25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINT PAUL’S MONASTERY
Father Dan Ward, OSB
The words from Isaiah this morning were an invitation to the people of Israel to return to the Lord. “Seek the Lord and call him; turn to the Lord for mercy. When you think about it, this is the whole journey to which Benedict in the Rule invites us: WHAT CAN BE SWEETER THAN THIS VOICE OF THE LORD INVITING US?”
In both Isaiah and the Rule, the invitation is given with urgency not to delay returning to a relationship with the Lord. SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND, Isaiah tells Israel. RUN WHILE YOU HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE, Benedict tells us.
Perhaps this is a Sunday to sit again with the Rule of Benedict and reflect, with the words of Isaiah gently guiding you. MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS; MY WAYS ARE NOT YOUR WAYS SAYS THE LORD. St. Benedict’s invitation was just this… to move from our own self-centeredness… listening to ourselves… to listening· to the Lord.
This is why the first criteria for receiving a novice is WHETHER THE NOVICE TRULY SEEKS GOD. Entrance is not about talent, usefulness, even temperament; it is about seeking God. This seeking is not for an absent God, but rather a call to listen. “Listen” permeates the Rule. It is not confined to the first word. To listen is to listen to God speaking in Scripture and through others. Listening is the antidote to a heart of self-will, a heart of my way.
The vow of obedience is not a rigid, cruel disciple, but rather a call to listen to the voice of God speaking through others, including the prioress and the community. Obedience calls us to put aside our defensiveness and listen even to things we do not wish to hear or do not believe about ourselves. It is the path from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. Thus, Benedict prescribes that the monastic hears each day these words: IF YOU HEAR GOD’S VOICE TODAY, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. Do not harden yourself so that you hear nothing but yourself. For the second degree of humility is I HAVE COME NOT TO DO MY WILL, BUT THE WILL OF THE ONE WHO SENT ME.
When we come to this way of living, a way of listening to hear God’s voice, we come to understand these words of Isaiah: FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NOR ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS, SAYS THE LORD.
We will truly understand the parable of the gospel, a parable of the scandalous goodness of God, of the unconditional love of God, of a God so compassionate that the question of WHY is never heard because every last person is invited and has a place in God’s vineyard.
When we truly understand these words of Isaiah and the parable of the gospel, then perhaps our hardened hearts will be moved from a selfish notion of fairness, a false notion of economic justice that only rewards hard work, self-drive of ambition and success and condemns sloth and sloppiness to understand the day-laborers who were only chosen in the last hour.
Perhaps this might be something to remember as we reflect on the gospel teaching: IN THE GAME OF LIFE MANY OF US CROSS HOME PLATE BECAUSE WE WERE BORN ON THIRD BASE. OTHERS ARE NOT BORN EVEN IN THE GAME.
Benedict wrote his Rule as a practical way to live life according to God’s holy teachings. FOR THE LORD SAYS, WHOEVER HEARS THESE WORD OF MINE IS LIKE THE PERSON WHO BUILT HIS HOUSE UPON A ROCK. Benedict reflects on these words: THE LORD WAITS FOR US DAILY TO TRANSLATE INTO ACTION, AS WE SHOULD, HIS HOLY TEACHING.
Today may be a good day to reflect anew on the teachings of the Rule guided by God’s holy teachings that we heard today.
