Today I started reading :



I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy it. I'm only a chapter in and I've found much to identify with. This is mostly because part of the first chapter has a comparison of the Benedictines (the rule I follow) to the Jesuits. The book notes that, to help us to see how God breaks through the mundane and into their lives, the Benedictines follow a rule of work, prayer, and hospitality while the Jesuits heed their own experiences in the course of their ministry in the world. I was glad to see the Benedictines get a shout-out, especially since the authors remembered the hospitality part of the rule. Benedictine spirituality is normally summarized to "work and prayer," to the overlooking of how important hospitality is. Without hospitality, Bendictines in cenobitic living can become irrelevant to the outside world. In Benedict's culture, which was the splintering of the Roman Empire, monasteries could provide shelter for travelers. The Benedictine commitment to hospitality ensured that this vital service was provided. In fact, chapter 53 of the Rule is devoted to the very charitable reception of guests, whose presence nullified the observance of fast days for whoever ate with the guest (unless it's a really important fast day). A guest would never suffer for the spirituality of the brothers and sisters.

It just occurred to me how I've been affected by that Chapter, I now habitually bow as a greeting to everyone. This is especially true with GIl since I consider him to be my Prior. That probably looks very strange. Oh well. I've been told that hospitality may be one of my gifts, even if I'm fairly introverted when meeting new people.

Yesterday was our church's day to feed the homeless (dinner and a packed breakfast). I take particular pride in the fact that we may be the only church in our network that cooks a hot complete meal instead of just making sandwiches. There were a lot of new faces in the group of 37.