Kansas Monks Newsletter - February 2024

k ansas Dear Friends, February is the month dedicated to the Holy Family. One of the staggering mysteries of our Faith is how the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things, became subject to His own creation and obedient to a human father and mother.

In our world today it is easy for us to worry that we would lose our identity in obedience and service to another. So much of our culture emphasizes the importance of being independent and being an individual. Historically, individualism has meant that children should choose for themselves their path of life and career, rather than being subject to the precedent of their family. Many people came to America not just for a chance at fortune but for a chance to escape family expectations and custom.

We continue to struggle with the legacy of individualism.

While it may be that being free to choose one’s career is a great liberation, it is also true that many feel a great pressure or burden to define themselves against their families. Many fear that if they do not rebel against the values and customs of their family, they are not sufficiently themselves.

Our Lord shows us that this way of thinking is extreme and not a path to the fullness of life. It is a false path, a mirage, a futile attempt to gain the illusion of control, power, and authority. The Lord shows us through His life in the Holy Family that becoming who we are does not require resisting or resenting parental authority. As St. Paul wrote of our Lord, “He humbled Himself and learned obedience.”

So important is obedience that St. Benedict made it one

monks February 2024 of the three vows for Benedictine monks. From our Lord and St. Benedict we learn that authority is not an evil to be overcome but a necessary feature of human existence and a pathway to our perfection.

During the month of February, let us pledge ourselves to learning obedience with our Lord. Let us prayerfully ask ourselves how we might be of greater service to others, especially our families. And, God willing, we might find that our faithful obedience will be the best antidote to the tyrannical or irresponsible authority which plagues our world today.

In Christ,

Abbot James R. Albers, O.S.B.

IN THIS ISSUE Shakespeare pt. 2 Is Peace Possible?

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Work, Wellbeing, and the Way of Christ 4-8 Light Reveals

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Living the Liturgy 9 -11

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SHAKESPEARE PT. 2

Shakespeare Pt. 2 I Hate a Drunken Rogue

By Br. Jean-Marie Hogan, O.S.B.

“I hate a drunken rogue.”

(Sir Toby, Twelfth Night V.1)

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ir Toby Belch plays the role of comic relief character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

He and his drinking buddy, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, get themselves in trouble for raising a racket at odd hours. The fact that the lady of the house, Olivia, is his niece might be the only thing keeping him from being shown the door.

This play was recently performed at Maur Hill – Mount Academy, where several of the monks are engaged in teaching and sacramental ministry. In this production, Sir Toby regularly came on with an empty bottle in one hand, further distinguishing himself as an intoxicated party-lover. For him to call someone else “a drunken rogue” is, to say the least, a bit ironic.

The audience might reasonably be expected to chuckle at this line. One can hear them saying, “You? You ‘hate a drunken rogue?’ Take a good look at yourself!” Yet while we are tempted to laugh at Toby’s buffoonery, perhaps this line is

George Henry Hall, 1854, Sir Toby, Oil on Canvas

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meant to make us just a little uncomfortable. One of the purposes of good theater is to show us something true about ourselves. Maybe Shakespeare is using this moment to invite us to look in the mirror. It is easy to judge other people for the faults we commit ourselves.

It is also easy to think, “I would never be such a hypocrite.” But would I? The remedy to this judgmental attitude could be expressed in the words of the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius: “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” This is also known as empathetic repentance. When I notice something in my brother that I think is wrong, and part of me want to get angry with him for it, I need to turn around and take a good hard look at myself to see whether I may not be guilty of the same thing.

This is a good first step. Having a habit of empathetic repentance can save us from getting unreasonably angry. While any good Stoic philosopher could say as much, as Christians we are called to something deeper.

What difference does Christ make here?

I think the operative word in this case is: mercy.

The mercy of God means that I do not have to despair over my own faults and failings. When I recognize that my sinfulness is “a weight too heavy to bear,” I can “approach with confidence the throne of grace to find mercy,” because Christ has already carried the weight of all my sins (Ps 38:4, Heb 4:16).

This mercy can also change my gaze on my neighbor.

In reality, he too is a soul for whom Christ died. Not only would getting angry do no good, it would also miss the essential point. It is the same mercy that sustains us both. I can share in offering that mercy because I know that I have received it. “We have received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple” (Ps 48:10).

