Jesus, our Lord, sends his followers like sheep among wolves and tells them: Be cautious as snakes and simple as doves… Even though Saint Francis de Sales claims that he would not give one dove for a hundred snakes, that is, one simplicity for a hundred cautions, he still admits that he likes to obey the Lord when he tells him to love and be careful. And so it is all right… It is worth noting that the Lord recommends first the serpent, then the dove. First, caution, then simplicity. And by this, he seems to be telling us: Be careful not to fall into the clutches of human beasts and predators, but if this happens to you, remain uncomplicated. Both are necessary, but this order must be maintained out of obedience to my word.

But what is the serpent’s wisdom to be seen? The wagon walls of King Saul and the military camps of the Czech “Warriors of God” give us the answer to this question… The head is in the middle, covered by the body and the tail, without which it is possible to live and defend only at the end. From the beginning, Jesus Christ formed a community of his followers, which had a head – Peter, protected by the most trusted and surrounded by the most informed for the good of the whole. The snake, as a symbol of prudence, sacrifices everything and exposes the whole body to wounds to protect the head, which is attacked in the Lord’s Church not only with a deadly weapon but also with moral beatings with the help of pamphlets, slander, and slander…

In addition, it can be harmed from within through disobedience of the body, overloading with unnecessary worries, or inaccurate or even distorted information. We are wise when we act like snakes that always defend their heads. And we are simple when some of us, despite caution, are caught and brought before rulers, where we are not to worry about what we will say but leave this concern in the simplicity of a dove to the Holy Spirit.

Holiday: July 11

* about 480 Nursia, today Norcia, Umbria, Italy

† March 21, 547 (or 560 ?) Montecassino monastery, Italy

The meaning of the name is the one who blesses and wishes well (lat.)

Attributes: cup, pastoral (bishop’s staff), raven

Patron of Europe, monks, speleologists, architects, engineers

Saint Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism and the foremost patron saint of Europe, was born in Nursia (now Norcia in Umbria, Italy) around 480 in a noble family. However, only a few historical documents regarding his person have been preserved. He was sent to Rome to study. The main subject of his studies was rhetoric – the art of persuasion through the spoken word. The successful speaker could have had better arguments or expressed the truth but used rhythm, eloquence, and technique to persuade without involving the heart. This philosophy was also reflected in the students’ lives.

Seeing the moral and intellectual decay, he fled from his studies in Rome with the thought of a monastic life. He renounced his inheritance and began to live in the small village of Subiaco in the Sabine mountains. There, he lived as a hermit under the leadership of another hermit named Romanus. In the following years, he founded twelve monasteries in the Sabine Mountains, where the monks lived in separate communities of twelve monks, each according to the number of apostles. Later, however, he suddenly left these monasteries when the envious attacks of another hermit prevented him from continuing the spiritual leadership of these monks. Subsequently, he became superior to the nearby monastery in Vicocaro, where – when part of the community rebelled against him and even wanted to poison him – he left with a group of faithful disciples to find his monastery. After many difficulties, he settled in Monte Cassino, which was dedicated to him by the Roman rich man Terculius, the father of St. Placid. Benedict, Placidus, and others, in 529, began the construction of a massive monastery. The building was already completed in 532, and in 536, the monastery became a refuge for monks and the surrounding people during the war. At that time, the Ostrogothic king Totila was preparing for an expedition against Rome. In 542, Totilo visited Benedict on Monte Cassino. As a follower of the Arians, he was deeply moved by the meeting with the founder of the Benedictine order. Benedikt predicts his future fate – r. In 546, he conquered Rome, in 549, then Sicily; in 552, he was defeated by the Byzantine duke Narzes and died.

Regula Benedicti, which he wrote shortly before his death, was the fruit of his lifelong search. It draws a lot from the results of the monastic movement of that time, from the rules and principles that were already created then. He skillfully composes and modifies them to correspond to his vision of man and the path by which he comes to the depth of knowledge of God and spiritual love. It was a view – as it turned out – far beyond the time frame in which Benedict lived. The rule became the cornerstone of the European monastic tradition.

