Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 15, June 2012

Via Vitaeway of life

Benedictine Oblates of The World Community for Christian Meditation

On the 9 September 1999, James Bishop, a successful computer software executive, thought his life was going to end

violently. He was arrested for serious offenses and sent to prison for ten years. While in prison, James learned about

The World Community for Christian Meditation and Christian meditation from a volunteer who visited there. He lived the

Rule of Benedict in prison and after his release. Now, James has written A Way in the Wilderness, a commentary on the

Rule of Benedict for the physically and spiritually imprisoned. I spoke with James recently about his book, his experiences

with meditation, and his call to oblation:

TRISH: James, I think most people who have never been to prison would wonder how anyone could learn to meditate

there.

JAMES: The biggest complaint I hear from meditators is about the distractions. Of

course, most prison environments are very noisy with lots of distractions, but an

equal number of distractions happen in our everyday lives. Perhaps the distractions

in prison are of a different intensity, but I’ve noticed that the intensity of our

distractions doesn’t really matter as much as the number of distractions. For me,

trying to meditate without any distractions would be like trying to lift weights

without any weights. It is the distractions that give us practice and strengthen our

ability to deal with distractions.

TRISH: There are so many commentaries on the Rule of Benedict. Why the need for

a new one?

JAMES: A Way in the Wilderness examines the Rule as a manual for prisoners in a

pragmatic way. It is a different approach to the Rule, but one that is very similar

to the original intent of the Rule: the life of a monastic. The early monastics

lived in monasteries very similar to our prisons today. But my examination of the

Rule goes a step further, considering the application of the Rule to everyone.

Most people today live in some kind of prison, either a physical one of stone and

steel, or a self-imposed prison. Perhaps they suffer from an addiction like I did, or

perhaps they feel trapped in their lives. Benedict saw the monastery as a kind of workshop (RB 4), and whatever our life

circumstances, we can make our current situation a workshop for improving our lives. We can improve how we deal with

our circumstances, and we can improve our relationship with God.

TRISH: What influenced you to choose the title, A Way in the Wilderness?

JAMES: The title is a quote from Isaiah 43:19. Here, the nation of Israel has essentially been beaten down, and are likely

feeling a bit depressed about their situation, much like a prisoner feels when he is first incarcerated. Isaiah brings a

message from God, saying: ‘I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.’ Note the words God spoke

to Isaiah: not a way through the wilderness, because it is not a way out. The Rule is a way of living while one is in the

wilderness or desert of their life; a way of living while we are living our lives.

INTERVIEW WITH JAMES BISHOPAUTHOR OF ‘A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS’

2

TRISH: How has the Rule changed your life?

JAMES: I was thinking about this just the other day. I

recently saw my first ‘annular’ solar eclipse. It was quite

an experience. An annular eclipse happens when the moon

is so far from the earth that the eclipse forms a ring where

the sun is still visible. As I watched the moon centre itself

over the sun, I thought about how our lives can sometimes

be off-centre. Living the Rule, we become monks in a very

real sense, and we work in our monasteries, our workshops,

toward centring our lives and gaining a proper balance. My

life, before I went to prison, was in tremendous turmoil.

Living the Rule, along with daily meditation, has allowed

me to bring my life back into balance. My life is more

centred now, and I have greater clarity.

TRISH: What was it about the Rule that made such an

impact and led you to live by it?

JAMES: I first encountered the Rule while I was in prison.

On the surface, it is like a manual for operating a

monastery. This intrigued me greatly. I have always felt

drawn to monasteries, to their holiness and their solitude.

I remember as a child feeling at home while visiting a

monastery with my family. As I read the Rule, initially, I

thought that much of it was not relevant today, nor was it

particularly relevant to my life circumstances at the time.

However, I then saw that each section had great application

in much deeper ways. It was like a manual for life, a

guideline for living that made sense. I needed that very

much in my life.

TRISH: In time you became an oblate of The WCCM. What

drew you to the Oblate Path?

JAMES: I felt I needed to make a deeper commitment to

spiritual life. I thought monasticism might be the right

direction for me, so I contacted the prison chaplain who

referred me to one of the volunteers who taught meditation

to the prisoners and, as it turned out, she was an oblate.

A call to oblation is a call to a deeper dedication. It

requires lifelong vows. As an oblate, I live by the Rule of

Benedict, so my studying of the Rule followed. This led me

to a sense that it was vital that I interpret how to live the

Rule when so much of it was inapplicable if read literally.

That is how I came to find a deeper meaning in the Rule.

TRISH: You are no longer in a physical prison. Has the Rule

maintained its prominence in your life?

JAMES: The Rule has gained prominence in my life since

my release. After my release, I found greater application

for the Rule outside of prison, and felt that A Way in the

Wilderness needed to be written. It draws on personal

experiences of the Rule’s application in my life both in

prison and outside. The prison experience has given me the

viewpoint of my life before prison as being more imprisoned

than when I was physically locked up. After prison, I saw

that other people were in the same kinds of prison I was

in before my incarceration, and I think many don’t even

realise it. A Way in the Wilderness can help anyone see the

Rule in a different, hopefully more pragmatic, way.

TRISH: Thank you James, for your willingness to share your

insights which offer a new way of understanding The Rule

of Benedict. They have the potential to shed some light and

offer ‘a way in the wilderness’ to anyone who knowingly

or, even unknowingly, may be imprisoned by problems that

seem to take over their lives, work or other situations in

which they feel trapped. TRISH PANTON, AUSTRALIA;pantonamdg@ozemail.com.au

JAMES BISHOP: james@authorjamesbishop.comhttp://authorjamesbishop.com/wilderness/

A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS, ISBN 978-1-4411-5115-5 from WCCM book distributors or

Continuum Books www.continuumbooks.com

Interview with James Bishop ........ 1

Rosie Lovat ............................. 3

Editorial ................................ 3

A journey of grace .................... 4

Restraint of speech ................... 5

The Trinity ............................. 6

What stability means for me ........ 8

Contemplative book club ............ 9

Practising lectio divina ..............10

Lectio divina: a spiritual practice .11

Coming home .........................12

Mid-Atlantic US oblates .............13

Cork day of recollection ............14

25 WCCM Benedictine Oblates .....14

What is drawing me; The gift ......15

William ‘Bill’ Harrison ...............15

Book corner ...........................16

Events; Contact info .................16

CONTENTS

3

Rosie Lovat, the first oblate of the community and a close

friend to Father John made two retreats a year at the Priory

and kept a journal, some notes from which are quoted here,

from an oblate meeting led by Father John:

THURSDAY 27/3/80 (warm spring day. Hot sun)

Most unusual weather. Wearing only a cardigan out of

doors. Father said Mass. I will never get used to the

wonder of baking bread, saying my mantra to the rhythm

of the kneading – putting my whole heart into it – then,

at Mass, it becomes the Body of Christ. What greater

happiness could there be? It is such a deep overwhelming

emotion. Bishop Hill, the Anglican Bishop of Ontario,

arrived this evening. Then there was a meeting of the

oblates. Father spoke to us. Father said as oblates we have

a very important place in the development of the monastic

life. By our life in the world, searching for God, we prove

that monasticism isn’t about theories and ideals, but about

real living in Christ. The monastic life is the single minded,

whole hearted search for God. Father gave us 2 books to

read during the year: Benedictine Monasticism, by Bishop

Butler and Teach us to Pray, by Andre Louf.

