Applying St. Benedict's "Tools for Good Works" to the Workplace During Lent
(Originally posted in 2016)
Today we'll begin our look at the "Tools of Good Works" from St. Benedict's Holy Rule. These will help us focus on those acts of almsgiving that we can perform during Lent in the work place. (Remember that the concept of almsgiving encompasses giving not just money, but anything else of yourself in a spirit of charity.)
St Benedict lists many "Tools of Good Works" He calls them "tools of the spiritual craft" (instrumenta artis spiritalis). He considers these so important that he says:
If we employ them unceasingly...and on the Day of Judgement render account of them, then we shall receive from the Lord in return that reward which he himself has promised: Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, what God hath prepared for those that love him.
Simply put, we will love Him by performing these good works, or acts of charity. The list is extensive and we'll be choosing selections grouped by common themes, which is how our great saint grouped them. Today we begin with four:
A word about these 40 days: Don't be discouraged if you feel 40 days are a long time to persist in your chosen mortifications and sacrifices. The discouragement you feel is, of course, the work of the devil. While 40 days is a bit of a stretch, with God's help - His grace - you can keep up your efforts at these good work.
Example: Just a few days into Lent, one of my mortifications - really not a big thing - was suddenly transformed from a mole hill into a mountain. Said mortification: delaying eating for four minutes after saying my grace before meals. (By the way, if you try this for two minutes it can be challenging, so four minutes is, in fact, a bit tough.) It hadn't been so hard the first few days, but there I sat staring at my food and my cell phone clock. Talk about time slowing down! Every thought imaginable raced through my head: the food's getting cold; you're eating late, you're hungry, your body's craving nutrition; you're pressed for time on that important project/stop wasting your energy on this foolishness; it's not such a big deal if you break your commitment just this once...and on and on for four full, slooow minutes. Between the devil and my own concupiscence born of my fallen human nature, a product of original sin, it was a mini-war right smack dab in the middle of my busy day at work. The "bad" news: It was daunting to experience the intensity of the self-centered thoughts and feelings that shot through me like a sustained electric shock. The good news: I did pray for God's grace, He did help, and I did make it through the 4 minutes. Huzzah!
Think I'm exaggerating? Well, take these self-denying good works seriously and see what happens to you - especially if you're a self-centered individual used to accommodating all your desires and urges as you lead the typical soft, self-indulgent life of us who live in first world economies that not only provides creature comforts but whose social customs deny the reality and efficacy of objective morality: What's good is what feels good to you; do what feels good.
OK. I'm getting carried away. Full.Stop. Instead of continuing the rant, rather a simple practical suggestions for chastising the body and not seeking soft living: For your work days, get up 15 - 30 minutes earlier during Lent. Rise when your alarm goes off, rather than hit the "snooze" button. Spend the extra time in prayer, extra spiritual reading, or maybe a few quiet moments alone with God. Try following the traditional fast and partial abstinence that all Catholic men once observed during Lent: meat only once a day (never on Friday), one full meal (other two meals not adding up to the one main meal). See if you can keep this up every day (except Sunday's of course, which don't "count" as part of Lent.) If these items don't suit you, think of some that do.
Bottom line: Break down some of that self-focus so you'll be primed to perform the rest of the "Tools of Good Works" we'll be talking about in the next few posts.
We end with this traditional exhortation from the praying of the Stations of the Cross, to remind ourselves we live and work now in the holy season of Lent:
Today we'll begin our look at the "Tools of Good Works" from St. Benedict's Holy Rule. These will help us focus on those acts of almsgiving that we can perform during Lent in the work place. (Remember that the concept of almsgiving encompasses giving not just money, but anything else of yourself in a spirit of charity.)
St Benedict lists many "Tools of Good Works" He calls them "tools of the spiritual craft" (instrumenta artis spiritalis). He considers these so important that he says:
If we employ them unceasingly...and on the Day of Judgement render account of them, then we shall receive from the Lord in return that reward which he himself has promised: Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, what God hath prepared for those that love him.
Simply put, we will love Him by performing these good works, or acts of charity. The list is extensive and we'll be choosing selections grouped by common themes, which is how our great saint grouped them. Today we begin with four:
- To deny oneself, in order to follow Christ..
- To chastise the body.
- Not to seek soft living.
- To love fasting.
A word about these 40 days: Don't be discouraged if you feel 40 days are a long time to persist in your chosen mortifications and sacrifices. The discouragement you feel is, of course, the work of the devil. While 40 days is a bit of a stretch, with God's help - His grace - you can keep up your efforts at these good work.
Example: Just a few days into Lent, one of my mortifications - really not a big thing - was suddenly transformed from a mole hill into a mountain. Said mortification: delaying eating for four minutes after saying my grace before meals. (By the way, if you try this for two minutes it can be challenging, so four minutes is, in fact, a bit tough.) It hadn't been so hard the first few days, but there I sat staring at my food and my cell phone clock. Talk about time slowing down! Every thought imaginable raced through my head: the food's getting cold; you're eating late, you're hungry, your body's craving nutrition; you're pressed for time on that important project/stop wasting your energy on this foolishness; it's not such a big deal if you break your commitment just this once...and on and on for four full, slooow minutes. Between the devil and my own concupiscence born of my fallen human nature, a product of original sin, it was a mini-war right smack dab in the middle of my busy day at work. The "bad" news: It was daunting to experience the intensity of the self-centered thoughts and feelings that shot through me like a sustained electric shock. The good news: I did pray for God's grace, He did help, and I did make it through the 4 minutes. Huzzah!
Think I'm exaggerating? Well, take these self-denying good works seriously and see what happens to you - especially if you're a self-centered individual used to accommodating all your desires and urges as you lead the typical soft, self-indulgent life of us who live in first world economies that not only provides creature comforts but whose social customs deny the reality and efficacy of objective morality: What's good is what feels good to you; do what feels good.
OK. I'm getting carried away. Full.Stop. Instead of continuing the rant, rather a simple practical suggestions for chastising the body and not seeking soft living: For your work days, get up 15 - 30 minutes earlier during Lent. Rise when your alarm goes off, rather than hit the "snooze" button. Spend the extra time in prayer, extra spiritual reading, or maybe a few quiet moments alone with God. Try following the traditional fast and partial abstinence that all Catholic men once observed during Lent: meat only once a day (never on Friday), one full meal (other two meals not adding up to the one main meal). See if you can keep this up every day (except Sunday's of course, which don't "count" as part of Lent.) If these items don't suit you, think of some that do.
Bottom line: Break down some of that self-focus so you'll be primed to perform the rest of the "Tools of Good Works" we'll be talking about in the next few posts.
We end with this traditional exhortation from the praying of the Stations of the Cross, to remind ourselves we live and work now in the holy season of Lent:
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou Hast Redeemed the world.
Comments