Instead of establishing small, separate communities, he gathered his followers into a large community. His own sister st-Scholastica, settled nearby and lived her religious life here. After almost 1,500 years of monastic tradition, it seems obvious to us that Benedict was an innovator in his time. No one else before him had attempted to create such communities and to create some rules for them. What is now only a part of history for us was then a bold and risky step into the future.

Benedict valued ancient literature and had it described in his monastery, thus laying the foundations for developing post-antique literature in Europe.

In the time of St. Benedict, monastic life was already extended to the entire eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, especially Egypt and Syria. It was characterized by a multifaceted departure from civilization – to the desert, to uninhabited territories, unencumbered by complicated administrative management. The monks here had great freedom, their organization, and at the same time, the choice of various forms of life – from giant monasteries (e.g., the community of five thousand St. Pachomius) to the respectable performances of individual ascetics. Precisely at the border of civilization, when antiquity was already formally Christian but constantly carried in its bosom much of the ancient pagan nature, its way of life became a suitable ground for the fiery zeal of the early Church, in which it found ideal conditions for its spiritual development. At that time, almost all prominent figures of the Church and theologians went through the monastic life. In the West during this period, the situation was completely different – it was necessary to consider the presence of warlike tribes. Building a monastery in these conditions was a significant risk.

The regulation was not a collection of legal tricks or principles for life. With its excellent internal organization, it opened space for the presence of the mystery of Christ both in man and in the community through the performance of the Office (Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours), work and personal study of the Holy Scriptures (Lectio Divina). Organized this way, the monastery did not become a closed, elitist world. As it were, it became a miniature of the Church, which for the first Christians was not only a community of the baptized but, above all, a solid school of initiation under the guidance of the Supreme Shepherd himself. Sv. Benedict reserved the name School of the Lord’s Service for the monastery, in which he lays down the individual elements so that the monk, adhering firmly to them, gets to know himself and develops the graces and gifts acquired in baptism. He should find Christ’s presence in the community more and more deeply and consciously participate in His paschal mystery, made present in the sacraments and the liturgy. Loyalty to the Rule thus inevitably leads to an encounter in truth with Christ, as the Master is the King and the only High Priest.

A monk’s primary task has always been – as Regula says – the search for God and unity with him. This individual dimension of opening to grace and obedience to God’s will was transformed by God himself into a larger dimension, into the history of the Church, culture, and civilization. Therefore, every true monk was always a person of the Church in the complete sense of the word, even when he lived alone, as a hermit (hermit). The Benedictine monastery realized life in community (cenobitic), forming at the same time also those who wished to go to the hermitage when they were mature enough to combat evil even alone. A universal way of monastic life emerged in which people of different temperaments and life stories could be found. This miniature nature of the Church determined the special relationship between the monastery and the world. The community of monks was not directed to the outside, to various initiatives in the Church, or the world, but to the inside, in such a way as to reveal the very supernatural nature of the Church in the given common and historical conditions. In this way, it wants to be its visible sign and help people immersed in the reality of the present time. The task of the monks of St. So Benedict became, so to speak – not entering the world but living in a monastery so that the world could come to it to meet the Benedictine community and, in this way, find the ways of God for themselves.

All the initiatives, including pastoral ones, that the Benedictine monasteries undertook were always subordinated to this style and thinking in their actions.

There were at least 30 different rules in the 5th-7th centuries, but the Benedictine rule still needs to be achieved more successfully. Unlike most, it was not just a calculation of individual regulations, prohibitions, and punishments. Its advantage was systematicity, thanks to which it became a practical guide for organizing and managing all areas of monastic life, and a balance between strictness and moderation, the authority of the abbot and respect for the peculiarities of individual monks, pious acts and spiritual and physical activity.

