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X-WR-CALDESC:Listen readily to holy reading\, and devote yourself often
to prayer. Every day with tears and sighs confess your past sins to God in
prayer and change from these evil ways in the future.\n\nA willingnes
s to be formed is the basis of formation. Anything else is fraud. People c
an not be beaten into sanctity. They can only be beaten into submission. N
o\, Benedict says\, you can't get the spiritual life by waiting for it. Yo
u have to reach for it. Read things that gild your soul. Turn your mind to
prayer\, to a conscious response to the God present here and now. Remembe
r who you are.\n\nThe ancients considered the gift of tears a sign of God'
s great favor. If we could be always sorry for what we have done to distor
t life in the past then perhaps we could be safeguarded against distorting
it in the future. Regret is a gift long gone in contemporary culture but
critically needed perhaps. In this society\, guilt has disappeared and sor
row is labeled unhealthy. As a people\, then\, we separate one action from
another in such a way that patterns escape us and pitfalls elude us. We s
imply stumble on\, from one event to the next\, unaware of the dangers in
it for us\, uncaring of our past behaviors\, unfeeling of the callouses on
our hearts.\n\nLife\, Benedict implies\, is a tapestry woven daily from y
esterday's threads. The colors don't change\, only the shapes we give them
. Without the past to guide us\, the future itself may succumb to it.\n\n<
i>'Do not gratify the promptings of the flesh (Gal 5:16)\;' hate the urgin
gs of self-will. Obey the orders of the prioress and abbot unreservedly\,
even if their own conduct--which God forbid--be at odds with what they say
. Remember the teachings of the Holy One: 'Do what they say\, not what the
y do (Mt 23:3).'\n\nThere are two ways to live in the world--as if we
were connected to it like a leaf to a tree or as if we are a universe unto
ourselves. Obedience\, faithful listening\, is essential to the choice. A
Benedictine sense of obedience is not designed to diminish a person. It i
s designed to connect us to the rest of the human race. If we have the dis
cipline to curb our own caprice\, we can develop the self-control it takes
to listen to the wisdom of another when our own insights are limited. The
fact is that there are few right ways to do a thing\, there are only othe
r ways of doing a thing. To be open to the way of those who have already g
one the ground before us is potentially soul-saving. That is the function
of Benedictine obedience and that is a tool of the spiritual art. It shows
us in others ways to goodness that otherwise we might miss of ourselves.
\n\nDo not aspire to be called holy before you really are\, but first b
e holy that you may more truly be called so. Live by God's commandments ev
ery day\; treasure chastity\, harbor neither hatred nor jealousy of anyone
\, and do nothing out of envy. Do not love quarreling\; shun arrogance. Re
spect the elders and love the young. Pray for your enemies out of love for
Christ. If you have a dispute with someone\, make peace with that person
before the sun goes down.\n\nThe seduction of embarking on a spiritual
life is that people can be fooled into believing that wanting it is doing
it. They begin to believe that by traveling they have arrived. Worse\, pe
rhaps\, they begin to allow others to think that by traveling they have ar
rived. They mistake the idea for the thing and perpetuate the idea.\n\nBen
edict knew better. He knew that the secret of the holy life was not so muc
h a holy reputation as it was a holy attitude toward all of creation: reve
rence for God\, reverence for the body\, reverence for the other who is yo
unger and unimportant\, or older and useless now\, or in opposition to us
and an irritant now.\n\nBenedict wants us to guard against a notion of sup
eriority that will\, in our most honest moments\, only discourage us with
ourselves.\n\nAnd finally\, never lose hope in God's mercy.\n\nWhat
Benedict wants is simply that we keep trying. Failures and all. Pain and
all. Fear and all. The God of mercy knows what we are and revels in weakne
ss that tries.\n\nThese\, then\, are the tools of the spiritual craft.
When we have used them without ceasing day and night and have returned the
m on the day of judgment our wages will be the reward God has promised: 'W
hat the eye has not seen nor the ear heard\, God has prepared for those wh
o love. (1 Cor 2:9).'\n\nThese tools of the spiritual life\, justice\,
peacemaking\, respect for all creation\, trust in God\, are the work of a
lifetime. Each one of them represents the unearthed jewel that is left in
us to mine. Each of them represents the gem that we can be. Benedict says
that in the dark days of the spiritual life\, when we have failed ourselv
es miserably\, we must remember the God who walks with us on the journey t
o our best selves and cling without end to the God who fails us never.\n\n
The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the
enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.\n\nThe spir
itual life for Benedict of Nursia is not an errant idea. It is not somethi
ng we do without thought\, without concentration\, without direction\, wit
hout help. Monastic spirituality is a spirituality of love. It is a way of
life\, not a series of ascetical exercises. It takes persistence. It take
s dedication. It takes a listening commitment to the human community. It a
sks a great deal more of us than a series of pious formulas. It asks for a
n attitude of mind and a style of life and way of relating that takes me o
ut of myself into the mind of God for humanity.
