3 ways to remember God and help do his work on earth.
1. Be Thankful for your health and your family.
2. Be Humble, knowing that you are not the center of everything.
3. Be Merciful to people who come to you with their problems.
What's an Oblate?
Oblates of St. Benedict are Christian individuals or families who have associated themselves with a Benedictine community in order to enrich their Christian way of life. Oblates shape their lives by living the wisdom of Christ as interpreted by St. Benedict. Oblates seek God by striving to become holy in their chosen way of life. By integrating their prayer and work, they manifest Christ's presence in society.
Saint Paul tells us that each member of the body of Christ, the Church, has a special function to perform. Most are called to the married state and the raising of a family. Some are called to the single life in the world and others to the life of a priest or religious man or woman. The role of Oblates is to live in the world, to become holy in the world, to do what they can to bring the world to God by being witnesses of Christ by word and example to those around them.
Oblates concern themselves with striving to be what they are, people of God and temples of the Holy Spirit. Their prayer life will flow from this awareness, as will their willingness to offer themselves (that is the meaning of the word oblate) for the service of God and neighbor to the best of their ability. Oblates do not take on a new set of religious practices and are not required to say a certain number of prayers or engage in special devotions. They do not live in a religious community or take vows.
Saint Benedict and Oblates
Saint Benedict lived in the sixth century. He was born in a small town north of Rome and came to Rome for his education. Before long he abandoned his studies and lived as a hermit for several years at a place called Subiaco, where in time he acquired a reputation for holiness and miracles. Attracting many followers, Benedict established monastic communities at Subiaco, Terracina, and Monte Cassino. It was at Monte Cassino that he wrote a Rule which combined moderation with fidelity to the best traditions in Christian monasticism. During the following centuries, his monastic way of life spread throughout Europe, and Benedictine monasteries and convents became the principal centers of prayer, culture, and education.
From the very beginning Benedictine monasteries accepted boys, and convents received girls, "offered" to them by their parents for their religious training and education. These children lived in the community, shared its daily round of religious activities, and became known as Oblates. In the course of time, lay people asked to be associated with the work of the monks and nuns, without however leaving their homes, families, and occupations. These too were received, offered themselves to God, became Oblates of a monastery or convent, and promised to regulate their lives according to the spirit of the Rule of St. Benedict. They applied the teachings of the Rule to their lives in the world, in their family circles, in their places of work, and in their civic and social activities.
Today, throughout the world, there are thousands of Oblates praying and working in spiritual union with Benedictine men and women of various communities and receiving spiritual strength and inspiration from their association as Oblates.
Oblates promise to lead an enriched Christian life according to the gospel as reflected in the Rule of St. Benedict. In this way they share in the spiritual benefits of the sons and daughters of Benedict who are dedicated to the monastic life by vow. After a time of preparation, which culminates in an act of Oblation -- a rite approved by the Church -- the candidates become Oblates of St. Benedict. This promise affiliates them with a Benedictine community and commits them to apply to their lives the characteristic monastic principles.
Oblates strive after stability and fidelity in their lives by regular worship with other Christians and by the support they give to the social and educational apostolates of their local parishes as well as that of the Church as a whole.
In accord with the teaching of Benedict, Oblates practice moderation. This moderation manifests itself in the use of the goods of this world, an increasing concern to their neighbor, and in the way they temper and direct their desires. Their fidelity to Christian living will provide a much needed example of genuine Christianity and a stabilizing influence for good on all around them.
In the spirit of the gospel, Oblates commit themselves to a continual conversion to Christ. They see sin and any attachment to it as basically incompatible with a serious following of Christ. Through this deepening of the baptismal promise, Oblates are free to put on Christ and to allow him to permeate their lives. In this way Oblates will come to recognize that in all the phases and events of their lives, in their joys and successes as well as in their sorrows and disappointments, they are in close union with Christ and participate in his very death and resurrection. This 'putting on of Christ' is the goal Oblates pursue in their conversion of life.
In the spirit of obedience, Oblates strive to discover and maintain their proper relationship toward God, their family, and the civil and religious society in which they live. Before God, Oblates must come to recognize themselves as creatures dependent on their Creator and as sinners before their Redeemer. Aware of their own spiritual poverty and need of God, Oblates come to realize that they have no other reason for being, except to be loved by God as Creator and Redeemer and to love and seek him in return.
