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Lord, help us all as You know and will. God's will is best. All is mercy and
grace. God is never absent, praise Him! Thanks so much. JL

March 9, July 9, November 8
Chapter 31: What Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Should Be

Above all things let him have humility;
and if he has nothing else to give
let him give a good word in answer
for it is written,
"A good word is above the best gift" (Eccles. 18:17).

Let him have under his care
all that the Abbot has assigned to him,
but not presume to deal with what he has forbidden him.

Let him give the brethren their appointed allowance of food
without any arrogance or delay,
that they may not be scandalized,
mindful of the Word of God as to what he deserves
"who shall scandalize one of the little ones" (Matt 18:6).

If the community is a large one,
let helpers be given him,
that by their assistance
he may fulfill with a quiet mind the office committed to him.
The proper times should be observed
in giving the things that have to be given
and asking for the things that have to be asked for,
that no one may be troubled or vexed in the house of God.

REFLECTION

"A good word is above the best gift." This applies to us all and it
is so very true. I know we have bad days, I know that sometimes
emotions can all but overpower us, but for the most part, the self-
discipline to say something nice, or at least to refrain from saying
anything harsh, is available and ought to be employed.

One good word, one kind, caring phrase, can change a person's whole
day, whole outlook on a given matter, and sometimes even change another's
whole life. One word can be remembered for years, for decades, for a
lifetime. Unfortunately, this is equally true if the word was hurtful.

The power of the tongue, an awesome, wondrous power to foster growth
or stunt it, to expand or contract the heart of the hearer, this
power is not the cellarer's alone, it belongs to us all. The tongue
can figuratively kill, it can distance others from us, leaving us
finally alone with the predictable isolation of our crankiness.

It can ruin lives, others' and our own. Very often the harsh word is
the one never forgotten, the word whose hurt will surface years and
years after its speaker is off the scene. Think carefully of the harsh
words you recall being said to you, then think with double caution
about joining those "unforgettable" ranks by saying such hurtful
things to others.

Yet there is a further and even more treacherous trap of the hurtful
word: it is cyclical evil. It tempts the one hurt to rehearse all
kinds of comebacks, to hurt the one who hurt first. Never doubt that
when we provoke others to sin we share in their guilt.

Even if, by dint of grace, those hurtful replies are never uttered by the one
we have hurt, great harm is done to another's heart, another's peace,
another's life in the time wasted focusing on the hurt and plotting revenge.
It can also tempt another to throw in the towel, to quit altogether, to remove
oneself from whatever the situation of vulnerability to attack, whether that
be a job, a marriage or a monastery.

Those feelings of flee or fight are triggered by adrenalin, to be
sure, which makes them natural enough, but also very difficult to
combat. Our smart aleck mouths can place another in a painful morass
of flee/fight tortures that we may never know about at all. If they
triumph through grace, we never hear any more of what they suffered,
but their suffering is no less real and no less surely laid at our
own feet.

How many times are we surprised at what another remembers us having
said (even good stuff!) or the details about a shared day that stand
out in one mind and not in another? Be very, very careful of the
memories we give to others. Those memories will live in their minds,
continuing to potentially cause good or evil, long after we are gone.
Not for nothing did St. James assert that if we have religion and
bridle not our tongues, our "religion is in vain." Truly,
truly, "death and life are in the power of the tongue."

A last caution: if you are the recipient of harsh words, try hard to
make yourself a beneficiary, not a victim. Hurt can focus far too
much on our own imagined worth and importance. Learn the treasure
of a humility that can thrive on the correct management of such situations
and feelings. Don't obsess, don't focus on revenge or compose an
equally cruel comeback. We can waste hours rehearsing comeback
lines for situations that never arise. Time is too precious for that!

Face it, roles change. Some days we are the statue, others we are the
pigeons. Everything comes to us as a means for grace, but also as a
possible means for a fall. Choose grace. Minimize the situation rather than
magnify it. That can make a huge difference!

Love and prayers,

Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery. org
Petersham, MA

Should Monks Have Anything of Their Own?

+ Please pray the Divine Mercy will shine upon all those who have taken their own lives. +

Chapter 33: Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
Mar. 11 - July 11 - Nov. 10
This vice especially is to be cut out of the monastery by the roots. Let no one presume to give or receive anything without the Abbot's leave, or to have anything as his own-- anything whatever, whether book or tablets or pen or whatever it may be-- since they are not permitted to have even their bodies or wills at their own disposal; but for all their necessities let them look to the Father of the monastery. And let it be unlawful to have anything which the Abbot has not given or allowed. Let all things be common to all, as it is written (Acts 4:32), and let no one say or assume that anything is his own. But if anyone is caught indulging in this most wicked vice, let him be admonished once and a second time. If he fails to amend, let him undergo punishment.


A FEW THOUGHTS

As I quoted the other day, "Wantin' ain't needin!" Monastics with a good Abbot/ess may not have much of a problem with excessive consumerism although pride of ownership could possibly still become a problem. But it is the "excess" implied in both this instruction and in the Black Letter that is a little troublesome for me. Exactly how much can a soul use or waste before she/he becomes "excessive"?

I know a very saintly monk who spent a long time gazing at his towel
and thinking, "I'd like to have a new one". It wasn't a rag of a towel. No indeed, it showed a little wear but was certainly serviceable. But he'd had that particular towel for such a very long time! It had certainly fulfilled it duty well but the fact was that he had just grown tired of looking at that same old towel.

As he gazed at the towel hanging there, he was undecided exactly what he should do....so, as was his habit, he prayed about it. He thought and he prayed.... he thought and he prayed... and as he prayed he looked at the towel. The more he prayed and the more he thought, the more guilty he began to feel about the "wanting" of a new towel. "After all", he reasoned, "Some people have no towel at all! How selfish of me!"

Much to his credit he never progressed to the point of actually asking for a new towel because he said he finally realized, "It really is still a perfectly good towel and probably has a lot of service left in it. How greedy and silly of me to want a new one when so many have so little."

Isn't that beautiful! And every word is true. Now that is what anti-consumerism is all about. I like to think I do my part to be a faithful steward of God's stuff but if I had one tenth of that good monk's attitude I'd be a contented soul. We must all beware of the pride of ownership.

Granted Oblates must have stewardship over the things necessary to
get to work, clothe our families, provide nutritious food and all the
stuff we need to live in the world. But we are called to be *in* the
world not *of* the world. Serve and worship God or mammon; we can't
do both! Jesus told us that, Beloveds!

See... I don't think it's just being a little more careful with the water or the gas (both kinds) or the electricity or all the hundred and one disposable goods we use every day.

It's not starting from 100 and reducing by one or two. It's the attitude of starting from zero and keeping the count as close to zero as possible that I'm speaking of.

Perhaps Oblates, "living away from home", can't be quite that minimalist but you get the idea. It's all in the attitude and the commitment. Personally I think the idea of two pair of trousers our good Brother Jerome mentioned is right on the money and I did it myself for a very long time. The I cut the the choice in half..... sort of. I still have two pair of trousers. I have a black pair of trousers and I have... another black pair of trousers. I have more shirts than I have trousers though! They run the color spectrum from black to.....well, black.

I wasn't always like that. I had the closet packed at one time but, thank God, He blessed me with an appreciation for the "less is more" attitude quite some time ago. As far as clothes go, anyway. I would never deprive my wife or family of anything they think is necessary but, for myself, I keep life as simple as I can.

Well, I'm going to Mass now....time to change clothes....this is the week for my black trousers and shirt.