In the name of the Lord, may heaven and earth. Good morning. A parable. The two actors in this parable are Father Benito, who's my oldest brother in the community. He is 95 years old and Sandy, who's an eight-year-old German Shepherd. When evening comes, the aging German Shepherd Sandy seeks her master. The monk, Benito, is this dog's master. She lies next to his cell. where her master passes the night. There Sandy sleeps the light sleep of an elderly person.

[01:07]

I've contemplated this sight many times when I pass that door at night. At times some pain awakes her, perhaps a memory or dog dreams. When Benito leaves his cell, Sandy looks at him with affectionate, watery eyes, and when Benito enters the chapel, Sandy waits for him at the chapel door. Nearby is her master and friend to protect her from hurt and from painful memories. At times when Benito passes by, he bows, he bends down and pets Sandy. After breakfast, the two go out together to work in the coffee plantation. They are together, man and dog, from the beginning to the end of time.

[02:10]

What better company for Sandy than her master? What better company for the monk Benito than his companion? Night has fallen. Sandy sleeps next to the door of her friend. She has sought her master. Will I do the same? Seek my friend and master? What Sandy does by instinct is for me an option. The psalm that we're going to read this morning is Psalm 23. It's really, oh, some people would say it's really two psalms, because we have two pictures there, two movies going on at the same time.

[03:15]

We have the movie all about a pastor, a shepherd with his sheep, and we have a movie about a Bedouin tent in a harsh desert landscape who receives a fugitive who is being pursued by enemies. The two movies don't have a lot to do with one another except for the fact of God in both of them. Let's read verses one to four I'm in Psalm 23, which in your liturgy is Psalm 22, and we'll read the first four verses together. The Lord is my shepherd, I will be in want of nothing. He will let me die down in green meadows.

[04:20]

He will lead me to the waters where there is rest and give new strength to my soul. He will direct me to lush pastures for the sake of His name. Even when I walk in the dark valley of death, I would fear no evil, for you are beside me, your rod, your staff, these will guide me." So what snags your attention in these four verses? It's so well known that sometimes we pass over the meaning of this psalm. What catches your attention? A word or a phrase or an image? Oh, no. Who went separate?

[05:39]

Who went separate and who? What else? He leads me. I think your other translation is he guides me. He leads me to waters where there is rest. The word is actually lead, which may push us into John's gospel, where the shepherd goes ahead. But in my experience, the shepherd normally goes behind. What else? Who's the poet? The poet is a sheeb. Now, let's not forget that.

[06:42]

The poet is putting his whole self into the image of one of Brother Bruno's sheeb. He's out and he's making himself into a sheeb. We have stillness, green meadows, then we have movement, waters, new strength, refreshing strength. We have a lot of movement here. The movement ends with, when I walk in the dark valley of death. And so we have pleasant movement and then we enter into those anguished times or those difficult times, the dark valley of death. I would fear no evil.

[07:43]

What happens when he enters the dark valley? When the sheep enters the dark valley, in this poem, he becomes even more aware of God's presence. God becomes closer. Why? Because verses 1, 2, and 3, everything is in the third person. The Lord is my shepherd. He, over there, will have me live down. He will lead me to waters where there is rest. He will give new strength to my soul. He will direct me to lush pastures for the sake of His name. But when I walk in the dark valley of death, I would fear no evil for you. So what happened to the he? The he out there became a you right next to me. I'm in straits, I'm in a dark place in my life, I'm having trouble and stress, and God becomes very close in that moment.

[08:45]

It's when God becomes very close is the time also when we feel very dark and agitated. It's perhaps the time when we make God become close by our prayers, perhaps. Your rod, your staff, these will guide me. The Lord is my shepherd. I will be in want of nothing. He will have me lie down in green meadows. he will lead me to the waters where there is rest." In the vast, barren landscape, we arrive at a fresh, green oasis. The dusty animals wander carelessly, guided by the shepherd. The shepherd is the one who is familiar with the lay of the land, the water holes, the seasonal grazing,

[09:48]

as they approach the sheep sense the proximity of water and a rest stop. Have you ever been with a flock of sheep out in the wilds and as they come close to the water over there. They can't see the water, but they sense the water. And everybody at the same time, they start rushing over to get to the water. And what do they do? They plunge into the water like sponges, and they sponge up all this water, this dirty water, where they're drinking and being hauled down in the water because of their spongy wool. And sometimes the sheep are so stupid that you have to go into the water, I've been there, and pull them out. Pull out these spongy sheep from the water.

