We saw that when we broke this morning, Jacob had just come from the time with Laban, and now he was heading out to meet Esau. And he was extremely afraid, and he prayed that God would take care of him. However, after he prayed, He selected from his flocks the following presents for his brother Esau, 200 she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 milk camels when they're young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 she-asses, and 10 he-asses. Just a little token of his esteem. And this, after that prayer, his prayer was really this, Oh Lord, I put all my trust in you, but I have to be realistic. It's that sort of prayer. And so he prepares, and he says in his mind, if I first appease him with gifts that precede me, then later, when I face him, perhaps he will forgive me.

[01:10]

Of course, he's afraid that he so, with 400 men coming, will get even. He sees him coming, and we see a change in Jacob, because it says he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants, putting the maids and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. He himself went on ahead of them, bowing to the ground seven times. So the old Jacob would have come last. He would have put everybody in front of him to take the brunt of it, but he goes first. And what happens next is going to change his life. And he's not going to be able to understand it at this time, but it's such a shock to him that it affects his whole life. It's the turning point of his life. He has had... God has sent into his life Rachel to make him love, to make him vulnerable. Laban, to give him the same treatment he's been giving everyone else.

[02:15]

and now Esau is going to change him because what happens he thinks Esau is going to kill him instead Esau ran to meet him embraced him and flinging himself on his neck kissed him as he wept and we find that Esau is far ahead of Jacob on the journey of life, which is a journey of forgiveness that Esau has forgiven Jacob so long ago and so deeply that he doesn't even remember the offense. At least there's no evidence. It's never mentioned. and Esau is just glad to see Jacob. Jacob, however, because he is not that far along, doesn't trust it. He thinks that Esau is playing a trick, and so he can't really handle it at that point. Now it's right here that something very important is happening in the story, and I think there begins to be connections with the prodigal son parable of Jesus.

[03:29]

And I believe that Jesus' prodigal son story is in many ways a reflection, a meditation on the Jacob story. Because the same thing, almost exactly the same wording takes place when the young man comes back home. This is Luke 15. His father caught sight of him and was deeply moved. He ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The same thing. And the young man is expecting completely the opposite. And so Esau looks around and he says, who are these people? Well, they're my children and wives. And then he says, what did you intend with all these flocks that I encountered? And Jacob answered, it was to gain my Lord's favor. I have plenty, replied Esau. You should keep what is yours, brother. No, I beg you, said Jacob, if you will do me the favor, please accept this gift from me now.

[04:33]

There's a little negotiation going on here because in that culture, if you accept a gift from someone, you can't kill them. So Jacob is very concerned. But also, the next thing he says, to come into your presence is for me like coming into the presence of God. This is really true. This is a visitation from God for him. Now, you're familiar, I know, with the story of Jacob wrestling with the mysterious figure in the night. I just passed over that because it's put right into this section, and I think it's put here as an interpretation of what's happening. that what Jacob is wrestling with is God, but it's also with Esau. He is when Esau is taking the place of God. In fact, when he takes off, Jacob named the place Peniel, which means face of God, because I've seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.

[05:36]

And then, as we know, he left Peniel, or Penuel, and he limped because of his hip. he has been changed, and he will never walk the same way. But he doesn't know what has happened to him. And so, Esau says the next morning, or let's break camp and go together. Jacob is terrified of that, and he says, my lord, you can see the children are frail. If overdriven in my flocks, if overdriven for a single day, the whole flock will die. You please go ahead of me while I proceed more slowly at the pace of the livestock and the pace of my children. I will join my Lord in Seir. And then Esau says, let me at least put at your disposal a few of my men. Jacob says, please indulge me in this, my Lord. So Esau goes to Seir, and as soon as he gets over the sand dune, Jacob goes to Suguth.

[06:39]

because he doesn't trust what has happened. But this has affected him deeply. And as he said, I've seen God face to face. He doesn't realize what he's doing, but he has. Then he goes back to Shechem, or to Bethel. And at Bethel, he receives the blessing of God again. Wait a minute, before I get there, I want to say this, because it's very important. When he wrestles with this mysterious figure in the night, at dawn, the angel asks him, what is your name? Now, the last time somebody asked Jacob that, he lied. He said, I'm Esau. This time, he says, I am Jacob, which is an admission of being the grabby one. who he is. As soon as he says that, he is told, you will be Israel, the one who has contended with God.

