Benedictine Spirituality of Accountability, a Heart-to-Heart Talk

Monica,   Columbus, Ohio

What a precious night with the Hope on High people! Such a quietness and gentleness in these homeless people and especially in how they ask for something. They barely ask and only after you have been talking for a while. You can barely hear their voices, just above a whisper, that they almost say in passing, trailing off,.. something like, "Do you have any sterno to heat my tent, it's supposed to stay cold tonight," or "are there any heavy blankets?" All these things they are in DIRE need of too, but never push, never in demanding (except for Stanley -- ha ha --- long story).
I wanted to post snippets that spoke to me from a booklet one of my beloved Benedictine priests from "my" Archabbey in Indiana, St. Meinrad's, called "Accountability as a Heart to Heart Talk," by Fr. Mateo Zamora, OSB. I will just quote him. I also changed the order to read the most important part if you do not have time for longer. Just in time for Lent too! Praise Jesus.
"Although it [accountability] presents consequences for bad behavior, the "Rule of St. Benedict" actually provides us with a very positive and refreshing take on accountability, .... a heart-to-heart talk..:
'Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice' (RB Prol:1).'
The 'Rule' begins with a command: 'Listen!' I don't know about you, but whenever I am told to listen, it usually means that I am in trouble. Either I am in trouble or I am not paying attention...
It is interesting to note that the word 'obedience' is rooted in the Latin word 'audire,' which means 'to listen.' ... Accountability, then, as a discipline of mutual obedience, is first of all a practice of listening to one another.
'Listen carefully' (RB Prol:1)
The reason, I think, that some calls to accountability do not work is because, instead of a heart-to-heart talk, it is a mouth-to-ear talk.... this is counsel 'from a father who loves you.' (RB Prol:1).
The father is doing this not to make the son feel bad for doing bad. He is opening up his heart because he cares about him. He is concerned about what he is doing -- or not doing...
Why is it a heart-to-heart talk? It has to be a heart-to-heart talk because the topic is deeply personal. It involves one's behavior, one's faults, one's mistakes, those delicate details that nobody ever wants to discuss ...
Genuine accountability has to be a heart-to-heart talk because it involves hurts.... because there is a relationship that exists (child and father) and this relationship is very important to both.
.... because that is how love operates: not through the mouth or guts or brain or the liver (ha, ha, I liked that line), but through the heart.
In this model of Christian accountability from St. Benedict, both parties are willing to be vulnerable. They are opening up their hearts to one another. That is why it works. To be vulnerable here -- from the Latin "vulnus," which is translated as wound --means that they show their wounds to each other; they reveal their injuries.
Both have been wounded and the relationship itself has been damaged. They show their wounds to each other so that they can be tended to and healed.
Christ who 'humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross' (Phil. 2:8) We see our Lord hanging on the cross and there He bares not only His heart to us, but also all the wounds that our sinfulness has caused.
The Almighty has put his utter vulnerability on display on that cross to reassure each one of us that He is willing to do anything and suffer everything, if only we would be reconciled with Him. He opens up his Sacred Heart, not to demand justice, much less to exact vengeance, but rather to offer us mercy and forgiveness.
From that cross, the Lord invites us to a heart-to-heart talk. The question is: Are we ready? Are we ready to bare our hearts to Him?"
..this discipline of accountability ... can be a way of life, just as it has been for those who have followed the "Rule of St. Benedict" these 1,500 plus years.
[Finally, his Part 1)
Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all and to all. It is a blessing, or better yet, a benediction, which comes from the Latin verb "benedicere," which literally means to speak well of somebody, to commend another, to say something good to someone. Obedience is a blessing to be shown by by all and to all.... we owe it to everyone in the community.
When we forget that obedience is a blessing to be shown by all and to all, we start neglecting one another's feelings, one another's needs, and one another's dignity.
Christian accountability is a discipline of mutual obedience in a community of disciples. It means that everyone cares about everybody, and everyone looks out for everybody. It is a culture not of selfishness, but of selflessness. It is a discipline, the way of the disciple of Christ, for He said, 'This is how all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another' (Jn. 13:35).

