One Word Prayers by Peter Menkin

Prayer to Aid in the Darkness

There is darkness in my mind, what I’ve called “the crocodile brain” part. A living darkness, ancient and primitive. I live with this part of me. A teacher says that while traveling, and I say, too, for help with the darkness, short prayers.

Taught that a prayer can be like an arrow, it is also a balm and a solution, a civilizing act, a way to goodness. An arrow to heaven. O Lord, come to my assistance.

At Easter time we rejoice for there is a promise, a certain gift and redemption in the risen Christ. The wonderful prayer in “The Book of Common Prayer” that says, “We bless you for our creation, preservation,/and all the blessings of this life;/but above all for your immeasurable love/in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ…”

One word prayers…(2001)
by Peter Menkin

One word prayers were what I practiced
on the drive home, trying on the way
to see in the night towards San Francisco
where a purple glow in the sky distinguished
the unseen cityscape, and to the north,
metal towers lit with red warning lights, for airplanes
to note in the darkness. I was told by a teacher,
short prayers are good while

travelling. On the way, the Church prays
as it goes and its members do so also. Surprise,

interruption there is peace in the evening;
as a seeker of God, lover of Christ,
I know the distracting onslought
of inner conversation–
ancient enemies that wait
in the darkness of the hour in ones mind,
like the crocodile brain deep inside. Accept
the suffering, and live to God’s presence:
my short prayer is “Abba,” I cry.

 

 

 

 

 

Audio reading of the poem by the poet is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/OneWordPrayersByPeterMenkin

 

Early Morning by Peter Menkin

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Bright morning star of Winter, it awakens me to Dawn… There are few mornings when I am up from bed so early, as I was some years ago on a regular basis. My kinship to this experience of the Holy Spirit, and the stirring of neighbors is still with me, though this poem tells of an intense experience–religious. Christmas remains, and Epiphany is not so far away. I can say that I have seen a star in the sky so keen that it reminded me of the Magi and the star they followed. Of course, theirs was the brightest possible, and so large! I like to think that we can see a star that is a reminder of Christ. Happy New Year!
As this is posted in September 2008, I note that the poem still speaks to this aspiring poet. Please check out the audio reading by the poet, that is my reading and I think you will find it good.

Peter Menkin Mill Valley, California USA (north of San Francisco)

 

Early morning

by Peter Menkin (2000)

Startling reminder, ray point of light (star):

come winter daytime,

bring early morning to awaken anew before dawn, with life to arise.

Stretch pearl luster and harken
with children, young parents, neighbors,

and babies unborn asleep, resting in the womb
to come forth beginning.
The new day has intentions.
You Holy Spirit stir me, health and hopefulness restore.

Audio reading of poem by the poet is here:
http://www.archive.org/details/EarlyMorning2000ByPeterMenkin_463

 

Preparing for Worship, poem by Peter Menkin

More likely an Anglican poem as represented in an Episcopal Parish, this poem speaks of the quiet and reverence that is the atmosphere and practice in the sacristy–a room where preparation of things holy and special is done for setting before the altar of the Lord.

Note the audio reading by the poet at the end. The work speaks of the experience as one of beauty and gratitude, a sense of gladness and celebration. Though a routine activity prior to Communion, the poem also expresses the experience and ethos of the room as an encounter with God. The poet, Peter Menkin, believes this to be a special routine that is of Biblical dimension–both of the Old and New Testaments.

 

Preparing for Worship
By Peter Menkin

June 20, 2008

God, in the Sacristy of the Church:
We encounter you– as
We go about our routine
Preparing for Communion.

Yet aware of beauty and the gratitude:
This is the day the Lord has made,
Let us be glad in it.

Doing the work of worship:
Preparing in this room, holy
Sacred items reverently placed.

One of us prepares the wine
for Communion,
for blessing:
Contained in silver; and the water,
For blessing, contained in silver.

The bread for the Body, prepared,
for Communion,
for blessing,
Offered on silver. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
These items that are earthly, memorials of You.

How lovely is your presence:
This sacred time of waiting,
Working, preparing, as we speak
Together quietly, in peace.

