Reflection for the Feast of the Death of St. Benedict

Tonight’s Gospel is very short, but it is filled with good news. 

“Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

And isn’t that eternal life what we all seek. I remember so clearly the moment this understanding became clear to me the first time. I was 19 and my great aunt passed away. She was a BVM from Dubuque, Iowa, who had worked as a teacher throughout Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. Throughout my childhood she had written me letters telling me about her daily life as a sister. In her final years, she was an avid letter writer to politicians, calling them out on things she disagreed with. I had not seen her in person since I was an infant and even though I wasn’t active in my faith at the time, I knew I needed to go to her funeral to honor the woman who wrote me all those years. So, I took off school and drove with my parents up to the convent. I don’t remember the whole trip, but I do remember being in some sort of parlor in a receiving line in front of the casket when this little old nun (about 4 ½ feet tall), came up to me and took my hands in hers. She looked me deep in my eyes and said, “I am so jealous of Veronica”. I remember thinking “you are one crazy old nun”. Then she spoke again and said, “She is finally with the one she has been in love with her whole life.” And there it was – the phrase that shifted my entire perspective. That is what it was all about. That is what Veronica’s life was all about. That is what my life should be about. 

Benedict not only knew this, but he lived it.  He spent his entire life introducing people to this love and each of his days were shaped around pointing other people toward this and helping them to live lives that drew them closer to God. Bringing them nearer to the one they would be in love with their whole lives. Unlike us, Benedict knew and foretold the day that he would die. He had an end in sight, and he knew when it was coming. He shared this with a few close brothers in secret. Then a week before his death, he began to physically prepare for his passing by getting his tomb, which Scholastica already occupied, ready, getting his affairs in place and then receiving the Eucharist. As his fever increased and his strength began to fail, he asked his monks, his community, to support him in his final moments as they helped him lift his hands in a prayer toward heaven as he passed. Benedict knew what was coming, he knew what the end goal was, and with grace and dignity, fully lived into that moment. Just as he lived his life trying to bring others closer to God, in his death he modeled for others how to finish that journey. 

We too know that moment will come. We may not know the day as Benedict did, but as the Rule calls us to keep death daily before our eyes, we know that we too have a goal at the end of our road. So how do we prepare for it each day? Do we deny that we are aging? Do we try to keep doing things in the same way we have always done them or do we look toward our new graces and abilities and embrace how those are used in a new way? Do we spend more time with community? Or do we need more time alone in prayer and reflection? Do we reflect more on lives lived and remember the journey? Do we remember those who have been a part of our lives? Do we still welcome new people into our lives? Do we share our stories and memories of days gone by? Do we share our hopes and dreams for the future? Do we take time to make a difference today in ways that we are still able? Each of us has a different way of moving toward this goal. But we are all moving toward it. Lent offers us a great opportunity to take some time to reflect on just where we are on this journey and as Benedict modeled, to prepare for what is coming. As for me, I think back on that day in Dubuque, my great aunt Sr Veronica and that crazy old nun, and I am grateful for the foundation they laid that lead me to the life I live today following Benedict who modeled not only how to live a life of community and prayer but how to keep death daily before my eyes with the end goal clearly in sight.