Lord Jesus Christ, you taught us to become perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. That is to be merciful as he is merciful and compassionate as he is compassionate. As we learn how earthly how infinitely merciful you are. Open our hearts to the ways we can show mercy to others, those who disappoint us, those who hurt us, those who hate us. and even those who curse us, and especially those who are weak and vulnerable and needy. Help us to imitate you in showing mercy. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. It seems we're getting near the end of the retreat, and we've hardly started.

[01:02]

I prepared five conferences, but we have time only for four according to the schedule here, and we have talked about only two uses of the word misericordia in the rule, and there are seven. I'll try to give you two in one tomorrow, squeeze two conferences into one, just so that we cover all seven uses of mercy. God bless you. This evening, I'm going to talk about two uses of mercy regarding the old, the sick and the old and the young. So God's mercy is to be shown to others. And we hear, of course, a lot about God's mercy in scripture. The whole Bible is the story of God's merciful love for wayward people. I want to read a passage from the end of the book of the prophet Jonah, chapter four, verses nine to 11. And you know the story of Jonah.

[02:05]

He didn't want to be a prophet. He didn't want to preach to Nineveh. God got him to preach to Nineveh after he was spewed out from the mouth of a whale or the belly of a big fish. And he did his job, but he was hoping the Ninevites would not convert and they would be destroyed. Well, they did convert and he was, groaning, murmuring, as good oblate should not do and good monks should not do. And then, of course, he was sitting uh, under a gourd plant that the Lord gave him and the gourd plant vanished. And he grumbled against that. He was just so angry at God for letting the Ninevites, uh, be spared. And he was angry because he didn't have the gourd plant. So, so God says to him at the end, God said to Jonah, have you reason to be angry over the plant? I have reason to be angry. Jonah answered angry enough to die. Then the Lord said, you are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise.

[03:11]

It came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should not I be concerned over Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle, That's the end of the book. It's a very convicting ending, a rather humorous ending, too. That God cares for these Ninevites, who were the Israelites' deadly enemies. He cares for them. They're not a very intelligent people. Of course, that was a little bit of a put down there in the scripture. They can't distinguish their right hand from their left. This is to say, you know, even if they're not very intelligent and they may be wicked in some ways, God loves them. He cares for them. He wants their repentance. And he cares even for their cattle. And how much more should Jonah care for them? There's irony, enormous irony.

[04:12]

God is concerned for these 120,000 somewhat under-educated people and their cattle, while Jonah would prefer them to be destroyed. He is more concerned about his own comfort and the loss of a gourd plant than he is for the salvation of thousands of people. That's sad. Of course, the point is, We, the reader, can be like that too. We get caught up in our own very petty needs, our own petty worlds, and we fail to have compassion on other people, especially if we have a good reason to judge them, put them down in some way. But our Lord says much more powerfully, uh, then in Jonah through the gospel of St. Luke chapter six, part of the sermon on the plane versus 35 and 36. Even sinners lend to sinners and get back the same amount, but rather love your enemies and do good to them and lend expecting nothing back.

[05:19]

Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the most high. For he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful just as your father is merciful." And some translations use compassionate. Again, I don't know the Greek word and that isn't totally relevant to our situation. But St. Luke says we are called by Christ to be holy as God is holy, especially in terms of love, compassion, mercy, giving of ourselves without seeking reward. The Old Testament says that to be holy as I am holy. Of course, that doesn't mean be like God in terms of his power and his infinite knowledge. We can't be like that, but we can aspire to be merciful, compassionate, forgiving as God is. He expects it of us. He demands it of us if we are followers of Christ.

[06:21]

There are two references in the rule that speak specifically about showing mercy. The first one is in chapter 34 on distribution of goods according to need. It is written, distribution was made to each one as he had need. By this we do not imply that there should be favoritism, God forbid. but rather consideration for weaknesses. St. Benedict is so concerned for the weak in the monastery, those who have special needs. Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed. In other places, St. Benedict calls them the strong. The strong are not the physically strong, but the ones who can undergo great self-denial, asceticism. They're the strong ones. They're probably the poor farmers or the ex-slaves. They lived hard lives and they can take a lot of hardship in the monastery.

[07:26]

It doesn't faze them. The weak ones are the rich who are used to soft beds and all other kinds of comforts. They're weak because they have special needs. They can't take some of the rigors of the monastery. But whoever needs more should feel humble because of his weakness, not self-important because of the kindness shown him. And that kindness is misericordiae. As I said, sometimes it's translated as kindness or compassion. So there should be kindness, not overindulgent kindness, but special kindness shown to those who, for whatever reason, need more. When we are shown kindness, mercy because of our weakness and special need, we are called to humility and gratitude, not self-importance. We should look for opportunities, too, to give to others.

