I am writing this on, Saturday 4 February, and I have been puzzling all week

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1 Advent 2016 Lent 2017 Contents Musings by the Abbot Page1 What are we up to? Sr Julian n/osb Page 2 Credendo Vides Br Steven Joseph OSB Page 3 Space for Grace The Rt Rev William Franklin Page 4 My Path to Vowed Life Sr Toni n/osb Page 5 A Thought for Lent Br David OSB Page 6 Mount of Olives from Ein Kerem the birthplace of John the Baptist Musings by the Abbot I am writing this on, Saturday 4 February, and I have been puzzling all week about what uplifting words I might have to offer as we move into the penitential season of Lent. Then, this morning the lectionary for Mass on the lesser feast of St. Cornelius the Centurion, led my friend, Fr. Jay Rozendaal, to preach a very timely homily on who and what are the other and are thus unclean. We learn in Acts 10 that Cornelius sent men to Joppa to find Peter and bring him back to Cornelius and his family. In the meantime, Peter has had a vision in which God tells him that nothing that God has made is unclean as taught in Mosaic law. Peter then goes with the men to Cornelius home where the At first I thought about an amusing sign I saw several years ago on a visit to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York. It was lent and the church was undergoing some work. The sign said Sinners! Repaint!. It was supposed to encourage contributions to finance the work in progress. That thought led me to speculate on the meaning of repentance, since that s what I learned many years ago is what Lent is supposed to be all about. I immersed myself for half a day in the etymology of the words repentance and penance. Suffice it to say that they both have a lot to do with payback for sin or some other kind of grievance done to God or to another. I felt like I was spinning my wheels in yet another kind of academic exercise that wasn t particularly helpful, and that wasn t going to enrich my Lenten missive to the Community. entire family is baptized. We know this story is important because we hear it again when it is told in the story of the Council of Jerusalem, where the argument is about the requirements for the gentiles to become Christian (Acts 15). The theme actually picks up on Jesus teaching that it isn t what goes into people that renders them unclean, but what comes out (from the heart).

2 2 Considering again what I said in my Michaelmas message about humility and regarding our fellow humans as the other, I have to offer that it is quite possibly the giving up of disdain for the other that repenting means in this upcoming season of Lent We are living in a sea of vitriol in which accusations about the worthiness of the other are flung about. We are still pointing to those who are different from us as somehow unclean and with whom we can have no agreement and certainly no civilized dialogue. God created all conservatives and liberals, Brexit supporters and Brexit opponents, nationalists and globalists, Jews, Muslims, all manner of Christians including Anglicans, Buddhists, Sikhs, and yes, Democrats and Republicans along with all of those who differ from me socially, politically, and racially. If I say I have nothing in common with the other I deny the goodness of God s creation. Repenting of what I might call Otherism means not only that I turn away from hate and hateful speech. I repent of considering that I have all the truth and that the other has none. I repent of self-righteousness and believing that I am somehow better or more valuable in God s eye than a person who is in any way different from me. Repentance is entirely MY responsibility. So, rather than thinking of penance during Lent as giving up cocktails at 5:00 or refraining from smoking cigars or even as fasting, why not look inward at the ways that I am guilty of otherism. Each of us will find our own way out of the grasp of rejecting the other out of hand. The hardest part of this penance is recognizing the sin. It does not mean that I must agree intellectually or philosophically with those different from me. It does mean that while we are different, both I and the other are God s creations, and I affirm that NOTHING that God has created is intrinsically unclean. What are we up to? Sr Julian n/osb During Lent and Eastertide, the parishioners of my church have been invited to participate in following the Stations of the Cross, continuing our focus on collective and individual spiritual journeys through the church year. We pray to be guided towards the challenging perspective on relationships and love manifested by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As a member of our Liturgy Committee, I was asked last May to develop some art work to accompany the Forward Movement Stations of the Cross. This was exciting as this is the first year our church will be having this service. It was also very humbling as I was never exposed to the Stations of the Cross and was acutely aware of the limited time to come up with a concept and produce the art, a booklet, and related materials as well as helping to coordinate the Good Friday pilgrimage service. I began by first praying and then reflected on the three times I had experienced the Stations of the Cross until then-- the Stations in the oratory at Conception Abbey; in our local cathedral; and in a cathedral near Buenos Aires. I began by considering both contemporary and traditional images as well as the medium that would suit the architecture and demographics of our church and my ability to complete fourteen images in less than a year. Pax, Enjoy repenting. It will make for a truly holy Lent and to utter joy at the coming of Easter. Abbot Basil Station 4 - Comfort Station 11 - Forgive Station 12 - Redeem Cornelius the Centurion The traditional-style, brush and ink drawings were not completed in order. I became immersed in the text and imagined experiences of the people along Jesus path. Images related to each Station and associated keywords emerged. I was surprised by my reaction since I never felt connected to the Passion story in such a personal way or its relevance in contemporary terms. The process was transformative as I began connecting