Audio reading by poet is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/PreparingForWorshipByPeterMenkin

 

The Moon’s Reflection by Peter Menkin

Poem about the illuminating reflection of Moonlight…
A poem comes along, it is written, and layed aside. My poem about the moon is such a poem. Can the reflected light of the moon represent or even be the illuminated light of Christ? I found it so one evening. This poem was written in 2000, then revised in 2004, now posted here on my blog. I grant it was written in September of that year 2000. Nonetheless, as a statement on moon gazing it is good for the Winter, 2007.


By the way, here where I live North of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge the weather is cold. There was ice on the car window this morning as I went out to use the car to get to Church. We’ve been having some trouble with the heat at Church, but all is better now so the Church is warm. For a while there it was cold. In fact, at our Wednesday Communion we had to go into the library where there is electric heat because the Church itself was so cold. There are not a lot of us who attend Wednesday morning.

Suggested reading: “Two Worlds Are Ours: An Introduction to Christian Mysticism” by John Macquarrie. I am reading this currently. Another suggestion, but more a devotional book from 40 years ago and only available used: “An Anthology of Christian Devotion: Holy Communion” compiled by Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. Anglicans will like these titles.

 

The Moon’s Reflection
by Peter Menkin


The moon’s reflection
in dark sky, black
brings light. Silver
cast wrought wonder
as we man/woman reach
to see, our gaze upward


basking in celestial promise.
Come divine call, everlasting
light bringing good
that is luminescence.


Awaken us. We must receive
your beauty that gives.
Everlasting promise offered.


Audio reading of the poem by the poet is here:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheMoonsReflectionByPeterMenkin

Medi Care Rule Change by Peter Menkin

Medi Care payment rules changed in October, 2008. They will no longer pay the extra costs of treating patients who develop eight serious, preventable conditions after hospitalization. The list includes falls from bed, cathers-associated urinary tract infections and pressure ulcers. News reports indicate large insurance companies are considering similar policies. “Never Events”, hospital attributable medical errors, make up part of the list of the rule changes.

The Center for Medi Care and Medicaid (CMS) notes, “On February 8, 2006 the President signed the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 that required there be an adjustment in Medicare DRG (Diagnosis Related Group) payment for certain hospital-acquired conditions.”

Asking key questions of Health and Human Services regarding the rule changes:

(1) Who pays, and how/why if Medi Care no longer will pay?

The hospital absorbs the cost of treating the hospital-acquired condition, and may not bill the beneficiary for the difference between the two Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups (MS-DRGs).

(2) Is there a limit on their payment, should the infection prove long and difficult in severity and length? Is there the likelihood of long severity of non-covered infection?

In unusual cases in which the costs of treatment greatly exceed the payment rate for the case based on the assigned MS-DRG, Medi Care may pay the hospital an outlier payment. In these cases, after the hospital’s costs of treatment exceed the MS-DRG payment rate by an outlier threshold, Medicare will begin to pay 80 percent of any additional costs. .. [T]he final rule included a tentative outlier threshold for fiscal year 2009 of  $20,185.   CMS plans to announce the final outlier threshold, after taking into account the MIPPA changes, soon.

(3) Why this change in the rule (budget issue?)?

These changes were mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

(4) Why have they picked these diseases?

These are not all diseases.  They are properly called “hospital-acquired conditions,” because they also include things like falls. .. [T]he public was given 60-days to comment, and were selected based on a review of the submitted comments.  According to criteria established in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, each condition had to be:

High cost, high volume, or both;
identified through ICD-9-CM coding as complicating conditions (CCs) or major complicating conditions (MCCs) that, when present as secondary diagnoses on claims, result in a higher-paying MS-DRG; and
reasonably preventable through the application of evidence-based guidelines.

(5) What do they expect to be the result of the new policy? An opinion is desired

.

CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems says:

“While it may be some time before we can begin to assess the real impact of these steps on patient care, we are hearing from hospitals around the country about efforts they have undertaken in the past year to improve staff training and other measures to reduce the incidence of these preventable conditions.”

Many experts believe that these important changes will drive payment methods and criteria in the near future, and that the adjustments will motivate hospitals to reduce “Never Events.”

–Peter Menkin, San Francisco

 

 

Prayer Time by Peter Menkin

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Exploring prayer time, a short poem about approaching the Lord…

Today I visited Grace Cathedral in San Francisco for Evening Prayer. On Thursdays, like today’s Evening Prayer, the time is a choral Prayer time. Two friends went with me, and as usual everyone who has gone with me has enjoyed the prayer experience, and certainly the music of the choral group.

In this short poem posted today, the reader will find one sense of prayer, for here I outline the self approaching the Lord. It is a known issue for Christians that we are thankful for Christ’s life, for his redeeming mankind. At some point, this becomes personal to the extent that the inner man, the self, the part of a man or woman who has an essence, still an observing self made stronger through succumbing to the knowledge that the persecuted Christ, the Christ of the Cross is able to evoke for us the sense of self that we are sinners. We pray through God’s grace. In prayer one is received.

The part of the identity of a man or woman that is human, individual and universal, yearns for the peace and forgiveness that is part of the Christ one gets to know.

We want to grasp this eternity, what is there for us we do grasp through humility and the gift of grace that there is an essential part that is reached. So I have written about some of the matter of experiencing belief and faith in the Lord Jesus and in the continuing love and faithfulness of God the Father in this poem, making that word “self” broader and hopefully a more imaginative self.

Prayer Time…

by Peter Menkin

The afternoon comes,

Each day prayer time:

Being with You.

Quiet,

Silence my thoughts.

In the presence of God,

In Christ,

In the Spirit

My self approaches,

My self it waits,

To just be.

 

Audio reading of poem by poet is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/PrayerTimeByPeterMenkin

 

Holding the moments of creation’s good, poem by Peter Menkin

Spring has sprung, clocks go forward…

Talking about the weather, we have rain again. Spring is here, it arrived on the 21st of March, yet rain and rain again. This poem is about the Springtime where I live, giving the reader a sense of this place–hopefully.

About 20 years ago I became inspired by the remark by Albert Einstein that the universe is friendly. I wrote a paper for my Bible Study class at The School for Deacons where I attended about 15 years ago, and that paper on God was inspired by the famous scientist’s remark the universe is a friendly place.

This poem was inspired by a Spring Day here where I live in Mill Valley, CA USA, north of San Francisco. Creation is good. The inspiration and observation came to me that day. 

Holding the moments of creation’s good
by Peter Menkin

The season has changed
coming to this small town
in the west, California.
The shadow of the mountain
a sleeping Indian princess lies

there in Tamalpias,
as buds show;
Spring has come, colors
awaken. Our bodies rest
with the pleasantry of aroused
knowledge this earth is good.

Ancient elements of mankind
beckon from the blood and sinews,
a memory that this was a promise
of earth, receiving us with splendor.

In the distance, among hills,
fog rolls over the tops,
and for a while in this world
of strife and evils of war
there is the knowledge
creation is with us, good.

Audio reading of the poem by aspiring poet Peter Menkin is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/HoldingTheMomentsOfCreationsGoodByPeterMenkin

Homily: Archangel Michael by Peter Menkin

Peacemaker blessed, may he banish

From us striving and hatred:

Archangel Michael (Hymn 282)

“The Hymnal 1982,” Episcopal Church USA

 

Homily
Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB
Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal)
Mill Valley, CA USA
Wednesday Eucharist, September 30, 2009
Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1994

Genesis 28: 10-17

Revelation 12: 7-12

John 1: 47-51

Psalm 103

  

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

  Let us speak of angels, one in particular with who all are familiar as they are familiar with their Bible: Michael… Holy Archangel Michael: Prince of Angels, Prince of Light, Defeater of Satan, Helper of Mankind, Leader of Armies of Angels.

  One prayer regarding Angels said for evening time reads:

 That your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill

…we entreat you, O Lord.

 Angels are higher than man in the order of celestial beings, supernatural these spirits of God fight evil, for it is said Michael defeated Satan himself. Thank God.

 One Episcopal sermon states of Angels: Angel, of course, means messenger, and Archangel means first or highest messenger. The angels deliver messages and do God’s bidding. According to Tradition, Michael is the archangel who battled Lucifer, the fifth archangel who began the first war in Heaven…

 [Grace Church in Providence, 14 September, 2008,

Preached by: The Rev. Rich Bardusch]

This Homily is a list of the wonderful attributes of Michael and angels in general. For example, Pope Leo XII prayed this prayer:

 

Saint Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

 

Those devoted to angels offer to God in Christ a form of Christian life characterized by:

Gratitude to God for having these heavenly spirits of sanctity and dignity aid man; A devotional attitude that lives in the constant presence of God’s Holy Angels; That there is serenity and confidence granted us by this knowledge of angels when facing difficult situations; That the Lord guides and protects the faithful through the ministry of Holy Angels.

 

Who is so brave, noble, and mighty a warrior in heavenly things as Michael?

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

– Revelation 12:7-9 [RSV]

 

In matters celestial, who aids us as does Michael? It is said that at the time of death, Michael helps each of us cross over to the afterlife. He is a minister of God.

 

At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

 

–Daniel 12:1-3 [RSV]

 

Just speaking these wonderful words of promise is worthwhile.

 Many people believe there is healing in angels, and when a stressful or negative experience causes pain, either physical or emotional pain, it’s wonderful to call on the Archangel Michael. He is supreme helper in any experience that brings up fear. If you need an additional convincer of his ability to lead and give courage, know he was one of Joan of Arc’s voices.

 Great and heroic is Michael.

 Tradition declares that Michael entered upon his role of defender at the time of the biblical patriarchs. The wonderful historic Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob tells us, it was Michael who rescued Abraham from the furnace into which he had been thrown by Nimrod Michael, the told Abraham that Lot had been taken captive, and Michael protected Sarah from being defiled by Abimelech. He also announced to Sarah that she would bear a son, and he rescued Lot at the destruction of Sodom.

An amazing and mythical angel of power and might, we know that as messenger and helper of mankind, there are forces of good led by God’s goodness. These celestial creatures of spirit have been in places of Biblical history Midrash of Hebrew scholarship says. Angels and Michael in particular are known to the Old Testament, as we see.

It is said that Michael prevented Isaac from being sacrificed by his father by substituting a ram in his place. Later Michael prevented Laban from harming Jacob According to one source, it was Michael who wrestled with Jacob and who afterward blessed him.

The midrash Exodus Rabbah holds that Michael exercised his function of advocate of Israel at the time of the Exodus also, when Satan (as an adversary) accused the Israelites of idolatry and declared that they were consequently deserving of death.

A wonderful statue of Archangel Michael stands at an entrance of England’s Coventry Cathedral. Dramatic and bold, magnificent, this statue proclaims the victory of the Church, the victory of good over evil, the vanquishing of Satan. Coventry Cathedral was ruined in the Second World War, and it is fitting that the Archangel Michael as bold leader of Heaven’s Angels did aid in the defeat of the Axis Powers by the Allies. That he is helpfully responsible for the rebuilding of the Cathedral and instrumental in the preservation of the Church.

My favorite quote from the Bible about Michael is this one:

Once when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?’ He replied, ‘neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, and he said to him, ‘What do you command your servant, my lord?’ The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so.

 –Joshua 5: 13-15[NRSV]

 

But of course, our Gospel tells us from John there is an angel quality to the Apostles, but more that at the end angels will appear.

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you,” you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

–John 1: 47-51

 

 I believe Angels help us to believe, not because we believe in angels, but because angels believe in us. It is angelic to have faith. It is celestial to hold the heavens and God in Christ in ones heart. It is angelic to turn towards the good, to have mercy, to believe. It is angelic to hold as spirit the awesome magnificence of life and our creator.

 

Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous,

praise him and highly exalt him for ever…

 

Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;

praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,

praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

 

Amen.

 

Audio of the Homily is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/PeacemakerBlessedMayHeBanishFromUsStrivingAndHatredArchangel

The Lighted Candle by Peter Menkin

Sunday, February 18, 2007:

As we Enter Lent before Easter, a reflection and Poem on a Mystery I experienced.

