“In those large areas of human experience that can be described as ambiguous, the believer will assume the presence of goodness. This assumption allows the latent goodness to appear and the situation can be ‘redeemed.’” (p. 75)

So much of what we hear about in the news is ambiguous at best and just plain evil at its worst. We need places and people to remind us that there is a basic goodness to the world that resides in people’s hearts. A constant diet of what is wrong obscures the goodness from which creation and our own lives come. That is not to say that evil and injustice don’t exist. They do and we are called to address them in whatever form we see them. However, at the heart of God’s creation is a latent goodness, as Demetrius Dumm puts it. Assuming the presence of goodness creates room for that goodness to come forth.

Many of us at the monastery had the occasion recently to hear this goodness expressed. On Sunday June 30, 2019, the Ecumenical Center for Clergy Spiritual Renewal held a reception for the 19 participants in the first immersion retreat. The sisters and about 30 volunteers who had a part in the immersion attended the reception. The volunteers had helped directors, Jerry Busse and Nancy Enderle, with the listening sessions, spiritual guidance, ambiance set up, input for the group and more. All the communities of the monastery were represented.

During the reception, the members of the immersion group each said a few words about what the retreat meant to them. They shared words such as joy, renewal, hope, home, peace. They each sought to express what the time at the monastery had meant to them. The overwhelming experience for everyone was one of gratitude for their new colleagues, for the monastery, for the prairie and natural world, for the love and grace of God that each experienced in her or his own way. They were looking forward to staying connected to each other and returning to the monastery for five days in January 2020.

It was gratifying for the sisters, the directors and volunteers to hear their heart-felt words of appreciation for the time and space to relax, for the new spiritual practices they experienced and for reflection on their ministry. For me, this is another indication why the monastery is so important in our time.

Benedictines are called to seek God in everything. Perhaps at its most basic, this means looking for the goodness in the heart of each person we meet and reflecting on each experience to find where goodness may be at work. Dumm says that gratitude helps tune our hearts to this latent goodness in the world. I experienced this as I listened to the clergy talk about their gratitude for their experience at Holy Wisdom.

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The Second Oblate World Congress was introduced with a Russian icon, Christ the Light of the World and the comment, “Deep within the human heart is a desire to see the face of God and live.” Thus began a graced time of personal transfiguration.

Our mission at the Congress was to meet as many oblates as possible, share prayer and friendship, listen and dialogue in order to take back home instruments to help foster good zeal. An initial overview of today’s religious challenges and the Benedictine answer was given:

• Be watchful—take stock of our contradictions.
• Build bridges so we may approach strangers.
• Bear witness to our faith — express our hope.
• Be open to meet anyone, die to the self that obstructs openness.

With that we were wished good prayer and fruitful work.

Nokter Wolf emphasized that despite our difficult times there is a new search for meaning and a communal aspect to our spirituality. The Oblate answer to this was offered through three keynote presentations and an inter-faith panel. Laurence Freeman, an English Benedictine, presented “The Contemplative Oblate Today” noting that Pope John Paul II wrote in “In Vita Consecrata,” “The deeper your contemplation, the more effective your ministry.” The Oblate role in society today is to be an agent of contemplation. Recovering this contemplative tradition will increase what we are able to contribute to today’s world.

Andrew Tanya–anan, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, presented “Mission and Interreligious Dialogue.” His refrain throughout several presentations was that the mission of dialogue is not optional. The need is a result of pluralism. True dialogue is a religious experience that should be at the core of our religious practices and personal development. “Dialogue is born when we learn to love what is different from ourselves.” William Skudlarek, an American Benedictine residing in Rome, noted that inter-religious dialogue is a basic contemplative practice because one must listen, attentively, receptively, and non-judgmentally.

Mother Marie Hickey, OSB, of England, presented “Personal Relations and Communion,” offering that the Benedictine understanding of community has great potential to make a significant contribution to the global process of community building. First we must bring the Congress to our own community, strengthen it and then establish networks. As we network, encountering the need to accommodate diversity, we must focus on what is essential—liturgy of hours, lectio divina, the Rule of Benedict and applying it to our life.

The inter-religious panel on “The Religious Challenges of Today” was comprised of Venerable Ajahn Chandapolo, Buddhist; Shahrzad Houshman, Muslim; Ghiri Hamsananda, Hindu; Lisa Palmieri, Jewish; and William Skudlarek, Christian. They addressed four questions:

• How can religion answer the challenge of the world’s need resulting from technology? Briefly, listen and contemplate—it is the act of contemplation that answers hyper-technology.
• What are the challenges that are most important for religion to deal with? The challenge of adapting traditions from another time to modernity, returning to spiritual roots, letting go of our need for instant gratification and the consumer need for the latest spiritual trend.
• How can religion foster societies that are truly pluralist? Acknowledging our common values and that what we have in common is greater than our differences. We make a lot of the differences; yet all want to be happy, fulfilled, and live in peace. We must discover the plurality of our own identity.
• If we are open and compare our deepest religious beliefs with the beliefs of others, do we risk losing our faith? Relationship is at the heart of what it means to be human. The Trinity, our God, is a god of relationship. To be in dialogue is at its core a way of being Christian.

The Oblates responded to the presentations in same language discussion groups. One English language group responded by lifting up the Benedictine maxim, ‘Seek nothing before God,’ adding that “The Benedictine attitude of humility is so important for us—we are called to deep humility. As the institutions of the developed countries break down, we have to transform ourselves to be part of the transformation of something very basic. The future is with the poor; we must welcome the poor.”

And my response to this time of grace: The Congress models and Thomas Merton encourages us to learn about other faiths, including other ecumenical traditions. As we learn more about these diverse traditions, we are to hold the tension among them within ourselves, thus preparing the way for peace and unity.

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Name your favorite “giving thanks” words and images; the more the better (even if you name shopping and turkey). On my list is family gathering, a large round oak dining table, sharing food, good friends, community leisure, prayer, and a generous faithful God.

Our community prayer closes at the monastery when the leader gathers the participants’ prayer into a “collect.” The final dismissal is: “let us go in peace.” The assembly replies: “and give God thanks.” These phrases are an ending that introduces a beginning: preparing our minds and hearts to receive the demands of a new day.

Today, like other days, will be filled with appointments and meetings mostly of my choosing; they’re on my calendar. However, there will be unplanned and inconvenient “surprises” (people and events) that intrude on my time and space. Do intrusions require gratitude?

When fully awake and at my best, I remember to receive gratefully these “happenings,” might we name them “strangers?” They ask from me welcome and entertainment. Experience tells me there is a blessing inherent in the unexpected if I bring an open heart.

Failure to receive life’s circumstances but rather complain and grumble about them is one of the behaviors Saint Benedict finds least desirable. In the scriptures and in the Rule of Benedict, grumbling is seen as failure to trust and honor God.

In her book, One Heart, One Soul, Sr. Mary Forman, OSB suggests that the antidote to grumbling seems to be a combination of humility, contentment and gratitude. Practicing gratitude this Thanksgiving is a good beginning. Contentment and humility may need another holiday.

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