Sacred Places...

The evil one is always lurking at our elbow—waiting for us to stumble. Temptation always near—especially when we are tired, distracted, resentful, or determined to preserve our comfort and control. Benedict understood this vulnerability. He also understood the remedy: prayer, surrender, and regular return to God.

Nothing, is more important than the Opus Dei—the Work of God in Prayer. Prayer is not an interruption of life; it is essential to an ordered life. In its absence, the false self quietly assumes command. We become governed by appetite, anxiety, pride, and the desire to have things our own way. Through fidelity to prayer, however imperfect, we open ourselves to His Grace.

The Benedictine life is centered in the chapel. Throughout the day, the bell calls the community to stop—to lay down its tools, abandon its arguments, interrupt its plans, and return together to the presence of God.

“No matter how tired we are or how busy we are or how impossible we think it is,” Sister Joan reminds us, Benedictine spirituality says: stop. Now. A spiritual life without regular prayer and an integrated consciousness of community is an illusion.

Benedict  also knew that community is also formed at  meal time.  The common table is sacred space—a place to receive one another in peace and grace. We wait, listen, share, serve, and make room. The meal becomes more than nourishment for the body; it becomes a daily sacrament of belonging. No one eats alone. No one is forgotten. No one’s hunger is regarded as unimportant.

For Benedict, the chapel and the table are one.  We are nourished at both tables.  Both essential to our life in Christ and in community .

Community does not simply happen. Each of us is responsible for building it, cherishing it, and protecting it—we nourish the soul, we nourish the body—each a sacred act of surrender and service.