[08:27]

Humility means we receive all as gift, and it's a wonderful virtue. It's the foundational virtue. Love is the most important virtue because it covers everything, but we need humility even before we can love because we need to be open to God's grace. Without humility, it's all about me, myself, and I. And humility means, no, it's all about the Lord. So we need to open ourselves to God's graces through humility and receive as gift. Again, it's something easy to say, yes, Lord, I want to receive all your gifts, but no, Lord, our gifts, his gifts come in packages that we don't always like. Our archabit says that often, you know, we have to receive the gift in the packages. in which he gives it, which are not always of our choice or to our liking, but he knows really what we need. In chapter 37 on the elderly and children, St. Benedict says, although human nature itself is inclined to be compassionate,

[09:30]

I think that's misericordiae toward the old and the young, the authority of the rule should also provide for them. So having legislation, see rules and laws aren't that bad. They help us to do what we should do anyway. So yes, we should have compassion for the old and the sick and the young according to their special needs. But having a rule by which we show that compassion and mercy can certainly help. St. Benedict says again, we do have, if we haven't covered it over with hardness of heart, we do have a natural sympathy for vulnerable people, but we sometimes forget it. And that's why we need regulations. Sometimes in your houses, you need house rules to remind yourselves to do the things that you should do anyway. Sometimes the old and the young are demanding and annoying And the young can be little rascals sometimes, so they're not always so sweet.

[10:35]

It's not always so easy to be merciful to people who are weak and needy. They can be demanding. They can be hard to deal with. And we need in Christ instead to enter into their weaknesses as best they can. This is the whole point of the incarnation. Jesus took on our human weakness. He took on suffering and death so that we might share in his divine nature. And so in and through Jesus and an imitation of Jesus, we need not only to avoid getting annoyed, at people who are weak and vulnerable, but actually to enter into their suffering as best we can through the grace that our Lord gives us. Here's a story I read in a book, which reflects a little bit the story of Jonah. And I can't remember what book it was. I'm sorry. It was by a woman and it was somewhat humorous, but she had some true life stories in it, which were very interesting.

[11:40]

There was a married couple who had a pet parakeet that was very dear to them. They had no children. This parakeet was so dear to them, they took it on trips with them. Now, this parakeet was a very anxious animal. It had a problem with glaring headlights from other cars. It would get very anxious. So one night the couple were taking the parakeet with them in its cage in the car and the parakeet went into a terrible frenzy, such a frenzy it was in danger of death. The wife thought, what am I going to do? Well, she knew music could help. So she turned on the radio and looked for some calm classical music. Classical music is far better. That's my prejudice. I grew up on classical music. Classical music is far better than noisy modern music for animals and plants. But anyway, she found a classical music station. And the music calmed the bird.

[12:42]

You know, it stopped fluttering around. It heard the music and God's grace worked through the music. And at the end of the music, you know, if you listen to classical music stations, they announce it at the beginning, but usually at the end, what you just heard, probably in case people just tuned in. Well, it was by Franz Liszt, who was a Catholic Hungarian composer of the 19th century. And the name of the piece was St. Francis Preaching to the Birds. Isn't that amazing? And this really happened, you know, and she just knew, she just knew, you know, that was the grace of God, you know, working through this music and the deceased composer, Franz Liszt. So God has compassion for the little parakeet through music. Our culture often shows neglect or disdain to poor, vulnerable people. They sometimes seem to be the enemy, especially the unborn and the elderly.

[13:45]

It's getting more and more that the elderly don't get the resources they want. A lot of people in the government seem to think, well, let them die. We don't want to spend a lot on them. Prisoners, too. I know that for sure. We have quite a few prisoners in our Oblate program, and I hear stories about what happens to them. They deserve our respect too. They need discipline. And if they've committed crimes, they certainly need to be in jail, in prison for whatever length of time is appropriate for them. But they deserve our compassion too. Our society often prefers to neglect them or get rid of them as the best way to keep expenses low. I've heard that certain Medicare regulations encourage the neglect of elderly sick people. At least some Oblates tell me that in their letters. There was a man in prison in Minersville. We had an Oblate group in Minersville, Pennsylvania. He started the group. He was very proactive in getting others to join.

