Feast of St. Benedict

Today we celebrate in the Roman Catholic Church the feast day of St. Benedict of Nursia. Benedict, of course, if famous for his Rule on monastic living which focused heavily on 'Ora et Labora' which means "Pray and work."  It is important to pray and be close to God, but we can do so as we work, as we accomplish the tasks here on earth. In fact a personal favorite quote of St. Benedict is, " Prefer nothing, absolutely nothing, to the Love of Christ."  This quote summarizes perfectly the entire spiritual life and our goal as growing in our discipleship with Christ. 

We love a lot of things in our life; we love times with friends, our phones, games, drinking, archery, bowling, any sport, any talent. We love a lot. A lot of things consume our life- and so they should, as they give us meaningful time and help build meaningful relationships when done properly. So how on earth am I suppose to be prefer the love of Christ above all? Am I suppose to give up everything I like, to pray, to hide in a monastery for the rest of my life? Well, if thats the calling for you, then yes! But probably not for the most of us. 

What "preferring nothing to the Love of Christ" means, is that obeying God, following in the love of God, and staying faithful to the love of Christ- a love shown through sacrifice, through suffering, through offering ourselves to others, caring for those excluded, through obedience to the creator- through everything we do. Living  the example that Jesus left us, is a great place to start.  Regardless of what we absolutely love to do, whatever we find meaningful, and whatever we enjoy, should be done with our Christian attitude of Christ's love always first.

This attitude is made physical when we are  focused on including everyone, regardless of their challenges, their race, their sexuality, their gender, because in Christ their is no longer any division, and we are to work towards building the unity in Christ (Gal 3: 28).  It means that when we are playing sports, we are trying our best, trying to improve ourselves, our teammates, and to be better at the game. For virtue grows in practice. Preferring the Love of Christ to all else, means that while we are with friends, that everything we say and do, is always in line with our values as Catholics. 

In sum, it means that if we love God, if we believe in God, it should consume our entire life. So if we say yes to our great Father, that yes should be visible in every single area of our life. No area of our life should reflect a no to God. We are either fully Christian or we are no Christian. We are a full yes, or we are a no. We cannot be 50/50. For God is too great, too important to be a 50/50. 

Say yes to God. And say yes to the Father who wants to give you freedom, true love, and true friendship.  May your prayer today be another yes to God and asking him to help transform your life to a total yes to him. May your prayer also be formed around a radical response to the free gift of love that Christ offers

Mike

P.S - Today is the feast day of St. Benedict in the Roman Calendar. Benedictine Monks continue to hold his traditional feast day of March 11th, the day traditionally held as the day he died.