Benedictines for Peace and Social Justice

Prayer

In the midst of silence, the sisters at Saint Benedict’s Monastery and Saint Scholastica Convent welcomed the weavings of a year’s ending and a new year’s beginning into a shared day of silent recollection on December 31. Both silence and the Word, an awareness of the Gospels’ presence, welcomed sisters, oblates and guests into the sacredness of prayer’s invitation. The sisters’ welcoming presence to join them in prayer can be realized as a stabilizing sense of grounding into each day throughout the year. Prayer and petitioners’ deepest desires are brought into the dawning hope of the monastery’s ritualized communion within a global faith community.

At first glance, prolonged silence, an experience in the midst of motion, obligation and circumstance frankly doesn’t seem to be an option in the lives of many people. Saint Benedict offers silence as an invitation in the moment, reflected upon throughout the day. Realization of one’s breath can become silence of refreshment that stirs the spirit’s desire to realize Christ’s presence in both circumstances and people throughout the day.

“In his vision, Saint Benedict’s basic motive for silence is the creation of an attitude and capacity for expectant listening in the heart. … Commentators on the Rule of St. Benedict readily agree that for him, the value of silence is not in renouncing speech as a form of mortification, but rather in its positive value of preserving a spirit of prayer,” Sister Ephrem Hollermann noted during a recent conference at the monastery. “It is abundantly clear from the Prologue of the Rule that listening to the creative, transforming Word of God is central to Benedict’s whole venture. It is to this end that he introduces silence in the spirit of true discipleship. The true disciples recognized by Jesus were those who sought to ‘hear the Word of God and put it into practice’ (Luke 8:21, 11:28).”

Stewardship

Pope Francis’ World Day of Peace message, “Peace as a journey of hope: Dialogue, reconciliation, and ecological conversion,” deviates from the single-theme address that is typical on the Solemnity of Mary. The pope addresses nuclear issues in the first two points, followed by global economic injustice in the third point and the ecological crisis in the fourth. The fifth is dedicated to the need for hope and to build a culture of “fraternal encounter.”

Opening the fourth point on ecological issues, the pontiff quotes from a point in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” in which he said humanity has not been “faithful to the treasures of wisdom which we have been called to protect and serve.” Each theme, globally referenced, addresses our personal responsibilities as citizens of our global community.

“Faced with the consequences of our hostility towards others, our lack of respect for our common home or our abusive exploitation of natural resources—seen only as a source of immediate profit, regardless of local communities, the common good and nature itself—we are in need of an ecological conversion,” Francis continues in the peace message. “We need to change the way we think and see things, and to become more open to encountering others and accepting the gift of creation, which reflects the beauty and wisdom of its Creator.”

Responsible Living

“As a nation, we share many blessings and strengths, including a tradition of religious freedom and political participation. However, as a people, we face serious challenges that are both political and moral. This has always been so and as Catholics we are called to participate in public life in a manner consistent with the mission of our Lord, a mission that he has called us to share,” begins the U.S. Bishops’ Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The document’s 92 points are arranged in three sections: The U.S. Bishops’ Reflection on Catholic Teaching and Political Life; Applying Catholic Teaching to Major Issues: A Summary of Policy Positions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Goals for Political Life: Challenges for Citizens, Candidates, and Public Officials.

The document mentioned, available in both English and Spanish, offers foundational understanding and beliefs of the Catholic Church. It can be both a helpful and challenging source of information as we prepared for 2020 elections. References to Church and biblical documents are noted throughout the texts.

Preparation for state and national elections is the responsibility of each citizen, realizing that our politicians need to be representative of us—we are the reality and reflection of our nation when we vote. Local and national discussions “begin at home” for much of the nation. Entering into productive conversations depends on our willingness to educate ourselves and listen to each other throughout the process of preparing for and participating in the election process. Numerous sources of information are available on the internet, within the resources section of our website and throughout civic and faith-based organizations.

Reflection

Grounding oneself in their faith tradition is a centering source of energy, a means of reflecting a peaceable presence in the world. Lectio divina, a prayer form often realized as a Benedictine tradition, is one such source of grounding into each new day. In Lectio Divina of the Gospels for the Liturgical Year 2019-2020, the reader uses the traditional process of reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation as a daily, weekly discipline. As the new liturgical year begins with the first Sunday of Advent, we are invited to focus on the Sunday Gospel reading, exploring the sacred texts with greater attention, welcoming the Word to permeate one’s mind and imagination more deeply. Each week’s lectio divina includes dedicated space for writing out reflections, thoughts and prayers in the book.

“Throughout the Christian tradition, readers are similarly called upon to ‘listen to’ the sacred text, that is to say, to receive it obediently, as though it were spoken to one directly and personally. One has then to engage the text in prayer and apply it in action,” notes Duncan Robertson, author of “Lectio Divina: The Medieval Experience of Reading.”

Resources

“Listen carefully and attend with the ear of your heart.” Loosely quoted, Saint Benedict invites, challenges, maybe even demands the faithful to become listeners. To realize we are called to listen, and to hear, there is a difference—first from within. One of the many ways to enter into the journey is to read and reflect. Then the conversation begins.