[14:48]

And he was getting ready to get out of prison within a few months. And he was eager to start or get some of his friends interested in oblate. He was a very gregarious person and able to draw other people into whatever organization he was at work. Oh, I think he told me that he was a recruiter for the army or some military before he got into prison. I mean, I can't remember what his sentence was, but that's irrelevant here. In any case, he was getting ready for release. And he died of a heart attack before he could be released. A few weeks, I think. And I talked to his widow on the phone and she said they neglected, they could have given him heart medication. He really needed heart surgery and they didn't give it to him. So, and she told me prisons prefer to see inmates die rather than give them adequate medical care. That's a general statement, but I think there's a lot of truth to that in many prisons anyway.

[15:52]

Anyway, of course, mercy does not mean letting people go without punishment, but it means caring for each person in his or her own particular situation and bringing out his or her dignity. Yes, prisoners need rehabilitation. They need to be reminded very often because they don't know their dignity. They've usually had very dysfunctional upbringings. But in any case, yes, they need a strict regime, they need discipline, but they don't need punishment per se, you know, a vengeful punishment. No, they need to recognize their dignity and they need the means to help them become respectable members of society and contribute. And it happens with some of them, a small minority. Anyway, today's scriptures and the holy rule tell us that we are to share in God's mercy and compassion for others. The prophet Jonah, the book of the prophet Jonah says that God has mercy and compassion for all his creatures, even our enemies.

[17:00]

We need to develop the same kind of compassion. St. Luke assumes that we all want to be holy. Of course, that's why we're here. We Christians want to be holy. We want to be good disciples of Christ on earth, but we want to get to heaven and not just to get to heaven, but to, to do it by returning to God, the love that he has shown us. And sometimes I think that's the best explanation of Christian life or really should be the life of anyone to return to God, the love that he has given us. Faith is our response to God. God is love, and we should get to know his love better and better through prayer and meditation on his works in every way we can so that we can return that love to God. And that's the most joyful thing we can do on this earth. We are made to do that. It's wired into our systems. But because of original sin and the damage we do,

[18:02]

to our natural God-made systems. Our systems don't always want to return that love to God. The holy rule in chapter 34 calls monks to a dual obligation. Someone who needs more, again, someone from a possibly a wealthy family, should be given more out of mercy and compassion, not because he's a squeaky wheel. It's sometimes tempting to give attention to the squeaky wheel just because he or she makes a lot of noise. Well, that's not necessarily compassion. That might be you know, giving into someone's crankiness, which may not be the best policy. But St. Benedict warns that he should not become proud and self-righteous, but he should grow in humility and gratitude. I can be very grateful.

[19:03]

I'm sure there's a similar setup here at Mount Savior, but our community provides wonderfully for our medical needs. We don't have to worry about medical bills or getting to the doctor who is best. We need some approval in many situations from the archabit or the prior or the monk who was in charge of medical expenses, which is only natural. Of course, we should get so that we don't have unnecessarily exorbitant medical costs, or we shouldn't go to someone who charges ten times as much as someone else who can do just as good a job. So we have certain limitations, but we are just so wonderfully cared for, and we take it for granted. You out in the world don't have such wonderful care, so we monks can be very grateful, and I forget to be grateful. We have a doctor, one of two doctors who work as a team comes in every Wednesday morning. All we have to do is sign a slip or ask the nurse and we'll get a slot of the doctor's attention when he visits.

[20:13]

We get our medicine delivered at no cost. It comes from Walgreens and it's just there a few days after we need a renewal of prescription. But in any case, I'm grateful that we have that kind of mercy shown, but I should not take it for granted. I should be very, very grateful. We monks can be privileged in some ways, but to me, that's an obligation on us to work all the harder to be good monks, to use our time and resources to grow closer to the Lord and to bring his goodness to those whom we serve. And you, to some extent, Many of you probably have reason to be grateful for whatever medical benefits you have, and we should not take them for granted. Any of us in this country have far greater benefits than most people in the world, and we should be grateful for that. And that should give us also more compassion for others who don't have such wonderful medical care and who are very needy.

[21:16]

Chapter 37 on the old and the young says that mercy or leniency is given to the old and the young. Sometimes again, our fallen nature becomes frustrated with them. Sometimes elderly people can become demanding and crabby and who knows why. They really may be suffering terribly or maybe they want to get a need that maybe we can't always give them. In any case, when we become elderly and dependent, let us become mellow and sweet and ask for the grace to overcome crotchetiness. You know, you can say there, but for the grace of God, go I. I think all of us are getting older. Most of us are probably over 50 or well over 50 in this room. And, you know, we were thinking of growing old if we haven't. grown old already, and we should think, how do I want to grow old?

