"A Personal Tour of the Monastery" continued
And just as you are standing there pondering this new revelation, you notice a small tractor headed up the driveway straight toward you. Since it's winter, on the end of the tractor is a snow plowing device. High up in the seat is a man with a bright blue winter jacket and a yellow ski cap. He stops the tractor and gets down to greet you. "Hi, I'm Fr. Mike!" says the man in the yellow ski cap, "welcome to St. Benedict Monastery". You respond by saying "It's nice to meet you Fr. Mike, but I've never met a priest who drives a snowplow before." Fr. Mike tells you that the monks are busy with a lot of different kinds of work. "I know that", you explain, "I've met Br. Gregory cooking dinner in the kitchen. Then there was Br. Jim making candles. Then another monk leading a bunch of kids on a walk. And now I meet a priest driving a snow plow. But I was sent here to find out just who you fellows are and I’m not sure I have the answer yet. Fr. Mike responds, "I know just the place to bring you for that."
You follow the this priest back into the monastery and into a small wooden chapel with little wooden seats. Fr. Mike directs you to a place among the seats and asks you to sit and wait a few minutes. You sit there quietly and in a short time the monks begin slowly to file into the chapel, dressed in their long black habits. They each go to sit in their respective places. Then the bell begins to ring and the monks rise. . . .
. . . . and they begin to sing. After a long day of work these men
begin to sing praise to
God. And in that moment of peace and prayer you begin to understand who these men are . . . . .
. . . . . A monk is a man in love. He is a man in love with God. If you have ever been in love or know someone who is, you know that when two people are in love every moment they spend together is precious. All that they do together, no matter how small or insignificant, is special. Their love gives meaning to everything they do. When a man is in love with God he sees God everywhere: in the kitchen, in the chapel, in the retreat house, or on the snow plow. He knows God is with him in everything he does, from cooking to cleaning, candle-making to retreat giving, at work or at praying. Of all the many jobs that a monk does there isn't one of them that isn't a part of his vocation, because everything he does is a service to the God he loves and to whom he has committed his life.
So if you make it
over to Oxford someday, which I hope you will, don't be surprised to meet
the priest who drives the snow plow or the brother who makes candles out
of melted wax. Just remember that now you know something about who
we are. . . . and what makes our lives happy and holy.
