A Young Man's Monastic Journey (Part II)

This passage is taken from the Epilogue of Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation, by Martin Laird.  It is a beautiful example of radical openness to God from the depths of our hearts. http://www.amazon.com/Into-Silent-Land-Christian-Contemplation/dp/0195307607

Part 2 of 3

After more than a year the young man was convinced that now he would be able to answer correctly any question the abbot might put to him and he could see, moreover, the abbot’s wisdom in putting him off for a time.  And so the young man told the novice master that he felt he was now ready to make his profession and could he please see the abbot.  The novice master arranged this, and soon enough the young man was brought to the abbot.

The abbot said, “I’m very happy to hear that you still want to make your profession and to live your monastic life among us.  But tell me, why do you feel you are ready to make your profession?”

The young man responded, “I’m convinced that this is what God is asking of me.  I don’t claim to understand it.  I only know it is something I must do.  Moreover, I have been studying our tradition and our charism.  I identify with it very deeply and think it confirms the sense of interior call that I feel.”

The abbot was obviously listening to him very intently and sincerely.  He said to the young man, “What you say is very edifying indeed, and I feel even myself encouraged in the life just listening to you speak the way you do about your conviction of God’s love for you and of his call.  But I think you should go back to the novitiate, back to the novitiate until you are really ready.”

The man was in quite a state as he left the abbot’s office.  He was in fact completely shattered.  He couldn’t imagine what on earth the abbot could possibly have wanted to hear.  He knew he belonged more in the monastery than half of those other wretched monks.  But he returned to the novitiate.  He had already completed his formal studies, so he took to helping in the garden, pruning vines and thinning carrots and also served in the infirmary.

World Youth Day 2013

World Youth Day 2013 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from July 23rd to July 28th.

During his Palm Sunday Mass, Pope Francis emphasized the important role the youth has both in the Church and in the world. He urged them to not be ‘ashamed of the Cross.’ Before roughly 250,000 pilgrims he announced that he will travel to Brazil in late July to lead World Youth Day in Rio, where about 2 million youths are expected.

POPE FRANCIS
“I joyfully look forward to next July in Rio de Janeiro! I will see you in that great city in Brazil! Prepare well,  prepare spiritually above all – in your communities, so that our gathering in Rio may be a sign of faith for the whole world.”

To Follow the Events of World Youth Day: http://worldyouthday.com/

A Young Man's Monastic Journey

This passage is taken from the Epilogue of Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation, by Martin Laird.  It is a beautiful example of radical openness to God from the depths of our hearts. http://www.amazon.com/Into-Silent-Land-Christian-Contemplation/dp/0195307607

Part 1 of 3

The young man settled into the novitiate with relative ease.  He found he liked all his fellow novices and pretty much all the monks he came across.  It wasn't long before he felt certain he wanted to stay here for the rest of his days.  So he went to the novice master and said, “I believe I’m ready to make my profession.”  The novice master said, “Well, the abbot will have to see you about this.”

In due course an appointment with the abbot was arranged, and the young man sad down to speak with the abbot about his vocation.  The abbot asked him why he felt he was ready to make his profession.  The young man said, “Well, I've come to like it here very much.  Everyone is nice to me, and I like all the monks.”

The abbot said, “Well, that is very encouraging to hear, and I’d have to say that we are very happy to have you and we hope that you stay.  But just the same, I think you should go back to the novitiate for a while longer.  It’ll do you no harm.”

The young man left in great distress.  Why didn't the abbot want him to make his profession?  Did he say something wrong?  Was he deluded about his vocation?  Not a little disappointed, the young man returned to his life as a novice.  The abbot’s gentle rebuff ended up teaching the young man a great deal about his own faults and failings and presumption.  He began to grow in self-knowledge and applied himself with great dedication to the study of the monastery’s long history, its traditions, and various customs.  He soon mastered all of this.

Service and celebration in Brazil

     Fr. Killian Loch, O.S.B., Campus Minister of        St. Vincent College 

St Vincent Archabbey has a priory in Vinhedo, Brazil.  Through the various ministries of the monks there connections have been made over the years with local religious communities.  One such association is with the Missionaries of Christ who serve the poor throughout Brazil.  Not far from Vinhedo is the city of Jundiai where these sisters have 2 schools to serve the poor, especially those who live in the favellos.  It is my privilege as Campus Minister at our college to take a group of students each year to work with the sisters.  We work in the schools, visit the favellos and also help in a recently founded ministry to care for homeless and sick elderly.  It is an experience that helps me keep in mind the vision of Fr Boniface Wimmer who saw Benedictines as being the beast equipped for missionary work. Grounded in community prayer and life I am strengthened to go out and see Christ in those in need.  Not only that but I also have the opportunity to share this prayer and mission ministry with our students.

This year our trip had an additional element because we are also in Brazil for World Youth Day.  In addition to our work in Jundiai we are taking part in several diocesan celebrations to prepare us for our trip to Rio de Janiero.  We are meeting young people from throughout the world who are also doing service in Jundiai in preparation for Rio. What a privilege to be a Benedictine and share in these treasured moments.

Father Killian Loch, O. S. B.

How to know you have a vocation to the religious life?

Picture: http://catholiclivingtoday.blogspot.com

Signs of a Vocationby Martin Pable, OFM Cap.

I was asked to share with you some thoughts on how a person knows they have a vocation to the religious life. It is difficult to pin that down because a vocation is first of all a mystery. God does not just Jump out of the sky and tap us on the shoulder or knock us off a horse the way He did with some people in the Bible. Ordinarily God uses very ordinary instrumental means to let us know what He is calling us to, and that is always a mysterious thing. It is very personal to each one of us. I can't give you any absolute rules for this. I guess, in one sense, the wonderful thing is - that God respects our individuality and treats us all as persons. He respects our freedom and he wants us to use our heads and hearts in trying to discern our vocation. Remember that famous line in A Man For All Seasons, where Thomas More says something like "God made the animals to serve Him by instinct blindly but He made man to serve Him wittingly." That is, to use his wits. We have to use our wits to try to discern what God is asking of us.

To read the whole article: http://www.vocations.com/discern/signs_pable.html