BLESSING OF LAND AND WORKERS

SEPTEMBER 22, 2002

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The following Reflection was shared by the Prioress, Sister Judith Ann Heble, OSB.

'I will put my sanctuary among them.  My dwelling shall be with them.  I will be their God and they shall be my people.  Thus, all who live here shall know that it is I, the Lord, Who make them holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.” [Ezek. 37:26-28]

It could be said that land is the central theme of biblical faith.  The Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible are the story of a people in God’s land.  In the Bible, land has significant meanings.  It is the place where things happen, where “important words have been spoken which have established identity, defined vocation and envisioned destiny.”  The land is a place well filled with memories of life with God.

In the Bible, the land is viewed, not as something earned, but as a gift of God. 

Israel’s relation to the land, and her life in it, grow out of this fundamental pre-supposition.  In Lev. 25:23, God says, “The land is mine; you are only strangers and sojourners there.”  Everything necessary for livelihood in the land is provided, not by the labors of the people, but as the gift of God.  It is indeed "a land flowing with milk and honey.” [Deut. 26:9] 

The Bible also says, that accompanying the benefits of the gift of land, are significant responsibilities placed upon the people both individually and corporately.  Land as gift and promise can become despoiled and lost.

In the reading you just heard from the Book of Ezekiel, the people had lost the land and had been experiencing exile in a foreign land for more than fifty years. The people had committed the ultimate sin:  They forgot the Giver of the gift: God! The exiles would be able to come back to the promised land only if they repented and radically relied on the Lord.  

It is precisely in the context of landlessness that the promises of this reading from Ezekiel loom large. Strong, unconditional faith in the faithfulness of God keeps alive the vision, enables one to run the risk, and keeps one energized with hope. We will go back to the promised land!  For, if God did it before, God will do it again! 

Land is also a central theme in the 1,522 year-old life of the Benedictine Order. The time of Benedict, the late fifth and early sixth century, was a time of chaos in both Church and State.  In the midst of this chaos, the followers of Benedict and Scholastica banded together in communities and attended to the spiritual and material needs of the surrounding population.

Monasteries of both women and men became places of refuge and hospitality for travelers and pilgrims.  The land surrounding monasteries was soon caught up in a great agricultural enterprise, providing sustenance and work for the uprooted so that they might work well, work with purpose, work with honesty and quality and artistry. As monasteries spread throughout Europe over the ensuing years, schools, scholarship and the arts flourished and provided a wide intellectual outlook.  As centers of strong and constant prayer, the monasteries became a spiritual and prophetic beacon to the world.

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed or not, but, over the centuries, most monaster-ies have been built on a hill.  That was a very practical architectural and engi-neering plan, for they provided protection in time of war.  Situated on a high and lofty hill, they were also visible signs of stability built to last for centuries as spiritual enclaves of the God quest.

The Rule of St. Benedict has been a guide for the spiritual life of the people for over fifteen hundred years.  Anything that has lasted that long, and has had that kind of impact, is certainly worthy of our consideration.  It has taught people how to connect with God, with others, and with the inmost self.  It has taught people to see the world as good, to see all as gift, and to steward that gift with reverence and care.

The Rule of St. Benedict lives and breathes from age to age because it examines and adapts from one century and culture to another as it renews and responds to need.

In the mid-nineteenth century, land became a central theme once again.  This time, Benedictine men and women would venture across the ocean to America

The gift of land would be the locus of the implant of Benedictinism in the New World As Benedictine communities sprouted up in America, and life around them changed, they responded in new and creative ways.  Always the Word of God was kindled in heart after heart on land after land.  The Benedictines left, and continue to leave, a legacy that nourishes souls and spirits and human beings, a legacy that points to Someone beyond ourselves.

The courage, conviction and steadfast faith of the early Benedictine women and men in this country, carried them despite the many obstacles and incredible con-ditions on the frontier.   They possessed a tenacity of vision, fearless in preserv-ing their Benedictine tradition, tireless in serving the demands of the Gospel. Setting aside their fears, or rather casting their fears on God, they ventured forth confidently, to respond to the call of the Church in this new land.

Land is a central theme in the story of the Benedictine Sisters here at Sacred Heart Monastery.   Within ten years of our founding in Chicago in 1895, we became landowners in Lisle, and for the past ninety-seven years have been rooted here in this land.

Our beautiful, well maintained campus, high on this hill, stands as a beacon of a long, stable, Benedictine tradition and focus.  On this land, we have become an identifiable people on an identifiable journey.  We have defined our vocation and envisioned our destiny. On this land, promises have been made, lives have been intertwined in strong bonds of community, until life itself is given over as total gift in death and buried on this land.  This land is truly a place well filled with memories:  of our lives together, of our lives with God, of our lives given in service to the people of the Lisle community and beyond.

We treasure this gift of our land, for it holds the greatest memory:  how faithful God has always been to us over our one hundred seven year history!  This memory propels us to embrace the future with confidence, as it provides us with a steady orientation, assurance and empowerment.  Our story reminds us that God has always been with us and will continue to be.

As in centuries past, the changing times have new needs that call for a new response from these Benedictine women.  We are able to respond to this need in a very unique way.  We have the land.  We now choose to share this precious, memorable gift and leave a legacy that will develop into a continuing care re-tirement community.  A legacy that will foster a community, where hospitality, justice, stewardship and respect will be its distinguishing characteristics.  On this land, we will build Villa St. Benedict, so that souls and spirits will continue to be nourished here in the spirit of St. Benedict.

Benedictine life, founded amid the confusion of the sixth century, and frequently threatened and tested externally and internally, by the storms of the centuries, remains a powerful sign to this day.This sign God speaks to us again in the reading from Ezekiel: "I will put my sanctuary among them.  My dwelling shall be with them.  I will be their God and they shall be my people.  Thus, all who live here shall know that it is I, the Lord, Who make them holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.” [Ezek. 37:26-28]