He urged us during our year of novitiate – am and pm – to

read these books. And to read the Rule of St Benedict daily

with an open heart.

The monastic life is a witness to the absolute value of our

whole life centre in Christ.

He spoke about St Benedict. CHRIST IS OUR CENTRE. St

Benedict puts it clearly. The new creation can only be seen

by the vision of a pure heart, a humble heart. God and

only God is to be worshipped. God alone is good.

THE SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF MONASTIC LIFE IS A SIGN

OF THIS REALITY IN OUR MIDST. The power of the Rule of

St B. for all of us is A WHOLEHEARTED SEARCH FOR GOD.

The reality is the EXPERIENCE OF JESUS. THE PURPOSE OF

PRAYER IS TO BE FULLY OPEN TO THE POWER OF JESUS TO

HIS LOVE.

WE MUST APPROACH THE MYSTERY OF GOD THROUGH

OUR OWN EXPERIENCE. Oh that today you would listen to

his voice, harden not your hearts.

KEY WORD: CONVERSION. We can best understand it in

terms of transcendence: the expansion of our being as we

cross the frontiers of our own limitations, as we leave self

behind and cross to the further shore.

PRAYER: We can say that prayer is transcendence

realised.

We turn aside from everything created and find ourselves

in the Creator.

CONVERSION isn’t a rejection of the world, but a vision in

the redemptive love of the world.

CONVERSION in the Rule is conversion to the brethren.

Think of them not self, turning to God and to Christ.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

• discern what is the will of God. We experience joys

and challenges as we discern with our mentor what is

the will of God through each stage to Final (Solemn)

Oblation.

• present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Discipline at

the outset is not easy, and may feel like a sacrifice but

it is the foundation on which commitment and love

are grounded and become our way of being. We have

experienced this previously through our commitment to

the twice daily practice of meditation.

The experience of commitment is one of expansion;it is not about constraint, rather liberation. John Main OSB

Two oblates who have shaped the oblate community

in different ways have entered eternal life recently;

Rosie Lovat from the UK and Bill Harrison from the US.

Their legacy is written in the hearts and minds of those who

knew, loved and learned from them and those of us who

felt their influence from afar.

I am grateful and deeply touched by the generosity,

sincerity and giftedness of those who wrote for this issue.

And to Alexandra for her dedication and ability to turn

simple articles into a newsletter that is a work of art and

enhances each contribution.

[A]s we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run

on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing

with the inexpressible delight of love. RB Prologue 49

With love, TRISH

ROSIE LOVAT: 1918-2012 We are all called into the fullness of Being, to the fullness

of God Himself.

None of us can understand this fully, but we can all enter

into the EXPERIENCE of it.

TO KNOW GOD WITH THE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS

CHRIST.

St Benedict is never harsh or burdensome. His Rule is

practical.

WE MUST TURN ASIDE FROM EVERYTHING THAT DISTRACTS

US FROM GOD. If we do this our life will be filled with joy.

We will approach God running with indescribable joy.

READ THE RULE EVERY DAY:

Look behind the words and be open to the Spirit.

It is marvellously human and compassionate.

We must be clear, IF WE ARE SERIOUS IN OUR SEARCH FOR

GOD, WE MUST BE SINGLE MINDED AND WHOLEHEARTED.

Journal notes sent by FATHER LAURENCE

EDITORIAL

4

Judi and Paul Taylor en route to the Singapore Meditatio Interfaith Seminar

January 2012

Over more than 15 years our journey took us via a

number of schools of meditation where we met some

remarkable people; we continue to give thanks for the

sincerity and integrity of so many we encountered as we

went, and for being opened to all this way holds. Coming

home to Christian meditation in the mid-90’s had a sense

of rightness, a recognising of an unnamed knowing through

our years of searching that a place of meeting, of union and

integration was always possible. What this might mean in

practical terms came into sharper focus at two Meditatio

seminars we attended, in London and Singapore in the past

year.

The NSW Christian Meditation Community, of which

we are part has, over about 10 years, made a number of

explorations of interfaith dialogue with members of the

Buddhist, Islamic and Vedantic traditions. We always hoped

to share a period of silence as well as our conversation,

sometimes this was possible. Over time we experienced

the limitation of dialogue for us, and realised meditation

together, at the heart of our gatherings, creates a stable

place to explore sharing our respective sacred texts.

We were encouraged by Shaikh Kabir Helminski from the

London Sufi community, who spoke of the world being at a

tipping point between destructive materialism and moving

toward a new sense of global cooperation, and what was

so needed was small contemplative guilds where people

met in a spirit of unity, overcoming the seeming divisions

A JOURNEY OF GRACEBEGINNING AN INTERFAITH MEDITATION GROUP

between the world’s faith traditions. The interfaith seminar

in Singapore continued our thinking of the practicalities of

how to bring this about. Questions, such as: ‘how to invite

people; how to create conditions of trust; and how to share

our sacred writings.’ Father Laurence encouraged us that

what unites us is the silence. We can form a community of

faith, even with our different beliefs, and he reminded us

of St Irenaeus’ words: ‘The beginning is faith, the end is

love’.

The Good Heart gave us a wonderful model for interfaith

sharing, based on friendship, goodwill and trust. And Bede

Griffith’s Universal Wisdom has been a great resource,

collecting together beautiful readings from many

traditions.

We decided to meet once a month. We invited some

Jewish friends and some people from the local Sufi

group and, of course, our own Christian meditators, and

encouraged them to extend this invitation, particularly to

those who belonged to other faith traditions and would

have an interest in meditation. A few years earlier, Judi had

begun a group with some Jewish friends, and others of no

particular faith tradition, when they were facing serious

health issues. Involvement in this group had revealed that

our meditation could be simply adapted in a way open to

all.

The first three months we simply meditated together

with a reading, before and after meditation, from across

the traditions. From our first meeting in February there

has been a lot of interest, with people from Jewish, Sufi,

Tibetan and Laotian Buddhist faiths, some members of the

local Integral group and an atheist who feels at home in

the group. Our own meditators too have been eager. Some

have brought along friends they might not feel able to bring

to our usual groups. With 30+ at a recent meeting, we are

facing the (wonderful) problem that we may need to find a

bigger room!

At our May and June gatherings we have meditated

together with readings as before, and now, guided by a

simple format Fr Laurence helped us shape, we ventured

into some sharing about how the readings spoke to us and

touched our lives. In May, before meditation, we read from

the Bhagavadgita, part of Krishna speaking to his disciple

Arjuna and, afterwards, we used the reading for that

Sunday, John 15:1-8, often referred to as ‘the vine and

the branches’. Some people from other traditions found

Jesus’ words confronting and harsh. Perhaps our meditation

time had created a freedom in them to express this. There

also seemed to be a receptivity and gratitude among our

own to share in this way. We had been given a chance to

5

RESTRAINT OF SPEECH

In Chapter 6 of the Rule, our Father Benedict is actually

very strict. He says: ‘There are times when (even) good

words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence.’

