Ob

sc

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Receive Me O Lord

the Monastic Vows

VOCATIONSDIRECTORa w o r d f r o m t h e

The fullness of the Liturgy

2 • O b s c u lta

When the third translation of the Mass was released, I purchased a copy of the Daily Roman Missal, to help me with the new language. As I used this text to guide me in the responses, I found myself also praying the prayers of the priest. And this experience changed my approach to the Mass; as a cradle-Catholic, I spent most of my earlier years zoning out when the priest does “his stuff ” at the liturgy. Ignoring parts of the Mass, I had been leaving on the table some of the most beautiful prayers ever written, neglecting a way of seeing Christ – a way that is , at times, stunning. My discovery of the richness of the Mass points toward a key aspect of liturgy: that it is given, it is a gift to us from the Church. And just like other gifts that we receive, we do not choose them.

This aspect of liturgy highlights the fact that liturgical prayer is as-cetical, it runs contrary to our wills . Not at every moment, of course, and not in every way, but by the fact that it is given, it is ascetical. For example: praying Scripture can be done as part of the Mass or outside of the Mass, privately. In the former instance I am constrained by the liturgy, that is , I do not choose where the readings come from or how long they are or how many sections will be read; I cannot ask the con-gregation to stop if I am particularly moved by a passage; and I do not dictate what happens before or after reading the text. The liturgy gives me all of those specifics. Whereas my private reading of Scripture, my praying lectio divina, offers me the freedom to make all of these choices for myself. The liturgy, by its “givenness,” resists my preferences and forces me to adjust – to be formed by it!

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by Br. Le ven Har ton - Dire ctor o f Vo cat ionsvo cat ions@kansa smonk s .org • 913 .360 .7848

There is more. The public aspect of liturgy adds another dimension of as-ceticism. Doing liturgy as a group insures that it will never be done per-fectly! No matter how precise, how attentive, how committed a community may be to having beautiful liturgy, praying with others always means that the weaknesses of other persons will enter into my worship, my prayer. I am forced to suffer interruption (like a crying baby); or disharmony (like Mass-goers reciting at different paces); or different tastes (an irritating hymn selection). Whatever the weakness (or simple difference), all of these things are part of my prayer in liturgy. And they will be until I (God-will-ing) make it to heaven! The liturgy is ascetical because it is given, and be-cause it requires us to pray with others.

As we know, asceticism is a good thing, part of a healthy Christian spiritual life. And asceticism is particularly helpful for discernment. John the Bap-tist said, “he must increase and I must decrease,” and the same is true for us. Our vocation comes to us as the inbreaking of a New Life, which only comes if we get out of the way. The liturgy is practice in getting out of the way.

I attended the March for Life this year with Benedictine College. It was a beauti-ful experience, standing up for life in our nation’s capitol. I was especially struck by how young the March for Life has be-

come, how vibrant, how joyful. To those that see us, we truly rejoice in the gift of life!

And our witness has more depth than people realize. Perhaps the most tragic part of the pro-

choice mindset is the often accompanying lack of purpose. Why is it so important to give life to these

babies if all they will do is eat, sleep, work, accumulate wealth and goods, and die? The answer to that question was scattered visibly through the crowd at this year’s March. I saw many priests and religious, especially from our generation. Religious not only witness to the fact that life is a gift, but also to why life is worth living in the first place – to encounter and love Jesus Christ, who formed us in the womb and died for us on the Cross to give us true life! Pope Francis has described the religious as one who “wakes up the world.” May all consecrated men and women offer this witness and rouse our country out of the torpor of a culture of death!

At right : Br. Benedict Mary with Fr. Brendan Rolling.

MARCHINGfor life

by Br. Benedict Mary Geist

4 • O b s c u lta

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“ I t ’s wor th the trouble w h e n t h e s a c r i f i c e i s d o n e f o r s o m e t h i n g e l s e t h a t d o e s n ’ t w h i t h e r l i k e t h e a u t u m n l e a v e s , t h a t d o e s n ’ t r o t l i k e a m a n w h o d i e s ; s o m e t h i n g e l s e t h a t c h a l l e n g e s t i m e , s o m e t h i n g e l s e t h a t g r o w s m o r e b e a u t i f u l w i t h t i m e , t h a t p e r s i s t s , a n d t h a t m a k e s e v e n y o u p e r s i s t i n t h e s a m e w a y ”

