From the Abbot

Encountering Christ

I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not for him or her. - pope francis, evangelii gaudium

The Holy Father’s teaching to us is one of evangelism. He understands that all should speak of the joy of the Gospel, but we can only know this joy for ourselves by knowing the person of Jesus. The joy of the Gospel is only experienced by establishing an intimate relationship with Jesus, person to person, and sharing that relationship in the context of the Body of Christ, the Church. We have been called into relationship with Jesus by Jesus himself. God desired a renewal of an encounter with us to the extent that he became one with us in his Son. Christ desired this personal encounter with his disciples and with us to the point of giving his own body. St. Paul preached of this encounter and the Acts of the Apostles shares the story of the first Christian community living out this encounter. The writings of many holy men and women, saint after saint, have echoed this call to encounter Jesus in our interactions with others and in the person of Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist.

We follow this Rule of St. Benedict that calls us into an encounter with Jesus through life in community, and by way of external labors in our educational and pastoral ministries. St. Benedict writes of these encounters with Christ in the poor, the sick, in the guest, and through mutual obedience to each other. What is evident in the teachings of the Rule, pulled by St. Benedict from the rich treasure of the scriptures, is that this encounter God desires, that Jesus calls us into, is all about relationship. Relationship with God himself, yes, but also lived out in our encounter with Christ in others. The joy that Pope Francis speaks of in Evangelii Gaudium is a joy that is to be shared, a joy into which others are to be brought. In assisting Archbishop Naumann with the sacrament of Confirmation in the Archdiocese I am blessed to take part in a unique encounter with Christ. Ministering to confIrmandi in 20 parishes each year provides the opportunity to share my encounter with Christ in my monastic community with those parish communities. Of course, this sharing is reciprocal as I bring back my experience of this encounter to share with my confreres in the Abbey. I have witnessed this encounter with Jesus in a variety of ways – this relationship of living as the Body of Christ. I recently confirmed three “siblings” with a unique story – a brother and sister along with a “brother” taken into the family. The pastor shared with me that the one young man’s mother had died of cancer a few years back, and this family took in the young man while his family regrouped. Now the father has been diagnosed with stage-four cancer, and this young man has been welcomed back into the family. Whether it is St. Paul, St. Benedict, or Pope Francis who is urging us toward this encounter with Jesus, the result needs to be the same. Our encounter with Jesus, if lived authentically, will lead to evangelism and good works. Pope Francis has shared with us the analogy of equating our relationship with Christ to human breathing. “Through prayer, meditation on the Word of God, the sacraments, mortification, and silence, we inhale the oxygen that is the Holy Spirit; we diffuse the Spirit when we go out towards others in the proclamation of the faith and in works of charity.” As we say farewell to the Year of Mercy, we are being called by the Church to continue to place our focus on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Jesus is calling us to encounter him in our prayer and our works, in our adoration and our service. This is authentic faith lived through authentic community.

In the spirit of Saint Benedict,