what it means to live as an oblate of st. benedict’s abbey by fr. meinrad miller • novice master
I
oblate director
The Rule of St. Benedict God as a gift through and the monks of St. the Rule of Saint Benedict’s Abbey have led me Benedict. Like monks, oblates are to a deeper relationship with always attached Christ. I am an oblate because I to a particular seek to serve God through my monastery. Having responded to the work and prayer and share the call of God they joy that comes from that with seek to grow daily in this way with the world.
t is easy in our world to forget about God. to offer their lives to
Many live as if God does not matter. All baptized people are called to wake up, to be alert to the presence of the Lord by turning away from sin, and receiving with joy the new life offered by Christ. There are many ways to foster this growth. One of them is by becoming a Benedictine Oblate. Oblation means to offer a gift. The bread and wine at Mass are offered and become the Body and Blood of Christ. St. Paul teaches us that we also offer our very bodies when he write to the Romans: “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1) St. Paul was handing on what he had experienced from Christ and the early Christian community. The call to seek God as an oblate or a monk is not something forced upon anyone. As always, the person’s freedom is fully respected. St. Benedict himself shows us the beauty of God’s call when he asks us, “what dear brothers, is more delightful than this voice of the Lord calling to us? See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of life.“ (Rule Prologue, 19-20) Today Benedictine oblates come from many backgrounds; they are men and women, lay people and ordained, who seek
Oblates, along with the Abbot, sign their commitment on the altar at Mass. Leanne Bergsieker, BC ‘16 (above with Abbot James), along with five others, became oblates on February 1, 2015. 20
&
Kansas Monks
the Gospel as guide. - Brianna Sluder, Oblate, BC ‘15 Unlike monks, they do not profess vows, which bind them, but their commitment has been described as “a public and solemn promise made in the presence of the Church, which effects a spiritual association with a particular monastic community.” Oblation is intended to be an aid in the fulfillment of one’s baptismal vows. Saint Benedict teaches that his Rule of life is a way to help Christians live the Gospel more faithfully. If one has not experienced the love of God it is nearly impossible to have the trust needed to progress in the spiritual life. St. Paul reminds us in Romans 5:5: “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” St. Benedict had experienced this love of God poured into his own life. He did not merely pass on random abstract knowledge to us; rather what we find in the Rule is the result of years of his allowing the Holy Spirit to guide his heart to a deeper awareness of the loving presence of Christ leading all of us to the Father. Leaving the city of Rome because he did not find people there who took the search for God seriously, he withdrew to the cave at Subiaco in the year 499 to live a life of prayer. Later his Rule would be a guiding force in the evangelization of the world, bringing people to encounter Christ. At St. Benedict’s Abbey we have records of a few oblations on file going back to the 1920s. A formal program was established in 1941 by Abbot Martin Veth with Father Bernard Sause serving as the Oblate Director. I am pleased that Abbot James has asked me to serve as the new Director of Oblates for the Abbey. I have inherited files of many men and women over the years who made their oblation. Some people reading this may have become oblates years ago and may wish to renew their oblation. We accept men and women who desire to become oblates, or, if they are oblates, to recommit themselves to this way of life.
B
