Читать книгу Listen My Son - Dwight Longenecker - Страница 17

And so the Lord also says in the Gospel, ‘Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them, will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock; floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall; it was founded on rock.’ Thus the Lord concludes his reply, and daily expects us to respond through our dutiful actions to his holy precepts.

Therefore in order that amends be made for sins, the days of our life are prolonged to give us a time in which to make our peace, as the Apostle says, ‘Do you realise that the patience of God is meant to lead you to repentance?’ For this loving Lord says, ‘I do not wish the death of the sinner, but that he should change his ways and live.’

The Benedictine monk vows to pursue stability of life, and the need for stability is a constant theme throughout the Rule. Benedict himself lived in times of great upheaval. In the year 410 – just seventy years before Benedict's birth – the city of Rome fell to the invading hoards of barbarians, and by the middle of the century Huns were ravaging northern Italy. At the same time the Church was torn apart not only by the social and political chaos, but also by internal theological controversy.

His times are similar to our own. We have lived in a century of unparalleled violence, social upheaval, and cataclysmic change. Nothing seems secure and our whole world sometimes seems built on quicksand. In the midst of this our own lives too often shudder with insecurity, uncertainty and the stress of rapid transition.

So Benedict's injunction for us to build our house upon the rock is all the more timely (Matt. 7.25). Benedict teaches that the way to build sensibly on the rock is to obey the Lord's precepts and build carefully day by day – not attempting great things overnight, but constructing an edifice of faith which will withstand the tempests of life.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a stable home life. We usually think only in terms of financial stability, but that is perhaps the least of our worries; in many ways finances will look after themselves. What is most often neglected is spiritual and moral stability. Christian values were once strongly supported by society, education and the media. But increasingly the Christian values that provide a stable home for our family seem like an outdated counter-culture.

Nevertheless, it is a strong and loving discipline of prayer, duty, and worship which provides not only the most stable environment for our homes, but also gives the surest foundation for our children to step out into the wider world with confidence.

This domestic stability can only exist if it is first being built in our own lives. There are various practical ways of building stability. With the help of a spiritual director we can put together a rule of life which gives form and structure to our spiritual quest. In today's reading Benedict provides the other plank in the platform of a spiritually stable life. He encourages repentance because it is through an attitude of repentance that we continually correct and modify our straying path.