[22:19]

Do I want to be grateful for the mercy God shows me and show that same mercy to others who are vulnerable or become self-centered and cranky? That's a choice that we need to make. What are some practical ways in which we can Show God's mercy to needy and vulnerable people. Well, examine our attitude towards needy people in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in the world. Again, needy people sometimes are a nuisance, an interruption, an inconvenience. It doesn't matter how we feel. We need to ask for the grace to transcend our thoughts and feelings. without being enabling to people who are over demanding. We need to ask for healing of our uncharitable impulses, which are based on the primacy of I, instead of the primacy of God in our lives.

[23:22]

Depending on our time and energy, we need to look for opportunities to visit shut-ins, lonely people, people in nursing homes. Maybe people in our own homes need more time and attention and we may be neglectful of them. Perhaps there's a family member who feels like an outcast or a black sheep who genuinely needs more attention and healing of whatever disorders he or she may be experiencing. Most of all, we should thank God in prayer. for the weak and vulnerable people in our lives who challenge us to grow in charity. I mean, thank God for those people, you know, hopefully we'll be with them in heaven. We've heard a story perhaps, or the saying that, you know, the person you may find most irritable on this earth may be your next door neighbor in heaven. whatever that means. So you learn to be compassionate and that's an opportunity for your own conversion.

[24:30]

God gives us the grace to show mercy. It is not used unless we encounter people who need it. It's like people praying for patients who don't want to be tested in patients. Well, how is God going to help us to be patient unless he throws us into circumstances where we can practice it? I mean, that's the way God usually works. You want to be good at something, you want to be good at playing an instrument, well, practice. You want to be good at a sport? Well, practice. You want to be good at becoming patient? Well, practice with situations where you are impatient. I've heard people say to me, oh, I have no patience. Well, if you had no patience, you wouldn't be able to live on this earth. You wouldn't be able to put up with yourself. You all have some patience, but let it grow. Even if it's very small, God will make it grow, but you need to be open to those experiences. in which God tests your patience and puts in your presence situations and people who test your patience.

[25:36]

And you say, Lord, I'm going to deal with them with your grace in as loving and kind a way as I can. If I think I'm weak and needy, how about the other person? He or she is weak and needy too. One of our young monks gave a beautiful presentation to our oblates a few months ago on hospitality. And he had sort of a philosophical beginning that said, you know, we are all basically needy. That's part of being human. We're extremely needy. We depend utterly on God and utterly on other people in everything. Just think of the food we eat. You know, every day, we couldn't produce all the food we eat. Think of that supper. How many Hundreds or thousands of people were involved in producing that food and serving that food. So we couldn't do it on our own. God made us to be dependent on one another and on God. And sometimes in our very independent thinking culture, we do everything we can to make ourselves independent, but that's a total illusion.

[26:41]

Before I end this conference and prayer, I'm guessing that everyone who wanted to see me privately has already seen me. But in case anyone does want to meet with me for a few minutes, we don't have much time before Compline, just only about a half an hour, I will be in that parlor for a little while. And if you want to see me for confession or anything else until 8, 10 or so, feel free to come down. Let us pray. In your mercy, Lord God, you have chosen us to be your son's disciples and his friends and his brothers and sisters who give ourselves to others as your son has given himself to us. Help us to understand how your free, gracious gift of mercy towards us must be shared. Help us to find true fulfillment and joy in showing mercy to others, especially to weak and vulnerable people, even as you have shown mercy to us.

[27:51]

We ask this through Christ our Lord. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In your great mercy, O God our Father, you give us opportunities to show our love for you in service to other people whom you send us. Help us to welcome each person whom we encounter as a gift from you and as a treasure that can expand our hearts in receiving and extending your own wonderful compassion. Help us especially to show this compassion and mercy to those who are under our care. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Merry Seat of Wisdom. Saint Benedict. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[28:55]

Amen. Well, I'll try to cover the final three uses of mercy, misericordia in the Holy Rule. The first one is a very unusual one in chapter 53. I have it marked here. Yes. Chapter 53 is about the reception of guests. In chapter, in verse 14, we hear the custom after the washing, that is the washing of the guest's feet, which was the custom of those days. That was the way of showing hospitality because they had probably traveled a long distance and they probably had sandals or maybe even no shoes at all on their feet. became very soiled through all that travel, perhaps even with calluses and bruises. After the washing, they will recite this verse, God, we have received your mercy in the midst of your temple.

