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ArchivesInterviewing the Abbot:Be StillAbbot Christopher M. Zielinksi OSB oliv.
This mornings conference was dedicated to “The Stillness of Mary”, as you read the verse from the Gospel of St. John 19:25 “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother…” you mentioned that in this single verse lies the mystery of what being a Christian today is about. Can you elaborate a little bit more? Abbot: As Benedictines of the Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, we have a very particular and personal relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Therefore, although, she is very much at the center of our personal and monastic spirituality, we also see her as being the living icon for all Christians. Her holy abandonment of accepting to conform her life to God’s Holy Will is the maximum expression of the beauty of holiness and the holiness of beauty. It is because of her “fiat” that we see what love is and also discover the real truth of Dostoyevsky’s words “Beauty will save the world.” You speak about the stillness of Mary. Can you say something about being still in today’s world where all is movement? Abbot: The stillness “in stillness” is not at all real stillness; it is death. Like a stagnant pond that allows for no true vision because there is no life. It is precisely when there is “stillness in movement” that the mysterious rhythm of Love pervades heaven and earth. You see; it is precisely in our hectic and chaotic world that the beautiful truth about the stillness of Mary becomes a living icon of hope and peace for the entire world. But we must contemplate this icon, because if we do not contemplate, we will manipulate. We will seek out the stillness “in stillness” and not be able to see. Because to understand you have to pay attention; you have to love. And when you love, the very nature of love becomes the discipline of contemplation. Could you tell us something more about holy abandonment, perhaps with a “beautiful” and “holy” example? Abbot: You all know my very particular devotion for Therese of Lisieux. She is a new Doctor of the Church and her doctrine contains also a teaching about the terrible beauty of abandonment. She is loved by both Catholics and non-Catholics. She teaches “…for Love to be fully satisfied, it must lower itself even unto nothingness, and transform this nothingness into fire.” St. Therese entered into what she called the process of “unpetalling”. She offered up petals of self through small sacrificial deeds of victory over egotism until nothing was left: nothing but love for the Beloved. And there in the Carmel where she offered herself like a beautiful rose, she understood the virtue of “littleness.” She abandoned herself to the holiest of truths: that we must be sustained by love if we are to learn what love is. It was a way of remaining always poor and without strength…simply loving her littleness, her nothingness. This is the way to Love, the hidden way, the silent way that leads to the mysterious “stillness in movement” of Eternal Love. Could we call this “unpetalling” a kenotic love; and therefore, an offering of one’s self as a manifestation of the sacrificial dimension? Abbot: We are certain that St. Therese’ spirituality was grounded in her liturgical life. The heart of this “process of unpetalling” finds its model in the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Lex orandi, lex credendi. Her theology was Pauline and thus, a parallel thought can be found in the letter to the Romans (12:1) “Offer your bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. (Thus you offer him) holy worship.” In relation to God, love to the point of self-abnegation manifests itself in the state of Christ-like humility. In the Gospel of John, Christ, before giving himself to life-giving suffering and death, says: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13) This sacrificial erosion of selfhood is this descent that becomes the true assent to God. And so, she can say: “No longer I…but Christ…” (Gal 2:20). St. Therese, taking on the liturgical sacrificial dimension of the Mass as a model of sanctity, shifts the liturgy retrospectively toward the Christ-Event and transforms it into a “Gethsemane” type of prayer, rather than a merely triumphant celebration. And so through this Holy Sacrament, Therese learned to live and experience the eternal character of the Kenosis of the Logos of God. She could love with an unconditional love because she understood the essential nature of the Mass: its sacrificial dimension. Would you like to talk now about the Stillness of Mary and the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Abbot: As we walk the road to Calvary, we contemplate the meeting between Jesus and his mother. We can imagine the tremendous sorrow and the terrible beauty of love