[10:50]

The poet, the psalmist, is a sheep, or he projects himself as a sheep. He puts on sheep's clothing. He will have me lie down. As a sheep, amidst the arid countryside and the green pastures, the poet has animal instincts and urges. The color green, the color green we know is a comfort to the eyes, the eyes which have been burned by the sunlight, irritated by the dust. In the oasis, I set my cares and concerns aside for a while. The green refreshes me. I was told years ago by an aging monk, a 90-year-old monk, he said, now Conrad, when you study and read, you have to rest your eyes and every hour you should raise your vision and look out the window and rest your eyes for a while.

[12:00]

Henry Nowen, writing about our lot in life, expressed it like this. He said, during our lifetime, joy and sadness kiss each other at every moment. A quality of sadness pervades every moment of our lives. There is no such thing as clear-cut joy, pure joy. Even in the happiest moments of our existence, we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, we are aware of the limitations. In every success, there's a suspicion of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, there is distance.

[13:05]

And in all forms of light, darkness closes in. But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It makes us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy no one shall take away from us." The end of Henry Nowant, whose very life story shows us that. Every book that he wrote was was born out of a crisis in his life. How far is Spencer from here? Six hours. Yeah, he spent six... He wrote a book about his six months in the Trappist monastery.

[14:08]

Spence... Ah, Genesee, I'm sorry. Genesee. Oh, Genesee is so close. Genesee. Yeah, he mentions... So you were on. So you know his, this man, yeah. His books were always too expensive for me to buy. They were, they were too expensive. So I would go to this bookstore and I would, I could read one of his books in an hour. And I do enjoy it. What about the spiritual life? Well, it has dry areas and it has green areas. A soul goes through stages of fatigue and refreshment. Sometimes all a monk needs to restore depleted energies is a little rest from the routine, from our activities, from our interests.

[15:15]

Let the Good Shepherd play his role. We long for restful waters, oases. Oases are kairos, interludes, a friendly visit, a liturgical hour, some reading, some Lectio Divina or some study, attending a symphony or a ball game, something that distracts you, that absorbs you for a little time. That is the oasis I long for. The poet affirms in this respect, he leads me to the waters where there is rest. He gives new strength to my soul. Water. Water flowing from the depths of the parched earth irrigates the oasis. Since the annual rainfall in this part of Palestine measures less than half an inch

[16:20]

per year, hidden springs that seem to bubble up from nowhere, run deep and have their source in precipitation in distant mountains, middle of the Sinai desert, after traveling for hours in a jeep and just seeing sand, and all of a sudden out there you see this magnificent, what would it be, 40 acres of green. Now where did that come from? It's coming from 300 miles away, water coursing through underground and then bubbling up in the middle of the desert. That would be Kadesh, Barnea, where the Israelites spent 38 years of their sojourn in the desert. scattered at first, dispersed and hard to control.

[17:25]

All of a sudden they crowd together, rush headlong into a pond. Everybody wants to drink at the same time. There's water enough for everybody, but they never learn to take turns. They rush into the pool, stand or move about in their own drinking water, and stir up the dirt and the mud. I drink along with the rest. I try to quench my thirst with the same dirty water. Agitated by the other animals, my heavy coat soaks up the water like a sponge. So, too weighted down by my greed and my self-indulgence, I can't climb out of the mud hole I got myself into. How much water do you need? How thirsty are you? Drink water and you get thirsty again.

[18:26]

The water doesn't quench the thirst. There will always be more thirst. But water does revive the body and energize the spirit. Speaking of physiology, the cause of muscular fatigue is dehydration. Nutritionists and doctors advise us to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Water restores and sustains my life. It vitalizes my drooping spirit. This also happens in the spiritual life. How dehydrated and tired can you get? In the Bible, Much of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, was written in a space where there wasn't much water. Everybody had cisterns under their houses to collect the water, the little water that came in the form of rain, and then recycle that water as they washed their clothes and their clothing.

[19:42]

and floors and they used that water again and again that was always there under the house in a cistern. Psalm 41 in your office, like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you my God. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life. Who is the poet? The poet is a deer in the wild, in the desert. Psalm 62, these are psalms for the morning prayer. Oh God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water. There's a number of psalms that mention a stay in the desert and the thirst for God.

[20:47]

Like a parched land my soul thirsts for you, says the poet of Psalm 142. In the Gospel of Saint John, the awesome shepherd offers to quench our thirst. He tells the Samaritan lady who flirts with Him at midday. Everybody who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst. The water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John chapter 4, verse 13. Later, Jesus invites a crowd at a feast. Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from within him.