[30:02]

Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims because in them, more particularly, Christ is received. Our very awe of the rich guarantees them special respect. There are several very important points in those two verses. The first one, the first one, uh, St. Benedict uses Psalm 48, which is talking about the presence of God, a special presence, the merciful, compassionate presence of God in the temple, which has nothing to do with actual people, but St. Benedict uses it in a very interesting and useful way. Uh, the, the verses from, uh, Psalm 48, go like this, and you know them from praying the liturgy of the hours. Oh God, we ponder your kindness, in this translation it uses kindness, within your temple.

[31:04]

As your name, oh God, so also your praise reaches the ends of the earth. The temple is a special place to encounter God in his kindness, mercy, and compassion. And St. Benedict says in this verse that the person who we welcome brings us God's mercy. It's not that we show God's mercy to the person, of course we should, but that the guest, the stranger, brings God's mercy to us in giving us an opportunity to show his mercy. His mercy comes in the person of every guest. Every guest is a temple of the Holy Spirit and Christ comes in disguise of the guest, which we hear about in verse one, all guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ for he himself will say, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. And we see a number of references to welcoming God in the stranger.

[32:07]

Uh, Hebrews chapter 13 mentions this. Chapter 13, verses 1 to 3. Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels, and he is undoubtedly referring to Abraham welcoming the three guests who turn out to be representatives of God, or we could say in prophecy that the Blessed Trinity came, because there are some pictures, of course, of the Blessed Trinity coming to Abraham. or the Lord, or three angels. Who knows? They're different interpretations. But God came to Abraham through the three strangers who, of course, prophesied the birth of Isaac the following year. And Sarah laughed and all that. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body.

[33:14]

That reminds me of Deuteronomy. We see foreshadowings of this in the Old Testament. Of course, in most cases, the Israelites believed in hospitality and compassion only to their own kind. When they talked about love of neighbor, they were talking about their Jewish neighbors. But there was a little opening. The orphan, the widow, and the alien. That is the non-Israelite who lived among the Israelites for whatever reason, as slaves or servants, they were to be treated with compassion. And Moses tells the people again and again, treat the alien with compassion because you were once aliens in Egypt. And of course, now we know everyone is an alien in a sense, strangers and travelers and, and immigrants, especially now. Receiving mercy in other people is very important. A few years ago, I saw a person whom I had not seen in a number of years, and I knew that person had been going through difficulties, but I didn't know if he wanted to talk about them.

[34:25]

So it was a little bit of an awkward meeting. And so I said, how are you? And he said, fine. How have you been? Well, since he had been away, I had had a hernia surgery. So I talked about my hernia surgery and the difficulties and the graces. And then he started to share about his hernia surgery. The encounter was a special blessing. We had some closer fellowship through communication about our difficulties. Hopefully, we weren't just moaning and groaning about the difficulties of getting old. But there's something about sharing our weaknesses. If we give praise to God, St. Paul says, I will boast of my weaknesses. If we boast of our strengths and give credit to ourselves, that just turns people off. And it's not good either, because we should give glory to God and not assume our own great dignity because of what we have done or what we have received because of our merit.

[35:29]

Now, sharing about our difficulties, again, not in a spirit of murmuring, but in the spirit of giving praise to God, can really open other people up to show that we're weak and vulnerable. And other people can share about their weakness and vulnerability. And there is the mercy of God. I remember very clearly an incident from before I entered the monastery. For two years, I lived in a parish on Long Island, New York, and I was quite active. I taught fourth-grade CCD. It was a big parish, so there were two sections of CCD, one at, say, I don't know, 9.30 to 10.30 and one 10.30 to 11.30, something like that, on Saturday mornings. Well, it was a cold fall day, probably in 1976. The classroom had a very strange door that went outside to an alley. So it went directly to the alley. Anyway, our lesson involved recognizing Christ in other people, especially needy people.

[36:36]

Well, in the midst of that lesson, another student from the next session came into the door early. And he had some childhood defect. He was a special needs person, as we say. And what did the children do when he came in? And he was a bit surprised. I guess he didn't know there was a class going on. They laughed. And he went out. embarrassed. Oh, my. And I suddenly saw, well, this was a grace of the moment, you know, a very teachable moment. And I said to the children, who came in? They were silent. You know, they were pretty good fourth graders. I tried sixth graders one time. They were very different. But the fourth graders, The fourth graders, I had to fill in for a sixth grade teacher one time, and oh my, that was a chore. But the fourth graders, at least in 1976, were pretty good. And one of them said, Jesus. And I said, well, what should I do? And they said, welcome him back in. And they didn't laugh anymore.

