26 Jan 25 Sun3Wk Sunday of the Word of God / Cistercian Founders

Proverbs 4,7-13; Colossians 3,12-17; Matthew 23,8-12 Encounter the Word

Today, we Cistercians celebrate the Feast of our Founders- Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen. Likewise, upon the decree of Pope Francis, the whole of Christendom celebrates on this Third Sunday of the Ordinary Time, the Sunday of the Word of God. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, the theme is “I hope in your Word” (Ps 119:74). Our Holy Father calls on us to make the Sacred Scriptures part of our daily life. And this is exactly what our Founding Fathers just did that is why we are Cistercians today. —

The monastery is not a museum, just as our live oaks here at Mepkin are not static artifacts of the past. Though Monastic communities may have things from the past, they are not so stuck in the past as to be anachronistic at any given time in monastic history. They carry strains like DNA to the present and evolve accordingly.

Cistercian Monastic life eventually evolved when our Founders, Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen, deemed it necessary to return to a more basic way of following not only the Monastic Rule of St Benedict but also the Gospel Truths, of which it is a wonderful expression.

Now we continue to savor the sweetness of encountering God in the Cistercian way because of the successive staunch leadership of our Founders who steered the breakaway community into the stability of such a monastic life.

Heeding the frst admonition in the Prologue of the Benedictine Rule, “Listen, O son,” we now continue to live the contemplative life as we encounter God through the Sacred Scriptures in the communal Liturgy of the Hours, as well as in private Lectio Divina.

The call continues, and listening to the Master with the ear of one’s heart remains imperative. In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls Himself the Teacher. So, we can only truly learn from Him. He calls Himself the Messiah, and we can only live fully in Him. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we are pilgrims to and with Jesus. He is our only life, and He opens the Word of life and breaks the Bread of life with and for us.

It is so wonderful that we celebrate today the Feast of our Cistercian Fathers and the Sunday of the Word of God that Pope Francis instituted six years ago. The double celebration indeed eclipses into the same message – to encounter God in and through the Word.

We as monks may have the privilege of the constant consciousness of the call to the contemplative life. But the contemplative culture is not our exclusive right. We are all called to cultivate the contemplative culture of encountering God in His Word.

Truly, God is with us. For example, see how in praying the Psalms, we pray through all and any human experience we may have undergone or are going through at any given moment. All our sufferings, anxieties and hopes, even anger and fears come alive. Remember how Jesus Himself prays in agony while hanging on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Ps 22, and when we continue praying to the next Psalm, Ps 23 – we are appeased and comforted as we utter “the Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want” – nothing would be lacking…

And again, for instance, how we enjoy the peace and serenity here at Mepkin. Well, that is what Mepkin means in the now-lost native language. The massive live oak trees also help create that ambiance. At any time of the year, these live oaks are evergreen with foliage and seem never to fail to offer their refreshing embrace. But do we realize how the Cooper River and its tributaries keep these live oaks well-hydrated? So in Psalm 1, we pray that we be wise and steadfast to be with what nourishes and refreshes us, as we utter:

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, … but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”

Indeed God is with us through the Sacred Scriptures. We are nourished and given life.

Finally, notice how our Icon on our Cistercian Founders depicts them fanking the Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary bearing the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ in her bosom. All Cistercian Monasteries are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. We recognize her distinct role and support in making this encounter with the Divine Incarnate Word possible in all generations. Our Benedictine culture of hospitality may also be traced to Mary. In her docility, Mary is our best model and guide in the dynamics of perfect listening and openness to the Word and to the action of the Holy Spirit. Thus, likewise, Mary presents us with the constant challenge of bearing Christ for and with one another. As Jesus in the Gospel today exhorts us to be servants, what greater service can we offer than like Mary, to make Christ available for everyone to encounter?

And so today we pray that through the intercession of Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen, we may never cease to grow as children of God ever nourished by his Living Word.