[21:48]

John 7, 37. The poet prays. He guides me along the right paths. He is true to his name. the siesta has come to an end. The flock gets up and ambles along, looking for grass. True to his name and dignity, the shepherd guides the flock to fresh grazing grounds for the animal's welfare. The false shepherd, or the hired hand, doesn't mind the well-being of the flock. He pastors himself, He looks after his own interests. St. Augustine, in one of our readings for the Office of Vigils, comments about the excellent shepherd and the unworthy shepherd. He writes, yet there are shepherds who want to have the title of shepherd without wanting to fulfill a pastor's duties.

[22:56]

If I speak on my own authority, I will be a shepherd nourishing myself and not the sheep. However, if my words are the Lord's words, then the Lord is nourishing you no matter who speaks. True shepherds take care of their sheep. They don't look after themselves first. This is the principal reason why God condemns those shepherds. They took care of themselves rather than their sheep. Later, Augustine reflects on the neglect and the bad example of the wicked shepherds, who kill the weak and the strayed by their neglect, and who tend to kill the strong and the healthy sheep by their bad example. Back to the psalm. Verse 4. Even if I should walk in the dark valley of death, I would fear no evil,

[23:59]

and then something happens. Dark valley of death and God becomes very, very close. You with me. Actually, in Hebrew, it's only, it's only, well, there's only two words there because with me is a single word in Hebrew. It's, here, this translation is that you are beside me. Actually, it's God with me. What does that make us think about? Well, Immanuel. Immanuel, who is God with us. Your rod, your staff, these will lead me. These will guide me. The sheep pass through a narrow canyon, or they fan out over the broad valley floor, or they walk single file along a cliff side. It's late afternoon. The sun is setting. Darkness falls. They can barely see and sheep have a terrible sense of direction.

[25:05]

They depend on their hearing. They depend on their touch as they bunch together. What is the staff or the rod of the shepherd used for? It's used to pound the granite or the cal, ah, cal, how do you say cal? the ground, the harsh ground, so that the sense of hearing of the sheep, the sheep know the shepherd is present, as long as they can hear the tapping of the rod on the ground. They depend on their hearing. The rhythmic tapping of the shepherd's crook or staff on the dry limestone floor keeps them alert to the shepherd's presence. A sheep wanders off and with his primitive crozier, the shepherd draws him back, catches him around the neck like this thing.

[26:10]

This happens too in the spiritual world. The landscape is uncharted and daunting at times. Darkness overwhelms us. The prophet Isaiah wrote, like blind men we grope along the wall. Like people without eyes we feel our way. We stumble at midday as at dusk and dwell in the dark like the dead. Isaiah 59, 10. I'm uncertain. I don't know how to move ahead. The shepherd brushes me with his staff. I hear the rhythmic sound of his walking stick. I'm not alone. He is near at my side. He helps me find my way when I stray. God tends and tames my animal nature." At this point,

[27:14]

the poet skips a beat in his discourse. Up until now, up until the time of danger, God has been in the third person. The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me repose. He leads me. He guides me. He is true to his name. But suddenly, when we mention the darkness, the poet discovers God's presence and appeals to God. Should I even walk in the darkness of death, you with me, your rod, your staff, these will guide me." The sheep sense the being with or being there. They are reassured in the shepherd's company. A person senses this comforting present. The consoling words, I'll be there for you, or more personally, I am with you, they don't take away the pain and the loneliness, but they do repair fractured and frayed spirits.

[28:37]

To know that someone is close, and will always be close. That is our lovely and loving shepherd. That's comforting. The human spirit is consoled by the Holy Spirit. The abiding presence is not evicted from the dark shadows of our lives. Elsewhere the poet will pray, even darkness is not dark for you and night is as clear as the day. the psalm that we prayed last evening at Vespers, Psalm 138. The name of God incarnate is Immanuel. Immanuel in Hebrew, God with us. Jesus, resurrected, promises us, Behold, I will be with you all the days of your life until the end of the world.

[29:40]

The last verse of Matthew's Gospel. The Good Shepherd also said, Where two or three are together in my name, there am I in their midst. Did you notice that that phrase, Emmanuel? I will be with you. I will be in your midst. The Gospel of Matthew is at the beginning. The child shall be called Emmanuel. It's at the very end of the Gospel. I will be with you until the end of days. And it's right at the very smack dab in the center of the Gospel of Matthew, where two or three are together. In my name, I am there. How are we doing? What catches your attention up until this point? Yes.

[31:01]

Yes. Good. Good. Thank you.

