Running on the Path by Fr. Daniel McCarthy
The monastic community welcomed Matthew Rich to begin the postulancy in November and he will soon begin his novitiate year. He stood with the officials in the hallway outside the church, where there are three emblems inlaid into the floor: a cross representing faith, an anchor representing hope, and a heart representing love. Enter the monastery and walk down the hallway to see these emblems, cross, anchor, heart, in the same order as in the Gospel: faith, hope, and love. Continue walking beyond the building, and you come to our cemetery, suggesting that these three virtues accompany us monks from the time we enter the door and begin the postulancy until we are laid to rest.
Faith = Trust
The novitiate is one of the freest times in a monk’s life, with little to do other than to learn the daily routine and annual seasons of this community. There are morning lessons and afternoon manual labor. A more important task is intended to take place during this time. This period of getting to know one another is intended to establish a foundation of trust between the novice and members of the community. Our word faith comes from the Latin word meaning trust. So, this first emblem, the cross representing faith also represents trust and suggests that the foundation of trust is established at the beginning of monastic life.
This past December four novices professed their vows as monks. Each one comes to us at a different time in his life, yet he has developed a sense of hope for his own future with this community. Living in hope these men have begun to commit their lives and their more distant futures to our common future, founded as it must be upon a mutual trust in one another. Each one of us will answer somewhat differently where we place our hope, and so our mutual respect for our differences begins to grow even as we join more closely together with one another.
hope
Initiative The several years in simple vows are often a time of developing initiative. These stirrings of initiative will prove their value time and again whenever the Spirit moves afresh and the community is inspired to live anew according to its monastic charism. Learning to take initiatives in a community involves testing, cooperation with others, and living in hope based on trust in one another. 26
Kansas Monks