[37:38]

They realized there was something very precious about this poor child who came in out of the cold and was embarrassed. And I think they were really sorry they laughed at him. In our very individualistic culture, we often avoid contact with strangers and we do have to be prudent. It could be dangerous. Person could be a criminal, a terrorist. We see unexpected people as a threat, but could not the other person possibly be a gift of mercy from God? Just as the three strangers who came to Abraham and to whom he offered hospitality were in fact angels. or even the Blessed Trinity. The scriptures in the Holy Rule tell us that strangers bring us the merciful love of Christ. We have received mercy in the midst of your temple, says Saint Benedict. It's a quote from Psalm 48, which is a psalm of praise of God after delivery from enemies.

[38:40]

People go to the temple where God lives in the Holy of Holies. Of course, how much more does he live in the tabernacle? And they give thanks. God pours out kindness and mercy. Perhaps there is a remembrance of past kindnesses or love. St. Benedict uses this psalm to remind us that God's mercy and kindness come not so much in a great military victory as in the person of a visitor. It's an opportunity to ponder how God has visited us in the past through strangers and through other people in need. The letter to the Hebrews says, do not neglect to show hospitality, for by that means some have entertained angels without knowing it. And we have examples of angels not only coming to Abraham, but to Jacob, Genesis chapter 19, in Judges, an angel appears to Gideon in a disguised form.

[39:48]

Of course, we have the angel Raphael appearing to Tobias in his journey, who leads him on the journey. and brings healing to his father. I keep getting them confused. The father is Tobit and the son is Tobias. I think that's right, or is it vice versa? I can't remember. In my old age, it's terrible. But anyway, also there is an encounter with Lydia. I really like that St. Paul is on his mission trip and he and the others with him, perhaps Barnabas thought there would be a place of prayer at the edge of a stream or lake. And instead they encounter Lydia and she insists that they, if you trust me, stay in my house. Beautiful example of hospitality. She trusts these strangers. And of course they were a grace because she ended up becoming a Christian. We can be both hosts and guests at the same time.

[40:53]

Some practical suggestions. Remember situations of the past in which Christ came to you in disguised form. Rejoice and give thanks. I'm sure there are many situations in your lives. We sometimes miss them, but ponder the way that our Lord has come to you in a way that you did not expect and maybe afterwards you realized it. as in the disciples traveling to Emmaus. Remember they encountered Christ on the road and he opened their minds to the understanding of the scriptures. And then they sat down to the breaking of the bread, which was a sort of a Eucharist and aha, their eyes were opened and he vanished. And they gave thanks and praise for having encountered the risen Lord. This retreat is almost over, but be alert here and now, and the rest of this day, and when you go home, to ways in which the risen Christ appears to us on the road in other people. It seems too good to be true, and yet every

[41:59]

Every moment is full of graces. Every person we encounter is a sacred encounter. Of course, we have special official encounters through Christ in the Holy Eucharist, which is some summation of all the encounters with people. But we also encounter him on the road, on the road of daily life. We are called to to treat other people with hospitality, in as heartfelt a way as possible to bring Christ and his love to them. Perhaps not so much by fussing as Martha did. You know, some of us are very good at that. We get all kinds of things ready, but we don't spend enough time sitting with them, listening to them, paying attention to them as Mary, Martha's sister, did when the Lord came to their house. And you know, that's a very special piece for Benedictines. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, July 29 is a memorial to St.

[43:05]

Martha in the Universal Church, but for Benedictines, at least in our congregation, I'm not sure. I'm guessing Mount Savior does that too. It's the memorial of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, hosts of the Lord. So that's a very particular Benedictine charism. And we should give thanks most especially for Christ's coming in the Holy Eucharist in the most wonderful and generous way. And to spend time in Eucharistic adoration whenever possible. It's not either or, it's both and. The better we welcome our Lord in the Eucharist in a genuine way, the better we welcome our Lord in guests. The more mercy we show to guests and strangers, out in the world, the better prepared we are also to adore our Lord in the blessed sacrament. It's both of them are very important. Well, covered that in 15 minutes. So now come the last two and the last two are very much connected.