Ash Wednesday and Lent itself are coming very soon. I look forward to being in Church, the ashes marked on my forehead, the acts of devotion and even penance in preparation for Easter. The poem posted is an older one you will find on my website, www.petermenkin.com . The story behind it is of an experience at All Souls Church in Berkeley, California USA. Berkeley is near San Francisco.

At All Souls there is a Chapel where communion is given. A friend of mine, Jan, who with her Guide Dog attends Eucharist there from time to time (atttending Eucharist three or four times a week and then on Sunday) likes to light a votive candle. I was with her, sitting nearby, waiting for communion to begin. As she lit the candle and prayed I noticed a new religious experience. This unusual, mystical experience came over me as I prayed and realized the prayer she offered through the flame spoke. I did not hear the words, but an ethos that was connected to the communion preparation. So this poem:

The lighted Candle

by Peter Menkin

Listening to the lighted

candle. The flame

communicates devotion,

prayerful notices.

These conversations

from vigil at Easter time remain.

An engagement with God,

fiery envelopment.

You Holy Spirit

elicit embrace of unknowable vastness.

First the flame listens;

later all week the heart be open,

love invites

on the road. Feed us;

in the breaking of bread.

Take the cup.

A moment and minutes

that love offers;

this is the sweet enduring spirit.

Continue

the ongoing conversation.

In my lay work as an Oblate of New Camaldoli, and in my related licensed Lay Ministry Work from my parish in Mill Valley, California, I visit people bringing communion. I am moved by the intimacy of these private services offered with “The Book of Common Prayer,” and communion with wine and wafer. These words from “Communion under Special Circumstances”:

“Jesus said, ‘abide in me, as I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love’” (John 15:4-5a, 8-9)

I am moved by these words every time I hear or say them. Perhaps you know them, too.

 

Audio reading of the poem by the poet is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/TheLightedCandleByPeterMenkin

 

That God is Love, Commentary on John 15: 1-8, a Homily by Peter Menkin

That God is Love,
Commentary on John 15 1-8
“Me in thee, and thee in me…”

Homily
Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB
Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal)
Mill Valley, CA USA
(North of San Francisco)
Fifth week of Easter
Wednesday Eucharist, May 13, 2009

Acts 15: 1-6
John 15: 1-8
Psalm 122

In the name of God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It is in Love, through the Church, Worship, and prayer; it is in Love, through acts of mercy, charity, and deeds for others; it is in Love, through following the poor and chaste Christ through the Church year—where we come to know and live in the way of Christ. This is called the Christian life. What this life entails is narrated through the Bible, in specific The New Testament. On this day we are reminded again that God seeks us in Love.

Our reading from John 15: 1-8 says directly:

“I am the true vine, and my father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”

My life as an Oblate, received by the Camaldolese monastic order of St. Benedict 15 years ago, has opened to me a life lived as offering to God. Sometimes I think of it as Samson in the Bible who lived under a vow, and think that called by God I’ve responded and may hold a special fervor for Christ and Church, to abide in God and continue the Divine Call that brought me to live in the world as the Oblate does, rather than in a monastery, as does the Monk. This is a life of abiding in Christ, abiding in God, and a radical giving over to a more religious life.

One preached retreat at Immaculate Heart Hermitage in Big Sur, California where Brother Bead spoke of The Rule of Saint Benedict, I realized that this Holy Book was an excellence direction and resource for living life in a full. It is a directed way that is common to the monastic community of which I am a part. Having chosen to center my life around the daily office and worship and prayer, my interest is in living with the Parish as a centerpiece for life. With its many Biblical references and references to the Psalm in The Rule, I am helped in my direction for abiding in a manner consistent with John’s, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”

 

Living with others in community, as I live the Parish life, and the monastic life in the world, I, like you, follow the poor, chaste Christ through the year.

“Me in thee, thee in me.”

Love binds us.
We are friends in Christ.

That Christ invites us: it is an enormous hospitality of God that is extended anew through Christ. We are invited, and this is Grace–for we are accepted.

