In the post-modern world, people often neglect religious life; for others, it is part of their Christian Living education, where they learn about the personality of their school, however, such a guide to everyday life is regularly taken for granted unknowingly.

It is sometimes asked, how are Catholic teachings on monastic living relevant to today’s generation? Many would believe such lessons are only applicable to those practicing the Catholic faith. However, if personal and institutional biases are removed, things get clearer.

The teachings of St. Benedict are universal; although, his teachings are frequently seen as a threat to one’s personal institution. For St. Benedict, his famous phrase, “Ora et labora (Prayer and work),” is seen as merely sacramental, but the combination of prayer and work is needed in order to avoid stagnating in uncertainty.

In addition, “Ora et labora” is only complete once coupled with the Benedictine Hallmarks.

Love of Christ and neighbor

The first and foremost response to God’s love of humankind; however, we often fail to see the goodness of others, and even hold prejudices, through interpretations that claim God condemns such behavior, as it the case with the LGBTQ community.

God’s love is decisive and he does not create boundaries.

Prayer

We often fail to pray because we think God is not listening; but, through prayer, we end up instructing God on what will happen – some even offer threats to leave the faith through prayer if what they desire does not come to fruition.

According to St. Benedict, nothing is to be preferred to prayer; prayer is meditation.

Lectio Divina, or “divine reading,” is a Benedictine practice that includes reading, meditation, and prayer, which discerns how God works and encourages followers to call to him with one’s heart.

Prayer develops compassion, integrity, and courage.

Stability and stewardship

Through stability, one must be committed to genuine service, while stewardship contributes to the formation of a particular environment.

Today, profits form the basis of “being right.” Capitalists destroy nature and grab the ancestral domains of indigenous populations, which all leads to the poverty and class struggles experienced today.

Through stability and stewardship, one can bring peace.

Hospitality and community are the strength of Filipino values but, because of industrialization, such hallmarks have diminished due to subdivision mentality and individualistic culture. This results in a lack of empathy for others.

Hospitality encourages us not to marginalize people as “others” and, instead, by building a community, a harmonious relationship is developed regardless of status, color, race, religion, and gender.

What we lack today is humility

We often feel insulted when our titles and achievements are not acknowledged. This leads us to always brag about such honors on social media in order to earn likes, which we believe makes a positive impact on our personality. In this age, social media is used to stroke out egos, yet more people are disregarding out achievements.

The more irritated we get, we must remember, “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ, as Lord and ourselves, as your bond-servants for Jesus sake.” In short, humility requires not clinging to something that is ours and, instead, use it to benefit others.

We don’t often see humility because we do not have obedience and discipline. If people were obedient and disciplined, artificial tension and fear would be unnecessary. Unethical practices would not be committed as people would be concerned as to how it would taint their integrity.

Most of our legislators and elected officials come from reputable institutions – some at the top of their class – however, instead of transforming the lives of people, they transform themselves. They desire to be public servants but, once they take a position of influence, they transform into corrupt officials.

Conversatio

St. Benedict stressed conversatio, a specific way of life that requires faith and devotion. The lifestyle is a lifelong commitment to follow the teachings of Christ.

This country claims to be 90 percent Christian, but how do we convert ourselves into one? We must revisit our purpose in life.

St. Benedict was a gardener. If you want to change your life, do as the gardener does, pull out the weeks and plant the flowers./WDJ