WEEK THREE
TUESDAY
Zephaniah 3:1-2. 9-13
Matthew 21:28-32
‘In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people, and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.’
The promise that God will leave ‘a humble and lowly people’, a faithful remnant, runs throughout the Prophetic literature of the Old Testament. This group of people is often referred to as ‘anawim’, the poor ones. Sr Maria Boulding osb, in her book, The Coming of God’ explores their role in the story of salvation:
‘These anawim appear as the spiritual kernel of the nation from the seventh century BC. These were the have-nots, the underprivileged, the powerless, the oppressed, the people whose economic poverty drove them to unlimited trust in God.
The poor were the humble, the people who were obedient to the will of God, those whose very misery had forced their hearts open to him.’
God constantly entrusted himself in love to the people of Israel. Those who were poor and humble had space enough to receive him. They had lived lives of faithfulness to the Torah and could do no other than follow its commands.
In the Gospel scene today two sons are asked to go and work in their father’s vineyard. One is bold enough to say ‘no’, but then relents and goes. The other is outwardly compliant but doesn’t go to the vineyard. It’s fairly easy for me to imagine myself as both sons. If I am honest, I am quite likely to grumble inwardly, decide not to do something and then find my heart is melted and I’m ready to do what is asked. Advent invites me to examine the things that harden my heart.
‘The first step of humility is unhesitating obedience, which comes naturally to those who cherish Christ above all.
This very obedience however, will be acceptable to God and agreeable to men only if compliance with what is commanded is not cringing or sluggish or half-hearted, but free from any grumbling or action of unwillingness.‘
Chapter 5, Obedience
St Benedict has a very developed understanding of the complexities of human nature. His guidance is always firm, fair and challenging. He knows very well that some tasks in monastery will be a burden for some, but not for others.
When you first enter a community, you are eager to help with pretty much anything that comes your way. You will more than likely be asked to do things that you feel are outside your sphere of competence- or so you tell yourself! You have a go. Once the honeymoon period wears off there will be parts of your timetable that make your heart sink. Now the hard work begins. If you start reading Ch 5 of the Rule at this stage, two things can happen: your heart is lifted and you carry on, or you think you’ll never get the hang of unhesitating obedience, and you are tempted to give up. The beauty of the novitiate is that you learn to find a way to do the things that are burdensome. You largely can’t wriggle out of them. It all takes time. The shifts in your heart are subtle. One day you will find that a little space has opened up in your heart for ‘unhesitating obedience’.
In St Benedict’s monastery there is always room for both sons from today’s Gospel text. The monastery isn’t an assault course where you need to get it right first time, or you are disqualified. It is something much more humane. Chapter 64, The Election of An Abbot, contains one of my favourite quotations from the Rule:
‘…he must show forethought and consideration in his orders, and whether the task he assigns concerns God or the world, he should be discerning and moderate, bearing in mind the discretion of holy Jacob who said: If I drive my flocks too hard, they will all die in a single day (Gen 33:13). Therefore, drawing on this and other examples of discretion, the mother of virtues, he most so arrange everything that the strong have something to yearn for and the weak have nothing to run from.’
In truth, we are all strong in some areas and weak in others. We all need to ‘yearn’ and we all need to pull back a little and admit when something is too much. Community gives us the potential to work together and support each other in the journey of obedience.
How is Christ calling you to open your heart in obedience during Advent?
Photo by William Krause on Unsplash