He adds: ‘Permission to speak should seldom be granted

even to mature disciples, no matter how good or holy or

constructive their talk …’ He writes that the teacher may

speak, ‘the disciple is to be silent and listen.’

For some years one of my parishioners was a woman

who, I swear, never had an unexpressed thought. Her entire

stream of consciousness was laid bare in words, often

passionate words. You could forget about thoughtfulness.

She provided a running commentary day and night on every

event within her radar. My wife kept reminding me: ‘She

has a good heart, she means well.’ And true, she was not

malicious, though often very hurt by someone. There was a

kind of justice in that. She herself hurt a lot of people.

Benedict says it is better to listen and choose silence.

This was simply incomprehensible to my parishioner. For

her, consciousness and speech were welded together, one

following the other like fish and chips. One of Benedict’s

more prolific contemporary interpreters, Joan Chittister,

points out that silence is not non-talking, but rather

‘respect for others, a sense of place, a spirit of peace.’

But it is more than that. It is that the subduing of my ego

in prayer, stillness and silence, has now lessened my need

to say things, to make statements, to cap other people’s

stories, to tell my own story if I haven’t been asked. If I am

going to be in company, I will remember to be still.

Restraint of speech may be also a matter of making sure

my noise is not drowning out God or others. Sometimes

it does. Someone else’s word gets capped by my more

dramatic or funnier word. Benedictines don’t do that. I

think restraint of speech is also a facet of humility. It is

a recognition that what I might want to say, wonderfully

witty and insightful as it may be, is not all that important.

It may not be all that clever. But even if it is, it may be

better kept to be conveyed more intimately.

There are also aspects of wisdom involved. The motto of

Queen Elizabeth I was video et taceo, I see and I am silent.

When we are in company, when people are celebrating

perhaps, it’s sometimes hard to remember restraint of

speech. Introverts like me tend to withdraw and try to

spot the escape committee. But others, more extrovert,

join in. Then, I imagine, it is time to recall what Benedict

teaches. Our conversation is to be good and sincere. We do

not forget to listen. We do not have to say everything we

think of, or everything we know. We have served if we have

understood someone’s pain.

ROSS MILLER, NEW ZEALAND;ross.miller@paradise.net.nz

Dalai Lama and Laurence Freeman

be confronted by our own scriptures, a chance to listen

with open hearts to the words afresh, and experience the

challenge that helps us go deeper. Others heard Jesus’

words as a call to become free of our false self.

We have invited those attending to suggest readings and

music that could be used before and after meditation.

This week our Sufi friend brought some of the poetry

of Ibn Arabi, and shared a brief reflection before some

conversation among us all. It’s a tentative conversation

‘profound … respectful … powerful and moving …humbling

… a sense of abundance and of simplicity,’ are some of

the comments we have received. At some moments there

can be an awkwardness, at others an exquisite moment of

union. While it has been noted ‘it is difficult for some of us

to know how to honour the diverse expressions of religious

faith when we know very little about them’, people come

back. ‘The meditation bonds us,’ someone said. And we

notice the visitors have stayed on each time for informal

conversation after the group. It is a place of unknowing for

us all, and it seems we are willing to occupy it together in

respect and friendship.

We are grateful for so much in coming to here. Fr

Laurence’s words encourage us on:

Interfaith friendship especially at the grass roots level

serves the whole world in this critical era … Meditation is

a spirituality of our time. It belongs to each tradition in

a unique way. It offers an immediate and deep place of

meeting, creating a community of faith among those of

different beliefs and generates the hope that our time so

urgently needs. Laurence Freeman, 2012.

JUDI AND PAUL TAYLOR, AUSTRALIA;palmy@ozemail.com.au

Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

6

My presentation is a reflection on the Rule of St

Benedict Ch. 9:2, ‘To this should be added the third

psalm and the Gloria.’

In this chapter St Benedict regulates the number of

psalms and the various responses to be used in the Divine

Office. I will be focusing only on one aspect, to be precise,

on one phrase. Of course, what is meant is the Gloria Patri.

My reflections are divided into 3 parts followed by a

conclusion:

1. Examples of the a brief summary from the literary

commentaries

2. Trinity and non-duality

3. Trinitarian Rule

As none of these thoughts are

my own, it remains for me to say

that I have shamelessly quoted

long passages from various

sources.

By prescribing how often and

when the ‘Glory be’ should be

said, St Benedict puts it at the

centre of the Opus Dei, and thus

the Gloria Patri constitutes the

centre of monastic life. This

is not a pious exercise but has

profound implications for the

consciousness of the monastic as

we shall see.

As with silence, St Benedict

does not reflect much on it or

develop a theology of silence; he

legislates for it. He does not talk

much about it; he simply does it.

In my own little survey at

Douai Abbey, I discovered

that the ‘Glory be’ is said 30 to 35 times a day. There is

probably no other phrase or prayer as often used as this

one. As a consequence the ‘Glory be’ has been elevated

without much notice or justification to a repetitive prayer

or mantra. And reverence is demonstrated by bowing or

standing up.

According to Holzherr, a Benedictine abbot and

commentator of the Rule, it was rather uncommon before

Benedict to use the ‘Glory be’ so often. Holzherr argues

that Benedict exhibits a particular Trinitarian piety and

reveals his anti-Arian attitude.1

We can safely say that for Benedict, Jesus Christ was

fully human and fully divine and he wanted his monks to

acknowledge this 30 times a day.

THE TRINITY

Benedict was not interested in reflecting any further

on the Trinity but he wanted to ensure that we develop a

Trinitarian image of God; not so much through reflection

but rather through practice. I will try to argue that

fundamentally it is not about a Trinitarian view of the

Godhead but of reality.

In this paragraph, in contrast to Benedict’s attitude, I

would like to reflect on some aspects of the Holy Trinity

which until recently was largely irrelevant for me. Three

books and one talk in a short space of time made me more

receptive to the reality of the Holy Trinity.

In his lecture ‘From

Duality to Trinity’, Laurence

Freeman2 opened a new

chapter in my approach of

the Holy Trinity.

A few weeks later I read

in Timothy Radcliffe’s

book Why go to Church?

that ‘We need to get rid of

the image of the celestial

Daddy.’3 In fact we need to

rid ourselves of any image

of God. St Augustine was

quoted, that if you count

you get it wrong. The Holy

Trinity is not about counting

from 1 to 3.

The most profound

reflections about the Holy

Trinity and the Trinitarian

reality of life I found in

Raimon Panikkar’s book

The Experience of God.4

According to Panikkar there

are three principal approaches to God:

a. the dualist vision, in which God is the absolutely

Other. There is an infinite distance between Creator

and creature

b. the monist vision, every thing is God and we

experience God insofar as we all experience things

c. the non-dualist vision (advaita) in which divinity is

neither individually separate from the rest of reality

nor totally identical with it.

God is neither the Same (monism) nor the Other

(dualism). God is the one pole of reality. This pole

is nothing in itself. It exists only in its polarity, in its

relationship. God is relationship, intimate internal

relationship with all.

The Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev

7

Panikkar continues that the Christian event constitutes

a challenge to both monism and dualism. The principal

dogmas of Christianity are non-dualist.4 I will often use the

words Trinitarian and non-dualist interchangeably.

‘Although the One is certainly not a numerical value,

it surely implies the negation of all multiplicity; it is the

expression of unity. To say that God is not One means that

the rationalizing human mind cannot reduce reality ad

unum …

If, in the monotheistic perspective, there is one

absolutely omniscient Being who embraces and understands

all of reality, that is not the case for the Trinity.

Nevertheless, there are not three gods: this is non-dualism.

God is not one, but neither is God two nor any multiplicity.

It is only through the constant negation of duality, by

refusal to close the process, in the conscious renunciation

of trying to understand everything, in the neti neti of

apophatic mysticism, that we can approach the Trinitarian

mystery.’4. (p. 65)

‘God, the Human, and the World are not one, nor two,

nor three. They are not three things, neither are they one.

Reality is Trinitarian, not dualist, neither one nor two. Only

by denying duality (advaita), without reducing everything

to unity, are we able consciously to approach it.’4.(p.66)

‘But the Trinitarian scandal that, according to the

theology of the first centuries, cost Jesus his life ended

in time by becoming blurred … The Trinity did not fit in

with the Christian empire. Theocracy is more in accord

with monotheism … The monotheism of orthodox Judaism

emerged again in the way Christianity was lived. The God of

the Hebrew Bible was identified with the Christian God. For

many, Jesus became simply the God of the Christians.’4.(p.67)

‘Sharing the life of the Trinity, we are slowly healed of

rivalry and fear. And so the dogma of the Trinity does not

fuel intolerance and claims of Christian superiority.’3. (p. 88)

‘So when we say that God is one and three, we are not so

much making numerical statements as struggling to glimpse

the mystery of the love that is the Trinity’s being: it points

to a reciprocity, utterly mutual without introversion and

turned out beyond it self.’3. (pp. 85,88)

Trinitarian views in the RBThe Rule at its core and in its outlook has a non-dualist

vision.

Three small examples should demonstrate this point:

1. The example of the ladder of humility clearly exists

only with the two sides, body and soul. It clearly

avoids an either or, or a supremacy of the one over

the other. A balanced life needs both aspects (RB 7)

2. Benedict wants us to cherish and regard the tools

we are using for the daily work like the vessels of

the altar. It has been said that Benedict tries to

overcome the divide of the secular and the sacred.

3. That guests should be received as Christ implies the

strongest non dualist attitude. The guest or stranger,

the poor or the sick are not vicariously representing

Christ but are Christ despite of or because of being

a guest, a stranger, poor or sick. This is clear gospel

teaching of the Trinitarian view of life.

ConclusionThe RB leads us to acknowledge the Holy Trinity and thus

the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus Christ. This

recognition is so radical as it tries to overcome a dual view

of reality. As Christ is not either human or divine, so are

we. Thirty times a day we are asked to bow to the holy

Trinity and acknowledge that reality is not dual but non-

dual or Trinitarian.

‘This single phrase in the Rule wants to open us up to

the understanding that religion is not merely here for us to

become good but to become God.’5. God became man, for

man to become God.

THOMAS BRUNNHUBER, OBLATE OF DOUAI ABBEY, UK; thomas.brunnhuber@hotmail.com

REFERENCES:1. George Holzherr, Guide to Christian Living, with commentary.

(Translated by Monks of Glenstal Abbey, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1982).

2. Given at Westminster Cathedral.3. Timothy Radcliffe , Why go to Church? The drama of the

Eucharist (NY, Continuum, 2008).4. Raimon Panikkar, The Experience of God: Icons of the Mystery

(Augsburg Fortress, 2006).5. Michael Casey, Fully Human Fully Divine: An interactive

Christology (Liguori, 2004).

Adapted from the article: Reflections on Chapter 9.2 RB(‘Can I be a Catholic and a Buddhist?’) in “Occasional Papers II”

by the London Chapter of Douai Oblates, 2011.

The Holy Trinity (detail), Massacio,located in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

8

With each passing day I delve into knowledge of the

Rule, and I am amazed that St. Benedict had such

a great wisdom, and was able to convey fundamental

teachings to the contemplative life with extreme simplicity.

Writing about stability, made me conscious of my

weakness. How it is important to keep the twice a day

meditation, and the reading of sacred texts, with the

discipline of stability. Otherwise, the mind is easily

distracted and my heart is heavy with the cares of life.

Stability acquires a fundamental importance in a world

of extremes. It helps me to live in the desert and in the

crowd. How to get to God if I’m not rooted in my heart?

And how to get to the core, living at the extremes? Stability

is the path of moderation.

Stability creates depth in a world with multiple choices

that encourages superficiality. Without stability, we live

fragmented. As Archbishop Michael Ramsey said: ‘Jesus

wholly requires the whole human.’

But, undoubtedly, the most important teaching of this

lesson is that it made me realise that, through a stable

heart, I can feel God’s presence everywhere. It is not

necessary to be in a church, in a monastery or in any other

holy place. Stability makes the soul lighter in order to see

God in all events.

How Anthony Bloom brilliantly said: ‘What is stability? It

seems to me that one can describe it like this: you will find

stability when you discover that God is everywhere. There

is no need to look for him elsewhere, because he is here

and, if you cannot find him here, it is useless to look for

him elsewhere, because it is not he who is missing, we are

… It is important to recognise that it is useless to look for

God elsewhere. If you do not find God here, you will not

find God anywhere else. It is important because, it is only

when you understand this, that you will find yourselves

in the fullness of God’s kingdom in all its richness; God is

present everywhere and in all situations; you might say:

‘So, I’ll stay where I am.’

WHAT STABILITY MEANS FOR ME

At certain times, we live under the illusion that God is

absent when, in fact, it is we who are not present and open

to the reality that is God. Stability frees us from this trap.

Stability helps me to persevere in times when my mind

wants me to fool myself asking: ‘What’s the point of always

repeating the mantra?’ In moments of weakness, stability

is the strength. I think it’s through stability that the monks

fall and rise, fall and rise again. How to repeat always the

mantra without stability? How to have the feelings of being

inhabited by Christ without stability?

In one of the conferences of John Cassian, Abbot Isaac

says, ‘all that our souls engender before the hour of

prayer, we will inevitably re-present by memory, as we

pray. Therefore, as we want to be during prayer, strive

to be that also before prayer. For it is from our previous

conditions that the state of our soul depends during

prayer.’ Through stability, we prepare our souls for prayer.

Stability is to still live in a spirit of prayer. Through stability

my life becomes a prayer. So, I’ll stay where I am …

TAYNÃ MALASPINA BONIFÁCIO, BRAZIL(trans. Marcelo Melgares);

marcelomelgares@yahoo.com.br

As the third stage of faith begins to dawn,

it opens—as faith ever does—

to a new horizon in which we both withdraw

and return to others in a new way.

We learn better to allow the other to be other

and not allow our projections to distort our love for them.

We have to give ourselves to them

and learn better to ask nothing in return.

