While the monks of Belmont Abbey – and Benedictine communities around the world – reserve March 21 for the most solemn celebrations of St. Benedict, yesterday鈥檚 more generally observed feast of July 11 nevertheless holds a special place in our hearts, and it is often a day when our monks observe vocational milestones.
Last year Br. Leo Young made his Solemn Profession, embracing his vocation and dedicating his life to God through the rooted particularity of this monastic community. And this year the monks of Belmont Abbey welcomed two young men into the next stages of their discernment: one as a novice and one through First Profession, or Temporary Vows.
As I listened to these vows yesterday during Mass, I thought about the ways we discern God’s will in our lives. A Benedictine monk in discernment seeks the will of God through prayer and work, ora et labora. He listens within the Divine Office, the Mass, and the Scriptures. He attends to the shared life of his confreres, the humble rhythms of community life. And although the monastic life is a distinct calling and a particular vocation, discernment is something we all need, and we seek God’s voice in many of the same places: in our own prayer and work, in the Liturgy, the Bible, our families and communities.
We, too, can cultivate the quiet patience that waits for God to reveal Himself. And even if most of us don’t formally vow ourselves to a discernment period, we can still commit to following God’s will no matter what He asks, knowing that the more we give ourselves over to Him, the more He promises to fill us with the Life and the Love that surpass understanding.
Please join me in praying for the Belmont Abbey monastic community – and especially its newest members, as they continue their journeys of discernment over the coming years. May this joyful Feast of St. Benedict remind us to listen to God鈥檚 voice in our own lives, knowing that His love and generosity are always orders of magnitude greater than we can fathom.