In loving obedience to God's plan, Oblates will develop a deep reverence for life. They will respect it as a precious gift from God and defend those groups which because of age, health or race are defenseless and most open to attack. Seeking harmony and integrity of life, they perpetuate and enhance the traditional Benedictine motto: Peace. Personally and together with other Christians, Oblates work to promote Christian family living. They take care to seek out opportunities for the practice of charity and warm hospitality to those around them.
Oblate Spirituality
Benedictine Oblates seek God in association with a monastic community: as individuals and as members of a body, they grow in love of God, neighbor, and self. With the Rule as their guide, Oblates adopt values that are part of the very fabric of Christian spirituality, such as, spending time daily reflecting on the Sacred Scriptures; cultivating an awareness of the presence of God in silence; devoting time to the praise of God; performing acts of mortification. An acquaintance with these and other Christian values presented in the Rule of St. Benedict will enable Oblates to attain that special peace and joy that Christ came to bring and promised to all who follow him.
The Director of Oblates provides direction and instruction through letters or meetings. Conferences, group discussions, common prayers, and participation in the community's liturgical life afford Oblates the opportunity for spiritual growth. In offering this assistance to the individual Oblate, the guiding principle is that stated by St. Benedict in chapter 64 of his Rule: "Let the Abbot so moderate all things that there be something for the strong to strive after, and nothing to dishearten the weak."
For more information on how to become an Oblate, visit the Order of Saint Benedict Website at:
A journey towards God begins with faith. Faith comes more easily to those who understand the Bible. In order to understand the New Testament, you have to read the Old Testament.
The Old Testament is also known today as The Hebrew Bible. It is the history of the Jewish People and records in minute detail their relationship with God. Combined, both The Old and New Testament offer answers to almost any question a Christian might have about their religion, including that most basic question with which so many of us struggle at one time or other: How do I "get" Faith?
First of all, we are built to believe. We believe someone when they tell us something. We believe in God this way.
In the Old Testament, God speaks to many people directly. In Genesis 15 God speaks to Abram (Abraham) in a vision.
"Don't be fearful, Abram, for I will defend you, and I will give you great blessings". Abram asks what good are blessings "If I have no son?"
God tells him that no one else will be your heir, and tells Abram to "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendents will be like that- too many to count. And Abram believed God; then God considered him righteous on account of his faith".
For Abram, you might think, faith came easily- he was promised the heavens, figuratively, by none other than God. But he did not have to believe this vision. He could have backed away and said "No. I don't believe".
That he did believe tells us much about Abram. He needed tangible evidence, and so he had to see his descendents clearly. He understood the countless stars. That he believed also tells us about God. After helping Abram to see, God witnessed Abram's free will to make the choice to believe, and "considered him righteous on account of his faith".
We all have a choice to believe in God or not to believe. Here are some specific reasons why I believe in God.
1. I understand that I am not the center of things, God is. Therefore I do not live for myself, but for and through God.
2. I believe I am not here by chance. I was not randomly placed on a planet circling a star in one of countless galaxies. God, who created all of the galaxies and all they hold, put me here. My existence is not meaningless and without cause.
3. God sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins, so that we may all have the chance of salvation from sin and be free to join God for eternal life when our brief life ends here.
4. Knowing that Jesus was human, as well as God, makes God much more understandable to me both spiritually and intellectually.
5. I believe God oversees our existence, and sends love and understanding to our troubled world through people. I can focus on the positive work of making the Golden Rule- "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you," a reality, with guidance from God informing my instincts.
6. I believe God keeps me conscious of my transgressions, and aware that when I do wrong in any way, I am distancing myself from God.
7. I believe I need never fear being abandoned or alone. God is always near me.
8. I believe in the hope and love God offers, and for all who take seriously the righteous, trusting life of belief.
BOOK REVIEW
The Shadow of God Author: Charles Scribner III
Published by Doubleday, New York, 2006.
Yes, this is the same Charles Scribner of the great publishing company; Charles Scribner and Sons, established by his great grandfather, and continued by his grandfather, father and himself.
He is a convert to Catholicism, from the Anglican Episcopal Church. His is a story of memory in a year starting in January, 2002, ending on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2003. The odyssey takes him through his school years, St. Paul's, and Princeton. He holds a Ph.D. in Art History, especially in the field of Baroque Art. He is also the author of biographies of Peter Paul Rubens, and Giovanni Bernini.