Ultimate reality is approached by this process of faith

in which the self and the other are newly discovered

through the losing and finding.

Faith then blossoms

as the most comprehensive form of love—agape.

The vision it bestows in that ultimate reality is love.

LAURENCE FREEMAN OSBFirst Sight, pp. 78-79

Taynã Malaspina Bonifácio being received as an oblate noviceby Fr Laurence at São Paulo, Brazil in November

9

CONTEMPLATIVE BOOK CLUBAn invitation to Lectio Divina for all

We could never have imagined the response to our

invitation to join a Contemplative Book Club (CBC).

Such readiness, openness and trust. So very like starting

out on the journey of meditation!

In 2011 we gathered firstly to explore Madeleine Simon’s

book Born Contemplative soon after it was released

in its new edition. The subject matter was ‘topical’ as

meditation and children and the work in schools around

the world, was of great interest to our Community. But

more importantly the ‘Invitation,’ at the end of each

chapter, gave us a starting point to listen more deeply to

ourselves, and then respond to the ‘white spaces’ between

the words.

We met once a month over six months (joining the

regular Saturday morning meditation group at our Lavender

Bay Meditation Centre, Sydney, for meditation at 10am).

After meditation we moved from there quietly for a cup

of tea, and then spent one hour in two groups of about

10, each with a facilitator, holding a sense of quiet as

we gathered to be with the chapter we had prepared in

the previous month. Our reading was in the way of Lectio

Divina. This was new for many, and each meeting we

deepened our way of ‘breaking of the word’, listening with

the heart for what touched us personally in the writing,

and how we responded to that. The listening to ourselves,

to each other, and to what was being awakened in us,

grew. We were encouraged, in Fr Laurence’s words, ‘To

taste the truth of an experience with the spiritual senses.’

The response was heartfelt and, in the companionship

and confidentiality of our small groups, we came to a way

of recovering our own sense of childlikeness and freedom

‘to be’. Madeleine Simon’s deep insights opened us to the

wonder and simplicity, that we all once knew as children,

and we joyfully acknowledged that we too were ‘Born

Contemplative.’

Almost immediately we were asked to offer a second

CBC and this time Eileen O’Hea’s Manifesting in Form

was a unanimous choice. In fact it seemed to ‘choose

us’. Once again we invited a reading of a chapter or two

(as they were very short), in anticipation of the monthly

meeting, with the added joy of one of Eileen’s poems that

expanded her writing. We explored Eileen’s own story

and contribution to the teaching within The WCCM via the

homilies of Fr. Laurence. We also began the first session by

listening to Eileen’s voice on the CD Rain for the Sea.

After five months we were ready to leave her (or as

someone said, ready ‘’to really start the journey into a

new way of ‘unknowing’), richer for the encounter with

her and each other, and the realisation of the simplicity of

her message - that we are absolutely lovable and loved.

The friendship, about which she spoke so eloquently,

was our sense of the real fruit of our meetings. ‘To love

others involves more than thinking of them, more even

than enjoying their company, more even than sacrificing

ourselves for them: it involves allowing ourselves to be

loved by them’. (John Main, The Inner Christ, p.336) Have we finished with our CBC? No! We are about to

embark on a further five-month journey ‘listening with

the ear of the heart.’ John Main’s Door to Silence seems

a perfect gift to continue the work of the CBC - another

way to a new consciousness, and of coming together into a

silence that builds community.

PENNY STURROCK, AUSTRALIA;torlonia@bigpond.net.au

CASSIAN THE SEEKER

Cassian was a true seeker after spirituality.

He was trying to answer the perpetual questions

about the meaning and purpose of life

and about the relationship between

the world we see with our senses

and the ultimate reality this originates from.

His guiding thought was Jesus’ words:

‘You come out of things below: I come from the things above.

You come out of this world; I do not come out of this world’

(John 8.23). He tried to find ways

of accessing this divine reality of the ‘things above’.

KIM NATARAJA, Journey to the Heart, pp. 125-126Christian Contemplation through the centuries

Edited by Kim Nataraja. This book is featured on p.16.

10

PRACTISING LECTIO DIVINAReading the Book Of Nature

Nature has significant meaning to many on the

contemplative path. We all have seemed to relate, at

one time or another, and at varying levels of awareness, to

a deeper connection with our creator while just being in

the midst of nature. The questions for me have been: ‘How

do I take this experience and incorporate it into a more

meaningful and disciplined spiritual practice? How do we

deepen our level of awareness and, thereby, open ourselves

to further transformation using nature as a pathway?’

As oblates we are all called to seek God. This never

ending journey may take many different forms while still

being guided by The Rule of Benedict, the teachings of

John Main and Laurence Freeman, the wisdom of the early

Desert Fathers and Mothers, and the mystics. Experiencing

the sacred in the midst of God’s creation can be another

form of commitment or practice.

Origen (185-254) taught ‘The parallel between nature and

Scripture is so complete we must necessarily believe that

the person who is asking questions of nature and the person

who is asking questions of Scripture are bound to arrive at

the same conclusions.’ It was also likely that the tradition

of Lectio Divina, reading of Scripture, may be traced back

to Origen. St Anthony the Great (252-356), when asked how

he got along in the desert without books, replied: ‘My book

is the nature of created things and as often as I have a mind

to read the words of God, it is at my hand.’

These early teachings became the foundation for the idea

to take the practice of Lectio Divina and apply it to the

‘Book of Nature’ while on retreat.

As a hike leader and backpacker, with over 2,000 miles

of experience in the desert and mountains of Arizona’s

southwest, I wanted to find a way to share the power of

nature’s teachings with fellow meditators. What initially

started out as a serious backpacking ‘quest like’ venture,

eventually developed into a more practical retreat at

the Santa Rita Abbey in the foothills of the Arizona Santa

Rita Mountains. Here we would combine teachings, daily

meditation sessions, and periods of silence and reflection

with daily nature hikes. Group Lectio Divina readings of

Psalms, with clear nature content, provided an in-house

learning experience in the essence of Lectio Divina. When

practised at the group level, individual experiences of what

God is teaching us, at this point in our journeys, may likely

be different for each, yet no less important. This became

even more pronounced at the next step.

Taking our understanding of Lectio Divina, and moving

it outside to read ‘The Book of Nature,’ became our

new experience. The concept was simple. The practice

takes discipline. Substitute the ‘lectio’ reading part with

whatever our senses experienced while in the presence

of God’s creation. In other words, bypass the intellectual

reading stage ,with its built in filters, and move directly to

our more innate senses to ‘read’ and then ponder what was

resonating within. Like reading Scripture, the key was to

pay attention and be aware of what God was speaking to

each of us. Only now it was not through words, but by being

a part of nature’s creation, and ‘reading’ with our senses:

sight, sound, smell and touch.

Please consider reading the ‘Book of Nature’ and

experience nature as another path to greater awareness

and transformation in your spiritual practice. I think you

will find it a rewarding way to a deeper realization of our

oneness with God and all creation.

FRANK PRICE, USA; price8013@msn.com

For those praying alone each day, it helps to know that,

even without a visible community,

the commitment to pray leads into a spiritual community.

