monastic futures - contemporary culture ii

Sister Edith Bogue

Benedictine Renewal ProgramMount St. Benedict Monastery

Crookston, Minnesota16 June 2011

Culture Shift: The Shape of Monastic Life in the Future

Given the bleak picture of the future, can we be confident that monastic life has a future?

Yes.The archetype of a monastic –

an ascetic who seeks beyond the boundaries of society – is ever present in society.

Religions produce a group of athletes or specialists or they die out.

The evolutionary psychologists show us, more and more, that our brains are hardwired for contemplation.

It will certainly be different and diverseMembership may be time-limited, not permanent.Residential monastic communities may include both

men and women and familiesThere are already web-sites that call themselves a

“virtual monastery”The focus is unlikely to be institutional (hospitals,

schools)Life-long monastics are likely to be fewer in number,

but important for the mentoring of others.

Formed by our place & our history

Transition & change is hard

Three elements that will be focal for monastic life in the futureMeeting Christ

in other peopleLiving outside

the ways of the world

Building bridges across chasms asa path to peace.

Meeting Christ

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"Try to be the first to show respect to the other"…

"as if they were Christ in person"

The spirit and culture of the age will come into the monastery.

Patterns are wired in our brains early in life.

It is present all around.

It seems invisible.

Meeting Christ in the sick

and elderly — and in all who are

vulnerable

Preserving & transmitting the skills of commitment, stability, fidelity.

Ponder for a moment:

What, in our current way of life,

will provide a foundation? A

challenge?How can we nurture

this new life?

(Break)

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Living outside the “Ways of the world”

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"Your way of acting should be different from the world's way."

A focus on praxis, on living the monastic way of life, on practices that can be learned, taught, and passed on.

Enclosure: A form of

simplicity — guard of the

heart — limits the

accumulation of stuff and

freneticactivity and connection

Ponder for a moment:

What, in our current life, can we nurture?

What should we leave behind?

What different models of monastic life can we imagine?

Building Bridges of Peace

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"That nobody may be disturbed or grieved in the house of God"

Building bridges

Listening, learning, and conversing with the diversity of monastic communities.

The common good

How can we cultivate it?

"Convinced that the good which is in them … must be from the Lord"

"What can be sweeter to us, dear ones, than this voice of the Lord inviting us?"

"Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep"

"Prefer nothing

whatever to Christ, and

may he bring us all

together into

everlasting life"

Sister Edith Bogue

Benedictine Renewal ProgramMount St. Benedict Monastery

Crookston, Minnesota16 June 2011

Culture Shift: The Shape of Monastic Life in the Future