Commonweal 16 September 2016 In recent years the term “Benedict Option” has been circulating in certain sectors of the U.S. Catholic Church. For a Benedictine oblate such as myself, this should be a welcome development. After all, the charism of Benedictine monasticism, with its emphasis on faithfulness to flesh-and-blood local communities formed in prayer, liturgy, discernment,…
Tag: Benedictinism
The virtue of staying put:
The classroom at the end of the world
When glamour beckons, can Benedictine values compete? “Do you reject the glamour of evil?” This striking question from the Catholic rite of baptism for adults has received surprisingly little attention from theologians. One might summarize all Benedictine values and practices as answering this question by turning from the merely glamorous toward quieter, deeper joys. The…
Benedictine values and the need for bridging
Monastic Institute, Saint John’s Abbey, 6 July 2006 Bridgefolk is about, well, bridging — transcending old polarities, exchanging and integrating the gifts of mutually “separated brethren” and sisters too. It is about imagining Christ’s Church without the divisions that long seemed to be givens, and doing the next thing God gives us to do in order that…
Stability in the world: an oblate’s reflections
Benedictine oblates are people who are not monks but who dedicate themselves, in communion with a particular monastic community, to the service of God and neighbor according to the Rule of St. Benedict, insofar as their state in life permits.[1] Specific commitments include the practice of lectio divina, praying the Psalms through some portion of…