Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Today, Benedictines celebrate the memorial of St. Bruno, an 11^th century monk who became the founder of the Carthusian Order. The opening words of St. Luke’s gospel are certainly appropriate for this feast: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25). Born of a wealthy family in Cologne and having received a classical education, he was in the perfect position to move into a role as a teacher in the diocese of Reims and later, to serve as diocesan administrator. Bruno was so skilled at his work that the clergy attempted to elect him as bishop. But Bruno refused the position; he believed that God had other plans for him. He was indeed focused on what was necessary to “inherit eternal life” and made a vow to withdraw from worldly concerns and focus on the interior life. He established a community where the monks lived in small, individual cells and devoted themselves to a life of poverty, prayer and study.

But what does St. Bruno’s life mean for us today? Let’s continue with Jesus’ words from the gospel: “‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’ [The scholar] said in reply, ‘you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus praised the scholar for his insight, “You have answered correctly, do this and you will live” (Lk 10:26-28). Devotion to praying the scriptures—reading “what is written in the law” as St. Bruno did—is the opening of a deeper relationship with Christ and the path to complete identification with Jesus’ life of obedience and self-gift. It is through the faithful practice of lectio divina that we come to love God with all our heart and all our being. It also through this type of prayer that we learn of (and experience) God’s mercy and how we are to extend that same love to our brothers and sisters as exemplified in today’s parable of the Good Samaritan.

Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB