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Editorial:
Nurturing spirituality From
the[acting] director: New Shoes Wholeness,
Holiness & Wholegrain Spirituality Comment:
Racehorses and Turtles A
Spirituality of Communion: The Benedictine Monks, Rostrevor Interview
with John Dickinson & Paul Symonds: The Shape of Spirituality Prayer
24-7 In
quest of living theology: A conversation piece on theological education
and Christian formation A
Spirituality of Welcome Bible
Study: Christian Spirituality Review:
How (Not) to Speak of God Review:
Spirituality and Transformation Difficult
Conversations |
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THE DECREE which states the aim and purpose of the establishment of our monastery in Northern Ireland outlines the mission of our community thus: “To contribute to reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants in a land marked by reciprocal violence and stained by the blood of Christian brothers and sisters.” (cf. Foundation Decree, Holy Cross Monastery.) After living for some years in the former Retreat Centre of the Our Lady of Apostles Sisters in Rostrevor, a providential gift of land led us to undertake the building of a new monastery in the ancient monastic townland of Kilbroney, on the main road between Rostrevor and Hilltown in Co Down. When we undertook the mammoth task of building a purpose-built monastery, our desire was to see this place consecrated as a “house of prayer for all peoples”. In line with this intention, we celebrated the opening and consecration of our new monastery on the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 18 January 2004. The liturgical celebrations marking this event gathered together and invited the active participation of Christians from all denominations. It seems to me that these words, addressed to the participants by Lord George Carey of Clifton, former Archbishop of Canterbury, outline the powerful challenge a Benedictine monastery, such as ours, can and should present in today’s world – and, not least, to the Christian churches, divided as they are by denominational differences: “Our secular times today demand not a lessening of praise and worship but a more intense entering into it and the Benedictine community is ideally positioned to lead the way. Surely we want this community to be a vocal witness to the power of God’s love expressed so tangibly in the gospel of peace brought to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be a living symbol that there are no human divisions that cannot be healed through the ministry of Christ.” In a homily preached the following day, during the first Eucharist celebrated in our church, our diocesan bishop, Dr John McAreavey, Roman Catholic Bishop of Dromore, took things a step further when he stated, “The wider Church looks to this community to become a community of reconciliation and, in a way, to blaze a trail that the rest of us might follow. We look to you to help us journey from an attitude of separateness to one of partnership; we look to you to help us make the journey from detachment from the fate of other Christians to a sense of deep care about what is happening to them. There is a journey we have to make from privacy to a trust that allows us to share our own personal and church concerns with our brothers and sisters in the other church communities. Above all, we have to journey from a tolerance of division to a deep sense of the scandal of our Christian divisions. We look to you to make us uncomfortable in many of the attitudes we take and to show us the way to a better future.” Some people might ask: so, what have you been doing since then to respond to these challenges? In answer we would say: simply trying to live our monastic life. While it is evident that we are led to undertake many things which seek to encourage mutual understanding between fellow-Christians and advance the churches in the way of the unity Christ desires for them, essentially, we see our contribution to Christian unity as being rooted more in our way of being than in our doing this or that. If I could put it this way, we seek less to do ecumenism than to be monks. I believe it can be said that ecumenism relates to the very essence of monastic living; it is inscribed in our very being and not just our doing. Ecumenism is not an activity for our community, but rather underpins our whole way of life. Our conviction is that the unity of our churches depends upon the response of all Christians to the basic Gospel call to conversion. And monastic life is all about courageously engaging oneself in the way of conversion. Our life, while to some extent a life lived apart, is fundamentally a life of communion. An ancient monastic text speaks of the monk as one “separated from all in order to be united to all.” Thus, in our monastery we like to consider our mission in these terms: the living out of a parable of communion. I believe that this notion of being a lived out parable is very important. Today’s world is one in which people are constantly bombarded with words and information. Precisely for this reason, possibly more than at any other time in history, the things Christians are seen to do will speak louder than anything they might say. Pope John-Paul II once remarked, “People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers.” He was right. And this is perhaps especially true of young people. It is fundamentally by the witness of our community life that we seek to be a living parable of reconciliation, showing through the daily living out of our monastic vocation how peace and reconciliation can be achieved and, by God’s grace, are arrived at, in Christ. Without actually going out to advertise what we are about, without going out of our way to attract attention, our hopes have been fulfilled. Holy Cross Monastery does operate as a house of prayer for all peoples. There are practically always people with us for a time of silent retreat. About fifty per cent of those who come for a time of quiet reflection come from the Protestant churches; moreover, around ninety per cent of the young people who frequent our monastic guesthouse are drawn from the Protestant churches. Looking at this phenomenon I am sure many would say that it reflects a growing desire for, and interest in, what is sometimes referred to in rather vague terms as “spirituality”. As a Benedictine monk – one whose spirituality is Christian – I would want to be more precise and say not only what I believe, but am also privileged to witness: namely, that what the people who come to us are looking for is a personal encounter with Christ. If Benedictine spirituality attracts them it is because it is Christ-centred spirituality; a key phrase of the Rule of Saint Benedict is that “absolutely nothing is to be preferred to Christ.” (RB 4 & 72.) Since the word of God is the first source of all Christian spirituality, it is especially through contact with the word of God that those who come to the monastery are led to, and sustained in, a personal encounter with Christ. Our staple diet is found in the Sacred Scriptures. The daily round of prayer, the Divine Office, is made up essentially of the Psalms and biblical readings. And a distinctive monastic practice is Lectio Divina, the prayerful reading of the Scriptures. Benedict sees the monk devoting several hours a day not only to the celebration of the Divine Office, but also to this Scripture-based personal prayer form. Lectio Divina is something our guests are particularly happy to discover. For many who are used to reading the Bible a fundamental discovery is nonetheless made – the discovery that they need to convert their way of approaching the Sacred Scriptures. I speak of this conversion in terms of a movement from doing something with the Bible to allowing the Bible to do something with us: to convert us to Christ! Only lives rooted in the One who is the Word, Jesus Christ, will ever lead us to hear and speak to each other as our Heavenly Father desires: as brothers and sisters gathered together in unity. Website address:
www.benedictinemonks.co.uk THE VERY REVEREND DOM MARK-EPHREM M NOLAN, OSB, is Superior of the Benedictine Monks, Rostrevor. |
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