Bryan Sherwood

Retreat at The Close

This past weekend was busy but good. Heather and I picked up Jeana and drove down to The Close Retreat Center early on Saturday morning to catch up with the rest of the St. Pat's folks who went down Friday night. It was a good day. We met for Morning Prayer, spent time Hiking in the woods, ate lunch together, hung out and talked, etc. A perfect end to the day as we gathered in the chapel and shared bread and wine together in the Eucharist.

I dusted off my camera and took it along for the weekend. If you like tulips, old cemetery stones, not to mention a few pics of the retreat, check out my Flickr page.

Pax.

One Week Ago . . .

It's hard to believe that one week ago, I was looking at this. It was snowy and COLD! Today was rainy and in the 50's. Big change! I consider my retreat at St. Meinrad's a gift from God. The snow was just icing on the cake! I thought I'd post one of my favorite pics from last week. This will probably be my last snow shots of the winter. Resurrection is only a week away. It won't be long until the grass will turn green and I'll be wishing for snow again.

Pax.

Final Thoughts

It's Sunday, the last day of my retreat at St. Meinrad's.  It's been a really good experience.  There are a few things that strike me about St. Meinrad's.  First, the number of young monks.  Unfortunately, that's something you just don't see much of at Gethsemani at this point in time.  Yet, there's a good percentage of the monk population here in their 20's, 30's and 40's.  It certainly gives the monastery a certain energy that it wouldn't have if all the monks were elderly.

I also experienced a part of the Rule of Saint Benedict that I'd never actually seen put into practice.  On two different occasions, as the choir monks were leaving after prayer, a monk knelt before the community as they filed past him.  I realized right away that he had probably committed some kind of offense.  Benedict talks about this and I found out from Br. Terrence that this is called "doing culpa" (culpa means "fault.")   Br. Terrence told me that one of the monks had intoned a hymn too low and evidently felt as though he should do culpa because of it.  So, that was interesting.  It also intrigues me that I've never seen that practiced that way at Gethsemani.  I wonder why?

One last comment before I run off to Lauds.  This monastery understands hospitality.  The monks are very open and willing to interact with visitors.  My favorite part is the monk who is assigned to assist guests during the divine office.  He passes out the bookletts for each of the hours of prayer.  If for some reason, you need to pick up another book to sing a Psalm or hymn, he walks around holding a card with the appropriate hymn number or page number written on it.  He answers any questions you may have (like why is that monk kneeling?).  What I like best about their hospitality is the feeling they want you to participate with them.  That kind of Benedictine hospitality is a lesson we can all probably learn.

That's it for now.  I do miss all you people back home and can't wait to see you.  Pax.

Questions on Monastic Life

I come to monasteries like Saint Meinrad's and I can't help but feel drawn here.  The Spirit seems to call out to me about monastic life.  I'm sure I'm quite the mystery to many people.  They ask questions like "Why do you go to the monastery so often?"  "What do you do there?"  Some seem interested in my responses while others just think I'm strange.

Why do I come to the monastery?  That is actually a very good question to wrestle with.  As I said before, this life, this ancient way of being Christian speaks to me deeply.  Yet, I'm not going to be a Benedictine or Cistercian "monk"--at least not in the common way that's understood today.  After all, I'm happily married with a secular job, a house and a mortgage to pay.  I don't think the Cistercians are going to let me put on a habit and start living with them.  So, where does that leave me and others who ask similar questions?

It seems to me that the understanding of monastic life must broaden.  The current definitions of monastic life are too small and narrow.  The Holy Spirit is calling many like myself to this way of living.  You can certainly see it in the Cistercian tradition.  Lay Associate programs have popped up near Cistercian monasteries all over the US and all over the world.  For many years, they weren't aware of each other.  Like me, they too have this yearning for monastic life.

Like the monks at Gethsemani, I've adopted a Rule of Life for myself that helps me structure my daily life, in the spirit of Saint Benedict.  I too live in community with others:  my family, my wife, those in my work place and those in my parish.  I too value the hours of prayer and the Work of God.  Like any good monk, I'm doing my best to love others.  Each day I'm learning to love God and my neighbor.  I've entered into a way of life that is transforming and has been lived out by generations of Christians before me.

Why do I come to the monastery?  Because I've been called there and it's a calling that I can't ignore. 

Peace.

First Impressions

My first few hours at St. Meinrad's have been very different from what I'm accustomed to as a retreatant at Gethsemani.  First, let me say Benedictines eat better or at the very least, their guests do!  I just had pork chops, roasted potatoes with cheese, corn, and dessert.  The food is remarkably better and I for one, have no problem with that! 

Vespers was a bit different than I'm used to as well but was very beautiful.  The chanting here is extraordinary.  The church is arranged in a much more inclusive and open way.  I enjoyed it very much.  It doesn't look as though they pray compline together which makes me a little sad.  I guess I'll be doing that in my room this evening.

Technology seems to be everywhere here.  Each guest room has a wired internet connection and there are computer stations in the guest house and library that are available for use as well.  Currently, I'm sitting in the guest house lobby typing this post.  It's probably good that I didn't bring my laptop--that would probably be distracting to me.

Each guest room is also stocked with a few books to read including a Bible and a book on The Rule of Saint Benedict.  Kind of a nice touch, I think.

The size of this campus is much larger than I'm used to at Gethsemani.  It's beautiful though and I'll enjoy roaming around here for the next several days.  If the weather forecast holds true, I should see four or more inches of SNOW while I'm here.  Nothing could make me happier!

Okay, I guess that's all that I have for now.  I'm going to take my coffee back to my room for some quiet reading.

Pax.