Doers of the Word ...by Sr. Dorothy

In a recent post on his blog, Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne wrote about the Synodal journey and about St. James. James was not one to say “I believe” and then sit on his laurels. He was clear that faith and belief in the love of Jesus and the grace of God were not enough for a Christian. That unless we put our beliefs, our faith and our love into action on behalf of others to the best of our ability, we are sorely lacking. He admonishes us to be “doers of the Word and not hearers only.” --James 1:22

Archbishop Etienne goes on to say that it is the “co-responsibility of the baptized” to live “the faith concretely.” A life that focuses on introspection to the exclusion of good works is not the Christian life. Of course we must spend time in prayer and with Scripture, but to what end if we do not help our neighbor in need? The Christian life is a life of action.

It seems to me that we also have to take into consideration our vocation--our call in life--as to how we put our faith into action. I believe it has to begin with those directly around us—our family members, our friends and neighbors, and for monastics the members of our monastic community. John 4:20 tells us, “If a person does not love her brother or sister whom she has seen, how can she love God whom she has not seen?” And we may all have noticed just how hard it can be to love the person next to us. The farther away they are and the less they interfere with our own desires and our own schedule, why—the easier they seem to be for us to love!

I suspect this is why Benedictines make that three-fold Monastic Promise: Obedience, Stability, and Conversion of Life. Conversion means being changed, and in order to allow ourselves to be transformed from ‘not loving’ to ‘loving,’ we have to be willing to stick around (stability) and to listen and respond (obedience)—even when the going gets tough. Especially when the going gets tough.

Sr. Anna-Camille sings the Suscipe at her Monastic Profession during the Christmas season:

"Uphold me O God and I shall live...."

Life demands sacrifices. Mark Manson, in his newsletter Your Next Breakthrough, recently wrote about our best thing also being our worst thing—how the person we make a life with will also be the person we have fights with, our dream house will also be the house with repairs, and our wonderful job the one that causes us lots of headaches.

So sacrifices are not optional. But deciding which ones you are willing make, at least sometimes, is. What is worth working for? What is worth your time and energy, all you have to give in this life? Is your faith important to you? Learning to love and care for others? Finding out who you really are, and what gifts you possess? There are many avenues to discovering  and making a good life, so choose carefully one that you can stick with through thick and thin, where you can know others and become known, and one you are willing to work at and make the required sacrifices—whatever they may be.

For me, that choice was (and is) monastic community life, where I find opportunities aplenty to be a “doer of the Word,” although much of that is trying and failing—and learning from those failures—just as all of us learn any skill or way of life.

If you would like to know more about life in community, contact our Vocation Director, Sr. Paz Vital, using our  St. Placid Vocation Contact Form.

** About the artwork - James the Great