[07:45]

and now you're ready he's on the they're right on the border he's ready to take his place as the father of the people and so he moves on into uh... into israel and he goes back to bethel there he gets rid of the foreign gods they've been carrying he puts on new clothes something like uh... this is probably the antecedent of religious profession baptism god gives him a new name and then repeats the promise so he's ready And then, at the end of chapter 35, Isaac dies, and we see, after a full life, he dies as an old man who was taken to his kinsmen. And then it just says, his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. So they're back together. So it's kind of come full circle. Now, the rest of the story of Jacob, and he's not finished yet, takes place or is embedded in the story of Joseph, which begins in chapter 37.

[08:46]

At this time, we're introduced to Jacob as an old man. He's mellowed somewhat, He's even a loving father. He's concerned about his sons out in the field. He loves Joseph, of course, most of all. But he singles out Joseph, and that will cause him a lot of trouble, because he really doesn't know how to deal with his children. But he loves them all. And as we know, the brothers cannot handle the fact that he loves Joseph, and also that Joseph is such a twerp, and tells them that they're going to bow. He has this dream where they're going to bow down to him. And so they are going to kill him, then they They put him in the well to die, then they sell him into slavery, and they bring back his coat of many colors that has been dipped in the blood of an animal, and they tell their father, your son has been killed.

[09:53]

So there's deep wounds going on here. And Joseph, of course, has the evidence, and he believes it. He didn't have DNA at that time. the story progresses and you know how the uh... i'm not going to tell all that story because it's just what refers to jacob joseph goes down eventually becomes the right hand man of the pharaoh in charge of distribution of food during the famine the famine is extremely terrible in israel and so the brothers finally tell jacob we have to go to egypt and get something to eat So he sends them down. And Joseph recognizes them, but doesn't give himself away. And he tells them they don't take Benjamin down, because now Jacob has transferred his main affection from Joseph to Benjamin. He hasn't learned anything yet. And so Joseph demands that they bring... He said, don't you have a younger brother? And they say, yes. And he said, well, I want to see him.

[10:54]

And at first, Jacob, because he's still selfish, won't let Benjamin go, even though it would mean the end of the family. But eventually, after enough trouble, and remember this is all about the wilderness, trouble eventually brings him to his senses and to his knees, and he sends Benjamin down and he says, if my son well uh... is going to die then i will just die and i will put up with it if i'm to suffer bereavement i will suffer it and uh... then the scene goes to where joseph uh... they come down they bring benjamin and joseph reveals to them who he is and uh... and their discourse just as in the case when Esau came to meet Jacob the brothers are extremely afraid because they know what they did to him and they're sure that he's going to kill them or punish them or throw them in prison. But he, just like Esau, is way ahead of them.

[11:55]

He has forgiven them. And he's not going to do anything to them. He wants to help them, but they can't see it. And he tells them, when you go back home, bring your father, bring our father, and on the way, no recriminations. Don't be fighting and talking about what happened. He doesn't mention it at all. so they get back to to uh... they get back to jacob and they tell him joseph is still alive in fact it is he who is rooter of all the land of egypt he was dumbfounded he could not believe them but when they recounted him all that joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that joseph had sent for his transport the spirit of their father jacob revived now here's the next uh... the next connection with the uh... prodigal son. Because it is enough, said Israel, my son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.

[12:57]

Now, Jacob at this point doesn't say anything to them about what they did. he doesn't say you lied to me you told me that Joseph was dead, he doesn't bring it up because now in this last step he has made the journey to the same place that he saw Joseph have beyond enmity, beyond hatred over into forgiveness, into life and he says what the father of the prodigal son said when the elder brother didn't want the younger brother to be received. And he says, we have to celebrate and rejoice. This brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. It's all about life. Don't be digging back there in the past. It doesn't make any difference because the whole thing now is about life. And that's what Jacob says. He says, it is enough. My son Joseph is still alive.

