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X-WR-CALDESC:Members sent on a journey will ask the prioress or abbot an
d the community to pray for them. All absent members should always be reme
mbered at the closing prayer of the Opus Dei. When they come back from a j
ourney\, they should\, on the very day of their return\, lie face down on
the floor of the oratory at the conclusion of each of the customary hours
of the Opus Dei. They ask the prayers of all for their faults\, in case th
ey may have been caught off guard on the way by seeing some evil thing or
hearing some idle talk.\n\nThe desert monastic\, Samartus\, had writte
n in a culture that called material things evil and only spiritual things
good: 'If we do not flee from everything\, we make sin inevitable.' This f
ear of things outside the monastery was clearly still alive in the time of
Benedict and well beyond. Monastics who traveled outside\, then\,--and th
ey did\, as we do\, for reasons of business and personal need-- were remin
ded in this paragraph to call themselves consciously into the presence of
God and the purpose of their lives before leaving their monasteries. Two t
hings in particular make the paragraph valuable today. In the first place\
, however they saw the risks of the world in which they lived\, they conti
nued to confront them. They did not become less human in their search for
the spiritual life. In the second place\, however they counted their own c
ommitment\, they did not underestimate the lure of lesser things in life\,
even on them. They begged the prayers of the community while they were aw
ay\, a practice which is continued to this day\, and they kept as close as
possible to the prayer schedule of the monastery while they were gone. Th
en\, when the trip was over\, they returned to their monasteries alert to
the effects of the baubles and bangles of loose living. And they redoubled
their efforts at monastic life. They started over again\, prostrating the
mselves on the floor of the oratory as they had at the time of their profe
ssion praying to be reconcentrated on the real meaning of life.\n\nThe val
ue of the chapter is clear even today: No one lives in a tax-free world. L
ife costs. The values and kitsch and superficiality of it takes its toll o
n all of us. No one walks through life unscathed. It calls to us for our h
earts and our minds and our very souls. It calls to us to take life consci
ously\, to put each trip\, each turn of the motor\, each trek to work in G
od's hands. Then\, whatever happens there\, we must remember to start over
and start over and start over until\, someday\, we control life more than
it controls us.\n\nNo monastics should presume to relate to anyone els
e what they saw or heard outside the monastery\, because that causes the g
reatest harm. If any do so presume\, they shall be subjected to the punish
ment of the rule. So too shall anyone who presumes to leave the enclosure
of the monastery\, or go anywhere\, or do anything at all\, however small\
, without the order of the abbot or the prioress.\n\nA Zen story tells
of two monks walking down a muddy\, rain-logged road on the way back to t
heir monastery after a morning of begging who saw a beautiful young girl s
tanding beside a large deep puddle unable to get across without ruining he
r clothes. The first monk\, seeing the situation\, offered to carry the gi
rl to the other side\, though monks had nothing whatsoever to do with wome
n. The second monk was astonished by the act but said nothing about it for
hours. Finally\, at the end of the day\, he said to his companion\, 'I wa
nt to talk to you about that girl.' And the first monk said\, 'Dear brothe
r\, are you still carrying that girl. I put her down hours ago.'\n\nThe th
ings we ruminate on\, the things we insist on carrying in our minds and he
art\, the things we refuse to put down\, the Rule warns us\, are really th
e things that poison us and erode our souls. We dull our senses with telev
ision and wonder why we cannot see the beauty that is around us. We hold o
n to things outside of us instead of concentrating on what is within that
keeps us noisy and agitated. We run from experience to experience like chi
ldren in a candy store and wonder how serenity has eluded us. It is walkin
g through life with a relaxed grasp and a focused eye that gets us to wher
e we're going. Dwelling on unessentials and\, worse\, filling the minds of
others with them distracts from the great theme of our lives. We must lea
rn to distinguish between what is real and what is not.
