{"id":3079,"date":"2007-06-29T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-29T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/06\/the-benedictine-way-2\/"},"modified":"2007-06-29T17:05:00","modified_gmt":"2007-06-29T17:05:00","slug":"the-benedictine-way-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/06\/the-benedictine-way-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Benedictine Way – 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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The Benedictine monk vows stability, and this means he will stay in one place. He\u2019s not on the move like a friar or a missionary. He can\u2019t be whisked here and there like a diocesan priest. He stays put. That\u2019s why a Benedictine, when asked will not just say, \u201cI\u2019m a Benedictine monk.\u201d but \u201cI\u2019m a monk of Douai\u201d or Downside or St Vincent\u2019s or Solesmes or Quarr or whatever his monastic house happens to be. That\u2019s where he has vowed stability. That\u2019s where God has planted him. That\u2019s where he will either bloom or wither and die.<\/span><\/p>\n

We lay people don\u2019t take vows of stability as such, but we take other vows that have the demand for stability written into them, and the monk\u2019s vow of stability reminds us that stability is required in our lives too if we are to make any kind of spiritual progress. If we\u2019re married we\u2019ve got a vow of stability. We don\u2019t have to stay in the same three bedroomed rancher in the suburbs for life, but we do have to remain committed to that same wife or husband, those in laws, the same gang of children, nieces and nephews and parents. Families demand stability. Stability is written into our baptism too. As Catholic Christians we\u2019re committed to the Church built on the Rock. We\u2019re not allowed to go scooting around church shopping. We should be committed to our parish too, for better or for worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Benedict writes about a certain sort of monk called a \u2018gyrovague\u2019. The words sounds like a cross between a gyroscope and a vagrant, and that about sums it up. A \u2018gyrovague\u2019 is a restless monk who goes from one monastery to another always looking for what pleases him. Benedict says the gyrovague\u2019s god is his stomach. He\u2019s an immature, restless pleasure seeking sort of person. Benedict condemns him. How often are we just the same church-wise? We run to this parish because the preacher is better or they have a better youth minister or we like the music better or they do the liturgy the way we like it. Church shoppers are like channel hoppers: never satisfied and always bored and always complaining.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abba Stabilitas says, \u201cStay put. Don\u2019t be running all over the place looking for happiness. You\u2019re looking for the wrong thing anyway. Look for God. Look for him just where you are at this time, in this place, with these people, and with yourself. If you can\u2019t find him here, you won\u2019t find him anywhere, and if you think you have found him elsewhere, you haven\u2019t. It\u2019s an illusion. It\u2019s a god of your own making, and do you know what a god of your own making is? An idol.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Benedictine monk vows stability, and this means he will stay in one place. He\u2019s not on the move like a friar or a missionary. He can\u2019t be whisked here and there like a diocesan priest. He stays put. That\u2019s why a Benedictine, when asked will not just say, \u201cI\u2019m a Benedictine monk.\u201d but \u201cI\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Benedictine Way - 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Benedictine monk vows stability, and this means he will stay in one place. He's not on the move like a friar or a missionary. 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