3 3 to judges, witnesses, mourners, soldiers, and, most importantly, Mother Mary and Jesus in a new way. One of our parishioners described his experience of the Stations this way: When we expose our spirits to mixed-media art forms, we open our spirits, our whole bodies, to the passion of the Passion of our Lord in new ways and give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to bring new understanding and conversion of soul. He shared this web site with me; and, I offer it to those of you who want to extend the meaning of the Stations through the meditative music and poetry of Marcel Dupre and Paul Claudel. [See hhtp://tinyurl.com/jq9cg8d] Work with the Stations has strengthened my sense of community between St. John s and the CSL and heightened my awareness of much more. I have noted, for example, that the CSL formation process seems to have impacted me by helping me, among other things, to see with the eyes of my heart and be more aware of the interconnections among Scripture, the Divine Office, Lectio, and daily life. Part of my daily life, in this case, included the Stations art work. comes upon a magical ship that takes them away on a voyage where they have adventures with all sorts of mythological characters. The ship has a banner with its motto Credendo Vides, here translated as By believing, one sees. Now the serendipitous thing is, I ve been thinking lately about how it was that an agnostic young man like my former self was drawn, seemingly out of nowhere, to God and the Episcopal Church. After the better part of four decades, I recently came to the conclusion that it was the Holy Spirit. (I m a master at missing the obvious.) That, however, only identified the agent, not the process. Whenever I thought about it in my younger years, I just didn t get Christianity. Where was the proof? The logic? Then the phrase credendo vides explained it all. I couldn t see God because I didn t believe in God. The unfortunate thing about this Latin phrase is that it could also be translated as seeing is believing, which not only lacks poetry, but that misses the point of faith entirely. First believe, then you will understand, then you will see, face-to-face, and not as a stranger. Br Steven Joseph OSB I look forward to continuing my journey with the Companions of St. Luke as I discover new ways of being part of the Body of Christ. St. Luke captures well the call from Jesus and my closing thought about this season of Lent: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me [see Luke 9:23]. Pax n/sr Julian OSB The Way of the Cross can become a pattern for our own journey of faith a way to be in solidarity with all of human suffering and struggle. Henri Nouwen Credendo Vides Jesus said to [Thomas], Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. ~ John 20:28-29 Being blessed with a little granddaughter, I m back into reading what we librarians call kiddie lit. I recently found a copy of the Voyage of the Basset by James C. Christensen. It is about a 19 th century professor of mythology at an English university who is being challenged by the rising tide of science promulgated by his colleagues. He is at a loss to defend the value of the imagination until on a walk along the Thames with his two daughters he