[14:00]

That's enough. I must go and see him before I die, and he doesn't say anything else, and they go. But at this point, for the first time since he wrestled with the angel and was given a new name, the name of the father of the people, this is the first time his name is used. It says, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. It is enough, said Israel. My son Joseph is alive. So he now has come to the stature to be the father of the people. And then things go on, he comes down there, he talks to the Pharaoh, and then he has this prayer which we just read where he thanks God for being his shepherd, and he calls him the angel who has delivered me from all harm. And then, at the end of chapter 49, he drew his feet into his bed breathed his last and was taken to his kindred so he decided my life is complete so he puts his feet up and says I'm not getting out of this bed and he doesn't of course he gives promises to his children and so forth and that's the uh... that's the end of the story of Jacob it started out in the womb

[15:17]

you know, where he was fighting, and then all of these things about the cheating his brother, lying to his father, letting his mother be cursed, and then going over there and starting to be worked on by God through these people, through Rachel, through Laban, and especially through Esau. He finally gets the message about what life is all about. He finally gets past all of this manipulation, self-centeredness, deception, hatred, and revenge. They're all beyond revenge. And then he finally can put his feet up and say, it's over. And he can be called Israel because now he is worthy to be the father of the people. But that's the end of chapter 49, and Genesis has 50 chapters. The 50th chapter is the epilogue, and the epilogue is about us. It's about the sons, or the children, the sons of Jacob.

[16:23]

Because after Jacob dies, they're still on the journey, they're still full of enmity, they're still full of suspicion. and uh... so after he dies they're afraid they don't they don't believe that joseph is really forgiving them they think that Joseph is playing an act until Jacob dies so that he can take his revenge and not hurt his father's feelings. But they don't believe he's forgiven them. It's impossible because if you haven't learned how to forgive, it's hard to understand forgiveness. If you haven't learned to love, you can't. You can't cope. And you don't believe it because you think everybody is like you. And so here's what they do. Now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers became fearful and thought, suppose Joseph has been nursing a grudge against us. See? It's eating at them. And now plans to pay us back in full for all the wrong we did him. But Joseph has forgotten all that.

[17:24]

So they approached Joseph and they said, here you can see them making this up as they go, before your father died he gave us these instructions. You shall say to Joseph, Jacob begs you to forgive the criminal wrongdoing of your brothers, who treated you so cruelly. Please, therefore, forgive the crime that we, the servant of your father's God, committed." And they put in a little commercial for themselves right there, the servants of your father's God. You know, we're both serving the same God, so we're all buddies. When they spoke these words to him, Joseph broke into tears. because he sees that the gulf is so great. He can't reach them. They, however, think that he's sad because he's going to have to kill them. Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him and said, let us be your slaves. Remember the prodigal son story? The same pattern. Let me be your hired hand. He can't cope. He can't believe that he deserves to be accepted. so he can't deal with it.

[18:27]

And this is the same thing here, they can't believe that they deserve or that Jacob and Joseph will treat them fairly. Now what's going to happen is that Joseph is going to be their slave, which is the pattern. It's the same as the pattern of Jesus. He became our slave, our servant, the suffering servant. We can't serve him because of our enmity and hatred and sin until he serves us and frees us. Joseph replied to them, have no fear. Can I take the place of God? See, it's very ironic because just as Esau with Jacob, he is taking the place of God. He is taking the place of God. Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good. to achieve his present in the survival of many people." So he's got the long-range view. Therefore, have no fear. I will provide for you and for your children. So he's going to be their servant. By thus reassuring them, by thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them.

[19:29]

So this is the way the story is. The journey is a journey to be able to love. the journey to understand that life is what it's all about, not recriminations about the past, not getting even, not revenge. It's about learning how to forgive. And Esau somehow got ahead of Jacob on that journey. Joseph got ahead of Jacob on that journey. But Jacob finally made it. Now, in the final chapter, though, the question is, what about the children? What about us? What about the next generation? Well, we've all got to make the journey. And it's up for grabs whether this group or our group will do it because nobody can do it for you. It's like that bumper sticker that said, God has no grandchildren, only children. And so you can't get it through your father or your mother.