FR. MATTHEW HABIGER, O.S.B.

Is Peace Possible?

By Fr. Matthew Habiger, O.S.B.

A

fter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world seems to have been divided into two camps: the free democratic countries and the highly controlled socialist countries.

Now many nations are spending billions building up their weapons, for either offensive or defensive warfare.

How futile! How disastrous! Can’t we learn from the horrible wars of the 20th Century? 80 million soldiers were killed in the two world wars, and perhaps an equal number of civilians and refugees. Think of all the suffering and devastation any war inflicts upon the combatants and the civilians who live in the war zones.

War is always a defeat for mankind. It is an attempt to resolve ambitions and differences among nations by sheer brute force. Might makes right.

History seems at times to be a record of hostilities among countries attempting to dominate their sphere of influence. Think of the various wars among the European countries. Only after two devastating world wars did the Europeans decide that war is futile: there are no winners. Today the European nations would not tolerate using war as a means of resolving differences among themselves.

Russian leaders want to re-establish the old Soviet empire. Russia has only 143 million people. It extends over 11 times zones. Why does it need to expand its borders?

China has 1.4 billion people and its economic recovery since the year 2,000 has been remarkable, with an annual 5-7% growth rate in its GNP. The material standard of living has never been so high in China. But now Chinese leaders want to use its newly developed military power to expand its borders and to assert its dominance in world affairs, especially throughout Asia.

The USA is only 5% of the human race, with a population of 332 million. Clearly it is not to use its strong military force to acquire new borders, or to exploit world economies solely to its own benefit.

The American way of life (respect for human rights, democracy, freedom of religion, of expression, division of powers, etc.) continues to attract millions of

immigrants, because immigrants see real advantages to the American way of life. How many other countries can make this claim?

Since World War II the USA has been instrumental in setting up a world order which respects the sovereignty of individual nations and protects them from the intrusion of totalitarian ambitions. Many countries rely upon the safety net for security that the USA has provided since 1945.

Must it be inevitable that China/Russia and their allies come to war with the West and its allies, beginning with Taiwan?

Why can’t world leaders think about other ways to resolve their differences?

We live on a small planet orbiting around the sun every year. Our earth is a highly privileged planet, endowed with many forms of life, with all the elements of the periodic chart, and most especially with human life. There are billions of galaxies and stars, but we are not aware of human personal life, endowed with intelligence and freewill, anywhere else in the universe. We are living together on this spaceship named Earth. Why can’t we find ways to live together in peace and harmony?

History indicates that when a nation achieves great economic and military strength, then their leaders have grandiose pretentions of becoming masters of the world. Think of National Socialism under Hitler,

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IS PEACE POSSIBLE? William Blake, 1795, Nebuchadnezzar, Colored Monotype

and Marxism under Stalin. Both were abject failures.

Why should China repeat these tragic mistakes?

After WWII the English Empire was broken up, and individual former colonies asserted their independence and national sovereignty. Why can’t the first world powers of today recognize this and encourage it?

If a nation wants to express its greatness, and superior qualities, why can’t it do this through such channels as: 1) respecting the human dignity and natural rights of all their citizens, which are God-given, 2) emphasizing the freedom of religion, the first freedom, 3) leading the way in assisting third world developing countries, and 4) excelling in education, the arts, humanities, science and sports?

All of us, especially world leaders, need to recognize our limited place in the universe. We know that there is a highly intelligent Creator, who brought the universe into existence, sustains it every moment of its existence, and subjects it to rigorous set of physical laws. And

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this benevolent Creator called into existence human persons, who long for eternity and more happiness than this would ever provide. Pope Saint John Paul II said that the 21st century will either rely heavily upon world religions for its survival, or it will not survive.

BR. MAXIMILIAN ANDERSON, O.S.B.

Work, Wellbeing, and the Way of Christ

By Br. Maximilian Mary Anderson, O.S.B.

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onstantin Dmitrich Levin in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina has a remedy that he employs whenever he feels himself overwhelmed with his life’s difficulties. He calls it Arbeitskur (German for “work-cure”).