The title of the book comes from Sir Thomas Browne, the author of Scribner's favorite maxim; "Light is the shadow of God" The constant theme running through the book is the many Epiphanies that are so much a part of his life, occasions that he shares with us. "Our world is longer and lovelier than even that of the Magi, but it leads to the same place- in God's time. The question is what to do along the way." (p.11)
"The mind must have special places for such moments, niches of memory that shelter, preserve, and frame them; in other words, reserve them as if a sacrament." (p.107)
On his road to Catholicism, two things stand out in his sacramental memory. As a third-former at St. Paul's School, he saw Graham Greene's play, The Potting Shed. Thirty years later, having the play still ensconced in his memory, he re-read the play. It is so very much like Grahme Greene himself. Greene, a doubter like Thomas the Apostle, took Thomas as his Baptismal name. Remember, it was the doubting Thomas that said the immortal words, "My Lord and My God". As Scribner wrote about Greene, "The depths of faith rarely run deeper than in Greene's most insistent doubters- above all himself." (p. 118)
"When people ask me today what turned me Catholic, I reply that it was seeing A Man for All Seasons as a fourth-former at St. Paul's - and in the company of my Anglican-priest Uncle." (p. 120) When it came time to write my paper- there was no contest between the believing Lewis, (C.S. Lewis) and the doubting Hume (David Hume). As Lewis pointed out, the difficulty of belief lay not in the details but in the overarching question of whether there is God. To concede even the possibility of a yes is to open the door to a world of possibilities- of miracles great and small. I found the clarity and elegance of that Oxford don utterly irresistible. No wonder he is revered (and claimed) by Catholics and Evangelicals alike… (p. 161)
In going to St. Paul the Apostle Church with an uncle, a guitar-led folk music Mass was taking place, "And yet, despite the cultural shock to my system, I left the Mass profoundly impressed by its simple conviction. The people there clearly did not come because of the beauty of the architecture, or music or liturgy- but simply because they believed." (p. 163)
Catholicism had opened for him at Princeton University, through the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his This Side of Paradise. His devotion to Thomas More, the Man for All Seasons, his Catholic cousins, the newly published Dutch Catechism, and a priest who weekly met Scribner to discuss various parts of it, "in a most informal and enticing way." (p. 173) He once told a friend, twenty years before, that he had become a Catholic because Catholicism is an impossible religion to live in, but the only one to die in.
The format of writing about memories, music and art, can be somewhat confusing for some, but I found it very conducive to reading a short single page, or page and a half. This method makes for easy reading, with profound statements in each entry. Scribner writes with powerful pathos, and a deep love for his father, as he describes his father's death and funeral. It is a most beautiful passage, and edifying in all respects. The author does not let his adopted church off the hook, he excoriates the "institutional Church, especially during the "priest's scandal" in Boston and elsewhere. He is much more interested in, and is strengthened by the "sacramental church".
Scribner tells us he is "not a collector; of stamps, coins, rare books, or assorted memorabilia for display "…I realized how wrong I was. I have been an avid collector from my earliest days to the present; my collection is of memories- a rich, even priceless (if unmarketable) collection. (p. 271) "Memories may be the only collection we can take with us on our final journey." While reading of the week in Florida with his family, which he visits each year, he mused on some thoughts of religion.
"But for people who choose never to leave their sofas, religion had found its prime place; television. It is hard to decide which main branch of Christianity, the Protestant Evangelical or the Roman Catholic, had better perfected self-parody via the airwaves. Each has its own cable network. One is hosted by polyester preachers; the other by a formidable nun in an over-starched habit: Evelyn Waugh would have a field day down here." (p. 276)
Charles Scribner's III's book The Shadow of God is highly recommended to anyone who is seeking God. In writing about "memory, art, and faith", Scribner leads us through simple everyday events, to a God who constantly "surprises" us. It is beautifully written and on each page, Scribner gives us a reason to pause, and contemplate all the Epiphanies of his life, as well as the wonderment of the Magi's journey to Bethlehem to bring gifts to the Child - "Unto us a child is born"- who is Christ the Lord- God who became a man, because God has first loved us.
God our Father, you made Saint Benedict an outstanding guide to teach us how to live in your service. Grant that by preferring Your love to everything else, we may walk in the way of Your commandments. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Feast Day of St. Benedict, July 11
Every moment you spend looking down is a moment you are denying yourself the gifts of life that are waiting to be observed.
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