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Easter time is the season of joy. Christ is risen, we are saved. Yet often Christians fail to spread this joy, let alone experience it in their own lives. On the surface, the Rule of St Benedict shares this fault. The word "joy" is only used three times in the Rule, once when talking of the rewards of suffering and twice when talking of Lenten preparations for Easter. Generally, the Rule gives the impression of monastic life as dominated by rules and regulations with severe punishments for the least fault or failing. This is inevitable considering its function but it is a far cry from the truth. Anyone who has visited a monastery will testify to the peace, calm, even joy, that they sense there.

The reading of the Rule for this Easter Sunday on April 8th gives an example of this seeming contradiction. Private property, the acquisition of which is an essential part of modern life, is described as a vice to be "cut out by the root" and anyone found to have anything not given by the Abbot must "undergo the most severe discipline". Yet the Abbot must care for the needs of each individual, not rigidly apply the rule regardless of changing circumstances or personal differences. In other words, he must act as a loving father would act and the other members of the community must practice brotherly love for each other. Hence the joy existing in a religious community.

During Easter time the liturgy reminds us of both the joy of the resurrection and of how to make this a reality in our own lives. Mary Magdalen realises that the gardener is actually the risen Lord; the disciples in Emmaus recognise Jesus in the breaking of bread; doubting Thomas believes and gives the joyful cry "My Lord and my God"; the apostles back in Galilee recognise Jesus in the miracle of the shoal of fish. Each of these incidents ends with Jesus sending the apostles (yes, including Mary Magdalen, who was described by Thomas Aquinas as the "apostle to the apostles") out to carry the good news to others. He then disappears.

What is the message for us in these incidents? We all have a duty to do what we can to spread the gospel message - we are all called to be apostles. But it is more than that. We need to think for a moment of the significance of Jesus' disappearance. In each of the above incidents, Jesus disappeared, yet there is no indication in the texts that the apostles spent any time looking around wondering where he had gone. Mary Magdalen rushed off to find the eleven; the disciples in Emmaus rushed with equal eagerness back to Jerusalem; Thomas gave up his brave but fatalistic attitude "Let us go to Jerusalem and die with him" and spent the rest of his life reaching out to others to tell them of his Lord and God who had risen from the dead. Peter obeyed his instructions to "feed my sheep". They all realised that there was no need to search for Jesus - he was right there beside them whenever two or three gathered in his name. All they had to do was recognise him in their companions. Members of religious communities have so many opportunities to do this that it is no wonder that they both need a detailed Rule to govern their activities and that they radiate the joy of being in the presence of God to the rest of us.

We wish you every blessing.

Pax

UK Oblates Team