The Abbot’s Notebook for September 21, 2016
Blessings to you! I am still in Italy but now outside of Rome. The Congress of Abbots ended on Friday, September 16th, and that afternoon a bus came to take those of us going to the General Chapter of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation to the Capuchin Generalate outside of Rome. This Generalate is called San Lorenzo da Brindisi. So far, we have not been given a list of participants but there seem to be about 100 of us here, perhaps a few more.
At a General Chapter of our Congregation, the major superior is always present for the General Chapter. Then each province elects a delegate or two or three, depending on the size of the province. Besides these delegates there are also present the Abbot President and his assistants, then the translators and other helpers. We also have representatives of the sisters and nuns who are aggregated to our Congregation. So the numbers can get fairly large.
The official General Chapter opened on Saturday, September 17th, and all of the formalities had to be gone through: reading a list of those with a right to vote, agreeing on who will count the votes, agreeing to the time table and the agenda of the Chapter, and so on. Then there are the required reports about finances, about decisions, about changes in the Congregation and then from each of the provinces.
A General Chapter is a wonderful time to meditate on patience. Most things are arranged by cultures and languages different from one’s own. Of the voting members, only two of us are Americans and so the style of conducting meetings is also different. Luckily I speak Spanish and can understand a lot of Italian, so I am able to communicate fairly well. In the main sessions we have headsets and simultaneous translations when those who are running the Chapter remember to do so. Sometimes I miss an event or two because the information was not translated into English.
Patience, silence and trust in the Lord! That is the experience that I try to live here in the midst of our General Chapter. Reports on monasteries are always interesting to me, but I have to move from that interest into praying for each of the communities. I pray particularly for the communities of the Flemish-Dutch Province of our congregation because they are mostly aging communities who hold on in hope and trust in the Lord. The average age of one of the communities is already over 80 years old.
I also pray for the communities of the Vietnamese Province because I know most of these houses personally and also see their enormous challenges. Those four houses have large numbers of vocations but very poor monastic formation. There is a good intention in each house but not always the capacity to give the formation that is really needed.
It will not be until the next letter that I can tell you who will be our new abbot president. This is the most important decision of the this chapter and will not take place until Thursday, September 22nd. For this election I ask your prayers so that whoever is elected will be able to serve us well. For myself, at 72 years of age, this will be my last General Chapter and the life of Christin the Desert will be under the guidance of a new abbot in three years.
In my heart, there is great joy that the Congress of Abbots elected a new Abbot Primate who is sensitive to the presence of God and to the needs of both nuns and monks throughout the world. My hope is that our Subiaco Cassinese Congregation will elect a man with those some gifts to serve the congregation. It is not easy to be a strong leader, a sensitive leader, a leader who sees the need to draw the women and the men of the congregation closer together to help one another and such a leader has to be able to make strong and courageous decisions.
Probably you cannot imagine how challenging it is to me to remain calm and prayerful during all of these meetings. Both here in our General Chapter and at the Congress of Abbots in Rome, there are so many things said that I just do not agree with. Or sometimes I see things in totally different ways from what is presented. Often in the past I would make comments or respond but over the many years that I have attended these meetings, I have realized that my comments rarely make any difference at all. On the other hand, I have also realized that if I am quiet and pray, then things often turn out in a way that is acceptable to me. This is actually what contemplative life is about: trusting that prayer and silence are even more effective that words and interventions.
Back home at Christ in the Desert, I am often asked to pray for those who are sick, those who are dying, those who are in difficult situations. In my own heart, I believe very much that prayers make an enormous difference. I am never convinced that it is my prayers that make the difference but am confident that when many people pray for the same intention, there is often something that happens that cannot be explained except by prayer.
So I ask your prayers for this meeting, our General Chapter, that we may choose truly inspiring new abbot president who can bring life and joy and depth of faith to our monastic congregation.
Be assured of my prayers for you. I will celebrate Holy Mass for you and for your needs and intentions. Please pray for me and for all of the monks and sisters of our communities, especially those most in need of help at this time. I send you my love and prayers.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip
