For a few months now, we have explored the “inner monastery.” We’ve stepped over the threshold, visited the chapel, prayed in a choir stall, looked at life through the grille. And we’ve really just begun! There is still an attic to rummage around in, there are treasures in the library… and how might lessons from “the refectory” be applied to our everyday lives...?
I, for one, am anxious to go forward with increased vigor. But before we continue, I’d like to spend just a minute remembering our Reason. After all, our analogies would be nothing more than “nice thoughts” (perhaps even illogical ones) if we did not keep sight of the Reason for them all.
How can a man or woman leave home, possessions, career, entertainment - and so many things the world considers important - in order to take up residence behind enclosure walls?
The Reason is a Person. Without this Person, cloistered life (whether physical or spiritual) would be pointless and empty and fruitless and vague. If we know and remember nothing else about monasteries or aspects of consecrated life, we must remember this:
Jesus is the Reason for it all.
