Thomas Griffin 7/11/26
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Benedict was born in Nursia, Italy in 480 A.D. His parents were wealthy, and in his younger years, he lived an ordinary life for the social class he found himself in. He was schooled in his hometown and was later sent to Rome to continue his studies. The lifestyle in Rome drove him to start a religious way of life that would shape the future of the Church and enrich the lives of millions. Today, his advice and witness is more crucial than ever before.
Rome was filled with debauchery, crime, and licentiousness. The city was consumed by lives that pursued pleasure, over and above, everything else. Abundant wealth, worldly honor and sexual desires were viewed as the vehicles to usher in a life of true happiness and fulfillment. Benedict saw these realities and knew that life among the Romans would only lead to disaster.
He fled to the desert and became a monk. Rome fell only four years later. The pursuit of happiness through pleasure proved to be futile.
Our current culture is not all that different from 5th century Rome. Many people tend to be consumed with their own desires and pleasures, no matter the time period. This is what sin does to us. It is turning inward, away from others and away from God.
St. Benedict desired, not to flee from earthly responsibilities, but to cling to his personal need for a savior. While we cannot leave our homes and families to live in the wilderness, we can learn from his pursuit of God above everything else. Hearing and abiding by the words of St. Benedict, particularly from his famous The Rule can aid us in giving everything to Christ as well.
“Prayer,” he writes, “ought to be short and pure, unless it be prolonged by the inspiration of Divine grace.”
Is my prayer filled with a cacophony of noise or is it rooted in intimacy with the living God who is present to me? To work towards more powerful prayer encounters, shortening our words and entering more deeply into silence is a great start. This will allow us to better hear from the Lord and be prepared for Him to speak in real ways.
Benedict also wrote: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading.” He found that some form of “work” was necessary for the Christian life. We need to keep ourselves active to avoid sin and focus on what is most important.
Idleness is rampant these days. Everyone experiences the feeling of going on their phone, just for a few minutes, to be then sucked into dozens of minutes or hours staring at our screens. Benedict reminds us today to use our time more wisely and more for God.
Finally, St. Benedict encourages us to remain resilient on the path to holiness:
“Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.”
We can feel discouraged often. As if we don’t pray enough or pray well enough. We can wallow in our sin and feel ashamed of our past. However, we must resolve to keep our eyes on Jesus. To trust that he will carry us to himself, if we let him.
Being rooted in these words from this great saint can be a simple start to leaving the Rome’s of our own lives and firmly planting our hearts and minds on the One we need more than anything else in this world.
Thomas Griffin is the Founder and President of Empty Tomb Project, Inc. He has a masters degree in theology and is a masters candidate in philosophy. Thomas is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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