The difference between a cathedral

Tomorrow, Monday, November 9, is the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. It’s a very large church and a whole lot more, the official Cathedral of Pope Benedict XVI as Bishop of Rome. Outside the Vatican, it used to be the headquarters of the Catholic Church with live-in popes and all that. It was a gift to the Church from Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century. It’s been knocked down a time or two, ravaged by Saracens, burnt by fire. We look upon it as “the Mother of all Christian Churches,” a sign that can be found in its halls.

Still there is an important “difference” between places of worship, however grand ther strike us. We see this in tomorrow’s gospel. In Jerusalem, Jesus makes a whip of cords and drives the oxen and sheep being sold there out of the Temple. Out go the money changers too, their tables overturned. The Pharisees ask Jesus what sign can he produce of his right to do that that? “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” he says.

Actually it was a little boy that brought home to me “the difference” between a basilica ...or a cathedral or a temple for that matter. I could here him calling me, Christopher, that is ...our three-year-old neighbor.

“Ta Ta, Ta Ta!” he called loudly. “In here,” I said. He popped into my bedroom carrying a black pot, like the kind witches brew with. He showed me his stash: Candy harvested two days ago ...Halloween. Impressed, I asked solemnly: “Would you share that with me?” “No!” he said abruptly. Straight away, he turned to leave and as he grabbed the doorknob I called: “I thought you loved me." (pause) "Don’t you love me?” “No!” he said, with just a slight hurt look on his face.

Two nano-seconds later, I heard a voice out in the kitchen: “Na Na, Na, Na, I love you.” Twice the voice sounded. I smiled. Just a bit later, I found the wee one in the front room, staring at his candy spilled on the chair in front of him. He picked up my favorite piece, chocolate malt balls. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but slowly he gave it to me. Then a big tootsie roll; then a smaller one. “That’s enough,” I said. “Thank you.” Paul’s words came to mind: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

That's when it came to me, the difference between a cathedral; the difference is one of them might last 2000 years ...but the other one will live forever. ---- Brother Caedfile

The difference between a 2 x 4

You may have heard of the Horse Whisperer who softens roaring stallions with a soft voice. But have you heard of the mule trainer who begins with a 2 x 4? Seeing his mule knocked to the ground, a concerned owner screamed, "Hey, you're supposed to train my donkey, not kill it!" "Don't worry," he was assured, "first I must get that mule's complete and undivided attention." In my experience, God uses both ways, depending on the mule.Take Elijah. When Jezebel put a price on his head, the prophet sank into depression. He wanted to die. The Lord led him up "the mountain of God," the same where Israel got the 10 commandments amid smoke and thunder. God gets Elijah's attention first with a strong, rock-crushing wind. Next the prophet feels the earth shaking beneath him, then comes flaming fire. But the Lord was not in wind, earthquake or fire. "But after the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak." God was speaking to him. I believe something like this was happening on Calvary. God got the world's attention with raw violence, the Roman Crucifixion. But listen to the soft voice beneath hammer and blood: “I love you, I want you for my own.”

On the road to Damascus, Saul is on a mission to imprison Christians. A light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground, hearing a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you sir?” The reply: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:9 says: “For three days Saul was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.” Having his complete and undivided attention, God now sends Ananias to the house where Saul is staying. Ananias lays hands on the former Pharisee and baptizes him. Scales fall from Saul’s eyes, he can see; he eats and regains his strength.
A discouraged fisherman named Peter has fished all night without catching even 1 shrimp. Jesus, who has been teaching from Peter’s boat, asks him to put out into the deep and lower his nets one more time. Feeling it an utter waste, Peter nevertheless obeys. The nets come up with so many fish, both boats are filled to the point of sinking. (Luke 5:7) Peter falls down at Jesus’ feet: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” But by now God has his undivided attention. Hearing Jesus’ tiny whispering sound: "Come follow me," this fisherman and some companions as well, park their boats and leave everything to become apostles of the Lord.

In her mid 40's, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. After losing one breast and learning her cancer was spreading, she became downhearted, discouraged. Knowing her background, her doctor took her by both shoulders, looked into her eyes and with a little shake, asked, "Where is your faith?!" Hiding her face in her cloak, momma began listening for "that tiny whispering sound." She never looked back. Dying at age 47, but strong in faith, she had just needed one swat with God's 2 x 4. Myself, I needed a really big one before I "hid my face in my cloak." What's the difference between a 2 x 4? If at even the sight of one coming our way, we would begin listening for that "tiny whispering sound," pretty soon 2 x 4's would be obsolete. -- Brother Caedfile

"Who knows why God has done anything?"

