Ora et Labora
“Ora et Labora” is how we are supposed to life. It means “prayer and work”. A life sucked in by only one of these elements departs from the life Jesus has shown us. The life He lived and invited the disciples to share with Him, was one that had a rhythm of work and prayer. He still calls His followers into such a life.
This morning I came across a meditation from Richard Rohr. In it he quotes Joan Chittister’s musings on the rule of St Benedict, a tool to help ordinary people live a Ora et Labora life. I want to share it with you:
All in all, the Rule of Benedict is designed for ordinary people who live ordinary lives. It was not written for priests or mystics or hermits or ascetics; it was written by a layman for laymen. It was written to provide a model of spiritual development for the average person who intends to live life beyond the superficial or the uncaring. [1] . . .
Benedict was quite precise about it all. Time was to be spent in prayer, in sacred reading, in work, and in community participation. In other words, it was to be spent on listening to the Word, on study, on making life better for others, and on community building. It was public as well as private; it was private as well as public. It was balanced. No one thing consumed the monastic’s life. No one thing got exaggerated out of all proportion to the other dimensions of life. No one thing absorbed the human spirit to the exclusion of every other. Life was made up of many facets and only together did they form a whole. Physical labor and mental prayer and social life and study and community concerns were all pieces of the puzzle of life. Life flowed through time, with time as its guardian. [2]
As I begin my day of work and prayer, my first prayer for you is that God will grant you the grace to whether through the Benedict rule or other means, live a life “beyond the superficial and uncaring”.
Great things happen inside us and around us when we enter this kind of life. Jesus becomes very real to us.
Gabriel J Snyman
February 23, 2021