May 31

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary


Chapter 7 pt. 6

The Rule of St. Benedict May 31

We have no greater example of a person who loves not her own will nor takes pleasure in satisfying her own desires than that of St. Mary, the Mother of our Lord.  Today's feast celebrates the visit of the Virgin Mary to her relative, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, while they were both expecting.  Caryll Houselander has this to say about Mary in the events of the Visitation in her small book, The Reed of God:

And Mary rising up in those days went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judea. Those days in which she rose on that impulse were the days in which Christ was being formed in her, the impulse was his impulse.  Many women, if they were expecting a child, would refuse to hurry over the hills on a visit of pure kindness.  They would say they had a duty to themselves and to their unborn child which came before anything or anyone else.  The Mother of God considered no such thing.  Elizabeth was going to have a child, too, and although Mary's own child was God, she could not forget Elizabeth's need--almost incredible to us, but characteristic of her.

And further,

If Christ is growing in us, if we are at peace, recollected, because we know that however insignificant our life seems to be, from it he is forming himself; if we go with eager will, in haste, to wherever our circumstances compel us, because we believe that he desires to be in that place, we shall find that we are driven more and more to act on the impulse of his love.  And the answer we shall get from others to the impulses will be an awakening into life, or the leap of joy of the already wakened life within them.

Br. Chad 2012

 

 

May 30

Chapter 7 pt. 5

The Rule of St. Benedict May 30

In St. Luke's gospel, Jesus describes the "good soil" in the Parable of the Sower as "the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance."  Goodness in soil is a set of conditions that can come and go, that, without perseverance in maintaining them, are likely to be lost.

As our Father Benedict seeks to orient our hearts towards a pervasive awareness of God's presence in our every moment, he admonishes us to beware of the strong forces within us that would rather operate without the awareness of God.  It is our lusts, our desires that overpower our ability to act reasonably from an honest and good heart, that compromise the conditions of our good soil and prevent us from bearing the fruit we are called to bear into the world.  And if there is anything in the human experience that requires patient endurance and our best effort, it is dealing with the strong forces within us that pull our gaze from the steady gaze of God.

Br. Chad 2012

May 29

Chapter 7 pt. 4

The Rule of St. Benedict May 29

As the Prior of The Community of St. Mary of the Annunciation, my vow of obedience was taken to Holy Scripture, to the Rule, and to Jesus Christ himself as my Shepherd.  Self-will is forbidden to me every bit as much as it is forbidden to those who give their obedience to me as the shepherd of this community of canons.  Accepting this role as one who receives a vow of obedience from others is not what I would choose.  I do not desire that others obey me.  I feel unworthy to hold such trust.  Yet, I stood and witnessed Br. Rawleigh's vows, and I will do the same for Ronda this Saturday, as an act of obedience, not as an act of my own will.  I have been called to stand up and allow my soul to be the icon through which each member of this community gives up his or her self-will to Christ.

May God be my help.

Amen.

Br. Chad 2012

May 28

Chapter 7 pt. 3

The Rule of St. Benedict May 28

Today is my first full day as a Benedictine canon.  I professed my solemn vows, took the habit and a religious name, and donned the pectoral cross as the Prior (religious superior) of the newly established Community of St. Mary of the Annunciation.  I then turned and witnessed the vows of a new novice, Br. Rawleigh Emmons, and welcomed him into the community.  As I sit here at home this morning, engaging in my practice and orienting myself to the new reality of my life, our Father Benedict's instructions on this day are especially poignant.

St. Benedict reminds me today that I am not the master of anything in my life, not my newly minted vocation, not the new canon community I shepherd, not even my own thoughts.  In fact, the greatest danger I face as I drape my habit over my head, fasten my belt, and place the cross over my chest is the temptation to pride and vanity that slithers among my semi-conscious thoughts.  If I am to overcome this temptation, I must subject all of myself to the warm, gentle, and piercing light of God, who, my Father Benedict says, is ever present within my thoughts anyway.  My work is to stop pretending that what I hide from myself and repress deep within is hidden and repressed from God.  God has always seen all of me, and has loved me all along.  

Br. Chad 2012

Veni Creator Spiritus

O Holy Spirit, by whose breath

life rises vibrant out of death;

come to create, renew, inspire;

come, kindle in our hearts your fire.

In every age and land God calls women and men to imitate their Lord by setting spiritual intentions above worldly considerations, the love of God's little ones above the claims of tribe, and obedience to the divine will in place of all personal ambitions.  The breath of the Creator Spirit kindles within the hearts of the called various gifts and characteristics, charisms, to bring new life, to create, renew, and inspire the Church.  And throughout the ages such charisms abide within her by the order of religious life.

You are the seeker's sure resource,

of burning love the living source,

protector in the midst of strife,

the giver and the Lord of life.

Religious orders spring from the earnest intentions and tireless endeavors of spiritual pilgrims seeking the living Source of the burning love within their breast.  Met with abundant help from the Spirit, they endure the strife of putting away their former way of life, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, so that they may teach others to clothe themselves with a new life, the likeness and giver of which is God alone.

In you God's energy is shown,

to us your varied gifts make known.

Teach us to speak, teach us to hear;

yours is the tongue and yours the ear.

St. Benedict of Nursia embodied divine energy, showing forth the charisms of prayer, lectio divina, and work in his life and in his Rule for monasteries.  Through him the Spirit teaches those who yearn for life and desire to see good days to keep their tongue from evil and their lips from speaking what is false, and rather to attune the ear of their heart and listen carefully to the divine voice which calls daily, "Come, my children, listen to me."

Flood our dull senses with your light;

in mutual love our hearts unite.

Your power the whole creation fills;

confirm our weak, uncertain wills.

"Nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God," our Father Benedict instructs.  When the community gathers for the Divine Office, a Benedictine opens her senses to be flooded by the light of the Holy Spirit.  She raises her voice to join with the Communion of Saints, with Angels, and with the Church on earth in their ceaseless choral offering.  And when she falters, she is girded up by the good zeal of her sisters and brothers along the way.

From inner strife grant us release;

turn nations to the ways of peace.

To fuller life your people bring

that as one body we may sing:

A religious life on the Benedictine path is "a journey through earthen darkness to the dazzling light that already flames in each of us, but in a hidden place left to each of us to find" (Chittister, p. 38).  A Benedictine community is to furnish the human family with a window into the full life made possible through the ways of peace with God and with neighbor.  It is in this spirit that the Canon Communities of St. Benedict (OSBCn) are dispersed throughout North America, hosted by parishes within dioceses in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.  It is in this spirit, through the movement of the Holy Spirit at St. Augustine's in Tempe, that the Canon Community of St. Mary of the Annunciation will be established on the Day of Pentecost.  And it is in this spirit with great joy on that same day that I will profess my solemn vows as a Benedictine Canon (OSBCn), be clothed with the full habit, and take the religious name of Br. Chad-Joseph.

Praise to the Father, Christ, his Word,

and to the Spirit: God the Lord,

to whom all honor, glory be

both now and for eternity.

Amen.