Wednesday, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot
(Matthew 10)
After a pontificate as successful as John Paul II’s, it was surprising that the next pope did not choose the name John Paul III. But Cardinal Ratzinger chose the name Benedict because he wanted to remind Europe of its Christian heritage. St. Benedict, whom we remember today, founded the monastic movement that Christianized much of Europe. Benedictine monks not only evangelized Europe’s native tribes but also educated their leaders with the knowledge of the Greco-Roman civilization.
In the gospel Jesus sends his apostles out two-by-two to proclaim the Kingdom of God. To be sure, this sending is limited to Jewish locales because the disciples’ instructions are not yet complete. After Jesus rises from the dead, he will send the same group except, of course, Judas on a mission with greater scope and responsibility. He will direct them to the ends of the earth with the task of forming all people into one community through Baptism. In time that mission was enthusiastically taken up by Benedictine monks.
Now Europe needs to relearn the message. People there often resist the Gospel because they think that they might have heaven on earth through their own efforts. Science has staved off death. Technology has brought bubbly forms of life. Why believe in anything, they ask, beyond your favorite football team? The Christian and classical traditions that the followers of St. Benedict have long maintained do not evade an answer. We believe in the promises of God made in Jesus Christ because there is more to life than fun and more to death than the grave.
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