[32:06]

Yes, it's totally valid to make those connections. You made reference to the dark night of the soul and John of the Cross did not invent that. It's already in the Old Testament. But John of the Cross does kind of put a structure around it. theological, psychological structure around the dark night of the soul, which is a reality for every living, alive, faith-filled person. Those are gestation times when faith is actually growing. like a little child in a womb, although those are also times, dark nights of the soul, when people can get desperate and just shut down, because there seems to be no comfort.

[33:12]

Tomorrow evening, sometime, I think, tomorrow or the next day, I will talk about, on me, or, I don't know how to say it in Spanish, in English, just being fed up, as a kind of symbol, a symptom of a dark night of the soul, usually, we prayed this psalm last evening at conference we do every night, about the million burned dead day, the devil that tends to visit us at noon day, when we just don't have any fighting spirit left. The other point that you mentioned, brother, is quite accurate. Since the 16th century in our spiritual life, Brother Lawrence talked to us about the practice of the presence of God, that is, how to cultivate

[34:17]

the idea that God is always present even amidst distractions and amidst those dry periods of our life. Brother Lawrence, the practice of the presence of God, that goes back, he also kind of, as John of the Cross, almost contemporary, he puts a structure around that, a certain cultivating a consciousness that God is always there. And then, of course, we have the Pilgrim. It's that classic book on spirituality, 19th century, about the Pilgrim prayer, the prayer of Jesus. The Way of the Pilgrim. practicing by using the phrase, practicing that God is always present.

[35:24]

Anything else? Yes, we do need to rest. It's a reality.

[36:28]

Our monastic life is really quite grinded. People who come to the monastic life with a great desire for a vocation find that they find a great deal of peace when they're knocking on the door and when they first get into the monastery. But after a while you find that this really is quite grueling. It's very taxing. because we're, well, we're also living into, we're paying taxes in two countries.

[37:31]

In the world of eternity and also in the present world. And both of them are stressing us out. Thank you. Yes. Yes. From the point of view of Kronos and Kairos, there will be a want of nothing. There's a certain want. In Kronos, there will be a difference. I said, you will have me write down in green feathers a description of every night.

[38:43]

And it was like a green body, green in a world. I think that will be best. An image of a temple in the water. thing. Thank you for mentioning that. We do, when we're reading Hebrew poetry, we are entering a different mindset. Culturally, it's different. Sociologically, it's different. Anthropologically, it's different. We're entering into a new, a different way of thinking. It's not the ideology, ideological Greek way of thinking that we have all been taught in.

[39:44]

When I went to Mexico the first time, I realized, you know, Hebrew was about the best preparation I had for living in central Mexico, because the Mexican indigenous cultures are much, much, very, very parallel to Hebrew. In fact, even the language, the concepts of the language are are very physical, whereas our concepts in English would tend to be more Latin than concrete. So, thank you. Yes, the images are one of the keys to the spiritual life of the Old Testament. Images, images. Thank you. The scene changes in verse 5 and 6. The poet is no longer a sheep.

[40:47]

The poet is now a fugitive. Let's read 5 and 6 together. Five and six, you prepare a table for me in full view of my enemies. You anoint my head and fill my cup to overflowing. Surely your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as days will last. What catches your attention in these two verses? The pursuit. He's being pursued by his enemies and he's out in the wilds and he comes to a place. What else? The verse 6 seems to be

[42:13]

bringing the two images together. And remember what we mentioned last night, unfailing love is hesed, that is loyalty that cannot be broken on the part of God. God cannot be un-God. Hesed is unfailing love that will always be true. The scene changes, the poet and the poem of the fugitive narrowly escapes from a threat against his life. He flees across the desert landscape and happens upon a Bedouin camp where the Sheikh receives him. Hospitality is a religious duty among Muslims and Jews and Benedictines. To receive a guest is equivalent to offering sanctuary and rescuing a life left to the elements or to the pursuing enemy.

[43:25]

Desert hospitality offers survival and the host who receives the migrant or the stranger receives God. Saint Benedict prescribes let all guests be received as Christ. One day Abraham became the host of God and his escort. Abraham, Genesis chapter 18, Abraham says, Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought that you may bathe your feet and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves and afterward you may go on your way." Abraham, with the visit of the Holy Trinity. The poet addresses God, acknowledges God's gracious hospitality,

[44:29]

You prepare a table for me in full view of my enemies. You anoint my head and fill my cup to overflowing. The sheik in the desert has received the fugitive in his tent. He lifts up the tent flaps to enjoy the refreshing breeze. He extends a camel hair rug on the ground and serves a Bedouin picnic. They recline on cushions and they share the flat Arab pita bread, dried dates, olives, sour cream, goat cheese, something to drink, goat's milk or camel's milk, or some arak, a little licorice liqueur. Fragrant lotion on the hands and on the burnt face is a welcome relief from the hot sun and chafing wind.