[44:08]

Um, it's, it involves the showing of mercy to people under our care and the two remaining uses of the word misericordia occur in chapter 64 on the Abbott versus nine and 10, as opposed to chapter two and chapter two of the rule, which gives some prescriptions for the Abbott does talk about, uh, his need to be compassionate, but it's, it's more about his authority. and his obligation to rule wisely. Well, chapter 64 is a softer chapter. It talks about his weakness, his need to show mercy. Again, the two are not totally opposite, black and white, but you can tell that probably St. Benedict wrote chapter 64 after a lot of experience. He himself was probably soft and became more moderate and less harsh. So verses nine and 10 read this way.

[45:15]

He ought to be learned in the divine law so that he has a treasury of knowledge from which he can bring out what is new and what is old. He must be chased, temperate and merciful. There it is. The, the, the adjective form of misericordia. He should always let mercy triumph over judgment. And there it is again, those two verses both use the word misericordia in adjectival form. And then in, in noun form, there is much talk about showing mercy. That quote actually comes from the letter of St. James. Chapter 2, verse 13. Mercy triumphs over judgment. St. James is a very practical book of wisdom, Christian wisdom, which talks about use of the tongue. and treatment of one another. So mercy triumphs over judgment.

[46:18]

It occurs amidst a discourse on the need for good works. Remember, St. James says, we are not saved by faith alone. We are saved by faith and good works. Well, real faith is faith that blossoms out in obedience. If it doesn't, then it's not real faith. If it's merely interior and then misses opportunities to listen to the Lord and obey him in terms of works of mercy. In the Holy Rule, our Lord's merciful love should control the abbot's thoughts and feelings and decisions and actions. It is fulfilled in the following verses in which the abbot is called to love the brothers, to avoid extremes, to distrust his own frailty, to prune away the faults of others with prudence and love. And then St.

[47:18]

Benedict says the abbot should strive to be loved rather than to be feared. Later on in the chapter, he says that the abbot should do everything with moderation and discretion. So he, he needs to be a model of mercy in governing his monks. Depending on our feelings, our background and character and weak spots, how easily we can lapse into frustration and judgment over other people. At least I can. A few years ago, I was filling in to celebrate a parish mass on a weekday in our own basilica because one of the priests was away or had a funeral. And during the readings, I sensed that someone was passing along, walking back and forth behind the choir stalls. Most of you don't know how our choir is set up.

[48:20]

It's an old traditional choir with two rows of choir stalls on the sides, a big high altar, and then there's an apse, a platform where the priests sits for the Liturgy of the Word. And so I was seated at that platform during the Liturgy of the Word, and I couldn't see who it was. I couldn't see over the choir stuff, but somebody was walking back and forth, and I said, what's going on there? I was very distracted. Maybe it's a terrorist. You know, who knows? Why is someone pacing back and forth? Is he dangerous? Why doesn't he just sit down? So I was getting a little bit unnerved, not that It wasn't that bad because I knew I had to go on with the mass. Well, the custom is that at the offertory, the priest goes from this apse and goes across the choir and goes to the altar, which I did. And then I looked and saw it was a young father. The man was a young father pacing with his little baby so that the baby would not cry.

[49:23]

He needed to be cradled, you know, to keep it quiet. I said, oh my, oh my, you know, how I can easily misjudge. We often assume the worst and can be quick to judge. We see so little, only God sees the big picture. He looks with compassion and mercy on his poor, weak, vulnerable, sinful children. Even children can be quick to judge or label people who are new or different unless they have an especially good formation. I remember when I was in grade school and we all came from the same neighborhood. I went to a small neighborhood school, the same neighborhood school to which my father had gone. My mother went to a different school in a different neighborhood. We had, I think, seven neighborhood schools. in my hometown. I think it was really nice. I had to walk only two blocks to go to school. Very little busing and all. And the parents knew the teachers and the teachers knew the parents.

[50:24]

It was sort of a nice, friendly atmosphere. But if someone new came in, a new family came in with new children, I was always suspicious. Who are these people, you know, breaking in to our comfort? I remember there was one boy especially who came in the fourth or fifth grade, and I didn't judge him radically, but still I felt that he was an outsider and an intruder. And I actually got to know him pretty well. I wouldn't say he was a close friend, but he became a friend. And I missed him when he left. It turns out his father was a Protestant pastor, but also a missionary. His father, or a doctor, maybe he was a doctor. No, he was a doctor. I don't think he was a minister. His father was, I think, a Presbyterian, but a doctor who was very dedicated to his church. And he ended up going to Pakistan. Well, Pakistan was a bit calmer in those days. This was in the 50s. And he went to do a tour of medical service.