flowing from the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—and that love flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus into the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the stillness of this earthly but everlasting movement, we will discover “the Beauty that saves the world.” When and where can we make this discovery? We discover it as she stands at the foot of the cross; and we see her silent and still…in the everlasting movement, because love is stronger than death! In your conference, you touched very briefly on the Passion narrative about the striking contrast between the stillness of those who loved Jesus Christ and the ceaseless activity of His enemies. You mentioned how timeless a teaching this is for us today. Can you give us an example? Abbot: You look back on the history of the world; and again and again, you discover the relevance of this truth. It is not the active and thoughtless who bring good to the world. It is those whose actions spring from contemplation who become instruments of peace and bearers of true goodness. Think deeply and love deeply, and then you will have no need of words because your suffering and your co-suffering will go straight from your own heart to the Heart of Christ. In fact, too often Christ is betrayed by action without thought and without prayer. And in a world of speed and frenzied activity, a world which thinks too exclusively in terms of power, money, and sex and where everything is centered on the deadly stillness of one’s ego; only love is believable, only love is beautiful. “Beauty will save the world.” What can you say about the pain of Christ and the Sorrow of God that Mary contemplated as she stood at the foot of the Cross? Here we are entering the very mystery of Mary’s great assent, “be it done unto me according to thy word.” She is abandoning herself to the mystery of love. It is not that Mary does not want to know: she wants to know in a different and purer way. It is like seeing with one’s ears and listening with one’s eyes; the terrible beauty of love that simply loves to love and without “why”. This, she desires to know by loving the Love that is not loved. And to achieve this, she must travel the road to Calvary and stand by the cross of Jesus. There she learns the discipline of contemplation. In the stillness, she learns to wait in openhearted receptivity. She assents to humility, poverty of spirit, even unto nothingness, through the profoundest exercise of patience, simplicity, and perhaps above all, trust----trust so objectless and pure that there was no distinction between her love and the divine love.
Interviewing the Abbot: Abbot Christopher M. Zielinksi OSB oliv
In a recent Chapter talk, you spoke about a return to orthodoxy; and that this resurgence shows itself in a very vibrant way among the young. You affectionately referred to them as “young fogies”. Would you elaborate upon this present phenomenon? Abbot: Orthodoxy has a very distinguished history in that it is not one of those ideas that Christianity borrowed from the pagan environment. In fact the concept emerged as believers sought to understand more clearly, without ambivalence and with greater precision their new faith in Jesus Christ. In this sense, orthodoxy is a social process dedicated to the careful transmission of Tradition. It makes truth-claims without apology and tries to guard and sustain these truth-claims through the hazards of time. As modern secular political and religious ideologies continue to wane, communities of traditional faith are flourishing now more than ever. This emerging and vibrant orthodoxy is evident among the youth. I have, adopted the expression “young fogies” from Thomas C Oden’s book The Rebirth of Orthodoxy. I have found among the youth the desire to reclaim the classic spiritual practices: lectio divina, daily prayer, regular participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, the study of Church Doctrine and the desire for moral accountability. Their “crusades” and “spiritual warfare” may at times sound belligerent, but I can assure you that they are truly living out the liturgical teaching of Sacrosanctum Concilium regarding “active participation”: These youth are acting out of a deep spiritual and theological contemplative participation of the Catholic faith. You sound very enthusiastic about the youth in that they are reclaiming the Tradition in the Church. What about the growing participation of young Catholics at Traditional Masses. Do you see that as part of “the re-birth of orthodoxy?” Abbot: This is part of their radical desire to know, love and serve God. And if I may, it is very much at the heart of the Pauline and Augustinian tradition. In fact, many of our youth today are reading The Confessions of St. Augustine, and leaving the works of many dissenting theologians on book shelves where they