4 4 My dear friends, I don t know about you, but I am so ready for Lent this year. I welcome it. I yearn for it. This year my soul needs Lent. The cacophony in our political world is overwhelming too much heat but no light, too much shouting and not enough sense, fear that threatens to overpower faith. In the wake of the presidential election, many of us have been traumatized to discover that our most deeply held beliefs about what America stands for have been rejected and our voices have been silenced. Millions around the world took to the streets the day after the inauguration to insist that their voices and concerns would not go away. Others are delighted with the results of the election. They have long felt that their values and beliefs were under siege. No one paid attention to them when the recession of the last decade took away their jobs, their security, their future and their dignity. When they voted on Election Day, they cast a vote for change, for relief, for the restoration of a world they had lost. We are a nation divided, angry, frightened. The social scientists and psychiatrists and therapists caution us about the price we pay for too much change, too fast. When we re moving at a fever pitch all the time... when there s great uncertainty... when emotions are constantly raw we are exhausted. It will be a time to tell stories about when we ve felt hopeful or hopeless... when we ve felt ready to step out in public and when we ve wanted to hide in the shadows... when we have treated others like outsiders and when we have been outsiders ourselves. I know I am in need of a big dose of grace this year, that divine embrace, the knowledge that I am loved and forgiven despite my flaws and failures. I need to rest in the Lord and be healed and comforted, then empowered and challenged to go back out into the world and make it look more like the dream of God rather than the nightmare that we create. My prayer for you this Lent is that you may find that space for grace, a time to let God dwell with you and help you sort through the confusions of the world in which we find ourselves. You may find it helpful to pray the Prayers for National Life, #18 and #19 on Page 820 of the Book of Common Prayer. Regardless of who is in the White House, we are committed as Christians to welcome the stranger for we ourselves were once strangers and to care for the vulnerable and the needy. Our Baptismal vows commit us to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice and peace. This Lent I plan to focus less on giving up something I enjoy, and more on giving back, in time and prayer and money, to the ministries and causes that uphold our Gospel values in the world. I invite you to join me. May you keep a faithful Lent. Bishop Bill That s why I m so in need of Lent this year. I need a time of silence, a time to sit with the traumas and shocks of recent months and hope that God will help me make sense of it. I need some wilderness time. I need a space for grace. In my diocese, our Lenten program is called A Space for Grace. We will use contemporary literature and poetry as our texts. We are consciously creating a safe and stable place for listening, for expressing our fears, for talking about the challenges that face our community and what we, as people of faith, can do to help.

5 5 My Path to Vowed Life Sr Toni n/osb took came after much doubt, some fear and a lot of prayer. I have been drawn to monasticism since I was young, I did not come from a church tradition that included monastics, so I didn t The woman who introduced me to the Companions invited me to attend one of the community s Convocations as an observer. Attending that first Convocation was a big step for me would I fit in? Would I be disillusioned? Would I be accepted as member? I had been to several Benedictine retreats and attended Convocation with no other plans but to observe and participate in the beloved Benedictine Daily Office. I came away with the intention to become an Oblate in the community but I didn t make that known. I wanted to try following the discipline required of a Novice Oblate first to make sure I had the time and attention to be faithful. At the end of the year, I became a Novice Oblate and began the official formation process in the Companions. Sr Toni trust that call. It wasn t until middle-age that, through reminiscing with my sister, I remembered I started grade school at a small parochial school where the teachers were Catholic Sisters, and the only medical care we had at the time was also administered by Catholic sisters. For two years, my teachers and nurses were nuns. Now understanding where my interest came from, I accepted the call to monasticism but it still wasn t the right time or place to pursue it. It was the right time for God to start planting seeds in me that would one day lead to vows. The first seed came when I accidentally discovered the Rule of St Benedict and recognized which stream of monasticism I wanted to follow. The Rule made much sense to me and helped me begin to find the balance and structure I badly needed in my life. I started studying the Rule and reading commentaries. I also took advantage of some Benedictine retreats where I learned about the Daily Offices. Having set me before the way he would have me go, God next introduced me to a woman who was a Sister in the Companions of St. Luke. She was a speaker at a Diocesan workshop, talking about the Rule of St. Benedict. When I learned about the Companions, I finally saw a possible way to become a monastic. This model of practicing the discipline required for the next step before I officially took that step has guided me all along. But even after proving to myself that I could carry out the required discipline, the next step was never easy. I continued to question, doubt and pray but every time I asked myself What is the alternative? and there never was an answer. For a few years, I was content to remain an Oblate in the community until one of the brothers asked me why I wasn t planning to take solemn vows. I think I just stared at him because I didn t have an answer. Why wasn t I preparing for solemn vows? Was I too comfortable as an Oblate and didn t want a stricter discipline to follow? I couldn t live with that realization so I committed to the vowed life. Each step now is still very scary before becoming a Postulant or Novice, I had many doubts but I always came back to the honest answer that, for me, there isn t another way. I m glad I have been slow and cautious. Each step in formation seemed right and I continued on, sure of God s guidance. Thankful that he sent someone to tell me about the Companions and thankful for the wise brother who snapped me out of complacency and into the formation for vowed life. n Sr Toni OSB I would characterize my path to solemn vows as slow and cautious. The first part was God bringing me along and feeding me knowledge and contacts. The second part of the journey as a member of the Companions was up to me and each step that I Editors note: It seems I can t find an individual photo of Sr Toni hence the group photo. The only one I saw was at the closing party hiding behind the wings of the Sacred Butterfly!