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BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:2d048973-59f3-4308-947e-4e1f319c4286
DTSTAMP:20260406T151447Z
DESCRIPTION:Members sent on a journey will ask the prioress or abbot and
the community to pray for them. All absent members should always be remem
bered at the closing prayer of the Opus Dei. When they come back from a jo
urney\, they should\, on the very day of their return\, lie face down on t
he floor of the oratory at the conclusion of each of the customary hours o
f the Opus Dei. They ask the prayers of all for their faults\, in case the
y may have been caught off guard on the way by seeing some evil thing or h
earing some idle talk.\n\nThe desert monastic\, Samartus\, had written
in a culture that called material things evil and only spiritual things g
ood: 'If we do not flee from everything\, we make sin inevitable.' This fe
ar of things outside the monastery was clearly still alive in the time of
Benedict and well beyond. Monastics who traveled outside\, then\,--and the
y did\, as we do\, for reasons of business and personal need-- were remind
ed in this paragraph to call themselves consciously into the presence of G
od and the purpose of their lives before leaving their monasteries. Two th
ings in particular make the paragraph valuable today. In the first place\,
however they saw the risks of the world in which they lived\, they contin
ued to confront them. They did not become less human in their search for t
he spiritual life. In the second place\, however they counted their own co
mmitment\, they did not underestimate the lure of lesser things in life\,
even on them. They begged the prayers of the community while they were awa
y\, a practice which is continued to this day\, and they kept as close as
possible to the prayer schedule of the monastery while they were gone. The
n\, when the trip was over\, they returned to their monasteries alert to t
he effects of the baubles and bangles of loose living. And they redoubled
their efforts at monastic life. They started over again\, prostrating them
selves on the floor of the oratory as they had at the time of their profes
sion praying to be reconcentrated on the real meaning of life.\n\nThe valu
e of the chapter is clear even today: No one lives in a tax-free world. Li
fe costs. The values and kitsch and superficiality of it takes its toll on
all of us. No one walks through life unscathed. It calls to us for our he
arts and our minds and our very souls. It calls to us to take life conscio
usly\, to put each trip\, each turn of the motor\, each trek to work in Go
d's hands. Then\, whatever happens there\, we must remember to start over
and start over and start over until\, someday\, we control life more than
it controls us.\n\nNo monastics should presume to relate to anyone else
what they saw or heard outside the monastery\, because that causes the gr
eatest harm. If any do so presume\, they shall be subjected to the punishm
ent of the rule. So too shall anyone who presumes to leave the enclosure o
f the monastery\, or go anywhere\, or do anything at all\, however small\,
without the order of the abbot or the prioress.\n\nA Zen story tells
of two monks walking down a muddy\, rain-logged road on the way back to th
eir monastery after a morning of begging who saw a beautiful young girl st
anding beside a large deep puddle unable to get across without ruining her
clothes. The first monk\, seeing the situation\, offered to carry the gir
l to the other side\, though monks had nothing whatsoever to do with women
. The second monk was astonished by the act but said nothing about it for
hours. Finally\, at the end of the day\, he said to his companion\, 'I wan
t to talk to you about that girl.' And the first monk said\, 'Dear brother
\, are you still carrying that girl. I put her down hours ago.'\n\nThe thi
ngs we ruminate on\, the things we insist on carrying in our minds and hea
rt\, the things we refuse to put down\, the Rule warns us\, are really the
things that poison us and erode our souls. We dull our senses with televi
sion and wonder why we cannot see the beauty that is around us. We hold on
to things outside of us instead of concentrating on what is within that k
eeps us noisy and agitated. We run from experience to experience like chil
dren in a candy store and wonder how serenity has eluded us. It is walking
through life with a relaxed grasp and a focused eye that gets us to where
we're going. Dwelling on unessentials and\, worse\, filling the minds of
others with them distracts from the great theme of our lives. We must lear
n to distinguish between what is real and what is not.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260425T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260425T235900
LOCATION:67
SUMMARY:Members Sent on a Journey
END:VEVENT
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