Conception Abbey

St. Benedict in his Rule makes it clear that his followers are to put Christ first of all in their lives. To give just a couple of examples: chapter four of the Rule, "The Tools For Good Works," St Benedict says, "Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else." He then later says, "Place your hope in God alone." At the conclusion of chapter 72 St. Benedict says, "Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ…" These are just a few examples among many that we could find in the Rule.

Recently an oblate sent me a meditation from Venerable Louis of Granada, who died in 1588, a Spanish Dominican priest. It says in different language the same thing as St. Benedict emphasized in his Rule.

I quote from the mediation by Louis of Granada: "No creature can enjoy perfect happiness until it attains its ultimate end, that is, the last perfection that is due to it according to its nature. Until it arrives at this state, it is necessarily restless and discontented, as is anyone who feels a need for that which he yet lacks. Now what is the ultimate end of man, the possession of which constitutes his complete happiness? Undoubtedly, it is God, who is man’s first beginning and last end. And just as it is impossible for man to have two beginnings, it is likewise impossible that he have two ultimate ends, for that would necessitate the existence of two gods."

"Moreover, if God alone is man’s last end and true happiness, it is impossible for man to find true happiness outside of God….so the human heart, created as it is for God, cannot find rest in anything outside of God. In him alone is it content; without him it is poor and needy….It follows from this that no created thing, not even the possession of the entire universe can satisfy our heart, but only him for whom it was created – God."

So all of us who are Benedictines and Christians are called to place Jesus Christ first in our lives. Whether we are monks or oblates that is our calling and that is what St. Benedict wants of us throughout his Rule.