11 July 2018
Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
In the twilight of the ancient world, as the glories of Rome fell into the ruins that still amaze us, and new peoples flooded across the borders of the Empire, one young man echoed anew the words of the Psalmist: “Who is the man that longs for life and desires to see good days?”[1] By asking this question in the Prologue of his Rule, Saint Benedict pointed the people of his time, and ours as well, to a view of man radically different …Saint Benedict was not concerned about social status, riches or power. He appealed to the nature common to every human being, who, whatever his or her condition, longs for life and desires to see good days. For Benedict, the important thing was not functions but persons, not adjectives but rather nouns. This was one of the foundational values brought by Christianity: the sense of the person created in the image of God. This principle led to the building of the monasteries, which in time would become the cradle of the human, cultural, religious and economic rebirth of the continent (Pope Francis’ address to the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the European Community, October 28 2017).
In his speech to the Bishops’ Conference of the European Community, Pope Benedict outlined his own version of the Benedict option. He reminded Europe that human beings are not a mass of statistics or institutions. Unfortunately, according to the Pope, we frequently see people in terms of numbers, votes, quotas, markers or the threshold of poverty. The Pope then called all Christians to help recover the sense of belonging to a community. “Christians are called to restore dignity to politics and to view politics as a lofty service to the common good, not a platform for power,” said the Pope.
On the Feast of St Benedict, reflect on the mission God has for you. Talk to God directly and listen to what He calls you to do.