156/365 Ubi Caritas Et Amor, Deus Ibi Est

(An older post of mine from SCM)

All the title says is that when there is love, when you are gathered in his name, he is there among you. For he is. If we truly believe in the incarnation, that Jesus was God and Man, and that by extension there is a spark of the divine in each of us, then what follows? Is Christ only in the deserving poor? Is Christ only in those who sin like we do? Of course not. CS Lewis said that besides the Eucharist (he was a fellow Catholic), our neighbors were the most holy encounters we have here on earth. We are not talking with mere mortals, he said. We are experiencing a piece of the divine.

The first word of the Rule of Benedict is "Listen". When did we decide we'd done enough of that? That we were finished listening? That is the root of obedience, actually--to listen attentively. And to be listened to. For you never know when God might be speaking to you. Or through you.

There is a Benedictine practice of answering the door expecting that it will be Christ. Never rush, don't be put off because the doorbell interrupted the bread making, the homeschooling, the vacuuming (I'm never put off by that interruption!). Any guest may be the Lord, but "sometimes we need to pay close attention and look beyond appearances to see the contours of the Lord in the other person"* We need to listen. When we answer the phone, when we go to a meeting, when we listen to a homily, when we talk with a neighbor. Even if that neighbor makes us crazy or we don't think they'd be good influences on our children. We need to listen, we need to show at least the most basic of hospitality, for he or she may indeed be the Christ.

He is, and she is. And what does it say about us when we fail to listen, fail to welcome? Especially when we purposefully fail.



*Will Derkse The Rule of Benedict for Beginners: Spirituality for Daily Life