St. Benedict

Proverbs 2:1-9
Luke 14:27-33

The Feast of St. Benedict is celebrated on July 11, which happened to fall on a Sunday. The Resurrection of our Lord always takes precedence over an individual saint. So, as we celebrate our midweek Eucharist on Tuesday, we at Christ Church remember Benedict today.

At the beginning of the 500s, the Roman Empire had collapsed in Europe. Barbarian chiefs fought each other, trade collapsed. The Roman infrastructure also collapsed. Inflation became astronomically high. For most, life was a struggle not to starve, or be murdered. Seeing the chaos around him, Benedict withdrew to a cave to do nothing but pray. He took Jesus's words to heart and let go of all possessions –any material thing of passing value that would distract him from the eternal value of knowing Jesus Christ.

In that letting go, Benedict began to find the wisdom promised in Proverbs. Soon, others began to be drawn to the hermit in the cave, sensing the calm that reigned in that cave amid the chaos gripping Europe. Eventually, Benedict founded a community, from which almost all other western monastic orders would come. The monk who sought solitude in the cave became the founder of communities all over Europe where travelers found hospitality, and those who committed themselves to the monastic life found wisdom and love.

But you don't have to be a monk or a nun to live the Benedictine life. At the heart of the Benedictine community was the Daily Office of psalms, scripture readings and prayers. That tradition continues in our own Daily Office, as found in our Book of Common Prayer. It continues when I or two of us gather to say Morning Prayer at 9 am, Monday through Thursday. Can't join us in person? No problem. Just click on the Daily Office online. Don't have time for all those psalms and readings and canticles and creeds and prayers? I get it. So just pick one psalm, one biblical reading, and one prayer, every day. It will take less than 15 minutes. You'll be praying with us in the church, and we will be a Benedictine community, letting go of our fears and gaining the wisdom that comes only from being in the presence of God.