6 6 A Thought for Lent by Br. David Gerns, OSB around the Altar of communion. To gather in a community of prayer, kindness, mutual respect, humility, and hospitality towards the stranger is itself an act of political resistance to a culture that is increasingly coarse, hateful, racist, and intolerant of differing political views. (Emphasis is mine). We are now in the season of Lent, which is a period of prayer and preparation for Easter. In many of our societies this is also a time of extreme division, anger, and even fear not just in our country but in many places throughout the world. Bishop Robert Hirschfeld of New Hampshire sent a message to all parishioners earlier this month. This is an important message for all of us. Here is a portion to consider: Several clergy have shared with me a modest but noticeable increase in attendance at our churches since last November s election. If social commentators are correct, it may be that the painful and stark divisions within our culture are invitations for souls to seek community, connection, mutual support and healing in our parish churches. As it happens, I am writing this in a monastery where the guesthouse is full to capacity and includes persons of different generations (including young adults!), races, and genders. Some of the monks have wondered if places like this will become more and more a refuge from a society pulling apart at the seams. If so, monastic life will be brought to its original function in society, as we remember that the Saints Benedict and Scholastica founded their orders partly in response to the chaos that ensued during the fall of the Roman Empire. Here is what I d like everyone to think about. How do we as a dispersed Benedictine community rise to the challenge presented by Bp. Hirschfeld? As Christians, we are called by our Baptism to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to strive for justice and peace for all people. As Benedictines we are called by the Rule to practice radical hospitality. We are to love the Lord God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and with all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to help the troubled and console the sorrowing. (RB chapter 4). Since we don t have a house that could offer a sanctuary for fellow Christians, how do we fulfil these vows and the call of the Rule? Certainly, prayer is the first step and the foundation for any other action or activity. But what else can be done? Maybe assisting our own church communities to become local sanctuaries (safe places), where people can visit, pray, sit quietly to try and hear God s small voice, and to have non-judgmental conversations. Just a thought, I m sure there may be other approaches. I write this article with the hope of starting a conversation within our community. I m hoping to have time allocated at our convocations this year to begin discussions. Bp. Hirschfeld s complete letter can be read at Here at the monastery, the sermons are not very explicit about the President or the latest Executive Order or tweet. They focus on the Lord Jesus and the beautiful realm that he points us to, the realm we refer to as the Kingdom of God. How Jesus treated people- -sinners, seekers, the ill, the powerless-- these are the topics for reflection, homilies, prayer, discussion, and contemplation Br David OSB Prior

7 The Sea of Galilee from modern day Tiberius 7