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An Oblate's Christmas
It so often seems that the journey of life takes us in circles and spirals. So many stories bring us to that understanding, as the tale takes the listener on a long trip of the imagination, only to bring us back to the place we began.

I have now been connected with WCCM for around four years, and have been a daily meditator pretty much from my first visit to St Mark’s. It was a Thursday evening and a small group of three or four of us sat to do this thing called meditation. I guess what struck me was that something that I’d assumed as a pastime for the spiritual mountain runner was more like a simple homecoming. My search had led to something very ordinary: myself, sitting in a room with other ordinary people, each made extraordinary by the fact that our paths met in a stillness and silence where the next step, the next repeat of the mantra, offers the profound opportunity to come back to where we began, and begin again. More.....

Some Reflections on the Rule of St Benedict: Four Principles or Attitudes.

St Benedict was a Roman. Like any good Roman he had a flair for organization, a concern for order, a respect for authority. Monastic life for him was to be structured; it was to follow a rule and a hierarchical chain of command. He was founding his monasteries at the time the Roman Empire was breaking apart, weakened by corruption at the center and barbarian invasion from the without. Benedict’s monasteries were to be held together by a strong and responsible central leadership. The Abbot or Abbess “holds the place of Christ” however he/she was always accountable to the Rule and God. This center would not be corrupt and would recognize that it was part of a higher chain of command. As for barbarian invasions from the outside Benedict wanted his monasteries enclosed, all the necessities of life should be found within; “there should be no need for monks to roam outside,” he writes, “because this is not at all good for their souls” (Ch 66). Leaving the fortress of the monastery was spiritually unsafe. Journeys needed the Abbots permission and the traveler “should not presume to relate to anyone what they saw or heard outside the monastery, because this causes the greatest harm” (Ch 67). Benedict was a man of his time.

How then do we relate to his rule? How much of it is culturally conditioned and a response to the situation of its time? Is it possible to distill from the rule an essence that is applicable to the different social and historical context of today? “Rule”, like the word “Guru” in India, implies something that helps straighten the way to God, a guide that helps us avoid extremes and orientate ourselves in the right direction. What then are the basic principles or spiritual attitudes that Benedict’s rule points us towards? Is it the need for authority, spiritual dependence on a father figure or an objective code of behavior? Is it the need for a highly structured life where nature and spontaneity is regulated by discipline and self-control? Is it fear of the world, hiding away from the onslaughts of barbarian secularity in a separate spiritual reality? I propose that all these are responses that suit particular times and temperaments, of history and our own life. They are not the essential orientation of the Rule. Benedict is not primarily concerned with the external ordering of our lives but rather with a genuine seeking after God. He is offering the soul a direction and a flat playing field so that “as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run in the way of God’s commandments” (Prologue). The shape and the form of the life can be changed according to circumstance (Ch 40). It is pragmatic rather than programmatic.

Can one then distill a spiritual essence out of the rule? Not in terms of a mystical treatise or a developed teaching on prayer, Benedict pointed beyond himself for that to the teachings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Ch 73). Benedict was concerned with the rudiments, the beginnings of monastic life. He wanted to give a practical framework on which the higher edifices of the spiritual life could be built. Like in all the desert spirituality moreover there was for benedict no split between the outer and inner, spirituality was lifestyle and the way you lived was the way you prayed (and visa-versa). So the best expression of an authentic relation to God was the way you related to your neighbor. Life in common was for Benedict the crucible of the spiritual life, both its testing ground and the place where their “zeal for God” expresses itself in patience, mutual obedience and respect (Ch 72). However I propose there are four principles or attitudes on which that common life is grounded and through which Benedict orientates his disciples to God: Obedience, Peace, Faith and Works together and Humility.

Obedience. Benedict calls those who would follow Christ to “the labor of obedience” (Prologue). This involves qualities of attentiveness, listening, readiness of response, cheerful generosity, laying down of ones own will, mutual respect and concern: “No one is to pursue what they judge better for himself, but instead, what they judge better for someone else” (Ch 5, 71, 72).

Peace. “Let peace be your quest and your aim” (Prologue). This involves an esteem for silence (Ch 6) especially at night and in the Oratory (Ch 42, 52), refraining from gossip (Ch 6), purity of prayer (Ch 20, 52), and “supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behavior” (Ch 72).

“Faith and Works always go together. “Idleness is the enemy of the soul” (Ch 69). Prayer is the “Work of God”, it comes before all else (Ch 47), and must be properly performed (Ch 45). “Work” includes manual labor, prayerful reading and the work of hospitality (Ch 48, 53). The tools of the workplace and kitchen are to be respected like the vessels of the alter (Ch 32, 46). Stability in the community and monastery is “the workshop” in which “the tools of the spiritual craft” are practiced (Ch 4).

Humility. “Not to us, Lord, not to us give the glory, but to your name alone” (Psalm 113:9 Prologue). The Twelve Steps of humility (Ch 7) undercut any false sense of complacency or self-satisfaction, they urge vigilance: We have to be continually be on our guard against our own destructive tendencies. Humility is what keeps us connected, down to earth, real. It involves a true self-appraisal, not over estimating our strengths but recognizing that we are always in the presence of God. This ‘grounding experience’ often involves endurance, perseverance and long suffering.

