Listen To The Words Of A Father

~ Listen To the words of a father ~ Who loves you So much ~ Welcome my words And faithfully practise ~ And bring yourself To God. ~ Inspired by The Rule of St. Benedict ~ 'The Return of the Prodigal Son' - Rembrandt

Blogging Benedict (2) – This message is now and is for you

~ All may drift Unconsciously away ~ Like leaves That have fallen on a river ~ And are taken away By the streaming current ~ But this message is now And is for you ~ Are you ready To surrender ~ And give up Your own will ~ To follow In all of God’s ways? …

Open Your Eyes To The Light

. Open your eyes To the light . That comes From God . And your mind To the voices of heaven. . Inspired by The Rule of St. Benedict - "Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven..." . Image by consuming-fire from …

Blogging Benedict (4) – This Wonderful Way

~ God calls Is there anyone ~ Who yearns for life And desires to see good days? ~ Keep your tongue free From vicious talk ~ And your lips From all deceit ~ Turn away from evil And do good ~ Let peace be your quest And your aim ~ My eyes Will be upon …

Blogging Benedict (3) – Open Your Eyes

~ Wake up From your spiritual sleepiness ~ Open your eyes To the light that comes from God. ~ Open your ears To the voice that is God’s ~ The voice that every day Calls out to us ~ If you hear his voice Do not harden your hearts ~ Come and listen to me …

Blogging Benedict (2) – A Fruitful Completion

~ First You must pray ~ Pray before any Good work ~ That God will bring it To a fruitful completion ~ God already sees you As his child ~ Now use the gifts God has given to you. ~ Adapted from The Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue ~ Image by Năng Chế Văn from …

The Rule of St. Benedict – Chapter 1 – A meaningful life

What makes for a meaningful life? We all want to know the answer to this question! And this question is never far away in the Rule of St. Benedict. Chapter 1 tells us what to avoid: a life without principles, just doing what we want to do, making gods out of our own desires, drifting …

The Rule of St. Benedict – The Prologue (7) – The Battle for Goodness

There is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch called The Temptations of St. Anthony, featuring all manner of weird demons of the unconscious drawing the saint away from goodness. You can hardly make him out in the central picture, kneeling, in blue, in prayer, though he is physically alone. And the spiritual life sometimes feels like …

The Rule of St. Benedict – Prologue (6) – The wisdom of humility

In his wonderful poem sequence Four Quartets, T.S.Eliot wrote: “The only wisdom we can hope to acquireIs the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.”  Humility - being of the earth and recognising our common humanity with others - is not always seen as a popular strength. Sometimes it's even confused with weakness. It's not the same as …

The Rule of St. Benedict – Prologue (5) – Seeking Goodness

St. Benedict sets out an inspiring vision of something we don't talk about a lot today - goodness of life: "Keep your tongue from vicious talk, and your lips from all deceit; turn from evil and do good; let peace be your quest and aim." His aim is for people who follow the Rule to …