Transcript of Abbot Clement’s talk on Monday, 23 September 2002

        One of the nice things about being a priest is that here I am, half way around the world and the Lord gives me power to make Jesus present, in Prague, the Tatras, Kosice. But of course the Lord expects that the priest doesn’t make Jesus present only on the altar, but all day long. What about the other people? The priesthood is a gift to the Church, to the whole Church and by being Jesus on the altar enables all the Church to make Jesus present anywhere. And thereby renew the face of the earth. And so it was kind of strange for me to be in countries in which the statistics are kind of high for being Catholic, at least, by name. Sixty-seven percent, seventy percent. Then here I am walking down the main section of Prague, and some of the billboards give a totally different impression. Kind of dressed up nakedness. In the airports and their special tapes to distract and keep the crowds happy in the airports or on the eight hour flight from Toronto to Prague rather strange things are portrayed. Maybe it’s not pornography but close to it. And of course being that I’m in a strange land I pick out the nice hotels, the T.V. and just to see the influence of the United States on these countries, and there it is, some of the stuff is purely American with just subtitles or translated into their language and that’s it. And again, and I’m not talking about the other gospel that goes forth, you know, like I found Pizza Hut in Kosice. I did try a pizza in Kosice, but not Pizza Hut. It was olives, green olives and cheese and stuff. It wasn’t too bad but I certainly wouldn’t run all the way back to Slovakia to get it. And so it’s not surprising that the divorce rate is going up in these countries. According to which countries is worse.

        But my impression, don’t know how true it is, is that when I came into Slovakia, it must have been a Friday, last Friday, not this Friday but the Friday before, there was at least 150 people at the Mass. We concelebrated that one in Slovak. Which is far different from Prague and Budapest. And so the Lord has provided us with the power to transform the world and yet in our Catholic world, where is it going? But there’s another aspect that we especially need to pay attention to, it’s not possible for God to be bored. It’s not possible for Jesus to start the day from yesterday in the sense that He’s locked in by the concrete shape the world has taken up to this point. Jesus’ love is creative and it’s a new impulse. And there’s level of this newness. The Vatican II is a new impulse of the Spirit into the world. People fight it, resist it, run from it, like everything else we do with God’s gifts. But this is also true, in the Eucharist. So when you receive the Lord you’re not only called and empowered to make Jesus present. You have something brand new to give to this day. And yet the trip was an occasion to make me reflect on how little we utilize the powers that God has given us. Now like everything else, there is a beginning place, and the beginning place is always, always the same for us. And that’s precisely why monastic life is essential. Monastic life is a call that we respond to, to take God seriously as opposed to the rest of the world, that takes Him more or less seriously. And a lot of people a lot less. And what does that mean? It means that it’s not possible for us to live without daily prayer. Personal, daily prayer. And so those who neglect or play games with this area, it’s not surprising that they have days of exultation when they get what they want and despair when they don’t get what they want. And so they live the sign cycle more or less in depths, despair and exultation. All of which is wacky, not really based on real reasons for despair and real reasons for exultation. And so the monk is the one who discovered God. And a monk is one who prays faithfully. And if he’s praying faithfully then when he receives the Eucharist, he’s receptive to make Christ present in his life. And also to bring the newness, the new thrust, for the kingdom.