monastic spirituality – Page 11 – REACHING HURTING WOMEN MINISTRIES

EACH MONTH IN THE 12 STEPS OF HUMILITY WE ARE CLIMBING SAINT BENEDICT’S LADDER OF HUMILITY. WITH EACH RUNG WE COME CLOSER TO THE PERFECT LOVE OF GOD.

The ladder is our life on earth, if we humble our hearts God will raise it to heaven. ~ St Benedict

Step 4 of Humility: In this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, [her] heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape.

If you remain faithful to the end you will be saved. ~ Matthew 10:22

In our world today we want any trial we are facing to be corrected yesterday. We don’t have time, nor are we willing to persevere through the crisis. This leaves us living as spiritual infants.

According to Saint Benedict in our obedience, we are to hold fast when things aren’t going our way. And the only way to do that is to stay centered on God!

We must take our eyes off the circumstances and how we want things to be and remember everything in life can be a learning opportunity if we allow it.

I love this Webster 1828 definition:

perseverance: continuance in a state of grace to a state of glory.

When we are walking in God’s grace we are more likely to give Him glory. But we can’t be walking in His grace with our eyes on the ground, or on the circumstances or the rearview mirror, or on ourself.

God will only get the glory if we keep Him in the center minute by minute.

RESOURCES:
The Rule of Saint Benedict by Saint Benedict, Edited by Timothy Fry, O.S.B.
Twelve Steps to Inner Freedom: Humility Revisited by Joan D. Chittister**
The Twelve Steps of Humility and Pride by Bernard of Clairvaux
Living in the Truth: Saint Benedict’s Teaching on Humility by Michael Casey

Image credit: designerkrim / 123RF Stock Photo

IN A MONK IN THE WORLD WE ARE LEARNING THE TEACHINGS AND PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM AND HOW WE CAN APPLY THEM TO OUR LIVES OUTSIDE THE MONASTERY WALLS.

Last month we learned the first of three primary Benedictine vows: Obedience. Second in our study is Conversatio Morum often translated: Conversion of Life.

By this vow the monk recognizes that he is not yet fully the person God created him to be, that he is on the way to knowing himself as one loved and created in the divine image whose call is to be as Christ in the world but who has not yet arrived. ~ Elizabeth Canham**

Most of my life I have been resistant to change; change in lifestyles, living situations, jobs, etc… Not until my late 40’s was I able to embrace change with joy, seeing the change as a God given adventure with a purpose for my benefit.

Saint Benedict, writing to his monks in 6th century Italy, encourages them to embrace change and growth, to be transformed by the Spirit inwardly and outwardly.

As Christians we are called to continued spiritual growth. The vow of Conversion builds on this calling us to root out our vices and faults; to cultivate virtue and contemplation; to repent from worldly sin, and apply a lifelong process of discipline and spiritual formation.

With conversion we concentrate on the kind of person we want to become remembering there are no instant conversions. This is a lifelong marathon not a daily sprint. Not focusing so much on what must be removed but by adding in new healthier habits the negative ones will naturally fall away.

In this season of Lent what better time to embrace the Conversion of Life?

RESOURCES:

St. Benedicts Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday Benedictine Living by Jane Tomaine **
Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants by Dennis Okholm
How to be a Monastic and Not Leave your Day Job by Br. Benet Tvedten

Spirituality for Everyday Living: An Adaptation of the Rule of St. Benedict by Brian C. Taylor

The Path of Life by Cyprian Smith, OSB
The Rule of Saint Benedict edited by Timothy Fry, O.S.B.

Benedictine Monachism: Studies in Benedictine Life and Rule by Edward Cuthbert Butler

Image credit: aquaswim / 123RF Stock Photo