are collecting inches of dust as they quickly fall into oblivion. Many of these youth have been called “papists”, because much of their spiritual reading is dedicated to the works of Pope John Paul II and our present Pope Benedict XVI. Doen’t that reveal something very important about the young people of God? I might quote a few lines taken from the preface of Abbot Cuthbert Brogan OSB in Lambert Beauduin’s book Liturgy-the Life of the Church. “…the young often find contemporary liturgical celebrations lacking. They do not find the life the Liturgy offers. Their yearning for that sense of mystery, of beauty, of transcendence, their need for silence and for an experience of the numinous, which is their right by virtue of their baptism, is so often frustrated.” But are their still dangers of secularism for the Church and these “young fogies?” The danger of secularism is that it attempts to rationalize men’s inherent spiritual drives out of existence rather than acknowledging and providing for them. The secular world makes war inevitable for religion by either squeezing it into a very small corner of “life” or, as is the case in the United States, it tries to absorb it completely into its social, cultural and political agenda. Our youth can be saved from this only if the Church, as interpreter, continues to teach the truth without ambivalence or compromise. The youth must be certain that the Church is naming its Doctrine accurately and appropriately. Father Abbot, you say that the youth can be saved from secularism only if the Church continues to teach the truth without ambivalence. And yet, in many recent debates about the Second Vatican Council and its Documents, questions remain as to what the Documents really say. Abbot: The post-conciliar period was actually unable to move towards an implementation of the Documents precisely because an authentic interpretation was lacking. This resulted in what many traditionalists call the “ambiguous nature of the Conciliar Texts.” It certainly created a whole new hermeneutical enterprise where we discover walls and walls of books written in the hope of interpreting the Conciliar Documents. And even if an article of the Constitution on the Liturgy such as article 36 is very clear about the use of the Latin language in the Roman Rite, in effect it has been greatly ignored. And when the questions were even more complex and often not quite clearly explained, theologians exploited the imprecision of the Conciliar Documents in what they call “the spirit of the Council.” For example, Gaudium et Spes will remain one of their privileged victims! In fact, the interpretations of this Document are truly “legion.” I hear from your voice a tone of anxiety. Do you want to add something here? Abbot: The anguish that some of us have observed for some time now has been caused not by the fact that the Church is more and more “alienated” from the rest of the world, but by the fact that it is not alienated enough; that every day we are getting more and more like the rest of the world, and we call this “pastoral care”. But this is the true chimera of relevance by which our presence in the world becomes more and more irrelevant. And what about our youth? Abbot: Our Catholic youth have taken on the challenge of living the faith amid the tensions and tragedies of our turn of the century society. Their growing number and enthusiasm signify the recovery of the life affirming essence of what it means to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Certainly they are hungering for true doctrine and if they cannot receive it in the local Church, they seek it out by means of the Internet. It is their gut-born imperative of faith that is moving them towards greater love of the Word of God, the Tradition, and the Magisterium. Our youth are open, spontaneous, generous, but very frank in letting us “professionals of the faith” know about our failures in living up to the stature of Christ. And not infrequently, we of the Catholic Clergy present a spectacle no more appealing than when it once traded in indulgences and silently ignored the crimes of Monarchs in exchange for fat benefices. In fact, one need not join the enemies of the Second Vatican Council to be outraged by the actions of many theologians and Church Diplomats or to insist that the Church hierarchy harmed legions of our brothers and sisters in Christ when it dispossessed us of Latin which was native to the Tradition of the Roman Rite and instituted the vernacular which was “foreign”. In virtue of “active participation” we suddenly discovered that we had adopted the Protestants’ greatest undoing: the nationalizing of Religion. And yet, we must move forward together and “in hope.” And, God forbid, may it never happen that the people of God rise up and condemn us saying, “you gave us everything, except what interests us, Jesus Christ.”
