Saint Benedict lived at a time of downward drift in the life of the church and Western Civilization. The political turmoil of his beloved Italy and the moral decadence of the surrounding culture led him to establish a rule of life for monastic communities that could withstand the tides that threatened Gospel life. In recent years, some have called this the Benedict Option. In truth, it was an effort to implement the invitation Jesus extends in the Gospel today to evangelize in the face of challenges.

The injunctions of Jesus that Matthew’s Gospel evokes are familiar to us: travel light; the laborer deserves his keep; shake the dust from your feet. I would prefer to point to two efforts proposed by Jesus that are indispensable to effective evangelization.

Let your peace come upon the place you occupy and give without thinking about the cost. Along with the well-known Benedictine motto of prayer and work is that of peace. This latter one has a timeliness today that no one can deny and is an indispensable property for anyone who wants to be receptive to the Word of the Gospel. Giving without cost implies that one can draw from a storehouse of gifts—the resources of a monastery and the individual gifts of its members.

Pope St. Paul VI put it well fifty years ago in Evangelii Nuntiandi: “The world calls for and expects from us simplicity of life, obedience and humility, detachment and self-sacrifice.” Fifteen hundred years after Saint Benedict, the recipe for holiness is as relevant as ever.