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X-WR-CALDESC:<i>Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness which separate
 s from God and leads to hell\, so there is a good zeal which separates fro
 m evil and leads to God and everlasting life. This\, then\, is the good ze
 al which members must foster with fervent love: 'They should each try to b
 e the first to show respect to the other (Rom 12:10).' supporting with the
  greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior\, and earn
 estly competing in obedience to one another. No monastics are to pursue wh
 at they judge better for themselves\, but instead\, what they judge better
  for someone else. Among themselves they show the pure love of sisters and
  brothers\; to God\, reverent love\; to their prioress or abbot\, unfeigne
 d and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ\, and may Ch
 rist bring us all together to everlasting life.</i>\n\nHere is the crux of
  the Rule of Benedict. Benedictine spirituality is not about religiosity. 
 Benedictine spirituality is much more demanding than that. Benedictine spi
 rituality is about caring for the people you live with and loving the peop
 le you don't and loving God more than yourself. Benedictine spirituality d
 epends on listening for the voice of God everywhere in life\, especially i
 n one another and here. An ancient tale from another tradition tells that 
 a disciple asked the Holy One:\n\n'Where shall I look for Enlightenment?'
 \n'Here\,' the Holy One said.\n'When will it happen?'\n'It is happening ri
 ght now\,' the Holy said.\n'Then why don't I experience it?'\n'Because you
  do not look\,' the Holy said.\n'What should I look for?'\n'Nothing\,' the
  Holy One said. 'Just look.'\n'At what?'\n'Anything your eyes alight upon\
 ,' the Holy One said.\n'Must I look in a special kind of way?'\n'No\,' the
  Holy One said. 'The ordinary way will do.'\n'But don't I always look the 
 ordinary way?'\n'No\,' the Holy One said. 'You don't.'\n'Why ever not?' th
 e disciple demanded.\n'Because to look you must be here\,' the Holy One sa
 id. 'You're mostly somewhere else.'\n\nJust as Benedict insisted in the Pr
 ologue to the rule\, he requires at its end: We must learn to listen to wh
 at God is saying in our simple\, sometimes insane and always uncertain dai
 ly lives. Bitter zeal is that kind of religious fanaticism that makes a go
 d out of religious devotion itself. Bitter zeal walks over the poor on the
  way to the altar. Bitter zeal renders the useless invisible and makes dev
 otion more sacred than community. Bitter zeal wraps us up in ourselves and
  makes us feel holy about it. Bitter zeal renders us blind to others\, dea
 f to those around us\, struck dumb in the face of the demands of dailiness
 . Good zeal\, monastic zeal\, commits us to the happiness of human communi
 ty and immerses us in Christ and surrenders us to God\, minute by minute\,
  person by person\, day after day after day. Good zeal provides the founda
 tion for the spirituality of the long haul. It keeps us going when days ar
 e dull and holiness seems to be the stuff of more glamorous lives\, of mar
 tyrdom and dramatic differences. But it is then\, just then\, when Benedic
 t of Nursia reminds us from the dark of the sixth century that sanctity is
  the stuff of community in Christ and that any other zeal\, no matter how 
 dazzling it looks\, is false. Completely false.
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DTSTAMP:20260411T052454Z
DESCRIPTION:<i>Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness which separates
  from God and leads to hell\, so there is a good zeal which separates from
  evil and leads to God and everlasting life. This\, then\, is the good zea
 l which members must foster with fervent love: 'They should each try to be
  the first to show respect to the other (Rom 12:10).' supporting with the 
 greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior\, and earne
 stly competing in obedience to one another. No monastics are to pursue wha
 t they judge better for themselves\, but instead\, what they judge better 
 for someone else. Among themselves they show the pure love of sisters and 
 brothers\; to God\, reverent love\; to their prioress or abbot\, unfeigned
  and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ\, and may Chr
 ist bring us all together to everlasting life.</i>\n\nHere is the crux of 
 the Rule of Benedict. Benedictine spirituality is not about religiosity. B
 enedictine spirituality is much more demanding than that. Benedictine spir
 ituality is about caring for the people you live with and loving the peopl
 e you don't and loving God more than yourself. Benedictine spirituality de
 pends on listening for the voice of God everywhere in life\, especially in
  one another and here. An ancient tale from another tradition tells that a
  disciple asked the Holy One:\n\n'Where shall I look for Enlightenment?'\n
 'Here\,' the Holy One said.\n'When will it happen?'\n'It is happening righ
 t now\,' the Holy said.\n'Then why don't I experience it?'\n'Because you d
 o not look\,' the Holy said.\n'What should I look for?'\n'Nothing\,' the H
 oly One said. 'Just look.'\n'At what?'\n'Anything your eyes alight upon\,'
  the Holy One said.\n'Must I look in a special kind of way?'\n'No\,' the H
 oly One said. 'The ordinary way will do.'\n'But don't I always look the or
 dinary way?'\n'No\,' the Holy One said. 'You don't.'\n'Why ever not?' the 
 disciple demanded.\n'Because to look you must be here\,' the Holy One said
 . 'You're mostly somewhere else.'\n\nJust as Benedict insisted in the Prol
 ogue to the rule\, he requires at its end: We must learn to listen to what
  God is saying in our simple\, sometimes insane and always uncertain daily
  lives. Bitter zeal is that kind of religious fanaticism that makes a god 
 out of religious devotion itself. Bitter zeal walks over the poor on the w
 ay to the altar. Bitter zeal renders the useless invisible and makes devot
 ion more sacred than community. Bitter zeal wraps us up in ourselves and m
 akes us feel holy about it. Bitter zeal renders us blind to others\, deaf 
 to those around us\, struck dumb in the face of the demands of dailiness. 
 Good zeal\, monastic zeal\, commits us to the happiness of human community
  and immerses us in Christ and surrenders us to God\, minute by minute\, p
 erson by person\, day after day after day. Good zeal provides the foundati
 on for the spirituality of the long haul. It keeps us going when days are 
 dull and holiness seems to be the stuff of more glamorous lives\, of marty
 rdom and dramatic differences. But it is then\, just then\, when Benedict 
 of Nursia reminds us from the dark of the sixth century that sanctity is t
 he stuff of community in Christ and that any other zeal\, no matter how da
 zzling it looks\, is false. Completely false.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T235900
LOCATION:72
SUMMARY:The Good Zeal of Monastics
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