Introduction

For my lectio during the Easter Octave, and continuing into Low Week, I have chosen, from the many riches offered us by the liturgy at this time, the first letter of St Peter. This is used in the Roman Office for the Office of Readings, and in our own Stanbrook Office at the corresponding office of Vigils, during the Octave. Many scholars have suggested that this letter contains elements of what was a baptismal homily, which could have been delivered to those newly baptised at the Easter Vigil.

Lectio

Sometimes, perhaps quite often, a particular theme keeps presenting itself over the course of a day or several days. Maybe it starts with a verse in Scripture during the early morning lectio, then a reference to the same theme could come in the homily at Mass, and later in conversation, in further reading, in what we hear at the Midday Office reading. This is not an uncommon experience and is, hopefully, a symptom of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

A theme that has been speaking to me in the past few days is suffering as part of discipleship. This came across most clearly in my Scripture class yesterday, where we are currently studying the Gospel of Mark. My tutor spoke strongly about how, in Jesus, the opposite poles of crucifixion – that agonising and shameful death which was reserved for criminals – and triumph are united. We then began to look at Jesus’ prophecies of his passion in which he says to his disciples, and to the reader of the Gospel, that suffering is a necessary condition for the following of Christ.

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

Perhaps I was particularly receptive to these words because of my recent lectio. We read in I Peter:

The merit, in the sight of God, is in bearing it patiently when you are punished after doing your duty. This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you, and left an example for you to follow the way he took. (2: 20-21)

and:

My dear people, you must not think it unaccountable that you should be tested by fire. There is nothing extraordinary in what has happened to you. If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you can enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed. (4: 12-13)

Reading this in the resplendent light of the resurrection, I can focus not only on the sufferings, but on the glory, the goodness, the joy that will follow.

Sometimes, when I find aspects of monastic life difficult, such as everyone having to eat the same food at dinner time, so there is not much choice of menu, I remember that monastic life is a sort of ‘package deal’. There are so many good things about community life – even on the mundane level which includes having meals provided for me every day without having to cook, shop, or plan menus myself – that I find it easier to accept the less attractive side of monastic life. Common meals are a fundamental part of Benedictine monasticism – mentioned by St Benedict in his Rule. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In a similar way I am slowly coming to see that suffering, or what I tend to call ‘my struggles’, is a thread running through my life, and that will continue to run through my life, not because I am doing something wrong, or because God somehow wants me to suffer for the sake of it, but because the Lord is offering me the path of discipleship. Once again, I am coming to a deeper and more personal understanding, a more lived experience, of a truth I have heard preached and read about over many years. The feeling is, I imagine, a bit like that of turning over a plain block of wood, and finding a brilliant icon written on the other side — the hidden glory that suffering alone could never reveal. The suffering and struggles should never be taken or thought of in isolation, but only as a part of the deepness of Christ’s Paschal mystery.

I don’t want to finish this post without mentioning some other parts of the letter. The idea of new birth and renewal is very prominent, which is one reason why it makes good lectio for the Easter Octave. This comes across explicitly…

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth as his sons, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope… (1: 3).

And we are asked to change or renew our minds – not in the sense of altering a decision, but in the sense of seeing the world from a different perspective:

Free your minds, then, of encumbrances; control them, and put your trust in nothing but the grace that will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Do not behave in the way that you liked to before you learnt the truth. (1: 13-14)

Prayer

God, our Father, you fill us with joy by giving us knowledge and understanding of the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May this joy draw us on and give us encouragement as we continue along the path of discipleship.