The Fellowship of St. Columbanus

The lives of our eremitical and monastic saints present us with the most praiseworthy and moving examples of generosity and self-sacrifice at once with regards to deep-rooted human aspirations, and with the divine injunction: “ If thou wilt be perfect, go  and  sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come  and follow me ” (S. Matthew 19, 21).  Saint Benedict in Subiaco Fra Angelico One of the great tropes of Augustine’s treatise on the City of God is that we all seek peace: nothing could be more human than the desire and the enjoyment of peace, security and tranquillity. Somehow, however, human affairs, in both the public and domestic spheres, almost invariably involve an element of tension, acrimony and conflict, very often about things that, in the grand scheme of this life seen as the preparation of our death, matter but very little. No doubt, all the conflicts and unpleasantnesses of our quotidian live...

Benedict Feeds His Monks Sodoma (1508) It is a saying almost to the point of a cliche among Catholics that Christ did not write a book, but founded a Church. The communication of the Gospel does not begin with the Book, though it is important, but with the Life of Faith, with the communion of the Church and the charity of Christians. The Book comes out of this Life as a guide and a record--a touchstone by which we are always returned to the center of the Faith. But Christ is present in the world first through the living witness of his Body--the Church. In much the same way, our holy father St. Benedict's greatest legacy is not the written Rule, but the Society he founded. The Rule, beautiful as it is, comes after. I will probably never run out of reasons to encourage everyone to read the rule, but St. Benedict himself tells us that it is "only a beginning" (chapter 73). The real instruction in Christianity is found in the life of all the saints who have gone befo...

Our little fellowship was caught somewhat unprepared to publish a reflection this week. My wife and I have just welcomed our first child, a boy named Wendell. And our two other members have less internet access than they had expected. So instead of a full reflection on the lections, we are going to briefly welcome Wendell into the world, as well as a couple of brief updates. We have been speaking to a few potential recruits to the Fellowship, and I am very excited about their contributions. We are still looking for more people who may have a call in the area of Catholic education in a lay Benedictine setting. Continue praying that we would find good partners in this work. And let us know if you have someone in mind. And in honor of Wendell's birth, God, a new song shall I sing to Thee,      upon the nebel-asor shall I play for Thee; Baby Wendell The Giver of salvation to kings,       The deliverer of David his servant  ...

Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 II Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15 St. Mark 5:21-43 Death is not our natural end, according to the Wisdom of Solomon. It is a ruinous consequence of the separation brought between us and God our Maker. He states emphatically, "God did not make death." (Wis. 1:13) Death is a deviation, a corruption of the Created order. Christ Pantochrator Sixth Century So when the Creator descended into His creation, it is no wonder that He came with life in his very touch. The prophet Malachi anticipated the incarnation powerfully, "For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings." God did not make death, but made all things to persist. So Christ comes as "the Resurrection and the Life," and even the fringe of his robe brings healing to the wounds of the world. This restoration, this renewal of Creation by the entrance of Life itself, of Truth itself, into the fabric of the fallen world, brings with i...

II Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 St. Matthew 16:13-19 "As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. "As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearing." (II Tim. 4:5-8, NRSVae) Saint Paul thus looks forward to his death as a kind of sacrifice, a libation offering to God in the pouring out of his blood on the bloody streets of Rome. This is the culmination of his life, lived as he advises Timothy to live: sober, suffering, and doing the work of an evangelist. This life, even in being poured out, is poured out as an offering to God, and so receives the crown of righteousness. The martyrdom of Sts...

Isaiah 49:1-6 Acts 13:22-26 St. Luke 1:57-66, 80 A name is more than that by which we are called. There has always been within the name a kind of magic and romance. In America, where I am from, I have always considered it the most beautiful image to talk of a young man or woman as going out into the world, “to make a name for themselves.” In other words, to earn a reputation. We now speak with a kind of reverence the names of those who have changed the course of history: Plato, Augustine, Einstein; we remember the names of those who have impacted us: personally, culturally, and throughout time. The Naming of John the Baptist Fra Angelico, circa 1435 In the time of Christ, as well as at other times, this importance of a person’s name was not only a matter of reputation and remembering. Within a name is expressed a person’s culture, identity, people, and place of belonging. We can hear this very point in the words of Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives: “there is no ...

Ezekiel 17:22-24 Psalm 92 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Mark 4:26-34 St Anne conceiving the Blessed Virgin Jean Bellagarme the Elder If I were going to tell a Kingdom of God parable that might follow the ones from our Gospel reading, I know now that it would be about pregnancy. The point of the first parable seems to be that the Kingdom grows of its own accord, while the man who plants "knows not how" (Mk 4:27). The point of the second seems to be that the enormous Kingdom life can grow from the smallest bits of Kingdom faith. Both of these ideas are incredibly familiar to me at the moment, having spent some time thinking and worrying about the little boy growing inside of me. The act of growing a child seems like one of the most significant, productive, creative things I might ever do in my life, and yet I am nearly powerless in the process. Apart from keeping myself healthy, I have almost no control over how this little person grows. And yet I've spent a good deal of ti...