Thank you St. Benedict!
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. (Mt.19:29)
The Middle Way he seems to have settled on, realising that other forms of monasticism current at the time were not helpful, not sustainable. A Middle Way such as:
His vision was a life characterised by prudence and moderation rather than severe asceticism and lived within a framework of authority, obedience, stability, and community life. ‘Stability’ meant that a monk would generally stay permanently in the monastery which he had joined. It was a way of life which was complete, well-ordered and practical. The monk’s day was taken up with liturgical prayer, complemented by sacred reading and manual work of various kinds which took care of the community’s needs. (Sacred Space)
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 19:23)
It seems to me that God is in every good idea. I have heard it said that paradise is now, we just have to see it that way. St. Benedict saw beyond the bad and created the good, saw beyond the limitations men create for themselves and took a step further. Paradise is now, a state of mind, a vision of the world, God in All Things.
Deo gratias.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. (Mt.19:29)
The Middle Way he seems to have settled on, realising that other forms of monasticism current at the time were not helpful, not sustainable. A Middle Way such as:
His vision was a life characterised by prudence and moderation rather than severe asceticism and lived within a framework of authority, obedience, stability, and community life. ‘Stability’ meant that a monk would generally stay permanently in the monastery which he had joined. It was a way of life which was complete, well-ordered and practical. The monk’s day was taken up with liturgical prayer, complemented by sacred reading and manual work of various kinds which took care of the community’s needs. (Sacred Space)
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 19:23)
It seems to me that God is in every good idea. I have heard it said that paradise is now, we just have to see it that way. St. Benedict saw beyond the bad and created the good, saw beyond the limitations men create for themselves and took a step further. Paradise is now, a state of mind, a vision of the world, God in All Things.
Deo gratias.
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