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Dear Friends,

Pentecost Sunday marks the end of Eastertide and the return to "ordinary time". Yet, for the apostles, it marked the beginning of a very extra-ordinary time. For us too, this is not a time to sit back and relax but to concentrate on the daily struggle to overcome our weaknesses. The Rule of St Benedict for the end of May and beginning of June describes the way of humility. Chief among the qualities to be acquired is that of obedience. By this, St. Benedict did not mean simply the monk's obedience to his abbot but his obedience to everyone around him. The monk, and therefore the oblate, is to place himself at the service of everyone in his community.

For people unfamiliar with the Benedictine way, being obedient to all can seem to be a rather passive, even lazy, attitude to life. They imagine it as just drifting along leaving others to make all the decisions. For those who have tried it, they realise that it is quite the opposite! Cardinal Newman, who had been tested in this area many times, said that one of the greatest sources of virtue was in doing something in a spirit of obedience even when one knew that the other person was wrong. St Benedict would have replied that even more virtue could be gained by obeying without grumbling. Grumbling was clearly one of St Benedict's pet hates as he mentions it several times.

So this ordinary time can be made extraordinary by practising obedience without grumbling. I wonder if St Benedict would have allowed an exception for comments on the great British Summer?

We wish you every blessing.

Pax

UK Oblates Team