a visit to the Benedictine community in Rostrevor

Zoe and I during our wee tea break in the bus

Today we visited the Holy Cross Monastery near Rostrevor and had the incredible opportunity to worship and pray with the group of monks there. Additionally, we were able to engage in a Q&A session with Brother Thierry. In the short time we were able to spend with Brother Thierry he gave us many great ideas to think about through the sharing of both his and the monastery's stories.

First and foremost, one has to commend the monks for the way they treat their guests. It is an example of the way many of us strive to welcome others. Brother Thierry shared that anyone who comes through the doors of the monastery is Christ. They are treated in the same way Christ would be. Whether Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jew or something else, that person is Christ. I nearly broke down as he looked directly at us and declared "You are Christ." And because each person who comes through the doors is Christ that person blesses the monastery. To hear these words simultaneously humbled me and lifted me up. What an amazing attitude: we are Christ and we bless each other.

As conversation continued, Brother Thierry commented that their are three things he believes makes us human beings and are essential to our being: prayer, work and community. Brother Thierry then elaborated on community and talked about ways to build successful communities. One way which stuck out to me was that we have to find how to look at the same person each day in a new way. To look at them continually in the same way is to trap them in a certain stage. It is to inhibit their growth. It is to kill them and the relationship. The other thought that stuck with me was that labelling kills community. At the current moment I'm blanking on the thoughts I had earlier about this but I'm sure you're coming up with examples and thoughts of your own that support this idea. Maybe you're even coming up with counter-examples. If so, please inform me of your thoughts. I'm always looking to hear different interpretations and thoughts on ideas.

a view of Holy Cross Monastery

A bit of background on the monks at Holy Cross Monastery before this next bit. They came to Northern Ireland in 1998, a small group from the Abbey of Bec in France, as a response to the Catholic church's decision to engage in spiritual ecumenism in parts of the world where Christians were (and are still in most cases) divided. This led Brother Thierry and, I believe, five other monks to relocate and begin a ministry of prayer for healing and reconciliation. The monks ministry plays well into their location in Northern Ireland. It is a country that has long had division between Christians. Thus, we found that Brother Thierry had more great thoughts to share. This time on why reconciliation is important and why the monks chose to come to Northern Ireland. And those thoughts let to the quote below from Brother Thierry.

"Self-sufficiency will be the death of the church."

If we let it and strive for it, then yes, I agree. The more divided we become, the less we are the Church and the more we are a broken, splintered group of individual, albeit well-meaning, bodies of believers. Furthermore, as Brother Thierry shared, we cannot be who God intends us to be without each other. Catholics cannot be Catholics without Presbyterians. Presbyterians cannot be Presbyterians without Baptists. Baptists cannot be Baptists without Catholics. So the circle goes round and round. We all bring different things to the table, especially in terms of theology, but when we get down to it, as I believe, the Church is called to be this world's comfort and light. The Methodists aren't called individually to do this. The Lutherans aren't called individually. No one faction is called individually. And no one faction can handle the needs of the world by themselves. They just aren't equipped to, even if they believe so. Because each church is not self-sufficient. Though we sometimes strive to be, God doesn't intend us to be. He intends us to work together. We need each other. Plain and simple. Theological differences aside, we must realize that we worship the same God. We sang praises to the same set of ears. We pray for the same loving arms to wrap themselves around this world. We do the work of the same God because we are responsible for caring for the same broken world. When we begin to understand those simple commonalities, theology isn't such a big deal. What is a big deal is how the Church responds as a whole because I believe the Church IS equipped. The church (emphasis on the lowercase here) is not. We all strive to be a light in this world. Right now we're thousands of candles burning together but placed all around. It isn't impossible for our lights to merge into one bright beam. It will take time but let's pray that the beam will get brighter each day. Then, let's suffer to make it happen. Because, as Brother Thierry shared with us today, "The question will not be 'did you achieve unity?' The question will be 'did you pray and suffer for it?'" (I believe he said this came from Pope John XXIII.)

There's a lot to think about and my mind has been running all day but I thank Brother Thierry for planting all of these ideas in there for me to wrestle with and for taking the time to speak with us. I'd also like to thank all of the monks at Holy Cross Monastery for their kindness and letting us worship with them. Lastly, I thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope this post helps to get some questions going in your mind. Blessings and peace!