[45:34]

On a certain occasion, Jesus would reproach Simon. You did not anoint my head with oil while this woman has never stopped anointing my feet. The guest is entertained, his pursuers hover at a distance, spying on this open-air dinner party without daring to enter or raise a hand against the fugitive. An attempt against the guest would be a serious crime against the host and would incite an inter-tribal war. Also in the spiritual life, God offers sanctuary and hospitality. With God I take refuge and look for protection from the adversary. God invites me to eat and to drink. God anoints me with the precious ointment of His Holy Spirit in baptism.

[46:37]

And finally the scene changes and the poem comes to a close. Surely your goodness and your hesed will pursue me all the days of my life." The enemies have retreated. The fugitive faces a long homeward journey. The host sends him with a personal escort, two trusted bodyguards and experts in the terrain. The two bodyguards Goodness and chesed, two virtues, goodness and unfailing love, are commissioned by the hope and they incarnate the hospitality. Now the hospitality is not just in a place, it's hospitality on the move. It would be bad manners to lavish impeccable hospitality on a guest only to dismiss him to risk assault on the way home.

[47:49]

The banquet and the drink replenish the energies of the homeward journey. The perfume of the anointing lingers in the air as a delicious memory of the host. In the spiritual journey, God sends us two escorts, goodness, grace, and fidelity, chesed. They protect me from danger and from the assault of the evil one. The pilgrimage is long, all the days of my life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as days will last. Chesed and goodness escort me to the sanctuary where the Levites, God's guests, reside and sit at his table. Now we are no longer sheep who rest in the oasis between our forages in the desert.

[48:59]

We are not casual afternoon guests in a Bedouin tent. The sanctuary is a secure place forever. As you read this poem sometime today, note that there's two images, several images, but two images, one of movement, walking together, and one of residing. These two images encompass all of life. The Exodus episodes are repeated in our spiritual journey. Once we have left Egypt and once we have left slavery, God guides his flock through the desert. He provides us with food and drink and rest. When we enter the promised land, God receives us as guests in his house. Exodus chapter 15, in your mercy you led the people you redeemed, in your strength you guided them to your holy dwelling.

[50:13]

This liturgy, every psalm is a liturgy, this liturgy ends with images of rest and movement. What began with rest, sheep lying down, now continues in the journey, even in darkness. The fugitive, eating and drinking, resting, resumes his journey. Now the pilgrimage in life arrives to rest in the Lord's house. The two clauses resolve the finale of this poem. Goodness and kindness, goodness and faithful love pursue me all the days of my life as if life were in perpetual motion. And the people reside in the sanctuary as long as days will last. People are walking along, but people walking along are also in a safe place.

[51:17]

We monks bow our lives to stability. We are on the road, even as we remain in one place. We walk in the open air even as we are guests in a tent as long as days will last. The poet monk rests secure in God's presence. We may glimpse a shepherd who has a hundred sheep When one of them has separated from the flock and lost its way, that shepherd does not remain with the sheep who passed her together. No, the shepherd goes off and looks for the stray. The shepherd crosses valleys and rough terrain, climbs hills and mountains, fords, streams, spends time and labor searching in solitary places.

[52:26]

until at last he reaches the stray. And when he finds it, he does not punish it. He does not scold or strike the sheep to drive it back to the fold. He rather lifts it up and places it on his own shoulders and carries her back to the flock. He takes greater joy in this one sheep, lost and found, than in all the others. What about the hidden meaning of this psalm, this parable? The sheep is more than a sheep. The shepherd is more than a shepherd. Together they teach that Jesus does not look on confreres or on persons as lost or beyond hope. He does not abandon us when we are in danger, nor does the good shepherd delay in coming to our help.

[53:35]

When we turn away from the right path, the good shepherd searches us out and brings us back. The shepherd rejoices at our return, welcoming us into the company of those who never strayed. If Jesus the Good Shepherd has done as much, might we do the same for one another? It's funny, in community life, when somebody reaches out to tend to a stray sheep, everybody else reacts in a certain way, and some people in a negative way, thinking, oh, they ought to be punished. That would be the elder brother's attitude. He never left home, or at least he never confessed that he had left home in some way. And he's the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son, who never

[54:38]

finds his way in to the father's house and never recognizes his brother as brother. So I would invite you to read this psalm once and then again and make it your own. In some way, find your own biography in the images of this psalm, both in the delightful images, the comforting images, and also in the stressful images of the dark valleys and and the enemies and finding God there with you. This evening we will be reading a psalm

[55:43]

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