With the Gospel for our Guide
EASTERTIDE, 2009
SECTION ONE: READING AND REFLECTION
THE THEME CHOSEN FOR THIS SECTION HAS BEEN PROMPTED BY A DISCUSSION I HAD WITH AN OBLATE ON MARCH 25 TH.
THE THEME: BENEDICTINE LIBERTY OF SPIRIT.
FOUNDATION:
THE NAME: YHWH - that is, the Sacred Name means: ONE UNRESTRICTED AND EVER READY TO ACT.
THIS IS THE FOUNDATION FOR WHAT WE ASPIRE TO LIVE AS BENEDICTINES: LIBERTY OF SPIRIT.
AND THIS LIBERTY OF SPIRIT IS, IN TURN, FREEDOM OF SPIRIT, DETACHMENT FROM THINGS, OPINIONS, WAYS OF DOING OR ACTING. AND IT MEANS SERENE AVAILABILITY AND READINESS TO ACT, or to SERVE WHEN CALLED BY GOD TO DO SO. THIS BENEDICTINE CHARISM IS PROCLAIMED LOUDLY IN OUR BENEDICTINE RULE, WHICH ST. BENEDICT DESCRIBES AS “A LITTLE RULE FOR BEGINNERS.”
As our great Benedictine teacher, Blessed Columba Marmion, says: St. Benedict asks of us that we seek God in the sincerity of our hearts. He writes, “Let us take care…not to content ourselves with regulating our outward behaviour; God desires a ‘heart’ which seeks Him in secret.” Columba Marmion is concentrating on “outward observance, which, sought after for it own sake, without the inward love which quickens it is a formal show …an interior love pretending to dispense with the exterior faithfulness which is its fruit, would be an illusion…this is true of monastic life and Christian life.”
In our discipline of monasticism, there is “something easy, wide, free, lovable, joyous.”
The Rule of St. Benedict chapter 48 is adamant about the liberty of spirit a candidate needs in order to live the monastic life. Verse 7 says it all. Is one free enough?
Columba Marmion teaches us about the negative side of this choice to live the monastic life when he uses an example from experience. Someone may fail in love towards another because one chooses the letter of the law, and to be a slave to the letter of the law. This breeds aridity and hardness – servitude to the “letter”. The Pharisees reproached our Lord Jesus for healing the sick on the Sabbath Day. Opposed to this attitude, “one who loves Christ Jesus and does all for love, enjoys, at the same time, a great liberty in regard to observances.” The Sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the Sabbath. Take Luke 6:11 and Matthew 12:2 for prayer some time. As Benedictines trying to live “liberty of spirit”, we are called on over and over to let our plans go, and let God lead us. One is free when one is the captive of nothing whatsoever, neither of an employment, or an object, or persons. Such a one seeks and desires God. And when one has found God, every other desire is fulfilled. Such persons have God as their Lord, and nothing disputes this truth. Columba Marmion states the obvious: “The liberty possessed by people who are given to God in this way, brings them great peace and deep joy: they know that God is a God full of goodness, that God loves them, that God wants to bring them home, that God guides them, and they want for nothing. These people live in the abundance of Divine gifts and in an inward peace passing all understanding. The Lord has become for them their wisdom, strength and glory, and even “in the midst of the shadows of death,” they taste the peace of God and an inalterable joy, because they know they are in the hands of the most faithful of friends…” (Christ The Ideal of the Monk).
SECTION TWO: FURTHER READING AND REFLECTION
THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT, CHAPTER 58.
This chapter of our holy Rule is about what Terrence Kardong once described as a “chilly welcome”. Yes, it is certainly that. But it is also about “turning, and being turned to the Lord”, (words borrowed from Irene Nowell). As Benedictines we have undertaken to travel with the Gospel for our guide, and to prefer nothing to Christ. This says it all, and this is what places demands on us daily and hourly. So, no wonder new candidates were given a chilly welcome, - one needed to be sure that one was prepared to be turned to the Lord, in LIBERTY OF SPIRIT. While the “chilly welcome” policy of St. Benedict’s time is not practiced today, - certainly not in our community at Jamberoo – that doesn’t lessen the challenge which the monastic journey presents to anyone aspiring to follow the way of St. Benedict.