Abandoning worldly society, choosing individual asceticism and obedience, and searching for God in prayer and meditation were essential prerequisites of the monastic life, which in St. Benedict by the School of the Lord’s Service (schola Domini servitii). The fundamental pillars of Benedictine monasticism were daily glorification of God (opus Dei), vows of obedience (oboedientia), change of morals (conversatio morum), poverty (paupertas sancta), binding stay in the monastery until death (stabilitas loci).

In these small but mighty rules, Benedict incorporated everything he had learned about the power of spoken language and the rhythm of speaking in the ministry of the Gospel. He compared rhetoric to a hammer that can be used to build a house but can also be used to hit someone over the head. Rhetoric can also be used for the sake of evil… but also for the sake of God. Benedict did not avoid rhetoric because it helps evil; he wanted to reform it and use it in the interest of God. Benedict did not want to give up the power of the word just because others used it for their destruction.

Benedict realized that God’s word is the most robust and factual basis for the power of words: Which words from the Bible are not perfect rules for contemporary life? He had experience with the power of God’s word expressed in the Scriptures: Just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return until they have watered the earth to make it fertile and able to bear fruit so that the world will yield to the one who sows so that it will yield bread to him that needs to eat, so is it with my word that proceeds from my mouth; He does not return to me empty, but accomplishes my will, accomplishing what I sent him to do (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Benedict chose Psalms, the most beautiful songs of the Jewish liturgy, for his prayer, which Jesus himself prayed. Benedict believed with Jesus that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God.” (Matthew 4:4)

But just speaking words is not enough. Benedict urged his followers to read sacred texts to study the Scriptures. In his Lectio Divina, he and his monks memorized Scripture, studied it, and contemplated it until it became part of their being. They sat beside each other for four to six hours daily and read like this. If the monks had free time, the brothers had to read psalms. They had to know parts of the Scriptures by heart. Such sacred reading was meant to study love, not reason. It was not just an exercise of the mind; it was an exercise of contemplation so that “our hearts and voices harmonize.” Every word that has entered their mind, heart, and soul must then spring forth, not from memory, but from the interior of the being. “We realize that we will be heard for our pure and contrite heart, not for the number of words spoken.” The heart is pure when it is empty and filled only by God’s word and our desire to remain in God’s word.

Lectio Divina begins by reading the Scriptures until we find a place that inspires us and stops. We reread it, think about what it might mean, and then move on. But this is not sacred reading. His method is memorizing a specific phrase from Scripture. Repetition over and over memorizes without further reading, without thinking, just simple repetition, until it seems to come not from the mind but directly from the heart until the power of God’s word enters us. Only when the phrase has lost all meaning and only that power remains does a person shut up, remain silent without thinking, and let himself be inspired by the Holy Spirit, who will speak to us about the meaning in our hearts. And finally, one should plunge into contemplation, continue without speaking, without thinking, just sitting in the presence of the living God and God’s word.

An incident from Benedict’s life has been preserved, such as when a beggar came to the monastery and asked for some oil. The administrator refused because they had little left. Nothing would have been acceptable for the monastery if he had given these alms. Benedict was angry at the administrator’s lack of trust in God. He knelt and prayed. As he prayed, a bubbling sound came from the oil jar. The monks watched in fascination as God filled the vessel, and the oil overflowed, broke the lid, and poured onto the ground. In Benedictine prayer, our hearts are empty vessels in which there are no thoughts or intellectual struggles. Trust in God is the only thing that remains there and fills our hearts. Emptying our hearts brings us the overflowing contemplative love of our God.

Benedict founded Western European monastery-type monasticism (monasticism), which prevailed over its older hermit form. In 543, St. died. Scholasticism. Six days before his death, he had a prepared grave opened next to his sister, and on March 21, 547, at 9 a.m., he died standing in prayer before God.

Jesus said to the disciples: “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they kept your word. Now they knew that everything you gave me was from you, because the words you gave me, I gave them. And they received them and truly recognized that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me” (Jn 17, 6-8).

Clinging to Jesus leads to a knowledge of the Father that surpasses words. Illustration image: unsplash.com/Marc Olivier Jodoin
Last time we thought about our Father’s house, how we should imagine it and what it means to us. But who is our Father? We certainly do not imagine him as an old man with a long gray beard that we saw in pious pictures as children. So who is the Father whom Jesus reveals to us? Who is it actually telling us about? What is his name?

THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER

The name in the biblical meaning means the essential center of the person, our essence, or according to tradition, the heart. The revelation of God’s name is the revelation of his presence to us. God surpasses our ability to express him in words, because he is not a figure, an object that we can grasp and imagine with our mind and senses.
That is why the apostle Philip was very surprised when, to the request he made to Jesus: “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough”, he received a rebuke rather than an answer: “Philip, I have been with you for so long, and you do not know me?!” Whoever sees me sees the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?!’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?” (Jn 14, 8-10).The revelation of the Father by Jesus is not the revelation of his appearance, but the revelation of his life. When God appears to Moses, he pronounces his name – “I am that I am” (Ex 3, 14). What is the difference between this Old Testament name and what Jesus reveals to us? “I am that I am” was an expression of the eternal being of God, who is the fullness of all, and at the same time expressed his presence on the way of the wandering people.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

However, Jesus develops this dynamic of God’s life even more. It does not represent the Father as a separate ruler, but as one who is part of our life experience. Clinging to Jesus leads to a knowledge of the Father that surpasses words. It comes from our life, from our life practice, from our actions that we do every day, whether it is sweeping the room, managing a company, walking with a loved one.
Our experience of God will not take place like in some movie, which will be shown to us in a dream or in some special experience. If that were the case, the vast majority of people would never meet God. How then is God present for us?
We are not expected to do anything special. It is enough to simply realize that whatever we do, we should do it in the awareness of his presence in us and in what we do. Our task is to give it free rein – to do what we do in the given situation, knowing our eternal immersion in God’s life. Without him we could do nothing (cf. Jn 14:5). This is how simply the Father is in each of us through the Son, and he created us so that he could reveal himself to us and give us gifts.

GENEROUS WEALTH

Finally, the very word God (Slavic Bog) is derived from the word rich. This reveals its essence, which is also represented in Sanskrit by the word Bhaga, which means bountiful divine giving, bountiful wealth. God is truly a rich giver of life, who says: “It is good that you are, because you are my good.” For we are of him, says Paul (cf. 1 Cor 3:16).
Let’s try to think about the secret that our good is also God’s good. In this way, we will better understand Jesus, who says that God does not want to give just some gifts, but first and foremost himself. The gift is for us to reach the Giver through it, but we must be careful not to cling to the gift and elevate it above the Giver.

A TRUE SACRIFICE

Let us believe that Jesus with the Father and the Spirit is in us immeasurably simply by creating and enabling us in everything we do. Let us believe that God is so great that no man is small to him. Therefore, it is enough for us to be immediate to God, without calculating, following the benefits that feed our ego. This is where our true sacrifice lies – I do not give God something I have or some words about sacrifice, but myself by giving myself in a given situation.
Our Father does the same, who gives himself to us and to all creation in every situation of our life. With every act of kindness, we participate in the life of God. And that is why each of us is capable of God.

This is not just an event, but a profound revelation. It is Matthew’s narrative amidst miracles. The masses encircle Lord Jesus. He heals and heals. His love extends in two directions. One reaches physical wounds, the other, less visible but equally perilous, spiritual anguish. My own fervor also requires two directions to embrace the world’s suffering. Word and deed. To teach and to heal. Or heal and teach. The sequence is often crucial. For the ‘healing of the body’ can be the precursor to the ‘healing of the soul ‘. Lord, let both arms of love grow in harmony and in proportion to the suffering I encounter, for the transformative power of compassion is boundless.

