Questions and Answers from the Abbot

One fashion or another, we are all seekers. We seek safety, security, love, and community. It is easy enough to know when what we seek has been achieved. Seeking a Godly life and doing His perfect will seems fraught with confusion and often despair. That need not be the case.

Scripture and tradition are filled with direction. Essentially, God calls each of us to seek perfection and holiness. Unfortunately, we make it difficult to understand and practice because we fill the journey with unrealistic expectations. 

Some of us want God to speak directly to us. Others wish to receive a level of peace and certainty. And most want the short easy road to perfection and holiness. Let us use common sense and reason.

Scripture is clear. God wants every one of us to seek perfection and holiness. It is reasonable that He would provide the grace to empower us and a methodology whereby plain folks can achieve the seemingly impossible. We can conclude that our role is to cooperate with God’s grace. 

We use the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict to aid in developing a lifestyle that sets the stage for our Godly cooperation. We can teach you how to do the same.

For me, being a monk was a logically practical application of Christ's call to us all, "come follow me." There was no mystery to overcome, or the necessity of a divine call specifically given hand-delivered by Gabriel himself. The call to perfection has been given to every Christian. 

The only "issue," if there was an issue, was how I was to play this out. I studied the various traditional religious orders. The Rule of St. Benedict found its way into my heart. It was universal, kind to the weak, practical, orderly, and very specific. I liked that.