[20:34]

uh... and the this is the story that reads these right to the gospel that those who have come to understand forgiveness and therefore the heart of love become the servants and slaves of those who are still on the journey and often they get killed for it as jesus did he forgave he was full of love people couldn't handle it and they had to get rid of him so the beat goes on We've got a couple of quotations here that are kind of interpretive of what happens. This is on the whole idea of human transformation, something like what we read this morning from Archbishop Bloom. This is from the German poet Goethe. If we take people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat them as if they were what they ought to be, we help them become what they're capable of becoming.

[21:43]

Of course, that's been proved many times in the century with psychological, not testing, but programs. where people didn't know, you know, these schools where they ran these blind programs, where teachers were told, this is a very bright boy here, this is not very bright, this is pretty bright. And the teacher treated them the way they were told, and it didn't make any difference what their natural ability were. The ones that the teacher was told were smart and good students actually became good students. And the ones that were told were really dull actually became dull, or at least they weren't 100%, but it was pretty interesting. And here's one from Thomas Merton. The saints are what they are, not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire others. It gives them a clarity of compassion. They can find good in the most terrible criminals. It delivers them from the burden of judging others, condemning others.

[22:45]

It teaches them to bring the good out of others by compassion, mercy, and pardon. So this is a very tremendous biblical model for the journey, the wilderness journey, and for God's action behind the scenes, bringing the right people into your life. And the ones you need may not be the ones you want. For example, of course, Jacob wanted Rachel, but he didn't like Laban and he certainly was afraid of Esau. But those were the people that made it possible for God to get to him, God to get through to him. And the same thing in our own lives. We have to trust that God is bringing the right people and we have to just trust as we go. Some of those people are going to be very hard on us and we don't know why. And we won't know why until it's over. You've heard this

[23:47]

I'm going to read two more. I'm sure you heard this one from John Henry Newman about vocation. God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain. a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good. I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep his commandments. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him.

[24:51]

In perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirit sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about. And then there's a meditation that is called, My Name. This will be the last one. I guess you're kind of curious as to who I am. I don't have a regular name. My name depends on you. Call me whatever is in your mind. If you're thinking about something that happened a long time ago, somebody asked you a question.

[25:53]

You did not know the answer. That is my name. Perhaps it was raining very hard. That is my name. Or somebody wanted you to do something. You did it. Then they told you that what you did was wrong. Sorry for the mistake. And you had to do something else. That is my name. Perhaps it was a game that you played when you were a child or something that came idly into your mind when you were old and sitting in a chair near the window. That is my name. Or you walked someplace. There were flowers all around. That is my name. Perhaps you stared into a river. There was somebody near you who loved you. They were about to touch you. You could feel this before it happened. Then it happened. That is my name. Or you were eating something good and for a second forgot what you were eating, but still went on knowing it was good.

[27:00]

That is my name. Or you felt bad when she said that thing to you. She could have told it to somebody else, someone who was more familiar with her problems. But she said it to you. That is my name. Perhaps you were lying in bed, almost ready to go to sleep, and you laughed at something, a joke unto yourself, a good way to end the day. That is my name. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, who was in the beginning, is now, and shall be, world without end. Amen. Okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So, would you say grace over our... Yes, certainly will. Dear Lord, you're with us. you're on the journey with us in this retreat. We thank you for the opportunity tonight to celebrate your presence among us.

[28:05]

We ask you to bless all that we have to share and our sharing of it through Christ our Lord. Amen. Okay. The wilderness journey, we live the life of the rule and As we progress in this way of life and faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love. It's a way, a journey. I want to talk about this last conference, chapter 72 of the rule, the good zeal of monks. In various ways, this chapter is looked on as the mature fruit of St. Benedict's meditation on what the life for the monks should be.

[29:07]

And a lot already call it a synthesis of the rule. Over the time I've been here, I've been happy to be able to read an article by Sister Aquanata Beckman, which we don't have at Subiaco, on this chapter. And she too calls it the high point of the rule or even the climax of the rule. At our Abbey we read this at the investiture of novices, not to, so much I think, to enlighten the novice, but to remind us all of what we have professed. Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a good zeal which separates from evil and leads to God and everlasting life. This then is the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love

[30:08]

They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other, supporting with the greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body and behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another. No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead what he judges better for someone else. to their fellow monks they show the pure love of brothers to God-loving fear through their avid, unfeigned, and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ and may bring us all together to everlasting life." That last sentence is really the last sentence of the rule. Chapter 73 is the epilogue but that he may bring us all together to everlasting life so that we... it's a community endeavor to go to heaven, not just an individual pursuit.