But in that crowd that swallowed the Savior, not only the sick were not suffering from bleeding. Only one’s daughter died. Two blind gods, one dumb. The vast majority of them were healthy on the outside. But Jesus’ gaze went deeper. He sees a “broken and scattered flock.” Everyone is looking. Everyone is tired. Everyone is wandering. A herd with no one to lead, no one to protect it, no one to sacrifice for it. And the Lord was seized with deep compassion. “He felt sorry for them…” And that compassion turned into tireless journeys and finally into the Way of the Cross and a redemptive death. Because a good shepherd “lays down even his life for his sheep.”

Fruitful compassion has never died out in the Church. Even Don Bosco saw the multitudes worn out and scattered. Crowds of abandoned boys were beginning to be swept away by the current of crime and destruction. Others saw it too. But with different eyes. They saw a bunch of suspicious, future criminals. Perhaps they themselves stood proudly in front of the altar: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not (I, nor my children!) like those’. Don Bosco did not succumb to indignation, but to compassion. ‘He felt sorry for them.’ From the first dream, he renounced the solution with his fists. Even his compassion turned into a life full of sacrifices and efforts. ‘I have promised God that till my last breath I will belong to my poor boys…’ His enduring compassion is a reassuring thread that connects us all in the Church.

Lord, give me a compassionate heart. And good seeing eyes and seeing deeper and further. I move among the multitudes of well-fed yet starving, modernly dressed and yet shamefully exposed, educated and unwise. I am asking you, let me not betray my place among the “worn and broken” so that I do not deviate from the path to the lost sheep so that I do not succumb to the temptation of an easier, more sympathetic, and outwardly more successful apostolate. Don Bosco showed me where to look. Let pity trouble me. Let compassion stretch out both arms of my love: word and deed. And where neither word nor deed can reach, prayer can—a prayer of living faith. If I won’t be able to touch you with either word or deed, I will help the “weary and broken” from afar by prayer.

Lord, what should I notice in this passage? » I realize with what faith Jairus came to me. He came asking me to heal his dying daughter. He believed I could do it. I could not remain oblivious to such faith and trust in my help, so I immediately went to his house.

What were you doing when Jairus came with a request? » I was just standing on the shore teaching the multitudes. Everyone wanted to hear my words and everyone was pressing me.

You healed someone in that stampede. How did that happen? » When I went with Jairus to his daughter and made my way through the crowd, I suddenly found that a power came out of me that healed someone. I stopped and asked who touched me.

Did you see the healed one? » A woman pushed her way to me from among a crowd, fell at my feet and told everyone how thanks to my power she was cured of the disease that was bothering her. With faith she touched my garment and this faith of hers found an answer. Don’t be afraid to push yourself with faith among the crowd that only wants sensations and touch me. I will heal you.

Immediately after this event, he went to heal Jairus’ daughter. How did this healing go? » When I was on my way to Jairus’ house, the servants came from there and reported that the girl had died. I saw that a greater miracle than healing would need to be performed here. But it is not a problem for me to give someone life, so I encouraged Jairus to trust me.

How were you welcomed in Jairus’ house? » There was a lot of crying and wailing waiting for us there. When a young person dies, it always shakes everyone. The girl was dead and, in their opinion, there was nothing more that could be done. I knew that the girl could be brought back to life. I did it as easily as if I woke someone up, so I told them the girl was just sleeping.

How did the residents of the house look after the girl’s resurrection? They were shocked at what they saw. Even the parents were completely beside themselves with amazement and joy, so I had to remind them not to forget to give the girl something to eat.

Lord, what do you want to challenge me to do today? » To greater faith. Trust me more. I can help you even when it seems that there is no more hope. I will help you in the fight against the enemies that are around you and in yourself.

