truth to reign in our lives. 

    Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with the same heartfelt compassion that Jesus had as he walked the earth. We long for the river of grace to flow through us. We will that all unforgiveness be gone toward those we have hardened our hearts against. Set us free, Lord, to forgive as you have forgiven. We surrender to love. Fill us with more of your Holy Spirit who is the love between you and the Father. We surrender to peace. Touch our minds that we may be transformed with good, holy, and pure thoughts that increase the peace within our hearts. 

    We thank you, Lord Jesus, for everything--for breathe, life, for each new day, for grace to be transformed, and power to turn from all that is not good, for your Holy Spirit that fills us, and your word that dwells richly within us. Increase our wisdom so we may help one another to find the right path that leads to eternal life. And finally, put a song of grateful joy ever in our mouths as we honor and praise you for all you have done for us. Amen.

Resist Discouragement

Sometimes do you feel like numerous thoughts or emotions have collided within you and are beginning to weigh you down? Like maybe you're missing a loved one, someone said something that bothered you, you're not sure what next step to take, someone doesn't seem interested in your project, someone didn't reply after you asked them to get back with you, or you've lost some connections with people. And all these kinds of thoughts are making you feel sad or even depressed? These are simply a few examples of some very real instances that could mount up in our minds.

Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don't go too far in that thinking. Right here and now you need to resist the temptation to think things are going wrong. Get a grip on your emotions. Talk to them. Tell the negative emotions to get out.

Say, "Sadness, you have no place here. Go! Getty up. Good-bye!"A most powerful way to rid ourselves of negative spirits is to say, "In the name of Jesus, I renounce  ______(whatever it is). Ask it to go directly and immediately to the foot of the cross.

Then go immediately to thankfulness. Surely some things are going right. Speak 'em out! Thank you for the sunshine, for the rain, for the person that was kind, for my friend...whatever you are thankful for that day.

We must develop good habits to stand firm against the temptations of the evil one who comes to rob, steal and destroy our peace. The victory is ours but we must exercise our authority as a child of God.