Scripture documents different ways God speaks to us. My favorite is the talking donkey. The prophet Balaam was used to speaking with God because he was a prophet. But this was just a bit unorthodox! On this occasion, God must have felt it was the only way he could get the man's attention. So "the Lord opens the mouth of the ass," and the donkey and the man have a conversation. The jenny asks Balaam, "What have I done to you that you should beat me these three times?" (Numbers 22:22) The ass had 1) turned off the road, 2) squeezed the prophet's leg against the mountain wall, and 3) finally fallen to its knees with Balaam aboard. "If I had a sword at hand," the prophet ansers, "I would kill you here and now."

Without going into the question, "Is this 'story' or 'history?'" what do we make of it? Maybe we should take a tip from the movie hero Shrek. Shrek's best friend is a donkey, and all through the film they talk. The main thing Shrek tries to determine, is, "Is the donkey saying something useful?" He often does, and Shrek is usually the better for it.

Even if what is said is "second-hand" -- as is most of what we hear from God -- the point is to listen, hear and obey. God spoke to the donkey, the donkey spoke to Balaam, but Balaam neither heard, listened or obeyed. In another case, the Angel of the Lord spoke to the shepherds, the shepherds spoke to Mary; Mary heard their words, but listened for the voice of God. (Luke Chapter 2:1-20) Why does God work in this round about way? As our favorite Black preacher once poked, "Who knows why God has done anything?"

That God speaks to us is terribly important. How God speaks to us is not that important. What God says is super important, and if there can be such a thing as something more important than that, it is doing whatever God asks of us. Fortunately there are other less spectacular ways the Lord speaks to us. Take dreams, for instance. We have all been stirred by Dr. King's speech at the Washington Monument, "I have a dream." The phrase comes from the Prophet Jeremiah: "Let the prophet who has a dream recount his dream; let him who has my word speak my word truthfully." (Jer23:28) Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, was informed by an angel in a dream that his intended bride, Mary, was with child "by the Holy Spirit." He was about to reject her for fear she was guilty of adultery. Again, after Jesus is born, in another dream, Joseph is warned, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." (Luke 2:13)

At Mt. Sinai, where the Israelites got the ten commandments, they developed a healthy fear of coming close to God. God's appearance was announced with smoke, thunder and lightning and loud trumpet blast (Exodus 19:16). Moses however, walked right through the fireworks, and it is written of this prominent patriarch: "God used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another." In some sense this must be true of each prophet, they speak "face to face" with God. Since hearing God's word through the mouth of another person is perhaps the most common way we come to Religious truth, in another blog we will speak about prophets further.

"In a dense cloud"

"I am coming to you in a dense cloud," God tells Moses (Ex19:9). Those who read our comments on the daily readings at our web site know we are now going through the Book of Exodus. The Night Office contained this very text this morning: "I am coming to you in a dense cloud." I asked myself, "Why?" Why would God come to anyone "in a dense cloud"? I had a feeling I knew. But I didn't try to articulate it until a little later that morning, I was reading Jerome Kodell, OSB's little book, Musings From the Monastery. It's subtitle is, "Don't trust the abbot." But in this case, we are going to do just that: trust Fr. Jerome, abbot of Subiaco Monastery, Subiaco, Arkansas, to give us a clue as to why in the world God would come to anyone in a dense cloud. The abbot writes: "God is constantly acting in our lives, but often that work is hidden under camouflage ...Only if we stay attentive and look closely will we get even a glimpse of the hand of God working in our lives. This is not by accident. The way to salvation is through faith, which means putting our trust in God. We could never grow in trust if the works of God's hand among us were visible and unmistakable." -- Watch the Signs essay, p15

A prominent sign of God's presence with the people of Israel in their journey out of Egypt was "a cloud by day and a column of fire by night." (Ex13:21-22) It would seem 'the dense cloud' is as good as it gets for us humans when it comes to "seeing" and "hearing" what God has to say to us. Before he was Paul the Apostle, Saul the Pharisee had 'the dense cloud' experience. On a mission of vengeance to round up and imprison Christians, Saul was: struck by a blinding light and knocked off his feet (Acts9:4). Blind as a bat, when he stood up he had to be led by the hand into the city of Damascus. Three days in a dense cloud later, a man named Ananias came to his house, gradually leading the Christian Paul to emerge from the Pharisee Saul.

A good strong faith will neutralize almost any dense cloud. But it won't necessarily make you a good dinner companion. A few days before I boarded a train for St. Benedict's Farm, my step grandmother invited myself and my aunt out to a restaurant. We had just ordered, when out of the blue, Annabelle, (as we called her), turned to me and said, "Why don't you go up to Benet Lake (Wis...where her cousin was the abbot) first, and try an established Benedictine house before you join a group with no standing whatsoever." Feeling the trap clap-shut on my leg, I said, "NOOOOOOOO!" As that one word emerged from my bowels, I think I lifted off the booth seat at least 8 inches. I can tell you this, the rest of that evening was limited to 'small talk' -- very small talk.