MATTHEW DESCRIBES his reaction to the Master’s call: “He got up and followed him” (Mt 9, 9). From this moment on, his life will be completely different from the one he led before. He meets him when he sits and collects taxes. Perhaps his goal was primarily to enjoy the wealth he had earned. But with Jesus, the priorities of his life will be different. It is true that until now, he had not enjoyed great fame among his fellow citizens. Still, money and the respect of the Roman authorities compensated him for the rejection of many of his people. Looking at Jesus and his words, Matthew gave up these certainties and embarked on an adventurous journey to find the Messiah.

“He stood up”. One needs to stand in front of everyone. It is a gesture that shows recognition of a significant person; it means interrupting what one was doing to give it one’s full attention. When a person stands up, he is alert and ready to go in one direction or another. Matthew shows himself to be prepared to do anything for Jesus because his ranking of values has changed thanks to God and his dispositions: the most important thing is no longer wealth or a comfortable life, but to dedicate all his strength to Christ.

Saint Matthew was probably aware of the risks associated with this decision. However, he also leaves behind the attitude of a person who calculates. Every disciple’s life consists of opening oneself to a divine adventure, often full of surprises and uncertainties. Following Jesus means walking in his footsteps, not always knowing exactly where they will lead, but realizing that the happiness he can bring us is much greater than our predictions. “It is necessary to trust him and take a step to meet him and eliminate the fear of thinking that if we do this, we will miss out on many good things in life. His ability to surprise us is far greater than our expectations” 

Matthew’s ANSWER to Jesus needs to focus on himself. He needs to think about whether he’s ready or not or whether he’ll be better positioned to decide later. Perhaps, mysteriously, he was waiting for the call addressed to him by the Master. And to discover him in all his brilliance, he had to look and listen carefully to him rather than to himself. There can always be a temptation to stop following Jesus and sit down and count the costs and benefits, especially when the going gets tough, and it can seem like it’s not worth the effort.

This is what happened to Peter when he walked on the water. He could stand and move forward as long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus. However, as soon as he paid attention to his fragility and the strength of the wind, fear and uncertainty entered his heart, almost sinking him. At his cry: “Lord, save me” (Mt 14, 30), “Jesus immediately put out his hand, caught him and said to him: You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14, 31).

Following a vocation has something of walking on water, from overcoming one’s abilities with the certainty that the Lord does things and keeps accounts. On this journey, the spiritual guidance of someone who can always advise or help us discern is essential, not only in the first stages of discovering a vocation. “Serve your God sincerely,” writes Saint Josemaría, “be faithful to him… and do not worry about anything: because it is a great truth that if you seek the kingdom of God and His justice, He will give you everything else – material, means – in addition .

IN HONOR OF THE ANSWER to Jesus’ invitation, St. Matthew decides to prepare a feast in his house. Some publicans like him and others were present, but they were also considered public sinners in the eyes of the people. Therefore, when the Pharisees saw the Lord eating with Matthew’s friends, they asked the disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mt 9, 11). But when Christ heard these words, he replied: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what it means: I want mercy and not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt 9, 12-13).

“The first thing we have to do is realize this: none of us, none of us here can say: I am not a sinner. The Pharisees did it, and Jesus condemns them” [3]. Accepting ourselves as we are, with our virtues and faults, draws us to the Lord. He comes to us not because we have done things right but because we are sinners who need his mercy. The first step in receiving the Lord is recognizing that we need Him. In this way, we will face our personal sufferings hand in hand with Christ, knowing that the experience of sin will not make us doubt our mission. “God’s power manifests itself in our weakness,” says Saint Josemaría, “and calls us to fight, to struggle with our mistakes, even though we know that we will never achieve complete victory in this earthly pilgrimage. The Christian life means starting over and over again, constantly renewing oneself every day”.

Mary is the mother of mercy. She can help us recognize our sins with a motherly, non-judgmental eye. And from his son, he will also give us the grace to fight with hope because he knows that Jesus reveals himself to us in that “we want to be better, in the desire for pure love, in suppressing selfishness, in completely giving ourselves to other people, doing so from our constant service of life.”