Memorial of St. Benedict, abbot

Today's Mass Readings

Listen, my Child

It is a special day here, not only because it is our founder’s commemoration day. But also, because we welcome a new lifelong member into our monastic community, Br. Mark Nelson, OSB. He is professing solemn and perpetual monastic vows—a promise before God and His saints to live out the rest of his life as a monk of Conception Abbey. Remember him in praise and thanks today.

Today’s first reading for the Memorial is from the Book of Proverbs. The short passage selected is one long call to listen to wisdom. It is a poetic If-Then statement: “If you receive my words…Then will you understand the fear of the LORD.” (Proverbs 2:1a, 5a) If fear of the Lord is the beginning, then love of the Lord is the end. For it is love that impels us Christians to follow Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14)—for some, it has led them to give up everything (or virtually everything), as Peter expressed in today’s Gospel reading: “We have given up everything and followed you.” But then, the very human question follows: “What will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27ab) In other words, Peter asks, do we get anything in return for our sacrifice?

This message is for you if you are willing to give up your own will. (Rule of Benedict, Prologue:3)

What is the core sacrifice that monks give up? Ultimately, it is their own will. Specifically, their own self-will. To the degree of our self-emptying capacity, Br. Mark and I have given up our own wills—our plans for family, for career, for the design of our own life. And still, the question remains: Why? Why did I give up the possibility of my own house? Of having my own family? Of having my own career and doing my own thing? I have even given up a certain relationship with my own parents and siblings. From the many ways to answer this, it boils down to: (1) for the love of Christ and (2) for faith in his word: “Amen, I say to you…everyone who has given up [fill in the blank] for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29)

For the Journey:

The Christian life is, in one sense, a gamble. We rely on the words and testimonies of those who came before us. Ultimately, we believe, it is the witness of the Apostles and their faith in the Resurrection of Jesus and what his Resurrection means for us, namely, our own resurrection in the end. Can you believe it? Can you believe in Him who said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25a).

Reflection by Br. Luke Kral, OSB