Our Mission Continues

I recently read an interview with addiction researcher Bruce K. Alexander, who notes that addiction usually occurs because people’s needs for belonging, identity, meaning, and purpose are not being met. He observed that during the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, when St. Benedict lived, addiction to alcohol and to the violent “games” at the Roman Coliseum was almost universal. Alexander describes life in the capital city of Rome: “Intellectual life was degraded. Schools, law, and religion were corrupt and chaotic. Violence erupted. Political collapse was well underway. When bribes of bread and circuses—consumer goods and entertainment—failed to keep the people in line, law enforcement relied on brute force and the emperor’s despotism.”

Life at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire has many parallels to contemporary life. Many people today feel alone and neglected, don’t know who they are, have the sense that the world is random or ruled by evil forces, and lack purpose. Schools accept bribes from the wealthy, courts are packed with cronies of politicians, and many clergy abuse the innocent and the faithful to satisfy their appetites for sex and lavish lifestyles. Gun violence erupts regularly in our streets, workplaces, schools, and churches and the incidence of police shooting innocent black men is increasing, while people are distracted with consumer goods and video games and get addicted to alcohol and opioids.

Now, as then, St. Benedict offers us a way out of this dysfunction. Alexander notes that “…in cultures where everyone has a place and a purpose and a stable way of life, addiction is rarely found…. We need to get individuals out of the modern rat race and into less competitive communities where their work is valued and there is time for individual and group spirituality and celebration.” In writing his Rule, St. Benedict provided a blueprint for how to do just that.

Benedictine monastics and oblates continue to offer the world a model for how to live a balanced, fulfilling, contented life by centering their attention on Christ and providing a place of prayer and hospitality where others are welcomed, cared for, affirmed, and given purpose. As Fr. Duane Roy often says at the end of mass, “The mass is ended; our mission continues.” By our seemingly simple lives, we provide a remedy for the unrest in the world. May God bless the work of our hearts and our hands.