S e r v a n t o f G o d L u i g i G i u s s a n i o n d i s c e r n m e n t

A s kt h e e x p e r t s

ReturningFatherto the

R e m b r a n d t ’s s t r i k i n g p a i n t i n g R e t u r n o f t h e P r o d i g a l S o n i s w e l l k n o w n . I n t h i s e a r l i e r d r a w i n g , R e m b r a n d t s h o w s a d i f f e r e n t s i d e o f t h e f a t h e r ’s m e r c y. R a t h e r t h a n a c a l m a n d w a r m e m b r a c e , t h e f a t h e r i n t h i s d r a w i n g i s i n m i d -s t r i d e a n d m e e t i n g h i s s o n , a l r e a d y o n h i s k n e e s p e r h a p s u n a b l e t o g o f u r t h e r o n h i s o w n . Wi t h u r g e n c y t h e f a t h e r r e a c h e s h i s s o n w h e r e h e i s a n d l o w e r s h i m s e l f i n a n e m b r a c e .

O u r Fa t h e r n o t o n l y w a i t s f o r u s t o r e t u r n , b u t h e p u r s u e s u s w h e n w e c o u l d n o t o t h e r w i s e r e a c h h i m o n o u r o w n .

6 • O b s c u lta

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Receive me

Lord Monastic Vows

8 • O b s c u lta

“Receive me, Lord, as you have promised and I shal l l ive . Do not disappoint me

in my hope!” Fol lowing St . B enedict ’s d irect ion, four men prayed these

words when the y professed vows on December 8 at St . B enedict ’s

Abbe y. Vowing Obedience, Stabi l i ty, and Conversat io

Morum, Br. Plac idus , Br. B enedict , Fr. Jay, and Br.

Karel cast their hear ts in dependence on

Chr ist .

Obedience

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Our l i fe with Chr ist as monks f inds both i t s source and express ion in the three monast ic vows . Each one contr ibutes to the funct ioning of our l i fe in the Abbe y and, more importantly, to the indiv idual sanct i ty of each member, insofar as we perse vere in our imperfect (but ver y real ) fo l lowing!

In ob e dience we surrender our wil l s to Christ and follow him until death.

In addition to prayer and S cripture, St . B ene dict s ays that His wil l i s made known to us expressly throug h b oth the abb ot and the other memb ers of our community. In ob e dience Christ re ceives our wil l s and leads us to Himself .

continued on ne xt page

Stability

Conversatio Morum

10 • O b s c u lta

St . B ene dict ’s Abb e y i s our home and we al low G o d to establ ish our ro ots here when we l ive this vow. We commit ourselves to l ive here and with this community, a l lowing the presence of Christ to bring us s atisfaction and lead us , throug h commitment , not moving around when thing s get dif f icult . Exactly in the monaster y and in this l i fe we tr ust that He wil l sustain us .

Of ten translate d “conversion to the monastic way of l i fe ,” we commit ourselves to constantly turn ourselves toward Jesus throug h l iv ing according to the Rule e ver more faithf ully. The monk is one who actively turns toward Christ each day, not one who was g iven a habit and a ne w name years ago! The daily re-discover y of His presence g ives us our hop e.

Conversatio Morum

&SeeCome

A p r i l 1 0 - 1 2

Contact Brother Le ven Harton:

vocat ions@kansasmonks .org913.360.7848

MONKVOCATIONS.ORGa n s w e r s f o r d i s c e r n m e n t

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O b s c u l t aW i n t e r 2 0 1 5 • V O L U M E T W O • N U M B E R O N E

M O N K V O C A T I O N S . O R G

Obsculta is a tool for discernment & introduction to monastic lifeProvided by the Monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey.

St. Benedict begins his Rule with a simple directive: Obsculta, the Latin for listen.

Pope Francis has asked all religious to “wake up the world.” I invite you to consider a vocation to St. Benedict’s Abbey, and join us in serving the Church as witnesses to a sleeping world.

For more information or an Obsculta subscription contact the Vocations Director:

Br. Leven Harton, OSB913.360.7848 • vocations@kansasmonks.org

On the cover: The Betrayal of Christ set in Bonefrom the Collection of St. Benedict’s Abbey

“If this had been done by an enemy...But it is you, my own companion, my intimate friend!”

psalm 55

1020 N. 2nd Street, Atchison, KS 66002Obsculta USPS 290-760

913.360.7848MonkVocations.org

St. Benedict’s AbbeyAtchison, Kansas