[51:25]

And I corresponded with this, this boy for a while. And I was a stamp collector. So I got the bonus of getting some stamps from Pakistan, but it just shows out how, how wrong I was to judge this, this seeming stranger, this outsider. And I became rather close to him. And then when he left, I missed him. The Holy scriptures and the rule tell us, let mercy triumph over judgment. Assume the other person's weakness and need despite his or her faults. Any leader. not just the abbot, but a political leader, a teacher, a parent, anyone who has authority, and I think almost all of us have some authority over other people, must be chaste and temperate and merciful. Chaste means pure in heart and mind, not just chastity of the body, although that's important too. We need to see people and events in an objective, loving point of view as much as possible with the eyes of Christ, not in a self-centered, self-gratifying way.

[52:37]

That's unchastity. Not just sexual, but also if we look at people only from our own narrow perspective, what's in it for me? That's an unchaste way of looking at people. Temperate. not going to unhealthy extremes, not being impulsive to judge or act. We need to know there are two sides of every story. We should be reluctant to take one side to an extreme. If we show mercy first and forgive and have compassion we too shall receive mercy as our Lord says in the gospels. If we're hard on others, we'll probably see God is hard on us and close ourselves to his mercy. Whereas if we are merciful to others, we will know by God's grace, only by God's grace, can we show that mercy and we'll welcome his mercy for ourselves. So the two go together.

[53:39]

In the book of Deuteronomy, especially in chapter 15, God demanded that the Jewish community show mercy and compassion to its weaker members. They were not to harden their hearts or be preoccupied with their needs. They were freely to lend without expecting repayment, at least to their fellow Jews. They were not to begrudge helping. God held them guilty if they failed to help their needing neighbors. They are to give freely and not with ill will. that applies to the, to the rule of St. Benedict in chapter five, where he talks about obeying cheerfully, not grudgingly, not reluctantly. If we do that, we don't get credit because we're not really doing it with our whole hearts. We're doing it because we have to like an ordinary child. But if we do it willingly, then we will open ourselves to God's blessing. What are some ways in which we can better show mercy to people under our authority, no matter how unruly they may be at times.

[54:54]

We need to catch our judgmental thoughts quickly, dash them against Christ. As St. Benedict says twice in the Holy Rule, don't let the judgmental thoughts take root in you. Otherwise they grow wildly and begin to control us. We need to learn to welcome annoying people with a smile and appropriate attention. We may not be ready for a long encounter. Sometimes our emotions get in the way. Certain people, we just can't stand. And I'm not saying we always have to be in their face. But we can learn to like them better. We should always love them. Sometimes we love better at a certain distance, but hopefully we can learn to bridge the distance. Remember Lazarus and the poor man at his door. He created a great chasm. We heard that a few Sundays ago. He created the chasm, which ended up being eternal. Of course, it's a parable. Don't start to create chasms. Try to bridge chasms between yourselves and other people.

[55:59]

And again, these people may be your neighbors in heaven. People who are under us, people who annoy us, stretch us in mercy and love. In a sense, God gives them to us as our best friends in an extended way. So we should be grateful for those people who challenge us to be charitable, even when we don't feel like it. And of course, we should forgive ourselves quickly and repeatedly for past sins confessed and forgiven. Daily, we might examine our consciences. The just man sins seven times daily. I have known in order to know our sins and our sinful tendencies. And just think, examination of conscience should not be a grueling, difficult thing. It's an opportunity to receive God's mercy. And when we receive God's mercy, we know how poor and weak we are, just as a good abbot should know how frail he is.

[57:04]

You know, any authority is a good authority insofar as he knows his frailty and must rely on God's grace and God's mercy to keep him going. And so it is with us in whatever position we have in life. We need to know our frailty, know how God has treated us with mercy, and thus grow in our capacity to show forth his mercy to whatever people we are ministering, whether children or weak, vulnerable people or or sick elderly people, whoever they may be, they need our mercy. And God chooses to use us to be instruments of mercy. Let us pray. Oh, loving father, your son, Jesus Christ, through his passion and death and resurrection, triumph over our human tendency to judge and condemn. May we evermore freely share in this mystery, live more fully in your son, Jesus Christ, and thus be transformed by his mercy.

[58:16]

May we welcome your Holy Spirit and the fire of his love to purify our hearts of our judgmental and hopeless tendencies until we become one with your son, through his own gift of mercy and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit come upon you, transform your hearts more and more in his mercy, and remain with you forever. A safe and peaceful return home. Thank you for your presence. Well, I'll see you at Mass. Welcome. I better not steal this microphone.

[59:12]

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