These photos remind me of many of my friends on the south end.  No, they are not homeless, they usually live in tents, boarded up houses, sheds, make-shift shacks, and one even on a bench on the side of High St.

Christmas Benedictine Style

by Monica

        This Advent and Christmastide are a very special time of year to focus on Jesus and on our level of love for Him -- in other words, to "Come let us adore Him."  One way is just to speak to Him for at least 15 minutes straight every day, even if you have to do so on returning to bed when you wake up for that middle of the night bathroom stop.
        Also, there is a new book put out by the Children of Mary called I Will Think of Everything And You, Only Loving Me."  It is a powerful push to put the focus of our lives on Christ and loving Him as much as we can and offering "ceaseless acts of perfect love" to Him every waking moment possible.
        Simplifying your prayer life is another way to focus almost exclusively on Christ and His bidding in this holy season commemorating His birth.  From reading this book (above), I decided for Advent and Christmas that my only petitionary prayers are going to be: "For everyone in my past, present, and future, and all affecting them."
         I was spending a large part of my prayer life with rosaries, chaplets, etc., in lengthy and time-consuming petitions for others instead of putting all things into His hands totally, letting even the prayers along with outcomes, etc., be fully in His decision-making hands.  I decided to let Him FULLY figure out what even to ask for and when, leaving all to Him alone, with full trust.
       I feel I have been freed and actually feel more trust by not burdening or busying my head and heart with things out of my control anyways.  I can also better "meditate on the actual mysteries" of the rosary.  I feel these things have drawn me closer to Him, but I have a ways to go!
       Here are further reflections written by Benedictine monks over the years for Third Order Benedictines of St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana at Advent and Christmas time in order to draw all of them, us, closer to Jesus, Our Lord.  Dorothy Day was a Benedictine Oblate, or Third Order Benedictine, which is why many Benedictine monasteries are praying for her canonization.

      Come, Holy Spirit, come, through the powerful intercessory prayers of Mother Mary on this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Fr. Schalk preached this morning at mass how the single most powerful person to ask intercessory prayers of against Satan Himself, from the Revelations scripture of the woman clothed with the sun against the seven-headed dragon, is Mother Mary herself.

     This season is also to honor her amazing yes at such a youthful age and in so dangerous a society to do such a momentous thing. We love you Jesus.  We love you Mary.  Come be with us, Jesus, and as the famous song of Mary says, "Come walk with us, Mary, come walk with us," "Ven Con Nosotros a Caminar, Santa Maria Ven."

"Christmastide 1941"  by Fr. Bernardine Shine, OSB

    .." With the activity, haste, and busyness, the world rushes towards Christmas.  But what has the world to do with Christmas?  The world missed the first Christmas completely because of its spirit; that same spirit reigns in the world today.
      ... There was no room for two spirits in the cave; the world did not enter.  It had all the song, tinsel, and good cheer of the season, but it did not have Christmas.
     Angels directed the shepherds to Him Who made the true Christmas.  Good oblates look to St. Benedict for the spirit that feels at home in the cave, for the safe way that leads to Christ."

"The Mystery of Christmas, 1945" by Fr. Walter Sullivan, OSB

   " ... Now what does it mean to believe and live the Whole Mystery of Christmas?  It means to ponder in your heart with Mary how this Infant cradled in His Mother's arms is the Wisdom from on High, The Root of Jesse, The Key of David, The King of Nations, The Emmanuel, The Expectation and Savior of Peoples, The King of Peace whom the whole earth has desired to see.
   ... It means to ponder in your heart how the Song of God, begotten from all eternity of God the Father, took to Himself of the flesh of Mary a human body, and created for Himself a human soul.
     ... For the mystery of Christmas is a soul-searching test of true Christianity, and it demands of the Christian seven profound acts of living the faith:

1. To see Christ in the crib of Bethlehem and to adore Him.
2. To see Christ in His Church and to obey Him.
3. To see Christ in Holy Mass and to offer Him.
4. To see Christ in Confession and unburden the heart to Him.
5. To hear Christ in the Gospel and to imitate Him.
6. To see Christ in the other members of His Body and to love Him.
7. To see Christ in our own bodies and to reverence Him

    ... its purpose [Christmas] is to divinize people -- to make them partakers of Divine Life in the living Body of Christ that is the Church.

