paxabbey at The Abbey of Our Lady of Exile, Mount St Benedict, Tunapuna, Port of Spain 00014 TT - FEAST OF ST SCHOLASTICA

St Benedict is the father of Western Monasticism and he wrote a Rule fifteen hundred years ago, which we seek to follow even today.  Today, we have with us a group of people who try to follow the spirit of the Rule of St Benedict in their daily lives.  These people are called OBLATES, and some of them will be making their commitment to the way of St Benedict in a short while.  Each month these Oblates visit the monastery here at the Mount, where they meet to try and understand the way of St Benedict and learn how it can be applied in their own lives.  The Rule of St Benedict outlines a way of life that is applicable to people in all walks of life and there are thousands of people all over the world, OBLATES like those here today, who seek to inform their lifestyle by the spirit of St Benedict and St Scholastica. 

It has been said that St Benedict wrote the Rule, but it was St Scholastica who lived its spirituality.  This is best demonstrated in a story that is told about the two of them.

During one of their annual visits, Scholastica, inspired by the depth of their conversation asked Benedict to remain overnight in the place they were meeting in order to continue their talk and reflection on spiritual things. Benedict wouldn’t even think of it.  It was getting dark; it was time to get back to the monastery; it was time to get on with the regular routine of the spiritual life.  It was against his “Rule” to remain outside the monastery for the night.  Scholastica, the Dialogues say, put her head down on the table in deep prayer.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a great storm brought with it flash floods and Benedict realized that he could not possibly return to the monastery that night.  And, Gregory says, “He complained bitterly.”  He said, “God forgive you, sister! What have you done?”  Scholastica answered simply, “When I appealed to you, you would not listen to me.  So I turned to my God and He heard my prayer.  Leave now if you can.  Leave me here and go back to your monastery.”  This, of course, he could not do.  He had no choice now but to stay, in spite of his unwillingness.  They spent the entire night together and both of them profited greatly from the thoughts that they exchanged about the spiritual life.

Three days later, as Benedict stood in his room looking up toward the sky, he saw his sister’s soul leaving her body and entering the heavenly court in the form of a dove.  Scholastica had died and it was only then that Benedict knew why God had wanted them to spend those precious moments together on that special rainy night. 

There are many beautiful lessons that we can learn form this story of St Benedict and St Scholastica.  And one of the powerful lessons that we can learn is that there is strength in listening.  The very first word in the Rule of St Benedict is the word LISTEN.  The whole spirituality of St Benedict is summed up in this word – LISTEN!  The call of the follower of St Benedict is a call to listen to the voice of the Lord.  Ironically, in trying to obey the letter of the Law, by anxiously trying to get back to his monastery that night, St Benedict was actually breaking the very first and most important precept of his Rule: “Listen carefully my child … with the ear of your heart.”  Scholastica’s complaint was “you would not listen to me.”  Benedict has failed to listen to his sister.

There are times in life that, like Scholastic, we need to go beyond the law in order to fulfill the greater law of love.  Jesus demonstrates this quality in today’s Gospel.  Immediately on learning of the illness of Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus went straight-away to her assistance and reached out to her with his healing touch.  We are told that many persons came to him in distress with different forms of illnesses and also possessed by devils and he listened to them.  He reached out and healed them.  Jesus always listens.  The God we believe in is a God who listens.  And Job knew this!  This is why he could cry out to God in his time of distress. 

One of the scourges of our society is that people do not listen to each other.  Our young people feel that no one is listening to them.  Our elderly often feel the same way.  We need to take a page out of the Rule of St Benedict.  We need to take a leaf out of the life of St Scholastica and learn once more how to listen to each other.  We need to take time to listen to each other.

And Jesus not only listened to the people.  He spent time listening to his Father in heaven.  The Gospel tells us that quite clearly today: “In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.”  Jesus spent time listening to his Father.  We need to do the same.

As we celebrate this Feast of St Scholastica today, let us pray for the grace of a listening heart.  Let us truly learn once more the art of listening to each other and to God.  May St Benedict and St Scholastica bless you in this noble quest of listening!  “Everybody is looking for you.”  Yes, Jesus knew that everybody was looking for him.  But he also knew the importance of listening to his heavenly Father in prayer: he had gone off to a lonely place and prayed there.  At times, like Jesus, we need to do the same.