Chapter 47: Signalling the times for the work of God
The superior is personally responsible for making sure that the time for the work of God, both at night at during the daytime, is clearly made known to all. (From para. 1 of Ch. 47 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Today, St. Benedict exhorts me to a bravely counter-cultural stance. The "work of God", in the broadest sense of living in Christ-consciousness, is unwelcome and unfamiliar to the world at large -- and it's also unfamiliar even in the form of simple, undistracted attention. But, the Spirit moves to help me purify my attention, and so to realize Christ in the world.
Bells and other alerts are about priorities. And falling more and more deeply in love with you is my priority, Abba. Repeating the mantra throughout this distraction-filled day helps me to stay awake to you alive in my heart.
ReplyDeleteLeaving as a monk in the marketplace, having no Abbot to signal the work of God, I device my own way to do it. I let my phone alarm at a time synchronize to the time of prayers of the monks of the Monastery of Transfiguration in Malaybalay City, Philippines. This a reminder for me to pray and return to pray without ceasing.
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