      By the mystery of Christmas, we are more closely knit to one another than are Americans under the same flag, our club members wearing the same pin, or even kinfolk of the same family.  For regardless of club, country, race, or family, we are One in Christ, if we are faithful members of His Body."

"Christmas 1951" by Fr. Walter Sullivan OSB

     "Amidst the frills and sweet sentiment that have been associated with the Babe of Bethlehem, we may forget the prophecy of Simeon to Our Lady: 'Behold this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many.'

     ... The struggle between what is weak in us and what is strong in us is a necessary element of Christian life on earth.  If there were no weakness, there could be no spiritual maturity in people.  Our Lord says plainly to St. Paul (2 Cor. 12:9), 'Strength is made perfect in weakness.'  The apostle, recognizing the reserve power of grace in his soul, says a startling thing to us, 'I will glory in my weakness that the strength of Christ may dwell in me.'

    St. Benedict speaks forcibly of this life-long conflict between self-indulgence and the life of Christ in us when he says in the last part of the Prologue to the Holy Rule, 'We must prepare our hearts and bodies to do battle under holy obedience to God's command.  Let us ask God  to give us grace (strength) for anything which our nature finds almost impossible.  A person, counting merely on his own strength without seeking sincerely and perseveringly help from God, will remain miserably disillusioned.'

    "... Best news of all, He has come to save us from our despair and from ever losing hope.  His grace is ours for the asking in every crisis of our life, if, trampling pride and selfishness underfoot, we ask Him for help."

"Christmas 1957" by Fr. Blaise Hettich OSB

     "... In the middle of the whirl of shopping, partying, ... the hub of all our activities should be Christ.  It's His birthday we are celebrating.
     ... Let us recall that when Moses made Aaron high priest of Israel, he poured oil over his head.  The people saw this as a sign of God's power coming upon the priest.  Likewise, the prophet Samuel poured oil on the head of David to show that God had chosen him as king.
     To the Jews, 'the Anointed' meant the great King and Priest who would be sent from god to be their leader.  'Messiah,' a Hebrew word, and 'Christ,' a Greek word, both mean 'the Anointed.'  When the Son of god became a human being, He remained God.  The divine Christ 'anointed' the human.
     .... May God bless you this Christmas with 'the oil of gladness,' so that the Life and Love of
Christ may strengthen your hearts."

"Christmas 1964" by Fr. Gerard Ellspermann, OSB

       "These are the days of quiet joy.  They are days of prayer and pondering.  In imitation of Mary, who 'kept in mind all these words, pondering them in her heart,' we should not let these days go by without much prayer and frequent meditation...  He 'for us and our salvation was born of the Virgin Mary, and became flesh.'
       "... He has come to give us life, and make us sharers in His life.  The very impressive words of the Vespers refrain for the feast of the Octave of Christmas fill us with joy:  'Oh wondrous exchange!  The Creator of the human race, taking onto Himself the living body, deigns to be born of a Virgin; and becoming man from no human generation, has bestowed upon us His divinity.

       [Pope Leo the Great] had this to say in strong and vibrant words: 'Remember all Christians, your dignity.  You  have been made a partaker of the divine nature.  Do not return to your former base way of life.'  In a sense, then, this is the point of no return.  We can't look back. We cannot even think about turning back.
     ... As Fr. Emerick Lawrence, OSB, has said, 'This feast means  ... social justice, racial justice, tolerance, charity.  It is a call to all of us to contemplate the goodness and kindness of God in His gift of Himself to us, and then to carry the fruits of our contemplation into our environment so that it may become Christ's ... It means patience and kindness in our homes, forgiveness of enemies, consideration for the weaknesses of our brethren, active charity, and a never-ending effort to promote unity in our parishes and communities."