In subtle but perceptible ways

this can give us the strength and encouragement we all need,

saints and sinners alike, to persevere.

Community is more than a place or a habit;

it happens among those who are faithful

and whose faith allows them moments of grace

to recognize each other.

JOHN MAIN OSB, Monastery without Walls, p. 18

11

Lectio Divina is Latin for sacred reading. It is suggested that,

before or after your morning or evening meditation, you read

a passage of scripture. After reading this go back to it, either

then or later, and spend 15 or 20 minutes reverently turning the

passage over in your heart. Read slowly and lovingly, pausing

whenever the words draw you into silence. Close your eyes and

experience the meaning of the words for you now. But even

more, experience the Presence found in them. Let the Reality of

the words become more and more a part of your being.

During the time of lectio, the historical setting of the passage

is not as important as the place it has in your life now. In a real

sense, you are not the same person you were ten, five or even one

year ago. Since you are always a ‘new person’ your response to

the Word will never be the same. You may find yourself making

acts of the will to conform you life more to the message of the

text. One day you may rest in a deep peace. Another day you

may be aware of tension, anger or sorrow. These feelings should

not cause any anxiety because they are all part of God’s healing

action at work in you. In time, you will learn to accept yourself

as a work-in-progress, and your growing appreciation for the

Living Word of God will lead you to a life of constant wonder,

gratitude and love.

Adapted from The Burning Heart, Gregory Ryan

When we are open and receptive to the Word of God,

Conversion happens.

It is not a matter of changing our opinions

or acquiring a new spiritual home.

It is a revolution in the deep structures

of the personality that, if it is genuine,

goes on for the rest of our lives.’

Introduction, Laurence Freeman OSB, The Burning Heart

Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God,

and our ears to the voice from heaven

that every day calls out this charge:

If today you hear God’s voice,

harden not your hearts. Ps 95:8.

Rule of St Benedict, Prologue 9,10

LECTIO DIVINA: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICEOF THE WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

FOUR STAGES OF LECTIO DIVINA

Through Lectio Divina

we learn to know the heart of God,

through the Word of God.

St Gregory the Great

READING/LECTIO (Reading with the eye of your heart and

listening with the ear of your heart )

• Read the passage slowly, two or three times and notice

what word or phrase speaks to you.

• Deeply aware of the word or phrase, ask yourself -

‘what’ am I hearing?

MEDITATION/MEDITATIO (Repetition)

• Repeat the word or phrase over and over, allowing it to

sink into and act on your heart. - Notice any feelings,

thoughts or questions arising and be open to these

touching into your life.

• Mindful of what has surfaced, ask yourself - how is this

touching me?

PRAYER/ORATIO (Listening)

• Listen for what you sense the Lord is revealing to you

now. Take this to heart and ask for the grace to hear

this at your deepest level.

• Immersed in what you have heard, ask the Lord - what

new insight am I being invited to embrace?

CONTEMPLATION/CONTEMPLATIO (Being)

• Stay quietly with whatever is happening, and trust

this. Now is the time to cease pondering, and allow

yourself to be embraced by what has happened for

you, knowing that the Lord loves you and wants what is

best for you.

• Your question now is - how will I respond?

• You may like to form a short prayer around your

response.

Your words were found and I ate them, and your words

became to me a joy and the delight of my heart. Jeremiah 15:16

QUESTIONS DURING THE FOUR STAGES:

• What am I hearing?

• How is this touching me?

• What new insight am I being invited to embrace?

• How will I respond ?

NOTE: Journaling your experiences of Lectio when possible,

is recommended. Over time these become your story of

growth and transformation as well as material for reflecting

on the year/s gone by. TRISH PANTON, AUSTRALIA;

pantonamdg@ozemail.com.au

12

I remember, as a young child, looking up at the moon one

breathtakingly cold November evening and knowing, with

crystal clear awareness, that I was a separate being, part of

Life and all its mysteries, but separate. With that shock of

ego consciousness and separation, my personal journeying

through life began and, so too, my longing to return home.

My homeward journey began when I first encountered

Christian Meditation through a Buddhist article on the

series of dialogues between Father Laurence and the Dalai

Llama, nearly two decades ago. As a consequence, I went

to hear Laurence talk on ‘The Desert in the City’. It was a

joy to know that the teachings of Cassian and John Main lay

within the heart of my own tradition. The Community, and

its teachings and wisdoms, have been the threads that have

been transforming the fabric of my faith ever since. Often,

in extraordinary circumstances, I have been led again and

again to renew my commitment to the practice of daily

meditation; stumbling through, with stops and starts, but

always returning to the simplicity of the Way. Gradually I

grew to love the discipline of meditating with a sense of

home coming, no matter what the timbre of my moods on

any given day.

In time, I came to travel through my own desert and

wilderness, experiencing the profound dislocation and pain

of life’s losses, tasting the dust of desolation. It was in the

years of struggle that followed that I came to experience

the true bedrock that I had been seeking. The compassion,

patience, acceptance and love, continuously reflected by

the Community are reflections of the Beloved. I know that I

am known. I know that I am loved.

Only a month ago I set out on my journey to join the

Benedictine Community and, in that welcoming, I knew

again I was coming home, and a deep sense of belonging

has warmed my heart and reawakened a trust that I knew

was part of my journeying. The seeds of where I am arriving

now at this moment have somehow always been present.

Now, the Rule of Benedict lights my journey. Each

morning and evening the wisdom reaches out through

my heart and into my day. The Rule reminds me to be

responsible in the present moment for all my thoughts

and actions, presenting me moment by moment with

those opportunities to live in Christ or not too. Most of

the time I seem to fail miserably! But the daily discipline

of meditating, like bookends to my day, seems to hold

me steady as life gusts about me with all its business and

encounters, graced as a mother of three, graced as the

daughter of a gentle woman losing her mind to the ravages

of Alzheimer’s, and graced as a teacher of little children.

Entering this period of discernment now has heightened my

awareness of the potential that we all have for expressing

the gift of love that is in us all. My mentor walks alongside

me through this stage and enriches my experience of the

Rule, offering guidance and good counsel as the questions

arise. Her support and careful attunement to where I am is

a rich gift which I wish to make the most of.

To put words, to the experience of taking my first step

towards joining the Benedictine Community, is to try to

distil into an essence an experience that is beyond words.

All I know is that now I can hold the grief and losses of my

life alongside the gifts and inexplicable joys that surprise

and arise, moment upon moment, from a deep well within.

This time of discernment and reflection is a liminal space,

which I have entered with a profound sense of joy and

anticipation, and full of wonderment that Life can continue

to insist on opening my heart, and filling it with new graces

in the autumn of my life. Trusting to the commitment to

turn my life of prayer to the outside is like turning myself

inside out.

When the Community welcomed me in December I was

reminded that we are all gifts to one another, and so I ask

for your prayers and blessings during this special time. I

stand tonight beneath the same moon, the same person as

the young child, but graced with the knowledge that there

are no limits to an open heart.

JANE SERRURIER, ENGLAND; jemserrurier@gmail.com

COMING HOMETHE FIRST STEP

Mysticism, the personal experience of the presence of God,

is not limited to any particular religious expression

of humankind, but forms an essential part

of all world religions or wisdom traditions.