[31:12]

And this is really where Saint Benedict's emphasis on the community life was very strong. This chapter, of course, as I just read, contains so many tremendous important ingredients, mutual respect, patience, mutual obedience, paternal love, reverence of God, love of the superior, preferring nothing whatever to Christ. And it's only the second chapter in the rule which has the idea, not the idea maybe, but the phrasing of mutual obedience. Chapter 71, right before that, and Chapter 72, Mutual obedience, they both in a way center on it, and there might be a good case that good zeal is in a way equal to mutual obedience, or focuses on mutual obedience.

[32:13]

Sister Aquinata says that the good zeal, that Christ in person is the good zeal, or is personified in the good zeal. The good zeal, of course, is equated with most fervent love. And so that this chapter is said to be to start where chapter 7 on humility leaves off. That you get to the point of love in the 12th step, and here it's expressed even more fully in chapter 72. Obedience, chapter 71 says, is a blessing to be shown by all, a bonum, a gift to God and one another. And obedience is the way we go to God, and an obedient monk himself is a blessing to everyone inside and outside the monastery.

[33:25]

the image is given of Jesus obedient unto death in the steps of humility and an obedient person, an obedient monk is a sacrament of Christ for the church and for the world Abraham in Genesis is told in you all nations of the earth shall find blessing And the thing that's emphasized in Abraham, of course, is obedience. He's constantly called as a witness by Saint Paul and other places in the New Testament, in you all the nations of the earth shall find blessing. Whereas just the opposite, a disobedient monk, of course, is the opposite of a sacrament of Christ and is the opposite of a blessing and is a burden obedience of course is a blessing to the monk himself and We have the famous statement of Dante in his will is our peace There are a couple of sayings that apply here, I don't know where these came from they're kind of Adages God gives the best gifts to those who leave the choice to him And then there's a negative one that says

[34:51]

If you are always trying to get what you deserve, you will get what you deserve. In the beginning of chapter 71, Benedict has a rather startling statement. Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all, not only to the avid, but also to one another. as brothers, since we know that it is by this way of obedience that we go to God." It's not only by obedience to the superior. It's not only to the abbot, but also to one another as brothers, since we know that it is by this way of obedience that we go to God. Benedictine obedience, therefore, is not fulfilled simply by obeying the commands of the superior or any superior. In a way, I think this is an undeveloped part of the teaching of the rule, at least as far as it affects the whole church.

[36:07]

I believe that religious life and maybe even further than that, has been affected a whole lot by the concept of obedience. Religious obedience or religious life obedience that was enunciated by the Jesuits and the Dominicans in the post-reformation. But that Benedictine obedience is much broader and you can't just have blind obedience to your superior. but you have to be obedient in a much broader way. It says that mutual obedience includes the commands of others besides the abbot. In fact, chapter 71, as has been noted, seems to draw back from what it says in the first sentence and go back to the model of obedience that was more typical of the desert and not so much a community obedience.

[37:09]

But he wants to, I think, Benedict wants to lay down clearly, he's not saying that you can get around obedience to the superior by saying you're obedient to someone else. It's always in the context of what would be called vertical obedience that you have horizontal obedience. But mutual obedience is mainly, I think, sensitivity and availability to the needs of one another, spoken and unspoken, and often the unspoken need is expressed in weakness. We have to put up with one another. These verses 5 and 6 may be, like as in the Psalms and sometimes in this literature also, Maybe just two versions of the same thing. Supporting with greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior and earnestly competing in obedience to one another. I believe that obedience to one another might be expressed as supporting with the greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior.

