Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Br. Josep Martinez-Cubero
The Initial Profession of the Monastic Vow, February 28, 2024
Click here for an audio of the sermon
Holy Cross Monastery
Exodus 3:1-10 Colossians 3:12-17 Matthew 4:18-24
Before initial profession Brothers are given the opportunity to request the Gospel they would like read at the profession. I have to admit that when I received Marc’s request and read it, I thought: “Oh, great, the fish for people thing!” I don’t particularly care for fishing so, it is difficult for me to connect to Jesus’s invitation to “fish for people.” I even find the very idea off-putting. It doesn’t help that this story about Jesus calling his disciples is often interpreted as fishing for lost souls, doomed to hellfire. “Hooking” them, and getting them to church to confess Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, so they can be saved from damnation. Nevertheless, there is much in this Gospel story that relates to the call to the monastic vocation, and relates directly to you, Marc, and what you are about to do.
In a few moments, you will profess and sign the threefold Benedictine vow of obedience, stability, and conversion of your ways to the monastic way of life. It is one vow that has three parts that are interwoven in such a way that each is absolutely necessary for the other two. One cannot really live Benedictine monastic life with authenticity if we are avoiding any part of the vow. You will promise to live the vow for a period of three years. The vow has to do with three core Benedictine values. The first one is about listening intently and learning to hear how God speaks to us even through the voice of your fallible brothers. The second one is about not running away when the going gets tough. And the third has to do with being open to change and transformation.
Obedience is easy to talk about and definitely, the most difficult part of the vow to live. Everyone in formation has heard me, many times, refer to the excellent explanation about monastic obedience found in the Contemporary Reading of the Rule of the Order of the Holy Cross written by our Brother Robert Leo Sevensky. It is the most complete, realistic, honest, and grounded description of monastic obedience I know. It reads:
“While none of us is called to become an automaton, mindlessly conforming ourselves to the practices of the community or the commands of those in authority, we must be careful not to avoid the hard work of transformation that comes from holy obedience. We are to strive to hear God’s voice calling to us through such practices and commands and to give them always the benefit of the doubt, the best possible interpretation, and our willing conformity, especially when it is not absolutely clear that another course of action would be preferable. This does not, of course, rule out consultation, communal consideration, or expert advice. In the end, however, our cooperation and support, even under protest, is part of the gift of ourselves. We will find it helpful in this regard to cultivate a sense of the limitations of our knowledge of even outward matters, and to treasure up instances in which our assured judgement has proved wrong.”
So monastic obedience is not about blind compliance and conformity so much as it is about deeply listening and cooperating with those in authority so they can fulfill their leadership role with dignity and integrity. We must bring our intellect to our obedience because a community of followers who want a list of dos and don’ts to follow mindlessly is not a healthy community. Consultation, communal consideration, and expert advice can be part of the experience because we must approach obedience as psychologically healthy adults who are fully engaged in the life and know how to use their brains. Notice how in the Gospel story Jesus engages his first disciples’ intellect. What metaphor would make more sense to four fishermen than the metaphor of fishing for people? They would have known from years of experience the patience, resilience, intuition, and artistry that fishing requires. They would have known about the tools of the trade, and about the life-and-death importance of timing, humility, and discretion. So, Jesus does not call his disciples to leave their experience and intelligence behind, but to bring the very best of their core selves forward. The call is for them to become more fully and freely who God made them to be.
Bringing the very best of our core selves forward is what guaranties that we will be able to engage in healthy monastic stability. Monastic stability means accepting this particular community and Order as our way to God. For Saint Benedict, community is not just the place where we seek God, but the very means by which we find God. Living in community is not simply about cohabitating, or being fused in unhealthy ways, but about being self-differentiated as we strive to stay connected. The entire community is involved in our monastic stability. This involvement is most crucial when we face the inevitable difficult times of our vocation because it is the support of the community that carries us through. It is a common mistake to think that having a crisis means that we may not have a monastic vocation after all. Vowing Benedictine monastic stability means that facing crisis is part of the monastic way of life. As our Brother Randy has said: “Crisis is often a prelude to some kind of deeper growth.”
And finally, conversion to the monastic way of life calls for continuous transformation into Christ. As monks we are always in a state of becoming and in the process of conversion at deeper and deeper levels. In the Gospel story, Jesus does not invite Simon, Andrew, James, and John to abandon who they are, but to become their most authentic selves. He invites them to live into the fullness of the image of God with which they were born. Monks are not called to become self-annihilating abstracts. God prizes our intellects, our memories, our backgrounds, our educations, and our skills. Everything we offer up to God is multiplied, shaped, and brought to fruition. So for me, the operative statement in this Gospel story is “I will make you”.
Jesus cultivates, deepens, and perfects who God created us to be. Conversion of our ways to the monastic way of life is directly connected to Jesus’s promise to “make us,” and it is about nurturing who we truly are, not about severing us from all we love. It is about gentleness and respect, not about violence and coercion. It is a promise that when we dare to let go, the things we relinquish are transformed and enlivened in ways we could not have imagined on our own. The older I get, the more I have conversations with discerners, and the more I work with people in formation, the more I am convinced that God is gentler with us than we are with ourselves. Spiritual transformation is not just about renunciation. Resurrection, and abundant life are also part of it.
So, dear Marc, you could not have known, two and a half years ago, when you participated in the online “Come and See” we hosted during the pandemic, that you would be here today about to make your initial profession. It has been a blessing for me to accompany you during the past two and half years, first as an inquirer and aspirant, and then as a postulant and novice. You have brought a joyful and energetic presence to our community, and a sense of appreciation of and gratitude for aspects of the life that the rest of us often take for granted. You will continue to have some joyful days, as well as some painful days. There will be some boring days and plenty of ordinary days. You will definitely have some challenges ahead. Remember you are not on this journey alone. We are all in this together. Constantly opening ourselves to others is a vulnerable choice because it means that we will inevitably get hurt by them at times, but the opposite is also true. In community we can experience love at a deep, soulful and trusting level.
The Benedictine Vow you are about to profess is your promise to live the Religious life in a certain way. But perhaps it would benefit you and all of us to think about it rather as consenting to a promise from God to us. The desire for Religious life is about grace. God calls us and God gives us the ability to follow, and we follow because we cannot take our eyes off the one who calls us. God interests us more than anything else in our lives. And that is, I believe, is Gospel indeed- good news! I wish you every blessing in your vocation. ¡Que así sea en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo! ~Amen+
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