Christianity is certainly no exception,

although this fact may surprise many modern Christians.

It is, ironically, practically a truism

that deep spiritual experiences,

born out of profound silence,

often flourish in times of political and social turmoil.

LAURENCE FREEMAN OSB Journey to the Heart, (Introduction) p. 1

13

MID-ATLANTIC US OBLATESINITIATE REGIONAL CELL[Jesus] is God’s love made visible in the world

and His vision is a vision of a community;and Christianity, in the vision of Jesus,

is a fraternity of brothers and sisters who respond togetherto the same reality that is beyond them

and yet contains them and constantly expands them.

JOHN MAIN OSB

One of my biggest challenges, as US oblate coordinator,

has been to find a way to expand our community to

include the many far-flung newcomers and Oblates across

the US. These people tend to find our community through

books, the internet, or maybe retreats, but don’t live near

meditation groups or know other Oblates. Outside of one

very well established cell in Houston, and an up-and-coming

one in Jacksonville, other Oblates across the country

are for the most part isolated. How do we provide these

Oblates a rich experience of mentoring and connection with

our larger national and international community?

One initiative has been to create the ‘regional cell’, for

Oblates within reasonable driving distance of each other,

to come together to a central location on an occasional

basis, to experience a cell meeting, spiritual friendship,

and the opportunity for easier on-going contact. The five

US Oblates who came together for the first Mid-Atlantic US

Regional Cell meeting had previously been geographically

isolated from other Oblates. But with the enthusiastic

organization of Art Lerner, Oblates within driving distance

of Washington, DC, (from three states, and ranging from

30 minutes to 3½ hours away) met at the John Main Center

at Georgetown University, on April 28, 2012. For all, it

offered a first experience of the unifying dimension of an

Oblate cell meeting, and an opportunity to make or renew

acquaintances. Art, was accompanied by his wife and fellow

meditator, Kate. Tim Kelly, Tyler Doherty, and Gregory

Robison, also participated, along with Bill Hull, who began

his postulancy with the support of the new cell.

I flew down from New Hampshire to share in the joy of

the new cell, and to lead the group through the process

of a cell meeting. I told the group that I’m keenly aware

not only of how meditation creates community, but also of

how meditation creates new forms of community, of which

Oblates are one example. I shared my perception that,

with the inauguration of a regional cell meeting, we’re

expanding to address the needs of the increasing number of

Oblates in the US who don’t live near a local cell.

‘The spirit continues to move us beyond the

conventional, tangible forms of community,’ I said. ‘We’re

like the early Christians, but with the internet.’ Afterwards,

Gregory Robison reflected, ‘It struck me how important our

underlying Benedictine culture is in making such meetings

possible. As Oblates, we can immediately connect through

the sense of the meaning of the liturgical hours, the form

and content of the Divine Office, and the spirit of the Rule.’

Bill Hull observed, ‘I was moved by the sharing of personal

stories and left Georgetown very sure that I was blessed to

know some very wise and experienced people.’

The Mid-Atlantic regional cell plans to meet twice a year,

and to offer a model for other regional cells rising up in

the United States. A regional cell in the Northeast plans to

meet early this summer.

MARY KELLY ROBISON, USA; maryrobison@mac.com

Jesus is a teacher of contemplation.

His life models it.

We cannot begin to respond to his question,

‘Who do you say I am?’,

or understand the meaning of the kingdom,

his critique of religion,

his understanding of humanity

or his death and Resurrection

unless we see how central contemplation is

to his life and teaching.

One explicit example of this is a short episode

in the Gospel of Luke,

the story of Martha and Mary which,

even this early in the Christian tradition,

expresses the primacy of contemplation over action

while also recognizing the difficult, inherent tension

between the two (Luke 10.32-42).

JOURNEY TO THE HEART, p.3

UNDERSTANDING JESUSLaurence Freeman OSB

14

CORK DAY OF RECOLLECTIONWITH FR DONAGH O’SHEA OP

On 14 April 2012, a Day of Recollection was held in the

Sacred Heart Missionaries’ Hall, Western Road, led by

Fr Donagh O’Shea OP.

Over 70 people (including newcomers to meditation)

attended this very special day to enjoy Fr Donagh’s unique

blend of humour, common sense and deep wisdom.

His theme for the day centred around the idea of the

‘Holy of Holies’, the empty space in the Temple in which

God was said to dwell. The empty body of the crucified

Christ becomes the Holy of Holies, and through his

Resurrection, we are not only a part of his Mystical Body,

we ARE the Holy of Holies, the Tabernacle in which God

dwells. We reach out from within the Tabernacle.

He expanded this theme in talking about the divided and

conflict-ridden state of the Church at the moment, saying

that polarisation in the Church puts the Body of Christ on

the rack. While anger and frustration are right and natural

at many things the Church has done or left undone, they

must go side-by-side with love and compassion. He used a

telling image to develop this: ‘I am sitting by the bedside

in the ICU of my dearest friend, who has been battered

almost to death by muggers. I naturally am filled with anger

at the people who have done this damage, but I realise as

I sit there (possibly for the first time) how much I love my

friend; and certainly the last thing I would want is to inflict

more damage. I would do anything I could to help heal the

wounds.’ I think it must have given us all a sense of hope

and joy that, in our meditation, our joining in the prayer

of Christ, we could never damage the Church, the Body of

Christ. Fr Donagh emphasised that Hope was the commodity

most needed—not a superficial optimism, but the certain

hope that, whatever happens (and the worst may happen),

God is still God.

I couldn’t do justice to the whole day’s nourishment he

gave us, but we all feel blessed that Fr Donagh is willing to

give us two days of his time each year. Long may the Lord

leave him with us.

RITA O’CONNELL, IRELAND; 8rroconnel@gmail.com

On March 25, Benedictine Oblates from Ontario and

Quebec met at the home of Polly and Mark Schofield

in Montreal, to honour the anniversary of the death of

St Benedict. The day included a reading from the rule of

St Benedict, a meditation period, discussions on various

aspects of Benedictine monastic life, and a talk on the

spiritual and human friendship between the two twins, St

Benedict and St Scholastica.

As Laurence Freeman has pointed out, WCCM Oblates

make a commitment to the community of Christian

Meditation, as well as to the Benedictine monastic

community. Unlike most religious leaders, Benedict wrote

only one rule of life, not one for men, one for women, and

another for lay people. He wrote one rule that can be lived

by men and women inside and outside the monastery, as

monks, nuns and lay people. It was John Main in 1975 who

placed the tradition of Christian Meditation at the centre

of the monastic life of the contemplative community he

founded in Montreal.

‘Today’ says Fr. Laurence, ‘the community formed

around the world through meditation testifies to John

Main’s vision that the contemplative experience creates

community. Meditation takes us to the essence of the

monastic identity; the single-minded search for God. For

some meditators who wish to become Oblates it offers

them in a particular personal way, a context and vision, for

their pilgrimage.’

For information on oblates in Canada

contact Polly Schofield: pollyschofield@gmail.com.

