March 3 – Cellular Minutes

We are HERE in Cor Unum, and we are exploring our environs. Our postulancy is just as valid and will be just as effective as that of those who have entered a monastic order, if we will make as good use of the walls around us.

So, in the door, we pass through corridors that lead to “our cell,” that place of meeting with our Lord. So much more than a bedroom, with nothing more than a bed, a washstand, and a small desk, here we change into our postulant’s habit. This is not the full, flowing monastic robe of the professed monk or nun, but it is the garb we have been longing to wear. Whether we came in sporting jeans or our best Lord and Taylor suit (or our finest gown and jewels, as did Clare of Assisi when she went to Francis to join him in his monasticism,) we wish to be adorned with all that sets us apart from worldliness and gives us a part in the life of the Abbey.

Too much? Too foolish, for those of us in Cor Unum? Not at all! Today and every day, whether donning jeans or our best suit, we may make it our habit to ask the Lord to clothe us with Christ Jesus, to grant us grace each day to put off the old man and forsake the vain and grasping love of the world, and to put on Christ, embracing His love of the Father and for those in the world who are dying around us.

Too simple? Too legalistic? Not at all! What else do we do with our minds during that daily, unchanging practice? When else may we be sure that we will daily devote ourselves to the ministry of the Gospel and the likeness of Christ? What might be accomplished if our scarce moments of quiet and privacy were to become for us life-changing as they are to those cloistered around the world. We say we have so little time alone, but when we do we squander it so commonly.

For each of us there is a place where the Lord ever waits, ever meets with us, and where we may expect a few moments alone with Him, whether dressing for the day or making the bed or changing our shoes. It is given to us in Cor Unum to command our eyes and our thoughts, and we direct them ever to the Lord we love.



"Two Minutes, Not to Be Lost"
Abbatial Photo