Sr. Joan Chittister says some very hard words, which we need to hear, if we are in earnest about “liberty of spirit”. She writes: “To close ourselves off from the wisdom of the world around us in the name of God is a kind of spiritual arrogance exceeded by little else in the human lexicon of errors. It makes of life a kind of prison where, in the name of holiness, thought is chained and vision is condemned. It makes us our own gods. It is a sorry excuse for spirituality.” These words are found on page 88 of :Illuminated Life – Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light.
Her words follow upon a wisdom story from the desert literature about being open to the advice and gifts of others. (liberty of spirit)
Pope John XXIII wrote a letter to his nephew Battista, on August 4, 1945. He said, among other things, “you must live each day as it comes, and proceed arm in arm with Providence, not try to race ahead.” (This is liberty of spirit).
He also wrote in a letter to his nephew Battista on February 24, 1950: “The older I grow the more I find that supreme wisdom, the only true wisdom, is still found more in the little, simple books which are closest to the Gospel, than in the great treatises which attract our curiosity.” Liberty of spirit is simplicity itself. The Gospel is simple. Why complicate it?
SECTION THREE: About the Rule of St. Benedict.
Cardinal Basil Hume writes wisely about “liberty of spirit” when he describes someone who takes on the Benedictine life for the wrong reason. He says, “if you are obsessed with self-fulfillment, there is a good chance…that you will not achieve it. There is…self-fulfillment of a bad kind, and of a good kind. The wrong kind, which is self-seeking, self-asserting, self-regarding, will lead you into very considerable misery in whatever walk of life you find yourself. St. Benedict is almost ruthless on this question of self-seeking – self-will. What he is aiming at is to eradicate from our lives – to save us from ourselves – those forms of self-seeking and assertiveness, which lead us into misery and constitute a barrier between ourselves and God. There is nothing so subtle, so pervasive, as the enthronement of ‘self’ at the expense of others and of God. That is the wrong kind of self-fulfillment. The right kind is expressed in the Gospel, in a paradox: the whole business of losing your life in order to save it. (Searching for God, by Cardinal Basil Hume). Losing one’s life in order to find freedom of spirit in Jesus– that is what the Gospel teaches, and that is what St. Benedict teaches.
SECTION FOUR: Community History
Bishop Charles Henry Davis, whose anniversary occurs on May 17, came to Australia in 1848. He was officially appointed as Bishop of East Maitland, a Diocese which was created by Papal Brief on May 27 th, 1847. The first intention was that the holder of this position was to be a Coadjutor to Archbishop Polding. The title, Bishop of Maitland, is inscribed on Davis’s Chalice. In the six years he was in Australia, his commitments kept him constantly in Sydney. Archbishop Polding was away in the far outreaches of the Colony, presiding at Confirmations, First Communions and the other Sacraments. Of course, the only transport was on horseback, so the journeys of Polding could last anywhere from three weeks to three months. Bishop Davis’s “Bishops’ Silver”, his Chalice, Cope Hood and Morse are kept in our heritage centre. Some of these sacred items toured Australia in 2002, for the “Pugin in the Antipodes” Exhibition. Charles Davis died the day before his 39 th birthday.
SECTION FIVE: Liturgy
We are now in Eastertide
The Octave of Easter ends with the Liturgy of Compline (Night Prayer), on the Second Sunday of Easter - but strictly speaking, each Sunday in Eastertide is considered in terms of ‘solemnity’ in the Church, and in Monastic communities. From Easter Sunday, April 12 until April 19, the Second Sunday of Easter, no feast or Memoria is celebrated because of this SOLEMN week of Liturgy.
OTHER FEASTS, SOLEMNITIES AND MEMORIAS ARE NOTED BELOW:
St. Anselm: April 21. (Optional Memorial)
Dedication of our Monastic Church at Jamberoo Abbey: April 23
Anzac Day: April 25 (Australian Liturgical Calendar) – (Feast)
St. Mark the Evangelist: April 26 (Feast) – not celebrated this year, because it is also the Third Sunday of Easter.
St. Peter Chanel : April 28. Memorial. (A feast in New Zealand). St. Peter Chanel was the first martyr of Oceania.
St. Catherine of Siena: April 29. (Mem)
St. Athanasius: May 2 (Mem)
Sts. Philip and James: May 3. (Feast)
The Abbots of Cluny: May 11 (Mem)
St. Matthias: May 14: Feast
THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD IS ON SUNDAY, MAY 24.
OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS has been moved to May 25.
Therefore, the feast of St. Bede of England, has been left out this year.
St. Philip Neri, May 26: Memorial.
PENTECOST SUNDAY is on MAY 31, and therefore the Feast of the Visitation of OurLady has been omitted.
At the Liturgy of Compline, (Night Prayer), on Pentecost Sunday, the Liturgical Period of Eastertide concludes, and the Paschal Candle is removed from the Church after Compline on this night.
SECTION SIX: Your Community
Our deepest sympathy to:
To the friends and family of Oblate Peter Bernard Smith. Peter’s sudden death on Tuesday, March 17 th, was a shock to all.
I apologise to Oblate Norma Long, for omitting Syd’s first anniversary of death, on March 21. God chose a privileged day for Syd – the Feast of the Passing of St. Benedict, in 2008.
If you lose a loved one in death, and you would like this person to be mentioned in “Pax”, and in our annual newsletter, please write to me, Sr. Hildegard Ryan, and let me know. I write both “Pax” for Oblates, and the annual Abbey Newsletter. Often messages passed on through others get lost in the “workings” The annual Newsletter is concluded in mid-September each year.
If you want Oblates to pray for your family and friends, or other intentions, please let me know two weeks before Pentecost, when I will be writing the next PAX BOOKLET.
Congratulations to:
Patricia Hildegard Benedict, of Euroa, Victoria, who made her Oblation on February 20 th.
Christine Frances Angus, of Berwick, Victoria, who made her Oblation on February 20 th.
Julie Frances Redican, who made her Oblation on Sunday March 8. Present with her was her husband and two beautiful little bundles of vibrant life – her girls.
This ceremony was held during our first Oblate Retreat for 2009.
A report on this retreat and on the Oblate Meeting, which was held on Saturday afternoon, March 7, has been compiled by Oblate Elizabeth (Aelred) Sheppard. Elizabeth has kindly taken on this task, to give Cathy Turek a break. Cathy has been sending a report by email to any oblate who wants one, and has been faithful to that task since we started our monthly meetings. Now Elizabeth is doing the same. I appreciate this greatly, as you are well aware of all my commitments within the Abbey in the way of cleaning and caring. Elizabeth’s email address is: elizabeth_sheppard@yahoo.com.au
Happy Feast Day to:
Tony Anselm Tarleton, Alfred Anselm Breznik, Robert Anselm Cashman and Kate Anselm Trevenen, for April 21.
Claire Catherine Devlyn and Marie Catherine Gleeson, for April 29th.
Brigid Julian Inder, Rev. Catherine Julian Eaton, Patricia Julian Morgan, Sr. Julianah Bredenoord, Barbara Julian Garwood, Therese Julian Proctor, Margaret Julian Crooks, Jean Julian Reid, and Colleen Julian Hines for May 13: Blessed Julian of Norwich.
Wendy Godric Orrock, Paul Godric Griffiths, and Ian Godric Thomas for May 21.
Doreen Rita Soballa, for May 22.
Amanda Mary Hickey for May 24 (liturgy transferred to 25 th this year).
Cheryl Bede Townsend, Heather Bede Thompson, Fr. Ronald Bede Harden, Alan Bede Hickey, Patrick Bede Quinn, Antonio Bede Zaragoza, and Fr. Kevin Bede Walsh, for May 25 (the liturgy for St. Bede is omitted because of the Sunday liturgy). However, this doesn’t stop one celebrating one’s feast day.
Jo Elizabeth Wickens, Margaret Elizabeth Crooks, Sr. Elizabeth and Mary Elizabeth Locke for May 31 st. Once again, this liturgy is omitted as it is PENTECOST SUNDAY.
Happy Anniversary to:
Helen Seraphim Shorter for April 16.
Margaret Thomas More Whetham for April 19.
Andrew Stephen Davies for May 11,
Ivan Benedict Fitz, for May 24,
Wendy Godric Orrock for May 30.
Sr. Hilda Scott (May 4): Solemn Profession Anniversary.
