Listen My Son. Dwight Longenecker

‘He loves us and enjoys us, and so he wills that we love him and enjoy him and firmly trust him; and all shall be well.’

      The role of the Christian father is to reflect this kind of divine love to his children, so that in growing to love him they will be learning to love their heavenly Father as well. This will require discipline, but that discipline is always a servant to the higher law of love. Great wisdom is also required if we are to reflect God's love to our family. To do this Benedict will show us in his own gentle and humble way the wisdom necessary to fulfil this vocation. But he will also always remind us that ‘we must ask God to send forth the help of his grace to our aid’. Then as the love of Christ is poured into our hearts (Rom. 5.5) we will be empowered to minister that love to those whom God has entrusted to our care.

      January 8

      May 9

      September 8

      CHAPTER I

      THE KINDS OF MONK (A)

       It is clear that there are four kinds of monk.

       The first kind are the Cenobites, that is the ‘monastery’ kind, who do battle under a Rule and an Abbot.

       Then the second kind are the Anchorites or Hermits; these are they who are no longer in the first fervour of their religious life but have been tested for a long time in the monastery and have learnt, with the assistance of many brothers, how to do battle against the devil, and now, well equipped to leave the fraternal battle-line for the solitary combat of the desert, they are strong enough to do battle against the vices of the body and the mind on their own, with their own resources, relying on God's aid, but now without the support of anyone else.

      In outlining four types of monks, Benedict is also pointing out four basic types of Christian. His aim is to encourage cenobitic monks, those who live in an established community in obedience to an abbot. As such he addresses all who live in an established community, whether it is the nuclear family, or some wider community.

      He gives pride of place to the solitary monks who fight the spiritual battle single-handed. But he wisely observes that no one should adopt this life until they have proved themselves through a long life in a religious community.

      While Benedict recognizes the high calling of the true solitary he also understands that ‘it is not good for man to be alone’ (Gen. 2.18). Benedict recognizes that being part of a ‘body’ is integral to the Christian commitment (1 Cor. 12.27). In a society where more and more people are living alone, Benedict's call to community life encourages us to be ‘joiners’ and to get involved in our local communities.

      The root of the word ‘commitment’ and the word ‘community’ is the same. It means ‘with’. Benedict recognizes that the spiritual way is not easy and so calls us to run the path of perfection with others. In this way there is mutual support, faithfulness and loyalty. So the mature Christian will see the need to commit to others: first to his immediate family, then to his extended family, his local church, his workplace and his wider community. It is through his commitment to the monastic community that the monk grows spiritually, and it is through our commitment to our various communities that we learn the lessons of self-sacrificial love and construct stability in our lives.

      It is important that children learn the value of commitment at an early age. This means a sense of duty should be taught from the beginning. The obnoxious wail, ‘But that's boring!’ ought to be checked at its first appearance. At that point even a young child should begin to accept that certain duties may not always be entertaining, and that commitment means being faithful in small things (Matt. 25.21). This is especially true of worship. Nothing has eroded the dignity of Christian worship more than the expectation that it must be entertaining. Regular attendance at church may not be entertaining, but that unfailing commitment establishes priorities and sets inner values that help build character and equip each child to face life's challenges with confidence.

      January 9

      May 10

      September 9

      CHAPTER I

      THE KINDS OF MONK (B)

       The third kind of monk is the abominable one of Sarabaites, who have not been tested by a rule, as gold is tested in a furnace, nor been taught by experience, but are like soft lead. They keep faith with this world by their actions, but manifestly lie to God by their tonsure. These people live in twos and threes, or even alone; they have no shepherd, they shut themselves up in their own sheepfolds, not those of the Lord; and their law consists in yielding to their desires: what they like or choose they call holy, and they reckon illicit whatever displeases them.

       The fourth kind of monk are those called Wanderers. These are never stable throughout their whole lives but wanderers through diverse regions, receiving hospitality in the monastic cells of others for three or four days at a time. Always roving and never settling, they follow their own wills, enslaved by the attractions of gluttony. They are in all respects worse than the Sarabaites.

       It is better to pass over in silence than to speak further of the unhappy way of life of all these people, so let us pass them by, and with God's help set about organising the strongest kind of monks – the Cenobites.

      Benedict discusses the four types of monk in order to highlight the beauty and wisdom of the cenobitic life – the religious life lived within the confines of a monastic community. In doing so he also exposes some problems with two other approaches to religion and life generally.

      To be a good Catholic is to be cenobitic. The cenobite submits to a greater authority and lives in a community of obedience with those who share his authority structure. The sarabaite, on the other hand, is one who sets up shop on his own. There are many sarabaitic Christians. They determine what their authority structure is, and as Benedict points out, too often ‘what they like or choose they call holy, and they reckon illicit whatever displeases them’. Sarabaitic Christians reject the teaching authority of the Church. They interpret Scripture according to their own needs, and the necessities of their age. Such a relativistic approach to the Christian life can only be ephemeral and ultimately destructive.

      Benedict also recognizes the temptation to be a religious wanderer. For these ‘gyrovagues’ Benedict reserves the most scorn. The sarabaite Christians set up shop according to their own insights and opinions, but the gyrovague doesn't even have the courage or conviction to do that. Instead he wanders from one religious community to another like a bored goat. For him the grass is always greener on the other side of the monastic enclosure. He is thus destined to be constantly discontented, and subsequently to become a disgruntled complainer.

      Similarly, in our consumer society it is all too easy for Christians to go ‘church shopping’. With their own set of standards, they wander from church to church looking for the perfect community, the right music, the best priest. Such Christians not only never settle, but they usually cause trouble wherever they go. When a Christian father takes his family church shopping he subtly teaches them several untruths. First, that they are the final arbiters of which is the best church. Secondly, if they can choose from the different churches, then all churches are equally true. Finally, if they choose by personal preference they conclude that the form of worship is more important than the content.

      Instead Benedict teaches that we learn everything through loyalty to the community we have been given. We should neither set up on our own nor wander about looking for the ideal life. It is our job to ‘bloom where we are planted’. We should work to change for the better what can be changed, and to endure what cannot be changed.

      January 10

      May 11

      September 10

      CHAPTER II

      WHAT KIND OF MAN THE

      ABBOT