Unity
and oneness with the Father and the Son was the goal of
the many Benedictine sons and daughters over the centuries:
it remains our goal too: to allow ourselves to be transformed
into the likeness of Christ.
Today we remember the many Benedictine
monks and nuns who answered the call to follow Christ in
the monastic way of life. Those men and women were ordinary
men and women who brought their human, fragile and sinful
selves to the monastery, but over the years allowed Jesus
to be their guide and their light. We who have been at
Downside for a number of years remember the many brothers
who gone before us, and in remembering them we recall how
that final call from God death was often answered with
great love and peacefulness. It is precisely those brothers
of ours that we remember today, and we pray to them and
ask for their help as we daily answer Gods call.
At the same time that we remember
those who gone before us, we pause to think about our life
here at Downside with the many pressures of modern day
life that surround us. Modern day life is a life lived
at great speed and is one that expects immediate action:
there can be little time to pray and to allow the presence
of God to dwell in our hearts. But it is that presence
of God and spirit of recollection and peace that is at
the heart of the Rule: in short it is what were about
and it is what we remember today on this Feast of All Benedictine
Saints.
In St Benedicts own words:
"As we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall
run on the path of Gods commandments, our hearts overflowing
with the inexpressible delight of love. Never swerving
from his instructions, then, faithfully observing his
teaching in the monastery until death, we shall through
patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may
deserve also to share in his kingdom. Amen." (RB Pro
49-50) To read some other homilies
from Downside, click here. |