Interview With the Abbot Will the Pope restore the Tridentine Mass? Abbot: The Tridentine Mass, the Mass of St. Pius V cannot be considered abolished by the so-called new mass of Paul VI. We must never forget that the Second Vatican Council was not a break from the past, but a renewal in continuity. That is why the question regarding the liturgy must be one of seeking the true sense of the Council and implementing it. Therefore, the question that needs to be asked is whether or not the Indult of Pope John Paul II and the creation of the Pontifical Commission of Ecclesia Dei, that gave permission to the Bishops to allow for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, was implemented in the spirit of justice and compassion. Well, was the Indult of John Paul II implemented in the spirit of justice and compassion? Abbot: Unfortunately, some Bishops have not always granted the Indult. When this did happen, the conditions were often very difficult and almost impossible for its practical implementation. Therefore, if there is to be a motu proprio regarding a universal indult for the Old Mass, it means that the present one is not meeting the pastoral needs of the traditionalist world. But is the traditionalist world so important that the Holy Father should risk his pontificate by giving them a motu proprio? Abbot: Jesus Christ, when talking about the Good Shepherd and the lost sheep, spoke about leaving the ninety-nine in order to seek out the one. We are talking about one percent. But we are also talking about the very vocation of the Good Shepherd. It is interesting to note that some Bishops speak about the Traditionalists as a “drop in the ocean.” As a matter of fact, the traditionalist world constitute a little over one percent of the Catholic Population. How Christ-like indeed it would be to offer a gesture of pastoral love in the form of a motu proprio! Would a motu proprio be for the intention of bringing the Lefebvrians back to Rome? Abbot: The motu proprio would be a response of justice and compassion not only to the traditionalist world, but also to the Church as a whole. We must never think that a motu proprio would be written only for the Lefebvrians. As Archbishop A. M. Ranjith, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship stated very clearly, “The Tridentine Mass is a treasure for the entire People of God and not the private property of the Society of St. Pius X.” But I am most certain that those in the Society are praying and waiting with great hope for a motu proprio regarding a universal indult for the Old Mass. What is your relationship with the Lefebvrian world? Abbot: I met Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior of the Society of St. Pius X, more than five years ago. During that time, I have come to know many other priests, and also monks and religious who are connected with the Society. I was invited to speak at the recent Congress of “Si, Si. No, No” in Paris. And there, I spoke about my experience of the Tridentine Mass as a recovery of the sacrificial nature of the Mass. The Traditional Rite has a very important role to play in the Church. It can enhance reverence and the sense of mystery and awe before God’s action. But some Bishops affirm that the Lefebvrians should recognize the legitimacy of the Pope. Abbot: Unfortunately, even at high levels in the Church, there is not always full knowledge of the Society. The Society has always recognized the legitimate successor of St. Peter. There are traditionalist groups that do not recognize the last popes after Pius XII. These are called “empty throne” people. Visiting some of the Societies’ houses, I was amazed to see the photo of Benedict XVI and also to know that they pray daily for him and the Church. Do you think that a possible motu proprio would help the Lefebvrians return to Rome? Abbot: I believe that a motu proprio would be a first step towards full communion. However, the simple restoration of the Old Mass is not only what the Society is looking for. They are asking very serious theological and liturgical questions that we must address. Otherwise, we reduce the whole question of Monsignor Fellay and the members of the Society to a question of choreography and not to substantial questions of faith. The motu proprio, therefore, is a beginning. But also, it is the possible beginning of a reform and renewal of the sacramental character of the liturgy; and therefore, the beginning of a liturgical movement that wants for the People of God a new awakening of the faith. Some Bishops, priests and theologians say that a motu proprio allowing broader use of the Tridentine Rite would “plunge us back into the liturgical life of another age.” What is your thought about this? Abbot: Liturgical time is a sacred and holy time. I guess we could call it “timeless.” And the reason is that the Mass has to do with eternity and not with days, weeks, months or years. Is there need of a new liturgical reform? Abbot: I believe that the Dogmatic Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium was a response to a widely held conviction that the liturgy needed a reform. The Council Fathers were seeking to bring out the community aspects of the mass, as well as make it more effective in teaching the truths of the Catholic Faith. Unfortunately, the theological necessity for a continuity in the underlying doctrine and structure of the celebration of the Mass in its preconciliar and post conciliar forms had undergone a rupture or break with Tradition. That is what we are dealing with today. The Second Vatican Council clearly called for some modest reforms in the liturgy, but it intended them to be organic and clearly in continuity with the past. The Old Rite becomes a living treasure of the Church and also should provide a standard of worship, of mystery, and of catechesis toward which the celebrations of the Novus Ordo must move. In other words, the Tridentine Mass is the missing link. And unless it be re-discovered in all its faithful truth and beauty, the Novus Ordo will not respond to the organic growth and change that has characterized the liturgy from its beginning. This is what should be prompting many of us to the founding of a new liturgical movement which will be able to give back to the liturgy its sacramental and supernatural character, and awaken in us a faithful understanding of the Catholic Liturgy. Called to Connect Family, Community and communion with God and one another are increasingly under siege. This “social corrosion” has many faces and monastic life is certainly not exempt from the fraying of social fabric. There are many unknowns in the ways humans around the world are trying to re-connect, but I am most certain that monasticism is both a prophetic and alternative means given by God to humankind where this “re-connection” can take place. As we experience the slow vanishing of opportunities for people to connect, we monastics are being called to a kind of re-searching for God. In fact, the Rule is about walking together, seeking the same goal – seeking God. Monasteries are not “nests”, but “ways” of life. And we, monks and sisters, have made a mutual commitment to “going to God together”. Our monastic profession is entering lovingly and willingly into a covenant that is made between the members, the community and God. (see Sister Aquinata Bockmann OSB, Wisdom Leadership.) The people in the world have suddenly become deaf to one another; their ears are stuffed with two little headphones connected to computers, ipods, Walkmans or cell phones. They are dazed and lost in their personalized world, oblivious to what is going on around them, and even more so, to what is going on within them. In fact, many have exchanged their inner life for this virtual reality. The resulting social autism adds to the ongoing list of unknown human consequences that we monastics will have to deal with more and more as young men and women, victims of this creeping disconnection, ask for admittance to the monastery. (see Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence) With this intensification of social isolation, we see that the ability to love is weaker. It becomes ever more difficult to grasp the mystery of God’s love made manifest through Jesus Christ; and therefore, true acts of charity for one another are visibly diminishing. We end up treating one another simply as objects and not as persons. The world of Internet, e-mail and cell phones has practically replaced any face to face contact with friends, coworkers, and family. The need for others that comes from the mystery of having been created in the image and likeness of God reveals an immense dark hole in our hearts. We are designed to connect. And as Norman Nie, director of the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society puts it, “You can’t get a hug or kiss over the Internet.” Today all of us are being “questioned to death” by the vast social and political currents of our time. Much of what “progress” has brought to us is dividing us and fragmenting our collective empathy and compassion for one another. Even in the Catholic Church, we are experiencing bitter antagonisms and real divisions that verge on hatred. The social corrosion with its immense but enticingly quiet force has blinded the eyes of our hearts, making us incapable of life giving choices. As the poet, W. H. Auden, so pungently prophesied, “We must love one another or die.” Monasteries must become once again schools of love that have as their curriculum: Presence, Silence and Communication. In this sense the Rule of St. Benedict will make known its social brilliance. In a prophetic but alternative way, our re-search for God will re-teach us this truth: we are wired to connect!
God is Love “The eye wherein I see God is the same eye wherein God sees me” ---Meister Eckhart--- You know that we have the answer to all our
problems. It is closer to us than we think. And
it's truth is made manifest to us through the life
of Jesus Christ: /Deus Caritas Est /(God is Love).