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DESCRIPTION:Listen readily to holy reading\, and devote yourself often t
o prayer. Every day with tears and sighs confess your past sins to God in
prayer and change from these evil ways in the future.\n\nA willingness
to be formed is the basis of formation. Anything else is fraud. People ca
n not be beaten into sanctity. They can only be beaten into submission. No
\, Benedict says\, you can't get the spiritual life by waiting for it. You
have to reach for it. Read things that gild your soul. Turn your mind to
prayer\, to a conscious response to the God present here and now. Remember
who you are.\n\nThe ancients considered the gift of tears a sign of God's
great favor. If we could be always sorry for what we have done to distort
life in the past then perhaps we could be safeguarded against distorting
it in the future. Regret is a gift long gone in contemporary culture but c
ritically needed perhaps. In this society\, guilt has disappeared and sorr
ow is labeled unhealthy. As a people\, then\, we separate one action from
another in such a way that patterns escape us and pitfalls elude us. We si
mply stumble on\, from one event to the next\, unaware of the dangers in i
t for us\, uncaring of our past behaviors\, unfeeling of the callouses on
our hearts.\n\nLife\, Benedict implies\, is a tapestry woven daily from ye
sterday's threads. The colors don't change\, only the shapes we give them.
Without the past to guide us\, the future itself may succumb to it.\n\n'Do not gratify the promptings of the flesh (Gal 5:16)\;' hate the urging
s of self-will. Obey the orders of the prioress and abbot unreservedly\, e
ven if their own conduct--which God forbid--be at odds with what they say.
Remember the teachings of the Holy One: 'Do what they say\, not what they
do (Mt 23:3).'\n\nThere are two ways to live in the world--as if we w
ere connected to it like a leaf to a tree or as if we are a universe unto
ourselves. Obedience\, faithful listening\, is essential to the choice. A
Benedictine sense of obedience is not designed to diminish a person. It is
designed to connect us to the rest of the human race. If we have the disc
ipline to curb our own caprice\, we can develop the self-control it takes
to listen to the wisdom of another when our own insights are limited. The
fact is that there are few right ways to do a thing\, there are only other
ways of doing a thing. To be open to the way of those who have already go
ne the ground before us is potentially soul-saving. That is the function o
f Benedictine obedience and that is a tool of the spiritual art. It shows
us in others ways to goodness that otherwise we might miss of ourselves.\n
\nDo not aspire to be called holy before you really are\, but first be
holy that you may more truly be called so. Live by God's commandments ever
y day\; treasure chastity\, harbor neither hatred nor jealousy of anyone\,
and do nothing out of envy. Do not love quarreling\; shun arrogance. Resp
ect the elders and love the young. Pray for your enemies out of love for C
hrist. If you have a dispute with someone\, make peace with that person be
fore the sun goes down.\n\nThe seduction of embarking on a spiritual l
ife is that people can be fooled into believing that wanting it is doing i
t. They begin to believe that by traveling they have arrived. Worse\, perh
aps\, they begin to allow others to think that by traveling they have arri
ved. They mistake the idea for the thing and perpetuate the idea.\n\nBened
ict knew better. He knew that the secret of the holy life was not so much
a holy reputation as it was a holy attitude toward all of creation: revere
nce for God\, reverence for the body\, reverence for the other who is youn
ger and unimportant\, or older and useless now\, or in opposition to us an
d an irritant now.\n\nBenedict wants us to guard against a notion of super
iority that will\, in our most honest moments\, only discourage us with ou
rselves.\n\nAnd finally\, never lose hope in God's mercy.\n\nWhat B
enedict wants is simply that we keep trying. Failures and all. Pain and al
l. Fear and all. The God of mercy knows what we are and revels in weakness
that tries.\n\nThese\, then\, are the tools of the spiritual craft. Wh
en we have used them without ceasing day and night and have returned them
on the day of judgment our wages will be the reward God has promised: 'Wha
t the eye has not seen nor the ear heard\, God has prepared for those who
love. (1 Cor 2:9).'\n\nThese tools of the spiritual life\, justice\, p
eacemaking\, respect for all creation\, trust in God\, are the work of a l
ifetime. Each one of them represents the unearthed jewel that is left in u
s to mine. Each of them represents the gem that we can be. Benedict says t
hat in the dark days of the spiritual life\, when we have failed ourselves
miserably\, we must remember the God who walks with us on the journey to
our best selves and cling without end to the God who fails us never.\n\nThe workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the en
closure of the monastery and stability in the community.\n\nThe spirit
ual life for Benedict of Nursia is not an errant idea. It is not something
we do without thought\, without concentration\, without direction\, witho
ut help. Monastic spirituality is a spirituality of love. It is a way of l
ife\, not a series of ascetical exercises. It takes persistence. It takes
dedication. It takes a listening commitment to the human community. It ask
s a great deal more of us than a series of pious formulas. It asks for an
attitude of mind and a style of life and way of relating that takes me out
of myself into the mind of God for humanity.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260522T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260522T235900
LOCATION:Chapter 4
SUMMARY:The Tools for Good Works
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR