Reflection
“Here I am, send me.”
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict, honoring his 1,500-year legacy as Father of Western Monasticism, and the patron saint of Europe.
St. Benedict’s monastic rule revolutionized Western civilization by establishing a balanced community, focused on prayer and labor, thus the motto of the Benedictines, “Ora et Labora,”. Written in the 6th century, the Rule of St. Benedict laid out a practical system of prayer, study, and manual work. His approach provided much needed stability during the chaotic Middle Ages. St. Benedict’s rule also became the model for many religious communities, even to this day.
That is all well and good, we might say. But what relevance does this medieval saint have to say to many of us who may not be vowed religious, or monastics?
Just this; the Benedictine charism offers a spiritual blueprint for finding stability, and spiritual peace in our world that is driven by constant noise, speed, materialism, and distraction.
At its core, the Rule of St. Benedict is not about escaping the world, but about living our daily lives well, in a balanced rhythm of prayer, of holy labor, and grounded in the everyday grace-filled activities of family, community, and challenging situations.
And in the spirit of St. Benedict, we should make the prayer of the prophet Isaiah our own: “Here I am. Send me,” and not in whispers, but as Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, to proclaim those words boldly from the housetops. Send me to my corner of the world to witness to an ancient charism of “Ora et Labora.”