Necrology
April
17 – Sister Mary Editha Thompson (1983)
23 - Mother M. Ignatius Harnett (1915)
27 - Sr. M. Magdalene Parkinson (1900)
28 - Sr. M. Placida Burrows (1859)
MAY
1 - Sr. M. Veronica Brown (1992)
2 - Dame M Dolores Haselden (1951)
4 - Sr. M. Angela Regan (1859)
17 – Bishop Charles Henry Davis
29 – Sr. Mary Ann Hogan
31 – Sr. Mary Clare Bocher
SECTION SEVEN: Saints
The great St. Anselm, whose feast day is celebrated on April 21, said once, that “our faith should seek to be enlightened.” St. Anselm of Canterbury was the son of a Lombard landowner and a native of Aosta. After several years of living an undisciplined life, he crossed the Alps into France In 1056 and in 1059 entered the Monastic school at Bec in Normandy,…he later became both a theologian and a philosopher. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes him as having “the most luminous and penetrating intellect after St. Augustine and before St. Thomas Aquinas.” His work “Cur Deus Homo?” was the most considerable contribution to the theology of the Atonement of the Middle Ages. As Archbishop of Canterbury, he fought strenuously for the freedom of the Church. He was twice condemned to exile. He is renowned especially for his mystical thrology. He die din the year 1109.
His prayer is what speaks to me – I hope it speaks to you: I pray, O God, that I may know you and loveyou, so that I may rejoice in you. …God of truth, let my mind meditate on you, let my tongue speak of you, let my heart love you, let my mouth preach you. Let my soul hunger for you, let my flesh thirst for you, my whole being desire you, until I enter into the joy of the Lord, who is God, Three in One, blessed for ever. Amen.
(From the Proslogion of St. Anselm).
SECTION EIGHT: For Reflection
Reflect on the following:
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. (William Hazlitt, 1819). Liberty of spirit is about the love of others.
And, as a prayer for forgiveness, freedom and moving forward in trust, one can’t get better than that of John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)
Lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom,
lead thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet;
I do not ask to see the distant scene;
One step enough for me.
I was not ever thus,
nor prayed that thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path, but now lead thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and spite of fears, pride ruled my will; remember not past years.
So long your power has blessed me,
Sure it still will lead me on;
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent
Till the night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since,
And lost awhile.
And finally a short story, which reminds us of the foundation of “liberty of spirit” – LOVE: “Upon Jesus’ arrival in heaven, a vast host of angels greeted him. After the formalities they asked Him whom He had left behind on earth to finish the work He had begun. Jesus replied, ‘Just a small group of men and women who love me.’ ‘That’s all?’ asked the angels, astonished. ‘What if this tiny group should fail?’ Jesus replied, ‘I have no other plans’.”
Please note : The Abbey and Cottages are CLOSED from April 26 until May 18. This is the annual holiday for the Community. Mass times are usually changed, except on a Sunday. You may need to ring the community number (02-42360628), and ask about Mass times if you are coming to Mass on a week day. There will be someone checking the phone once a day, and a return call can be made if necessary. Mail is usually left unattended during this annual holiday.
CANBERRA OBLATES: Oblates Vivien (Teresa Hilda) Arnold, and Lindsay (Samuel Alban) Roe of Canberra, have asked me to let other Canberra Oblates know of their desire to meet and pray some of the Liturgy of the Hours together, or work with the Rule of Benedict, on a weekly, two-weekly, monthly basis. If you are interested, please let me know and I will forward your name and details to Vivien and Lindsay.
VESPERS (EVENING PRAYER) FOR PENTECOST: All Oblates who would like to mark this special solemnity of the universal church are invited to St. Benedict’s Church, Broadway, on Pentecost day to join in the singing of Solemn Vespers for the Solemnity. This would be an excellent opportunity to visit this restored “Polding” Church and mingle over a ‘cuppa’, with other souls on a similar spiritual path. Many Catholic lay groups are being contacted. In this year of St. Paul, a Saint who did much to spread the message of Jesus beyond the borders of Israel, it seems very appropriate to mark this day in a special manner.
Vespers will commence with a Lucinarium at 4.45 p.m. There will be a short rehearsal of the psalm tones at 4.30 p.m. for those who wish to learn them. Following Vespers, you will have the choice of tea and cake and a chat, or for the pragmatic, there is a Mass in the Church at 6.00 p.m. (FROM OBLATE AELRED RUSSELL).
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