"December 1981" by Fr. Gerard Ellspermann, OSB

"... God takes from Mary flesh.  The Incarnate Word gives us in return an incomprehensible gift.   This is a participation, real and intimate, in the Divine nature.  And thus is achieved the most wonderful event that ever happened to us -- God giving us a share in His divine life by taking upon Himself our human life.
      At this time of mutual giving of presents to those we love, we are reminded of the supreme gift God gives to us.  Exchanging gifts makes us think of the admirable exchange brought about by the Incarnation.  Give glory to God for His bringing peace to mankind!"

"Christmas 1993" by Fr. Michael Keene, OSB

  "... St. John the Evangelist speaks of Christ who was the 'Light that shines in the darkness' and the darkness cannot overcome it.  he is the 'true light that enlightens each one who comes into this world.'  Our Divine Savior said to his disciples:  'I am the light of the world; whoever walks by Me has the light of life and does not walk in darkness.'
   

"Christmas 2000"  by Fr. Meinrad Brune OSB

      "... God sent Jesus to be born into a poor family, far from their home.  God sent Jesus to tell us and show us how to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and offer forgiveness to sinners around us...
     ... We must slow down the pace and grow still...  This child, the Word of God, is God's promise that we never will be asked to travel down a harder road than Jesus has gone down before...
      Every time we listen to any person in his or her simple human need -- a confused teen, aching sick person, lonely shut-in, grieving widow or widower, repetitious elderly person, overburdened parents  -- we celebrate Christmas."

     Addition 12-16-17 from The Word Among Us, December, 2017, for Friday December 15, p. 35.  This is in the spirit of talking with Jesus for at least 15 minutes a day during advent.

"Psalm 1:1-3

'He is like a tree planted near running water.'

     It sounds peaceful: a big tree,

planted 'near running water,' its

roots sunk down into the fertile soil

(Psalm 1:3). That tree would be guar-

anteed constant refreshment and

nourishment.  Wouldn't it be great

to have a similar peaceful life?  Being 

tapped into what nourishes us, we

would always feel invigorated, care

for, sustained.

     The good news is that we do

have a constant, streaming source

of nourishment: Jesus.  How do 

we 'tap into' his refreshinglife?

If we listen to the saints, one part-

ticular way stands out:  Eucharistic 

adoration.

     Here is what St. Catherine Laboure

has to say:

     'Whenever I go to the chapel, I

put myself in the presence of our 

good Lord, and I say to him, 'Lord,

I am here.  Tell me what you would

have me to do.' ... Ande then, I tell

God everything that is in my heart.  I

tell him about my pains and joys,

and then I listen.  If you listen, God

will also speak to you, for with the

good Lord, you have to both speak

and listen.  God always speaks to you

when you approach him plainly and

simply.'

     St. Catherine describes spend-

ing time relaxed and comfortable

in Jesus' presence in the Blessed

Sacrament.  She brought him her con-

cerns and needs.  But she also sat and

listened to Him.  She was a lot like

the psalmist's tree, quietly absorbing

the constant flow of life.  We can do 

it too.  Eucharistic adoration provides

a time set apart from our everyday

responsibilities. It's a time to listen,

learn, and absorb.  Beyond pouring

out our concerns, we simply sit in his

presence.  we enjoy Him.

     Try this the next time you are able

to go to adoration:  sit with Jesus

with no particular agenda.  Enjoy

his company.  Soak in the peace of

those moments set apart for him.  If 

you find your mind wandering, you

might want to try to imagine that tree

near streams of water.  The more time

you spend with Jesus, the more com-

fortable you will become,and the

easier you'll find it to sense His pres-

ence and hear His voice. 

      So go!  Rest by the river and absorb

those nourishing, healthy waters.

      Lord, I thank you for the gift of

Eucharistic adoration!  I love Your

Presence!"

     He rejoices over YOU as well, he dances over you! -- Zeph. 3:17 – “rejoice over you” – literally means “dance, skip, leap, and spin around in joy.” God dances with shouts of joy over us!  O, come let us adore Him!