Homily: July 11 - St. Benedict - Prefer nothing to the love of Christ

St. Benedict is the father of the monastic tradition that spread throughout Europe—so he’s often known as the Father of Western Monasticism.  And at its height, Europe would be marked with over 30,000 monasteries.  St. Benedict is also known as a patron saint of Europe. 

Benedict lived in a time when the classical world was breaking apart—bloody wars were tearing down the civilization of the Greco-Roman world.  Barbarians were sweeping through Europe.  European culture was crumbling, yet within the Benedictine Monastery a different culture of work and prayer and learning and love of God prevailed.  The monasteries became beacons of hope for the people of Europe.

In the monasteries, the monks life was founded on a harmony of work and prayer, the ultimate aim of which was to seek God.  Benedict wrote: Nihil amori Christi praeponere—Prefer nothing to the love of Christ.  Holiness consists of this, preferring nothing to the love of Christ.

We are blessed in Cleveland to have our own Benedictine Monastery, St. Andrew’s Abbey, maybe you have visited it or had a nephew or grandson attend Benedictine High School.  I was talking to one of the Benedictine monks, and he was saying how there is a sort of stigma because the school is in a somewhat rougher part of Cleveland.

Trust me, he said.  The boys safety is our highest concern.  The Benedictine’s have always worked to transform a culture from the inside.  This is why we don’t just pick up and move across town.  It is our task to witness to the culture of Christ.

We now live in a world where the culture again is deteriorating.  The fabric of society is being torn a shred at its most basic levels, the dignity of human life and Christian marriage.  Mindlessness, carelessness, destructiveness, irrationality proceeded the dark ages 1500 years ago, and they are becoming the new norm again today. 

Every Christian is to be a beacon, that hope can be found in Christ.  So it is our task of turning away from worldliness and preferring nothing to the love of Christ who is our only hope, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Collect: O God, who made the Abbot Saint Benedict an outstanding master in the school of divine service, grant, we pray, that, putting nothing before love of you, we may hasten with a loving heart in the way of your commands.

Prayer over the Offerings: Look kindly, Lord, upon these holy offerings, which we make in honor of Saint Benedict, and grant that, by following his example in seeking you, we may merit the gifts of unity in your service and of peace.

Prayer after Communion: Having received this pledge of eternal life, we humbly beseech you, O Lord, that, attentive to the teaching of Saint Benedict, we may faithfully serve your designs and love one another with fervent charity.