New Members....

Chapter 58 makes it quite clear that becoming a Benedictine monastic is not a matter of joining an organization. One is, in truth, volunteering to reorder one’s values, priorities, and life. Benedictine spirituality reaches into the depth of the soul. It changes lives, focuses our efforts, and leads us to see the world quite differently than we did before.

As a consequence, the newcomer seeking entry into monastic life may at first encounter what seems like an unwillingness to receive them. But Benedict’s hesitation is not rejection in the ordinary sense. He wants to know whether the desire is sincere—whether the seeker understands something of the transformation that will be asked of them.

The rabbis taught that there are sparks of holiness in everything. It would seem that Benedict wants some evidence that the seeker has felt such a spark within—that this is not an impulsive response to disappointment, loneliness, or unhappy circumstances, but the beginning of a genuine search for God.

Benedict understands that our lives are meant to be lived with purpose and discipline. For many of us, finding that purpose takes time. Finding the willingness to surrender may take even longer.

And here Benedict asks something rather remarkable of us. We cannot set out first to become holy, assuming that holiness will somehow make us faithful. Instead, we are asked to practice fidelity—even when we fail—in the hope that through fidelity we may someday become holy.

Benedict knows that once we begin to glimpse the demands of the spiritual life, we will fail, and fail often. His first measure of the seeker, therefore, is not perfection but perseverance: How determined are you to embrace this new life?

And perhaps most beautifully, Benedict understands that the senior chosen to accompany the newcomer must be gentle. The guide must understand the difficulty of the road ahead.

Transformation requires determination—but it also requires patience, compassion, and someone willing to walk beside us while we learn how to surrender.