Contrasting life on earth with that in heaven, Paul writes the Corinthians, "At present, we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known." (1Cor13:12) Dense clouds give us the opportunity to exercise our faith. So then, when the Lord God speaks to you 'in a dense cloud,' don't feel cheated. Don't stomp and complain. This is simply the chance you need to really show your stuff. -- Brother Caedfile

"Where were you when?" ...... #2

I’m old enough to know where I was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Also, when Franklin Roosevelt died, and of course, when the planes hit the towers. Where we were when big things happen is often worth remembering. In this blog, we remember where we were when God called us. But first, though, we take a look at where some well-known figures in the Bible were when God called them.

“Are these all of the sons you have?” Samuel asks Jesse. (1Sam16:11) “There is still the youngest,” the father replied, “who is tending the sheep.” Thus, fresh from the pastures, the boy David was anointed king to succeed Saul. In “a small still voice” at the entrance to a cave on Mount Horeb, Elijah heard God summon him to keep prophesying. When time came to pass on his ministry, he found Elisha plowing behind twelve yoke of oxen and he threw his cloak over him. (1Kgs19:19) Saul the Pharisee became Paul the Apostle on the road to Damascus, where he was headed with letters to imprison Christians. Confronted by Jesus, his life turned around 360º. Mary was called to be the mother of Jesus in Nazareth, while Zechariah was called while ministering in the Temple at Jerusalem. He and his aging wife were to become the father of John the Baptist. From their fishing boats, Peter, Andrew, James and John were called as the first of the 12 apostles. Matthew was at his tax collector’s post when Jesus called him. But the prize for the most unusual place to be called from belongs to Zacchaeus, who was up in a sycamore tree when Jesus called from below: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

The story of my own calling is pretty funny too. I was shaving in the latrine at the 68th battalion of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas when God called me to be a monk. In a flash, I stopped moving my razor. Looking at my face in the mirror, lather on one side, a smile on the other: “A Trappist monk,” I said to myself, “Yeah.” I stopped and congratulated myself on my extreme good luck. It felt right. I couldn’t have refused if I tried; the Lord had his hooks in me. ─ Brother Caedfile

Brother Caedfile's Porridge

Blog Number 1: Why am I writing this? Not just to be “relevant.” If I wanted to be relevant, I would try learning how to ‘tweet’ …or is it ‘twitter’? No, I am making this effort because Jim suggested it. After telling me he thought it was a good idea for me to move my weekly Fragments from Email to our website, he asked innocently: “Will you also include a blog?” “I dunno,” I responded “…a blog?” Then, “A blog, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe I will.”

And so you see, at that moment, as I thought about it later, I felt “called” to write and post this blog. I use the word “called” deliberately, as I have a great interest in what we ─ that is what you and I ─ are “called” to do. Traditionally referred to as “a vocation,” we have big callings ─like getting married or becoming a monk ─ and small callings, like putting out the garbage or moving to a new apartment. Maybe we can undertaking to write a blog, as a medium-size calling. In our next few attempts, we hope to explore different aspects of one’s callings. An aspect we address here today, is ‘desire.’ I have, for example, an abiding desire to express myself in writing. It started when I was a boy. Raised largely by my mother and her sister, my aunt, their big brother, E. F. McDermott, was the male role model in our family.

“Uncle Bud,” as he was known, was a big man …with a mustache and a deep, bass voice. And my mom and aunt used the threat of Uncle Bud’s big shoe to get me and my brothers to eat our carrots. The most important thing about my uncle for me was that he was a journalist, the publisher in fact, of the Idaho Falls Post-Register. Thence was born in me a desire to write, and to be “a newspaper man.” In high school, I wrote for Galesburg’s Daily Register-Mail, covering the Knox County baseball league. I wrote for my school paper in high school and college, and never stopped writing after I left college. At the time I made my decision to pursue a calling as a monk, I was an apprentice editor at the above mentioned Register-Mail.

Desire is important in any calling. It surely helps mothers get up in the middle of the night to change a diaper or rock a baby. And dad, to make his hour’s drive to work through bumper-to-bumper traffic. Towards the end of his life, my favorite saint ─ the Venerable Bede ─ said that all his life it was his constant joy to study, teach or write about the word of God. Bede never traveled very far, in fact, from his Northumbrian English monastery of St. Peter and Paul on the Tyne River. Towards the end of his life, Jesus said to his closest disciples, “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you.” “If you like what you do,” someone has said, “you have a vocation. If you don’t, you have a job.”

With desire then, we begin this blog. We pray God to bring forth fruit from our efforts. But if he doesn’t, please, please …don’t blame my friend, Jim.