Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 11, 2019
Peter said to Jesus,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.”
Reflection
401k. IRA. Social Security. Roth. Pension. Invest. Save. For many of us, a constant drumbeat of professional life and financial advising seems to center around saving for retirement. There are projections about how much we want to be able to spend in retirement and about how long we will live. The most dreaded question about the whole conversation seems to be, “Will I have enough to retire?” And while sound financial planning and saving for the future are laudable goals, I sometimes wonder if we can too easily lose sight of an even more important return on our investment.
Today’s Gospel for the Feast of St. Benedict has Peter reminding Jesus about how much the disciples have given to follow the Lord. Peter, like us, sees things from a limited view regarding the cost of discipleship here and now. Conversely, Jesus provides an eternal perspective and promises that all that we have sacrificed here for him will come back to us a hundredfold and lead to everlasting happiness in heaven.
St. Benedict and countless others who have given their lives to monastic life have heeded this advice well, knowing that in offering their lives to Christ, they will receive back more than they could have ever produced alone. They inspire all of us, even if we are not called to this sort of life, to think about the sacrifices and gifts to God and others we could make. After all, a small gift in the hands of God can become something truly powerful.
So instead of only focusing on if we will have enough to retire, I would suggest another question worthy of consideration: will I inherit eternal life? This is the return on the investment of our time, efforts, and finances that matters most. For no matter how well we have planned for retirement, bodily death is inescapable. Instead of letting that thought fill us with fear, however, we live in trusting hope that the words of Jesus will come true and that by giving our lives over to him, we will receive an eternal reward.
Prayer
God our Father, you made St. 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 the commandments. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Benedict is often called the father of monasticism in the Roman Catholic Church, but his influence extends beyond monasteries—the rule of life he wrote 1,500 years ago is still a pillar of Christian spirituality today.
He was the twin brother of St. Scholastica—the two were born in 480 to a noble family in Italy. Benedict was educated in Rome, but as a young man became repulsed by the laziness and promiscuousness of his classmates. In about 500, he left the city to live in the countryside about 40 miles away.
There, he met a hermit living nearby, St. Romanus, who saw something special in Benedict. He encouraged the young man to take on a life of solitude, and offered him the use of a cave near his hermitage in an area known as Subiaco, and Benedict lived there for three years. Romanus would visit him on a regular schedule, and brought him food.
Soon, people in the region started hearing stories of Benedict’s holiness and wisdom, and many sought him out. When the abbot of a nearby monastery died, the monks asked Benedict to lead them. He agreed, and imposed on them a strict way of life. They soon changed their minds about him and tried to poison him.
On the first attempt, they poisoned his drink. Benedict received the cup, and when he blessed it, the cup broke (notice this cup in the painting of him from the Basilica, shown below). Undeterred, they poisoned his bread next. When he received it, he blessed it and a raven flew by and stole it away (the raven symbolizes him in the stained glass window below from the chapel in Dillon Hall).
Benedict returned to Subiaco and gathered people around him, founding 12 different monasteries and transforming the region into an area of learning and spirituality.
In 525, Benedict left Subiaco and settled in Monte Cassino between Rome and Naples. He destroyed a temple to Apollo there and evangelized the people living nearby. He eventually built the famous monastery, and wrote a rule of life for its monks. This “Rule of St. Benedict” has shaped Christian spirituality and monastic life for centuries.
The Rule offers practical advice for living a Christ-like life and for the administration of a monastery. It is based on common sense and encourages moderation, especially in asceticism and discipline. Prayer (especially with the psalms), study, work, obedience, stability, zeal, community, and hospitality are benchmarks of the Rule, which can be summed in the famous phrase, ora et labora, “pray and work.”
Benedict grew in holiness and became famous for his holiness and wisdom. He gave advice to kings and popes and could read peoples’ consciences. He had the gift of prophesy and worked miracles.
He died on March 21 in 543, but this date almost always falls in Lent, so the Church moved his memorial to July 11. He was named co-patron of Europe in 1964, and is patron saint of students.
The relics of St. Benedict rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and he is depicted there in a wall mural. His image also stands in a stained glass window in the chapel in Dillon Hall.
St. Benedict, your common-sense rule of life still shapes Christian spirituality—pray for us!