"The Christian life is nothing else but Christ; the monastic life is nothing else but Christ. The requirements for the Christian and for the monk are in substance the same; the difference lies only in the particular kind of stress that is given to them. The Church exists so that souls should lead the life of Christ; the monastery exists for the same purpose. Whether it is union with Him in the world or in the cloister, it is union that is the soul's purpose. Nothing else matters but this. (Dom Hubert Van Zeller, the Yoke of Divine Love, Templegate, 1957, p. 182))
"All who have put on Christ have heard the call to seek God. The monk is one for whom this call has become so urgent that there can be no question of postponing his response to it; he must accept forthwith... in every Christian vocation lies the germ of a monastic vocation. (Louis Bouyer of the Oratory, The Meaning of the Monastic Life, PJ Kenedy and Sons, NY 1950, from preface)
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For Prayer and Reflection:
- Do I ever feel an 'urgent' call to seek God? How am I responding?
- How can I nurture the germ of the monastic vocation in my own life?
"I have come to rate all as loss in light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:8)
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