I
was considering my three favourite saints, Benedict, Anthony, and Teresa of
Avila, when it occurred to me that each of them withdrew from the corruption in
the World and in the Church. St.
Benedict and St. Anthony each withdrew to their caves and Teresa withdrew to
one her little houses in the cities of Spain and shut the door. Each sought and treasured solitude. History testifies that when you do that, the
lost children of the world begin to beat a path to your door. All three had to provide for the challenge of
providing hospitality for other seekers of God. Benedict
ended up as the founder of a major branch of monasticism. Anthony found other hermits following him to
the desert. Teresa spent as much time
founding little monasteries as she spent taking refuge in them.
Their
societies, and ours, were Pagan; at times Pagan arrayed in the glorious robes
of the Church. A cloak of virginity is
not the same thing as virginity. Today
when clergy fill out the forms of application for marriages they are apt to
meet the question, “Bachelor” or “Maiden” with a wry smile. The Church in America has difficulty
accepting that this is not a Christian country, certainly not within the
parameters set by the New Testament.
Perhaps it never has been except in certain remarkable cultural pockets
that managed to withdraw from the larger whole.
In
general, there are always exceptions, in general the response of the church
echoes the words of God, “They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at
all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.” [i] We are ashamed to blush. When the Church has been less accommodating
it has paid the price by being condemned as condemnatory, and therefore
socially unacceptable.
Many
of today’s voters are wrestling over which of our candidates or political
parties are more Christian than the other.
Be assured, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one
seeks for God. All have turned aside;
together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”[ii] It is within the context of the Church within
the World, and the World within the Church that Saints Benedict, Anthony, and
Teresa each fled to a little cave.
This
is not a counsel of despair, nor is it somehow peculiar. It is the rhythm of the Church and the World. The Lord himself counsels the faithful not to
seek the answer within the Church itself, “Do not trust in these deceptive
words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of
the LORD.”[iii] Do not be trapped into worshipping the
garments of holiness or the stones of ancient buildings, not that in America we
have ancient buildings. Even our Lord
Jesus himself sought times of solitude where he could be alone with his Father
on a lonely Galilean hilltop.
The
answer is not to be found in the World or even in the Church. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand by the roads, and
look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and
find rest for your souls.’”[iv] Rest is not to be found in the lost ideal of
a Christian nation nor is it to be found in the beauty and diversity of the
Church. It will not be found in feverish
attempts to cloak social morés in the garments of holiness. That is like a gold ring in pig’s snout. Rest
is to be found in the ancient paths where the good way is. “Now . . . we take the greatest care to hold that which
has been believed everywhere, always and by all.[v]
Rest
is not to be found even in the ancient paths, but where the paths lead. Rest is to be found in the God of love who is
also a consuming fire where all of our pretensions are only dust and
ashes. One cannot in truth separate love
and holiness, and it is precisely the demands of holiness that caused Saints
Benedict, Anthony, and Teresa to flee from the Church within the World and the World
within Church. Were they wrong? Many would tell us today that they were.
For
you and for me the practical answer is to be found in taking deliberate time
for solitude like these ancient saints.
Pascal wrote, “I have often said that the sole cause of man’s
unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.”[vi] As Oblates we are not called to live in
endless solitude, but we are called to enfold times of solitude into the rhythm
of our lives and our search for solitude needs to be supported by the simple
round of psalms and lessons, the prayers of the Church, and corporate worship.