Until Christ be Formed in You The Advent Season is a time of hope and of waiting. The liturgy is inviting us to “fly to our beloved homeland” , the place where the heart waits. And there in the silent land of our inmost self we listen to “the Word” that is asking to become the very “flesh” of our life. We are being called to be silent and to rest in our prayer of watchfulness and peaceful desire. The Christian mystics teach us that there should always be more waiting than striving in our prayer. And, so we have been gifted this Advent Season as a time for concentrated stillness. In fact, knowing how to wait is the beginning of knowing how to love. In his Maxims on Love, St. John of the Cross says, “The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word he speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must be heard by the soul.” Our greatest need is to learn to be silent, for the only language that love hears and truly understands is that of deep silence. Mary, the womb of the Word was a person of deep stillness and silence. The encounter between her womb and the Eternal Word was one of mutual silences and from that point of stillness came forth the gift of unconditional love. We too, have been called to allow Christ to be born in us. Like Mary we are being called to enter into our own nativity scene and there to patiently learn the virtues that prepare for the birthing of Christ. In our soul will be reenacted as for the first time the birth of Christ; a new star of hope will shine in our darkness. We will receive the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. As shepherds, we will accept the task to guide and wait lovingly, as the angels sing a new song of peace and love to all. Thank you, and may the Peace of God that passes all understanding be with you.
This is the Day the Lord Has Made Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad The Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe was truly a remarkable day. Both the Sisters and the Monks of the Monastery rejoice for what was truly a new beginning. The Lord blessed our incorrigible optimism with the gift of two postulants to the Olivetan Benedictine Sister’s Monastery. Our twin monasteries are growing because God has seen that for us Jesus Christ is everything!! The monastic mystique is similar to the Child’s game of Hide and Seek. And nothing is more thrilling to the soul than having been found by God. Yes, we are the ones who hide, and He is the one who goes out and seeks us. And once he finds us, he allows us to believe that we are the ones who have found Him; it’s a beautiful game that He is playing with us. This encounter is a falling in love in a quite absolute and final way. In the meeting, He seizes you, and allows you to love Him. He embraces your very heart and it affects everything. It gets one out of bed early in the morning to praise Him and to renew, once again, the joy of having been found. It is truly an all embracing moment that will transform your whole life: how you spend your evenings, how you spend your free time, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Hide and seek will pretty much characterize the game that God and we will play. It is a love story that only the pure of heart can truly understand. The secret of course and this I would like to share with the two postulant sisters is: falling in love is one thing, staying in love will decide everything.
The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ Today’s solemnity is also an important occasion for welcoming you all to the School for Spiritual Direction and also for the installation of our new Prior and Sub-Prior. I would like to thank both Fr. Paul and Fr. Sam for their services to the Community as Prior and Sub-Prior in a moment of the history of this Community that was not at all easy. Today’s Mass, I am offering for your personal intentions. The eternal word of God, has become manifest in Christ in order to give us a closer and more personal understanding of God; to give us an exigesis of God. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ is the first Exiget that reads and explains what he read. And what is he interpreting, talking to us about? He is talking to us about the Father and how He experiences the Father. Jesus is reading His Heart, the Heart of the only Begotten Son of the Father. And that experience of “the Father and I are one,” He explains to us not only by word but also through His very life here on earth. He is Emmanuel; God with us. This was His message. He shared with us His personal experience with the Father and this became divine revelation. He is not sharing something from a far away and distant world or from some other time. He is not telling us about a pre-existent experience. He was fully divine but He also was fully human. And His teaching is the revelation of a human being who experiences as a human being, that which signifies for him to be one with the Father. Jesus is giving us the human understanding of Himself as Son of God. Therefore, the Psychology and the understanding of Jesus are human. He did not anticipatedly know that which normal human beings learn to know. He was certainly full of the gifts of the Spirit and illuminated by them but they were given in a very normal and human way. The manifestation (Epiphany) of God is made possible only through the emptying of God’s divinity, the Kenosis. In fact, Epiphany and Kenosis coincide with one