[38:21]

Because God shows his will to us day-by-day, minute-by-minute, through a life in the community, which, minute-by-minute, is often the needs of one another who represent Christ, because Christ is present, dominates the whole idea of the rule, present in the avid, the old, the young, the sick, the guests, everyone. competing in obedience to one another, no one pursuing what he judges better for himself, but instead what he judges better for someone else. Mutual obedience, I think, is a central part of what we understand by stability. We have made a covenant with this particular group of people, called together by God, and it's this life and this group that mediates God's will to me so that Providence or God's design or God's call has put me together with this particular group and this is a plan that was made long ago and the consequences will last forever because our eternal destinies are entwined

[39:49]

So I have to be sensitive. Part of my stability, my mutual obedience, is to be sensitive to the moods, the needs, the problems, the sickness, the pressures, the weaknesses of my brothers. Whether they're physical, emotional, or even spiritual. Supporting with the greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior. And of course, others have the responsibility of doing the same for me. And in a community, not speaking of this community, which I don't know, but most communities, I know my community, we have different types of people. We have people who borrow things but never return. We have people who cannot notice that they've got mud on their shoes when they walk on a clean floor. We've got people who never sign up to help, they always have to be assigned. We've got people that don't clean up, and so they smell like a camel sometimes in the choir.

[40:56]

We have people who are never on time, and the only way you can make them be on time is to fake them out. We have people that are capable, but unreliable. And we have people that are very reliable, but not very capable. And when you've got somebody who's both capable and reliable, you have something. We have people who can't hit the urinal. We have people who will take the last thing and leave an empty dish in the icebox. And we always know that we happen to get behind the person who always takes the thing I wanted on the tray. But these are the real, down-to-earth, daily issues of stability, mutual obedience, and good zeal.

[42:02]

So you will not be an obedient Benedictine in the sense of the rule simply by doing what you're told. You also have to be alert to need. You have to be alert to responding to the people who live with you. And so this is the deep listening that's mentioned in Chan, the very first word, the rule, listen. And often, as Job says, it's by suffering that our ears are opened But listening is really the fruit of prayer. It's the purpose of Lectio Divina to be able to see, really see, divine seeing, divine reading, reading the world, reading the signs of the times, reading the community, reading your life, reading the needs of others. It's real. It's contemplation, seeing God in the world. So this, of course, is all just an expression, a precision of the gospel, which is all about love.

[43:17]

Paul says there's only one love, one rule, everything else is secondary. And Jesus says, the great commandment, love God, love your neighbor. To love everyone sounds impossible. And in modern understanding of love, it is impossible because we don't feel that way toward everyone. But love in the gospel and in the rule means simply to do what is best for the other and to want what is best for the other, whether the other deserves it or not and whether you like him or not. So it's a matter of the will. not a matter of the emotion. And you can love everyone because you can do what is best for everyone and want what is best for everyone. It's in the practical, day by day, minute by minute, doing what is best for the other and wanting what is best for the other.

[44:21]

Sometimes the other needs a compliment. Sometimes the other needs a rebuke. So mutual obedience makes us available to be used by God for the needs of these brothers who have given themselves to God with me and who have been given to me by God as my way to God. So it's a challenge that Benedict says really in that, well he says it's by this way of obedience that we go to God that that these brothers that have been given to us are our way to God. And whether we can respond to that or not is the question and is the challenge. There was a desert father who was asked about two monks, one who fasted and prayed for six days in his cell, the other who tended the sick. The father said, if that brother

[45:24]

who carries his fast for six days, or to hang himself up by his nostrils, he could not equal the other who does service to the sick." Of course, it's also one-sided, but the point is made. On private ownership, Benedict says, monks may not have the free disposal even of their own bodies and wills. Now, in a modern context or sensibility, that sounds completely off the wall. But in Benedict's understanding of good zeal, community life, true obedience, it makes very good sense. We have in our community, we still have a couple of chapters, I don't know if you do here, it's different than it used to be, but once a month we'll have a little chance for people to ask forgiveness for ways that will fit in the community. And always one of the brothers is asked to give a little homily on something from the rule or something from the gospel.

