11 July 2023 - Tuesday of the 14th week in Ordinary Time - St Benedict - Matthew 9:32-38

      Jesus looks out at the crowds in the Gospel today and sees something very curious. Even though he tries to take care of their needs, even though he proclaims God’s kingdom and performs miracles and heals the sick, he realizes that the people are like sheep without a shepherd. He has compassion for them in the midst of this reality.  

      We celebrate the memorial of St Benedict today. Like Jesus, Benedict looked out at the reality around him and was concerned at what he saw. Benedict was a young man who came from a wealthy family in Italy; he went to Rome to study and to decide his direction in life. Even though Rome was the center of Christianity, beyond the surface Benedict saw the city’s sinfulness and chaotic nature. The Early Church that was persecuted and struggling had become a Church of the empire by the time Benedict arrived in the early 6th century. Many Christians in that era were yearning for the Church’s humble roots, trying to recapture something that was lost from the Early Church. 

     So, Benedict left Rome to became a hermit. His first experiment in attempting to found a monastery was a failure; that first group of monks were upset at Benedict’s high standards, even to the point of trying to poison him. He went on to found 12 different monastic communities that not only survived, but flourished, before founding in 529 what would become the famous monastery of Monte Casino, seen as the shining light of the monastic movement in Europe. I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Monte Casino last fall with a pilgrimage group.  

     The rule of St Benedict that he developed became the standard for monasticism in the West: living in community, sharing work responsibilities together, studying the faith, and praying together. Even though Benedict had high standards, he was always gentle, peaceable, and compassionate.  The monastic movement that Benedict established had a big influence in helping Europe survive the darkest days in the Middle Ages. Benedict always encouraged his community to strive toward perfection and the ideals of God’s kingdom, as he once said: “Whatever good work you begin to do, beg of God with most earnest prayer to perfect it.”  On the feast day of St Benedict, we honor the way God called him to lead people to a holy life of prayer, work, and study. May those ideals help us to live a life of holiness, too.