Like Dame Julian of Norwich, we learn the Lord’s meaning that is brought to us through divine longing.

Love is his meaning.
Who shows it to us: Love.
What is shown: Love.
Why was it shown: Love.
We learn that Love is our Lord’s meaning.

Christ in the Bible, Christ in the Church Fathers, Christ in the Church guides us. Though we may have different approaches and needs, we are united in Christ. For example, as a contemplative, I seek Union with God. This is an unknowing knowing. One lives with the contradictions, lives with the questions of Christ and those of the Church. This includes those mysteries that we find in the Bible.

The invitation to God is the result of God’s love, not our love of God. Humans cannot be so perfect as to regard God in a manner as He regards humans. Though we bless God “for our creation, preservation, / and all the blessing of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love/ in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ…” and may do this daily, it is God’s grace that gives us these freedoms. This gift of Christ is a result of God’s love for woman and mankind

A relationship has many dimensions, as has any love affair.
Being angry with God is not failing to love God. Asking why did this happen; having doubts, is a way of reaching and moving towards love. These are points of starting that enables us to enter into love. Otherwise the stumbling block becomes our own emotional failure. One must be true to our own feelings and thoughts. Emotional honesty is required. It is not one who is angry who is a failure, but when one is denying self-awareness, dishonest in the relationship with God. This honesty, and knowing oneself in Christ is a job itself, and all of us as Christians work at this task. It is part of the vineyard work.

Abiding as resting in Christ, in the spirit of the Church—is balm. It is comfort. As Archbishop Rowan Williams says, “Church is something that happens, a verb before it is a noun.” Church is a vineyard of Christ, and the Church asks, even tells us, that the world is Christ’s vineyard, as our lives are engaged and lived in the vineyard. We labor in God, who is Love.

Love is a verb before it is a noun. Love acts upon us, as we live in the history of God in our lives, and within our nation and community. It is common for us to offer guidance and moral community in Christ, and we do this personally and corporately. Each member helps the other along the way. We express this help and caring each Sunday. One example is: Each Sunday we offer each other “…the peace of the Lord…” This offer is our desire that each of us experience Christ’s peace.

As an Oblate, I enjoyed meeting acceptance and understanding of the requests made of an Oblate in one’s life. This is called Postulancy. Postulancy lasts at the least a year. The Oblate Introduction says:

Long before the coming of Christ, humanity’s quest for the Absolute gave rise (and bears) throughout the centuries … witness to the divine destiny of the human person and to the presence of the Spirit in the hearts of all who seek to know what is true and ultimately real. …[E]very Christian call witnesses to that dimension present interiorly in every other Christian.

For as our reading says, and as we live and learn as Christians we recognize in each other Christ, and our faith in heart, deed, and word. We believe in the seen and unseen:

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” So we learn to “…feed the poor, and homeless,” as we do through our work in providing a meal to them, so we learn to “…worship regularly in Church, as we do on Sundays and other days, so we learn to “…introduce others to Christ, as we do by being a light to the world.

We seek God together as we abide in God in Christ together.
More from the Rule for Camaldoli Oblates:

As sincere seekers of God (RB 58, 7) we approach God as sons and daughters. We center our lives on the encounter with God, which finds expression in forms of prayer handed down in early Christian, patristic and monastic traditions. Ultimately, our prayer seeks to become the very prayer of the Holy Spirit within our hearts.

This statement of the Rule for Oblates is genuine for me. I believe it will resonate
with you, for we experience prayer in Church together this day. I find that my own yearnings are fulfilled in my divine search, as I rest in the prayers. This form of abiding in Christ is one of many we may practice or know. It is within the Church, that means of offering from generation to generation life in Christ, that we find meaning and direction.

Through the centuries mankind and womankind have experience the divine search, and the words of John have been revelation, comfort and instruction: “I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower…Abide in me as I abide in you.”Let me end with this blessing: The Lord bless us and keep us. Amen. The Lord Make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Amen. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.

Photo by Henry Worthy, Camaldoli Oblate, London.
Icon of Christ by Zalewski.

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