These I believe are the qualities and orientations that Benedict hopes to foster in us. He is like a gardener removing the weeds so that the flowers can grow; the fruits of the Spirit. The Rule therefore acts like a garden hoe and watering can; clearing the space, tidying things up and then making sure the plants are well watered. At times like a sekater it prunes, at times like a lopper it removes what is incompatible with our spiritual growth. That these principles are the true criteria for monastic life can be seen in Benedict’s procedure for receiving new members (Ch 58): “The concern”, he writes, “must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he/she shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trails”. Here are the four attitudes I see as key to the life Benedict envisions, attitudes which, in the rich meaning he gives them, are applicable to us today. They do not necessarily involve a hierarchical understanding of authority nor a seclusion from the world. They don’t necessarily involve changing the external form of our life except maybe giving adequate space for prayer. They do however challenge us to a conversion of manners, not what we do but the way we do things. Benedict’s wisdom is timeless because it is the wisdom of the Gospel, yet has always to be newly envisioned so it can continue to be a guide to “the good life” (Prologue).
Submitted by "Young Meditators" Webpage Editor: Stefan Reynolds

Catholic Studies at Georgetown University (Washington, DC) has an exciting new project: a center for meditation and inter-religious dialogue, that will be inaugurated in the fall. We have obtained university housing for the director and four students who will organize daily, weekly and monthly programs. Fr. Laurence Freeman, O. S. B., who taught at Georgetown in fall 2003, will be the Center's first director. He will teach CATH 140, The Roots of Christian Meditation. As a preamble to our fall program, Fr. Freeman and I will conduct a meditation retreat on the weekend at the end of Spring Break, March 11-13. Please assist us in finding students for this retreat, which will help us identify the four who will live at the Center and run the programs with Fr. Freeman.

The following URLs will take you to printable versions of the fliers advertising the retreat. Please post and circulate. Please let me know if you would like me to provide you with hard copies.
All the best,
Dennis McAuliffe

Color flier:
http://campusministry.georgetown.edu/temp/meditation_retreat_flier2.pdf

Black and white flier:
http://campusministry.georgetown.edu/temp/meditation_retreat_flier3.pdf

November Update: "Meditation Community"

September Update....

This August, a number of us attended the Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham, using the 21-foot yurt belonging to members of the Community for meditation twice a day.

The festival was attended by some 20,000 people, the majority of which were in their 20’s and 30’s, though it also attracted older people and provided a great programme for children and families. Rowan Williams was there as well as many other great speakers. The theme was “Freedom Bound”. Greenbelt represents a very socially and politically aware Christianity, ecumenical but not particularly “churchy”. It is also the main Christian arts festival that happens in the country, offering lots of music (some good, some not so good), poetry, drama and creative workshops. There was a quiet prayer space and a labyrinth, but little actual input on how to pray and meditate. We all felt that the general orientation fitted very well with the renewal of contemplative prayer that we as young people in WCCM feel called to. We also felt we learnt a lot from the broad and committed Christian awareness and action that Greenbelt represents.

This year was enough to give us a ‘taste’ of what would be possible for next year in terms of location and what we could offer to the type of people who attend the festival. Plans are underway to have a more ‘formal’ WCCM presence at Greenbelt 2005 to introduce many more younger people to meditation. This will be done by having 3 periods of meditation a day, lead by members of the Community. These times will be publicised in the festival programme and we will distribute flyers around the site. We are very much hoping that Rob and Amanda Miles will allow us to use the yurt again, as it provided the perfect setting.

Any ideas you may have do please get in touch and do keep this project in your prayers.

Becca Brewin
Katherine Rich
Stefan Reynolds
Anne Looney
Amanda Miles
Rob Miles
Liz Watson
September 2004

Meditation Walk - July 2004

We called our pilgrimage holiday a meditation advance, that is instead of a meditation retreat. It was great fun. We had planned to walk Hadrian's wall (which spans the width of England at its narrowest point) but instead, being too lazy (or tired from our work) and wary of the forecast of rain, we instead rented a house in one of the most scenic parts of England; the lake district. We all already knew eachother from our meditation group in London, but over a week travelling together, walking, meditating, cooking meals, talking and sharing silence we became even more friends, and that maybe is the whole aim of meditation. So we advanced. We had some great fun as well. We took refuge from the rain in a wooden hut on the top of a mountain, visited Wordsworth's cottage, had poetry evenings, built a fire, roasted marshmallows, argued about who was going to sleep where (eight people in a three bedroom house), surprised the locals by our attendance at the village church, prayed for what was on our heart, had a good rest, composed our own songs and walked far enough to make us healthy but not blistered at the end of the day. Each day grounded in shared meditation, a sense of humour, the simple pleasures of food, wine, rain and sunshine, the growing sense that that our little mediation advance was a mustard seed that was already growing uniquely in a creative, anarchic and attentive way.

Reported by Stefan Reynolds

“The Walk for Peace” - Perugia to Assisi
by Devis Maccarelli

During the week-end (11-12 October 2003) about 15 people from different cities of Italy met in Perugia, Italy to participate in the walk for peace from Perugia to Assisi and to share some periods of meditation and communion.

We stayed in "Mater Gratiae," a center of hospitality of the Perugia diocese. On Saturday we had several periods of meditation and community life. On Sunday, after a session of chi kung, meditation, breakfast, and Sunday mass, we participated in the walk for peace from Perugia to Assisi. It was a walk of about 24km for peace and non-violence.

This event was conceived about 40 years ago by the non-violent philosopher Aldo Capitini and today it is organized by "Tavola della Pace." The organising committee is formed by Local Associations for peace, monks of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, Pax Christi, EMMAUS Italia, AGESCI and more.

At the walk for peace we were about 300.000 people from different parts of the world, from different communities, associations and groups, representing all different ages, cultures, religions and backgrounds. It was beautiful! We participated in a very special event. I felt a deep communitarian sense in those two days.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the event or if you would like to share your experiences.

Love,
PAX
Devis Maccarelli
(Italy)

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