He, the owner and administrator of his farm, takes to helping with whatever work is at hand for his peasant workers and hired help. It is something that leaves many observers either bemused or shocked, and he himself is often embarrassed and self-conscious at the outset. But something happens along the way that for him outweighs any raised eyebrows his participation might occasion. He feels a greater connection to his land and the people around him, especially those who work with him, than the abstract concerns of administration can give him. In a word, it redeems something of the meaning of his land and the people around him, and in some small way it saves him.

The work that we are given to do, as proposed to us in Christianity and more specifically by St. Benedict in the Rule, does the same thing, but to an even greater and more complete extent. It is a gift beyond what Levin experiences here, which is described beautifully

by Tolstoy’s prose, but could amount to little more than a temporary and therapeutic relief from his angst. If we take this Arbeitskur and carry it out with the awareness of the proposal we have before us from Christ, which holds up work as something far greater than a coping mechanism, it becomes something new altogether.

Work has dignity because it reflects and participates in the work of God by sharing in His act of Creation by caring for it, and by participating in Christ’s act of Redemption by our self-offering in it.

In an act of total and gratuitous love, God created the world and us in it. There’s a misconception and sense that we don’t really belong with the rest of things.

Continues on page 8

Br. Placidus Lee, O.S.B. working in the garden.

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LIGHT REVEALS

Light Reveals

A Reflection on Photography

By Philip J. Smaldone

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or the majority of my academic and professional experience of the arts, photography has been solely a secular activity. For me, it was only a means to an end.

Each photo taken was for a larger project and could reveal no information on its own. The Church existed in classical art and stayed separate from the sphere of graphic design. Even many projects I designed for religious organizations had commercial purposes tied to them. I would redesign packaging to try to increase sales or take photos to increase brand awareness.

Soon after taking this job with St. Benedict’s Abbey, I began taking photos primarily for documentation.

Now, several seasons into this job, I have taken photos for a variety of liturgies and rites. Photography has now allowed me to see many of these traditions through a different lens. Instead of sitting somewhere in the nave in a stationary area, I move around the liturgy and witness it from all different perspectives. The camera has become a telescope that lets me see the expressions, and movements of each participant.

From this, I would like to share a couple of observations. Firstly, light reveals. Just as Christ has risen from the dead, I have witnessed the sun rise from the east and breathe life into the Abbey church. The concrete walls suddenly warms into a color that complements the gold of the priest’s vestments. As this happens, incense fills the large cavity above the altar. This highlights the rays of light even more as they pierce through the smoke. As the incense rises we are reminded of the ethereal reality present in our world. The prayers are very visually brought to heaven.

Secondly, the liturgy is full of emotion. Much like in film, the emotions are less exaggerated than in the theater. In mass, it is often much more subtle but it is all the more powerful. When witnessing prayer from a monk through a high-power lens, one realizes the emotions are very real but are vailed through humility.

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PHILIP J. SMALDONE St Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, KS

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WORK, WELLBEING, AND THE WAY OF CHRIST

More important still is the fact that God created us precisely as a means of bringing to perfection all that came before. That’s not to say that the arrival of humanity in and of itself perfects the scene in Genesis; rather that our activity should be a part of creation’s reaching its end in God: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it…” Subduing the earth does not mean here a wielding of power for exploitation, but a stewarding for the sake of bringing forth the glory of God in creation.

This brings us to the second aspect of Christian work: our participation in Christ’s work. We know that we were created, we are fallen, and that we are being redeemed. However, this redemption is something whose effects are still being worked out in time.

Jean-François Millet, 1857-1859, El Ángelus, Oil on Canvas

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Mysteriously, Christ has chosen us as His instruments for effecting this redemption in the world and in others.

Jesus says as much in His priestly prayer in John 17: “...and I am glorified in them.” His glory is something that comes about in us as a product of His life being more radiantly present in us. This happens principally through our participating in His work by doing our work as a gesture of self-offering united with His own self-offering. In this way, we carry out a design that is not our own, but that of Christ, and effect change for the benefit of the world and others in a way beyond our capacity alone. Work then, is not just something that I turn to when reality is hard; work is my participation in bringing about that which is most real: Christ’s final victory over death and his glory alive in me today.

