Transcript of Abbot Clement’s Talk on Monday, May 12, 2003

        One of the powerful revelations of the Paschal mystery is who our Creator is. We think we know the Creator because we believe that everything exists by God, and we tend to have a philosopher’s approach, that after all, things have to be explained and they remind us that we can not have an uncaused cause, etc. But in the book of Genesis, God spoke and things were made, which already gives us a powerful revelation. The Pope reminds us in his first encyclical that the first truth of the Paschal mystery is the revelation of God as Creator who is faithful to Himself and faithful to creation. God has always been giving Himself to us since He began creating. There has never been a moment when God has not continued His loving creative work.

        In the light of this truth we can talk about our need for conversion, because all of us are wounded. All of us have experienced early childhood traumas of some form, shape, or manner. We didn’t have perfect parents, etc. We are all subject to the effects of original sin. I don’t care how you articulate its details. We need to be healed. Many of us still carry and harbor these early wounds. All of us have ego preferences. We interpret reality from the perspective of our own self- interest. That basically shapes our personal response to what we think our personal needs are. I come first. These are obstacles to the love that embraces us. In addition, all of us grow up in a certain time, in a certain country, under a certain group or social or cultural consciousnesses, and so we pick up a cultural shading that prevents us from seeing life as it is - that is as God sees it and as God loves it. So we have another area lacking truthfulness. Then, of course, especially we pragmatic Americans have a great capacity to fix everything in a hurry. We have the strong impulse to always fix this and fix that. Instead of having patience, the commitment to be patient, and to really see the shape of problems that are complex and work at solutions that are long lasting. We don’t even think it’s possible. We refuse to believe that we could do this.

        Also in his encyclical, the Pope addresses the human side of the Divine mystery of redemption saying, "No human being can live without loving." The Pope reflects on the human dimension of the Paschal mystery. Therefore, a life has to be lived. Only then can we examine it to see whether it’s loving. If we’re not even living our life, it’s not worth examining because there’s nothing there. The criterion has to be, how am I growing in love? When you hear this, you hear something from the Rule. What is the outcome of chapter 7? That the monk becomes a loving person so that he keeps the rule without having rules. Chapter 7 is not just for monks. Every now and then St. Benedict throws a curve ball. He says, "And the next degree is the one who" it doesn’t say, "the monk who." This confirms our view of creation. Everyone has the opportunity and possibility to seek and follow God; not just monks. We as monks are, however, more fortunate than others because in submitting ourselves to the Holy Rule, we open up, by degrees, to the truth of things in order to love the truth of things and become a loving presence. By following this process, we naturally develop a tremendous desire to love God that is effective, that is efficacious, and that is beginning to operate. Love manifests itself by loving our neighbor and the world as God does. We have a tremendous task before us; however, we have reasons to be very confident because the Paschal mystery is celebrated by us in the liturgy, and especially in its fullness through our daily Mass. In the Eucharist, the Lord embraces us with love that is redemptive, creative, and moves us in this direction. If we come with faith and expectancy to the Eucharist, and we really receive the blessing of the priest at the end, who sends us forth in the power of the Spirit, to live the life of love, then all we have to do is walk in our life and listen and respond. We will sense whether we are growing into that love that casts out fear, that conquers everything, and that is the fulfillment of our destiny.