another and therefore, the Light of God is made manifest through the Cloud: as we read in Matthew 17:5, the Luminous Cloud. It is in this beautiful but paradoxical truth that we discover the Christ who manifests God but is in need of a person, an Exiget, who can decode this message. Jesus as Revelation of God and of man, is in the complexity of His being, “the Word made Flesh” (John 1:1-18), and it is in this mystery where we are called to dwell if we are to grow in Love and understanding of who God is. As we read in the Gospel of John 1:17, grace and truth came and were made manifest to us through Jesus Christ. Like the three Magi, we approach the manger with the conviction of faith that Jesus is the revelation of God made manifest to us all. And that this Epiphany has entered into the history of human kind in order to manifest the history of the heart of God. Jesus is manifesting today, to us, the Today of God for us. We are participating here and now in the Epiphany of God Today. History is the chosen way by which God makes manifest His salvific love to us all, a history that is the daily desire of humankind for the fullness of life… a moving onward towards the fulfillment (the pleion of Matthew 12:41) when Christ will come, the day after the last day and invite us to contemplate with Him, the Father as He truly is. The Subject of My Conference Tonight is LoveLove should be at the center of every human being’s life. Christian, non-christian, believer or non-believer, young or old, man or woman; we are all in need of love and its infinite mystery of life. Philosophers of all times teach us that love is the key to individual and social happiness. Love, as we read about it in the New Testament and learn it through the life of Jesus Christ; love is an event that reveals itself through an all-inclusive desire of communion. No one is to be excluded from the range of our loving. So, love should be for everyone, and it should be overflowing, pure, spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It should be like the living water that we would like to drink. As a matter of fact, the monastery is called a school of love, and this holy art the monk learns by sitting still and listening to the “streams of living water.” The New Testament calls this love Agape. This love is much more than romantic love and therefore much more than friendship. As St. Paul teaches us in the first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, Love (Agape) is understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill toward all. It is overflowing, abundant, and seeks no personal return. As St. John in his first letter teaches us, God is Love, and in the Gospel, he is forever reminding us that this love is operating in the human heart. We have been given the universal vocation to love as God loves, without any why, but simply love with the love that loves to love. We have now entered into the very mystery of life, the contemplative life. Love is the contemplative way, a way that asks us to know the true nature of our Beloved. To discover and contemplate in His loving Heart our every thought, word and deed; that is, the contemplative life, and always a good and beautiful life. We are being called to perform the most noble act of pure love, loving without why. Here, you must learn to love everyone not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but because God loves them and God loves them through the love that He has so freely and abundantly filled your heart with. Did not Jesus say to all Christians (serious followers of Christ): “Love your enemies”? He did not say: “Like your enemies.” Journeying with Christ is not an emotional trip, where you encounter some pretty nice people that you like. It is a journey of death and of life, where you encounter some pretty bad people that are impossible to like, but that I must learn to love. Jesus Christ, teaches us that love is greater than any evil, it is even stronger than death. The resurrection is the victory of love. And we set the resurrection in motion every time we love. This should remind us that love is greater than liking because love goes behind the shadows of evil and seeks out the hidden light: Love is understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill towards all. Unfortunately, many of us have reduced Christ’s message to personal usage and instead of contemplating the loving eyes of an always beautiful Beloved, we gaze blindly on our good old plastic Jesus. We like but we do not love, and we think that this is okay, and it is not okay. Have we not seen enough hate? Our television, radio, and newspaper are full of evil, violence and war… have we not seen already enough? Did we forget that the Lord said: “Love your enemies” and was it not taught to us that the Lord said to us: “Vengeance is Mine”? We have been called to learn the most holy art of loving. We must learn how to conquer non-violently the forces of evil with the force of love, Gods Love. In a little while, we shall be celebrating the holy feast of Christmas, my brothers and sisters, if there is to be peace on earth and goodwill toward all men and women, then we must convert our lives to this ultimate truth: “God is Love.” I pray tonight that love will burst your hearts wide open so that they may become a stream of living water: overflowing, pure, spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative.
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