[46:27]

And a few years ago, one of the brothers got up and he read something on the, I think out of Romans, on the love of God. And then he said, he said, I want each of you to ask yourselves, When is the last time one of the members of the community asked you for a favor? He said, if you don't remember, you're in trouble. Because the people who are available get asked. The people who are not available don't get asked. and the people who are available are not simply not not many of the people who are free are the people who are not busy they're often the busiest ones but the people who are available you know because of experience and after a while you stop asking the ones who aren't available very good point there's a there's a uh... story about uh... thomas jefferson that uh... it was in the springtime

[47:38]

and he was riding on horseback with a number of his advisors and uh... had been a lot of rain and uh... they had to come to this this uh... creek that had risen and it was very high and they were going to horses were going to have to get across by maybe even swimming but certainly it was deep too deep to walk across and there was a man standing there who was waiting to get across and he couldn't get across he didn't have a horse and when this group came up he went up to the president And said, sir, may I ride along behind you? And Jefferson said, sure. So he got up and rode across. And when he got to the other side, put him down and they were going to go on it. But the Jefferson and the group went on, but a couple of the people in his entourage held back and they scolded this man. They said, why in the world didn't you ask one of us? Why did you have to ask the president? to take you across the creek."

[48:39]

And he said, oh, he said, I didn't know it was the president. And he said, well, why did you ask him? He said he was the only one in the group that looked like he had yes written on his face. When I was teaching this to novices, one of them said he saw this little sign in somebody's yard that said, to each his own, now leave me alone." And another one then came up with this, he said, it was a bumper sticker, my family and friends I wish them well, the rest of you can go to hell. So a different attitude. Now there are some, the whole idea of course is incarnation. Incarnation is a very practical thing where salvation comes through people. Obviously, first of all, Jesus Christ. But it also passes along day by day. We mediate salvation to one another and certainly in a community of covenant.

[49:44]

And so there are things like the eighth step of humility that a monk does only what is endorsed by the common rule of the monastery and the example set by his elders. That isn't meant to be a shackle, but it is meant to get us into the community completely, not always to be standing slightly back in judgment. which is a terrible attitude, but to get into the schedule, into the observance, and not to spend your life in sort of a passive aggression all the time as the judge, but incorporate into the community. Jesus became completely one of us, and we're called to incorporate ourselves completely into this group. And a big problem that's mentioned these days with vocation work is that because of the great curse, in a way, of individualism in the world, especially in the Western world, that it's very hard for people to become part of a group.

[50:51]

and to not to, in a way, always stand aloof, and that there are people that come to the door of monasteries who are not really looking to become part of a group that's already there, but to tailor the group to meet their own needs, and so they're looking for a place where they don't have to change. and where they can simply be uh... what they want to be but have a sort of a pleasant place to live while they're doing it and the idea of course of uh... community life is to is to incorporate yourself into something that's already there and to let it help you mold yourself or be molded toward the kingdom and the idea of the church uh... the whole idea that this is also uh... and idea of the church. And the Catholic idea of the church is that there is a tradition, that we fit into something which is going, not recreating or starting something new every time. The extreme Protestant ideal is that you find a group with which you can do your own thing.

[51:59]

Find a group which sees it the way you do, worships the way you like. and then you're able to go, Jesus and me, to the kingdom. But community is a completely different thing. So we have to be willing, as part of the good zeal and mutual obedience, to be part of what's going on. And sometimes there's an addiction to be different. And I know I've seen monks who can never do what they're assigned, but always something a little bit different. even if it's harder, because they can't really be told what to do. And of course, most sinister is what I mentioned. The most sinister offense against mutual obedience and community is passive aggression. Holding yourself aloof from what's been decided on and really drawing attention to yourself is different. Also in mutual obedience, it's an act of charity to take care of your own self.

[53:05]

to take care of your own health, your physical health, your psychological health, and especially your spiritual health. And to be concerned that if you are going to be diminished, which we all are, it will not be because of you. You will do the best you can to be as completely healthy in the Lord's service as you can. I may not be what I am this year, but that shouldn't be my fault. That should be the diminishment somehow of the Lord or by the Lord in my life. This is mutual obedience for the good of the brothers to be the best we can be for as long as we can be. In the rule, I wanted to get to this point. In the rule, in chapter 13, there's an emphasis on the Lord's Prayer, which we pray at least twice every day, maybe three or four times.

[54:19]

In Benedict's idea, he said, the celebration of Lodz and Vespers must never pass by without the superiors reciting the entire Lord's Prayer. excuse me, at the end for all to hear, because thorns of contention are likely to spring up. Thus warned by the pledge they make to one another in the very words of this prayer, forgive us as we forgive, they may cleanse themselves of this kind of vice. And this is seen, Benedict is using the Lord's Prayer as a kind of covenant renewal. a kind of opportunity to express forgiveness before the Lord for the lacks that we have done. And it even calls this, the offenses against the community, this kind of vice. Every day we have opportunities to recommit ourselves to the covenant, to God and one another, and to renew by dedication this central Benedictine Christian virtue of love.

[55:39]

And so as we end this retreat, I encourage you and I read you again a few of these things from the Good Deal. This then is the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love. They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other, supporting with the greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another. No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead what he judges better for someone else. To their fellow monks they show the pure love of brothers, to God loving fear, to their abbot unfamed and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may bring us all together to everlasting life. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. It was, and it is, and it shall be world without end.

[56:44]

Amen. Yes. Hope, or exodus, wilderness and the guide, and our own weakness is no trouble to God. So, it shouldn't be that much of a bother to us. Other people's weakness is even. Well, of course, I thank you. I enjoyed very much being with you. Your wilderness is my oasis, you know. I have to go back to my wilderness. But I've enjoyed very much being with you. Well, we hope you can get here when the winds are warmer. Yeah, yeah, I'd be glad to come. It's a beautiful place. I'd like to be here in the fall sometime. See what it... Jerome, what was the time period?

[57:44]

were Jacob balanced in time? Well, it would have been. See, we usually think that Abraham was 1800 B.C., so 1700, 1650. It's kind of general, the age of the patriarchs. where we can give you a blessing for your journey. You've been a blessing to us. Okay, very good. Keep safe, your servant. For not for him, Lord, your ways. Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord. The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Hear our humble plea, Lord, and grant your servant, Abba Jerome, a safe journey. Amid all the hazards of travel in this life, let him never be sheltered by the strength of your salvation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. So, welcome back.

[58:51]

Any of you monks would like to... We'd be very happy to give them a bit of an oasis, but we've got terrible habits. Yes, they give us an escape. I was just wondering, do you all... Had arrowheads up here. This was quite a, the river, the Chemung River, was quite a high river, even in the New York areas. Well, it's a Chesapeake, and then up to the lakes, and then over into the Ohio and down. And there's a place not far from us, the local college has done some digs in, and as you can see, the bluffs rise almost perpendicular sometimes. At one place it comes to a triangle, and the river's on this side, and this is heavy woods and absolutely straight up. And they would build a kind of dressworks around the bottom of that triangle.

[59:53]

And so they'd meet people. People couldn't come up but one at a time. So they were really outnumbered, so to speak, around man. And there was a port like that here and then. I think it was Tioga down the river a ways. And apparently they kept everybody out until the missionaries started coming. Yeah, well, that broke. You know, that's a... And Fox and Hand House and so on. But anyway, it was quite a mainstream river for the Indigenous area. And so the village was down at the, actually even across the river there. And some of it, of course, there. And on our property, too, along the river. What they think of the, you know, the thing for moccasins and all sorts of stuff. It was quite a, you know, a good Indian population here and through here. And then there were some people I discovered were even before our so-called We have, we do some of that, you know, we have some on our property, too, that what's impressive, since you just mentioned that, it just popped into my mind, that we find arrowheads, you know, that are, you can tell how old they are by the faces and so forth, and we found some that were, you know, 5,000 BC or something.

[61:18]

property or more than that. And we found, well, I think even 6,000 BC, or I don't know what it is, but you can think that that person, there was a person there, very bright, who made these very, very artful objects, who lived as long before Abraham as we live after Abraham. Because you kind of all of a sudden sense of the whole magnitude And so I pray to those people that were there before us on our property, because I'm sure a lot of them were saints. They know that they've got an interest in what we're doing there. Help us keep it going. So if you're ever in Arkansas, come on down. Now's a pretty good time of year. It's still cold down there, though. But it won't hold out as long as it does up here. And thanks for the fire.

[62:19]

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