Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Saints Benedict and Scholastica, the Pharisees, and the Primacy of Love

February 10, Memorial of St. Scholastica



This morning, as I was praying the Office of Readings for St. Scholastica, I was struck by something in the second reading, and I was even more struck by its connection to the Gospel passage from the Mass for today.

The Second Reading for the Office of Readings is from a work by St. Gregory, and it describes the scene depicted above in the mural from Conception Abbey, where I was in school for four years. The story goes that Benedict and Scholastica, who were twins, lived in monasteries that were about five miles apart in Italy. Every once in a while, they would meet each other at a hut outside the gates of Benedict's monastery to speak about God and the spiritual life.

One time, as they were speaking, they were so enthralled that the sun began to go down, and Benedict needed to leave to go back to his monastery. Scholastica asked him to stay, so they could continue their conversation about the spiritual life. Benedict refused saying, "I simply cannot stay outside my cell." At this, Scholastica bowed her head and began to pray. Immediately it began to storm outside, and the storm raged so much that "neither Benedict nor his brethren could stir across the threshold of the place where they had been seated."

Benedict expressed his disapproval to Scholastica, to which she replied, "I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery." Against his will, Gregory says, Benedict stayed with her and they conversed about the spiritual life throughout the night.

The part of this story that really struck me is what Gregory says next about Saint Scholastica and what she was able to do: "It is not surprising that she was more effective than he, since as John says, God is love, it was absolutely right that she could do more, as she loved more." She could do more, because she loved more. The primacy of love is a key part of my faith, and I think it is the key to the spiritual life.

There is nothing inherently wrong in what St. Benedict desired, that is, to go back to his monastery and stay the night in his own cell. However, God's call for Benedict in that moment was not to go back to his cell, but to love his sister by staying with her and growing closer to God with her.

In the Gospel from Mass today, Jesus is reprimanding the pharisees after one of them asks Jesus why his disciples don't wash their hands before they eat. "Why do your disciples," they ask, "not follow the tradition of the elders, but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" Mark tells us that there are many traditions that the Pharisees and the Jews followed, like washing their hands and "purifying" cups and dishes.

Jesus rebukes them saying, "You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." In other words, they took what was dictated by men, and placed it on a higher level than the command of God.

Looking back at the Office of Readings, we can see that St. Benedict was being somewhat of a pharisee in his desire to go back to his cell. He was concerned, not necessarily in a bad way, with living out the Rule that he himself wrote and gave to his monks. However, the rule is a human tradition, and love is the greatest commandment of God. St. Benedict forgot about this great commandment of love.

As I look forward to my own ministry as a priest in a year and a half, I found myself asking the Lord, as a Spiritual Director once suggested, to make my life interruptible. If I ignore love for the sake of keeping up with my routine, my goals, my plans, my will, etc., then how can I minister to people the way they ought to be ministered to. I cannot be a priest who tells someone, "Sorry, I just started my Holy Hour, can you wait for an hour and come see me again?" If I am five minutes into my holy hour, and God places someone in front of me for me to love, than that person is the way that I express my love to God. Loving that person becomes my prayer to the Lord.

Perhaps this is something we can all afford to reflect on. How often do we ignore love for the sake of our own plans and routines? Do we allow ourselves to love God in other people, even when it breaks the rules we set for ourselves? Are we Scholastica or Benedict?

Lord, make our lives interruptible...

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