LIVING THE LITURGY TODAY William Blake, 1785, The Book of Job, Monotype

Living the Liturgy Commentary on the Liturgical Year

By Dr. James R. A. Merrick

4 FEBRUARY – 5TH SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME The Collect for this Mass focuses on our need for divine protection. Living in peace and security, we often don’t think of our need for protection. But the Collect reminds us that in this valley of tears, the Devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking to devour. When we are going through difficulty, we tend to think we’ve just hid a streak of bad luck or that we are suffering some kind of physical or psychological issue. But we too often forget the fact that we are engaged in spiritual warfare.

The first reading from the Book of Job brings this into focus. Job was a blameless man. His afflictions therefore were not consequences of his fault. They were rather the work of the Tempter, the Accuser. We

may not fully understand why God allows the Devil to attack us. But the Scriptures assure us that God can use these temptations and trials for our good.

This Sunday provides us with an opportunity to remember that we are under attack by the Enemy. It gives us the opportunity to ask for God’s protection and to make sure that we do not think we must rely on our strength alone.

11 FEBRUARY – 6TH SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME Purity is an unpopular concept in our culture. It is associated with prudes and Puritans. It is seen as the preoccupation of the narcissistic, scrupulous, and judgmental. Ah, but how far away is this from the biblical narrative? All over in Scripture, purity is seen

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LIVING THE LITURGY TODAY Br. Maximilian Mary Anderson, O.S.B.

as good, as beautiful, and desirable, and as something that approximates the divine.

God could only dwell with His people when they had been purified. Thus there were all sorts of rules and rituals by which the Israelites had to keep themselves undefiled, of which the first reading gives us but a taste.

The culmination of this is the beatitude: blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The Collect this Sunday reminds us of the need for purity of heart. It tells us that God “abides in hearts that are just and true.” We do not need to be sullied by the world, to have that little dalliance with sensuality or gluttony in order to live fully. Full human life, that is, life in the image of God, is the life of seeing God, and, as our Lord says, it is only the pure in heart who shall see God.

18 FEBRUARY – 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT It is tempting to think of Lent as a barren time when we give up things and focus on penance. The Collect for

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the first Sunday of Lent points out that Lent is a time of richness. In Lent we go treasure hunting, as it were.

It is not just that giving up certain things allows the riches of Christ are allowed to come more into focus. The Collect points out that at the core of Lent is understanding the riches of Christ. The sacrifices and penances we undertake help us better understand the meaning of Christ’s cross. They help us better enter into a life of self-offering and self-gift.

25 FEBRUARY – 2ND SUNDAY OF LENT “God, who commanded us to listen to your beloved Son…” Thus begins the first prayer of Collect of today’s Mass, the second Sunday of Lent. In the context of the liturgical year, it is the moment after Jesus’ Baptism that is in view. As Jesus emerged from the waters, the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove and the heavens parted to reveal the voice of the Father who declared: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am very pleased: listen to Him!” Maybe it is just me, but it is a little jarring that right

LIVING THE LITURGY TODAY

after the Father commands onlookers to listen to Jesus, Jesus immediately leaves…for the desert. In this we recognize that the Cross hangs over Jesus’ ministry.

How different is that from the standard procedure of the hero or celebrity today? We hear so frequently that the way to be successful is to be confident in yourself and to seize the moment by storm. We should expect that at the inauguration of His ministry, with this miraculous affirmation by the Father, Jesus should immediately go to Rome or at least Jerusalem to preach a long sermon and perform His best miracles.

But instead our Lord goes out to the wilderness to deny Himself, to pray and to fast. The message is clear.

If we want to listen to the Lord, if we desire to obey the Father’s command, we must join Him in the desert.

And what does He say to us? First, that we do not live by bread alone but by the Word of God. Second, that we should not test the Lord. Third, that we must worship and serve the Lord alone. If we make it our purpose through Lent to listen to these three sayings of the Lord, we will find ourselves changed.

Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonado da Vinci, 1470-1480, The Baptism of Christ, Oil and Tempura on Panel

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upcoming events Abbot’s Table XI April, 6 Overland Park, Kansas Join Abbot James R. Albers, OSB and the Monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey on April 6, 2024 for the eleventh Abbot’s Table. St. Benedict’s Abbey will be hosting events the event in Overland Park, Kansas City, with satellite events in Atchison, Denver, Dallas, and St. Louis.

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