Reflection for Trinity V: St Benedict of Nurcia


The language of shepherds and sheep are is one that is common to the New Testament. At various times Jesus talks about being the Good Shepherd, the one who seeks out the lost lambs, and who returns them to the flock. However, can seem harsh to our ears, as we see sheep as foolish creatures (woolly in mind and body), easily led, and likely as not to end up on the dinner table at Sunday lunch.

In his book reflecting on sheep and shepherding in the Yorkshire Dales, James Rebanks (shepherd andacademic)talks about the intelligence of sheep. Sheep he says know their pastures intimately: they know where to get water, shelter, good grazing, and where to hide when dipping time comes around. This knowledge is known as being ‘hefted’, and is passed down from ewe to lamb over the generations.

Humans to arehefted. Our own hefting takes place as we settle into a new area, we learn its paths and its short-cuts. For instance, it took me about 2 months to learn that there was an entrance into, and footpaths around Belhus Woods. I could see the words, and they looked like a great place to walk my dog, but I couldn’t work out how to get in until I went exploring.

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On Saturday of this last week the Church celebrated the life of St Benedict of Nurcia. (He was famously Abbot of the community at Monte Casino, which despite the vicious battle that took place there in World War 2 remains a place of prayer and contemplation.)

St Benedict is known as the father of Western Monasticism, and his monastic Rule forms the basis for the various rules adopted by monastic communities across Western Europe and America. At the heart of his Rule is the principle of Stabilitas (stability). Monks he says are to remain at the monastic house where they live, they are not to travel about, seeking better conditions, less harsh rules, or causing mischief. Such movement he says unsettles the whole community and causes needless disruption.

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As Anglicans, both St Benedict and James Rebanks speak to us of our way of being Church. As Anglicans, whether Priests or people, we are hefted to our Parish, settled in place. We are called to know our community, and to serve our community, making God known in and out of season. (In this we are Incarnational.) This is why the recent lock-down has been so disruptive for us, it has disconnected us from the places we know and love, not leas our churches. Watching Mass online is never quite going to be a replacement for the real thing, not least because by entering in to our churches we are entering in to those places of prayerful stability, where the words of countless generations have worn thin the veil between us and eternity. As T S Elliot calls it in his poem ‘Little Gidding’: ‘this place where prayer has been made valid’. In this we are embodying the spirit of the Rule of St Benedict, we are entering into a stable place, a place which has weathered countless storms and conflicts, both personal and international.

Our call as a Church is to pray for our communities, and to minister to our communities in their need. To be places of love and stability in a world that can feel uncaring and unstable. Our call as a Church is not just to maintain our buildings as places of stability and love, but to embody within ourselves those same virtues.

St Benedict, pray for us.





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