PAUL TURNER HARRIS, CANADA; paulturnerharris@aol.com

25 WCCM BENEDICTINE OBLATESMEET IN MONTREAL

Darrell Taylor, Paul Harris, Polly Schofield, Don Myrick

Contrary to prevalent belief, commitment sets us free,seriousness bring us joy,

and discipline leads us to transcendence.This is the understanding with which we can communicate the

gospel and our Christian tradition of meditation.To underestimate the absolute demand the gospel presents

to each of us is to also underestimate the absolute joyand fullness of life it offers.

JOHN MAIN OSB, Monastery Without Walls, p. 118edited by Laurence Freeman OSB

15

Bill died on Friday, April 27, 2012, at Houston Hospice

where he and his wife, June Holly, had volunteered in

earlier years. June predeceased Bill in 2009.

Bill and June were both Oblates of The WCCM, and were

faithful and dedicated meditators for many years. They

taught meditation at St Marks Episcopal Church in Houston,

and at ‘Lord of the Streets’, a mission outreach program

for the homeless in Houston. They also formed meditation

groups while living in Galveston, Texas, and at the Holly

Hall retirement community in Houston.

Bill and June travelled enthusiastically to WCCM events

all over the world—nine times they travelled to the annual

Monte Oliveto retreat; they participated in two of the

Way of Peace pilgrimages; they attended the first Oblate

Retreat-Pilgrimage in Italy; and were at many of the John

Main Seminars.

They were such examples of hospitality as they opened

their hearts to all who came within range of their

consciousness. They had the gift of making each person

they spoke to feel like the most important person in the

world. And when anyone spoke to them, they listened

intently and carefully to each word. They were non-

judgmental, welcoming, compassionate, and loving to all.

Bill and June not only showed us how to live, they

showed us how to die. Those of us, who had the privilege of

walking the final journey with each of them, witnessed the

grace and faith with which they surrendered their earthly

abilities, accomplishments, and independent lifestyles,

while retaining their sense of humor and their concern for

others.

As we miss June, so will we miss Bill. We give thanks

to God for their lives, and the wisdom and love they so

generously poured out.

ANNE SINGLEY, USA; anne@singleys.com

WILLIAM ‘BILL’ HARRISONHOUSTON, TEXAS, USA

1920-2012

Bill as we knew himPhoto: Rev. Dr. Helen Appleberg,

Galveston, USA

WHAT IS DRAWING METO THE OBLATE PATH?

The wisdom, discipline and nourishment of The Rule

of Benedict, the daily reminder of what is real in life

and how, with its help, I am beginning to recognise where,

particularly, I am struggling, and how I can begin to chew

on this, face it, feel it.

Deepening in prayer, opening more to the Spirit, and

‘Learning to listen to the words, directions and insights of

the one who is the voice of Christ for me now … knowing

who I am and what my life is meant to garner.’1

Learning what is real for me and who I am, the

Community, the sharing, the not wanting, or thinking I’ve

got to, go it alone. Learning to let go of the power struggle

and begin to ‘… make me face an authority outside myself’.

Learning not to ‘… stubbornly resist the challenges.’

Realising that relationships with others is ‘the stuff of

which our sanctity is made.’1

It’s all a beginning to … wanting to be simpler, deeper,

calmer, yet being able to see, if not always accept, that

whatever it is I want, however worthy it seems, isn’t

necessarily God’s will. Although I have been meditating for

many years, and have attended the oblate cell days, it was

not until recently I noticed that the rule was working within

me and I was being drawn to commit to this way of life.

For me Benedict’s Rule, with the helpful commentary, is a

guide, a friend, a challenge, a constant.

1. Joan Chittister, The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages.

ANGELA GREENWOOD, UK;angelagreenwood@hotmail.com

GIFTRain freely poursupon the earth,

a wondrous gift of lovesince time began.

Refreshing,sinking down,

“losing itself, ” giving itself,

always for others good.

So may I,joined to You

in love,Source of all life,

lose myself,give myself,

be refreshment,nurturance,

within this thirsting world.

RON DICKS, CANADA; rdicks@rogers.com

NATIONAL OBLATE CO-ORDINATORS

USA: Mary Robison, maryrobison@mac.com

UK: Eileen Dutt, eileendutt@yahoo.co.uk

NEW ZEALAND: Hugh McLaughlin, hungnz1916@yahoo.com

ITALY: Giovanni Foffano, foffano@libero.it

IRELAND: Rowena O’Sullivan, rowenaos@gmail.com

CANADA: Polly Schofield, wccm.oblates@bell.net

BRAZIL: Marcelo Melgares, marcelomelgares@yahoo.com.br

AUSTRALIA and INTERNATIONAL: Trish Panton, pantonamdg@ozemail.com.au

VIA VITAE, No. 15, June 2012

EDITOR: Trish Panton PO Box 555 Pennant Hills, NSW Australia 1715 Tel: +61 2 9489 1780 Mobile: +61 409 941 605 Email: pantonamdg@ozemail.com.au

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alexandra Irini, Australia

JOHN MAIN SEMINARSPIRITUALITY & ENVIRONMENT

16-19 August 2012INDAIATUBA/SP, BRAZIL

with

LEONARDO BOFF, FREI BETTO OP, LAURENCE FREEMAN OSB

PRE-SEMINAR RETREATBE WHO YOU ARE

Led by Laurence Freeman13-16 August

The Christian understanding of Jesus as the Word made

flesh transforms the way we see our own humanity and

also the natural world we are part of. ‘Nothing that is not

against nature is against Christ’ (Clement of Alexandria)—

this liberating insight has to be more courageously

embraced in our own time so that the mystery of Christ

can become fully transformative. But this is not only a

theological project. It begins—and finds its culmination—at

the deeply personal level of experience. And this is why

meditation in our own tradition is such a blessing and

necessity—it opens us to the mystery of the inner Christ and

to the cosmic Christ simultaneously. Our daily meditation

leads us to self-knowledge and also gives us new words with

which to understand and communicate the Word itself.

Bookings and further info:www.johnmainseminar2012.com

www.wccm.org

The John Main Seminar is an annual event designed

to broaden and deepen the teaching of Christian

Meditation. It brings together meditators from around the

world and those wishing to discover the practice.

BOOK CORNER

JOURNEY TO THE HEARTCHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATION THROUGH THE CENTURIES

edited by Kim Nataraja

Orbis Books, www.orbisbooks.com

The contemplative tradition in Christianity traces

its origins back to the person of Jesus himself, who

frequently withdrew to quiet places to pray, and it has

nourished and challenged disciples in every generation

since.

Journey to the Heart is an in-depth and richly illustrated

exploration of this long tradition of Christian spirituality

by some of today’s leading spiritual writers. From New

Testament times to the present day, it traces the many

tributaries of this stream, using the essential insights of

many lay teachers, practitioners, movements, and classic

spiritual texts as stepping stones along the way.

For each successive stage of the unfolding drama

of Christian mysticism, Journey to the Heart features

biographies, an overview of historical contexts and

contemporary influences, an exploration of key concepts

and themes, and essential quotations, making it an ideal

resource for study as well as a compassion guide to the

spiritual life.