M. Hellinger Community, Holiness, Reflection

Why You Need a Rule of Life

Socrates famously stated that the unexamined life is not worth living. After 2500ish years, those words still ring true. However, the Christian Event (the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ) has changed things. We should be striving not only for an examined life, but an ordered life in Christ.

Jesus Christ brought order back to creation and part of our life as His followers is allowing Him to re-order our lives, our desires, and our actions. The disorder had its start in the first sin. After the Fall, things were no longer how they were in the beginning. For example, no longer do Adam and the dirt get along; Adam must toil for the land to bear fruit. Also, a fundamental disorder is shown in the relationship between Adam and the Woman. Adam does something he had not done yet (and probably didn’t think to do before) – he gives the woman the name Eve. In the perfect relationship they had before, he would not have done this because only God could have. Now disorder has entered and the way Adam and Eve relate is changed (not for the better).

But Christ undoes this disordering and invites us into His new life.

So… what does this have to do with a rule of life? Freedom, here again, rears its splendid head. If we want to enter into the life in Christ, we need to practice this reordering so that our hearts are made ready for God’s work. This is where a rule comes in. It is a tool intended to draw us to Christ by drawing us out of ourselves.

What is a Rule?

A rule of life is simple, it is a set of expectations that one lives by. Every religious order lives a Rule (most are in someway related to St. Benedict’s Rule, which is subtly one of the most influential documents in the history of Western Civilization). A Rule can be simple or complex, but it is intended to simplify life. It is really beneficial when you live in community because it becomes a standard that all strive for and answerable to. 

How a rule works can be seen by way of example in Lenten penances. Before Lent, we know that prayer, fasting, and alms-giving are the pillars of the season, so we make decisions about how we will live those more intentionally for the duration of Lent. Making that choice at the beginning of Lent actually gives us immense freedom. Instead of having to think of new ways to live those three pillars and choose to do it everyday, we know exactly how we are being called to act (assuming the choice of penitential acts were chosen with proper discernment). It frees us to grow by giving order and clarity.

In a very similar way, a Rule gives freedom because it frees you to die to self in a specific way.

So now the question is: how do I do this? I do not think it is necessary to plan out every moment of your day or every action. For people living a vocation to Matrimony, life is unpredictable in a lot of ways. Therefore, the best way to start is in general. What a Rule does is spell out the most important aspects of your life so that all other decisions are made based on the essential aspects of your life. So start there.

Here’s a suggested list to begin with:

1) Our family/I will go to Mass everySunday and Holy Day

2) Our family/I will go to Confession at least twice a year/once a month/every other month.

3) Our family II will eat a meal together at least __ times a week.

Or, you could also be more a little more specific like:

a) The TV and computer will be turned off in my home at 9pm each night

b) I will pray (or my spouse and I will pray) for at least 10 mins a day in (insert specific place)

The whole point is, once you have discerned and set out those things which are essential to your life, you are free to live instead of constantly having to choose in the moment. One example of the application of this: will the invite to this event make it hard or impossible to go to Mass on Sunday? Answer: I am committed to going to Mass every Sunday, so I can’t go to that event unless I can also get to Mass.

Start small, discern and pray about it. Then let the Rule free you as it shapes your life.

B. Isenbarger fraternity, Healing, Holiness

“Bro! You’re bleeding from the jugular!

So, we’ve had this blog for about a month now, and you may be wondering who we all are. To start, we are much more than simply a group of guys who came together to write a few blog posts. This blog is merely an outlet for our fraternal life together and our life of prayer. Through it we hope to bring the light of Christ which we have experienced into a rather dark world. 

When this whole Fraternity began, we all seemed to have recognized our own brokenness and woundedness.  We also saw the brokenness and woundedness throughout the universal Church. Ultimately, this led us to a couple conclusions.

First, by ourselves we are totally insufficient. Because the priesthood is greater than one individual mortal, it cannot be undertaken as a personal project. It must be rooted in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ which is shared in by the priests of His Church. So, the more in which the fraternal life is shared among His priests – the more His priesthood is active in its fullness. 

Secondly, it is only in our brothers that we can clearly see our own woundedness and find healing. I think about soldiers in battle. Because of the idealism of youth, the adrenaline of action, and the scourge of pride, it is very possible for an individual to overlook his own mortal wounds. In a real way, soldiers need each other to say:

“Bro, you’re bleeding from the jugular!”

As can be imagined with a man bleeding from his neck, he is on the verge of losing consciousness, and already knocking on death’s door. His thinking becomes cloudy and his vision is severely impaired.

And so it is with us. 

Simply because of our mortal condition, all of us have experienced the most severe wound – that of original sin. It has caused us to be filled with our own egos, to choose pleasure over virtue, and even to refuse the mercy of God who seeks to bind up our bleeding jugulars.

But in the environment of true Christian fraternity, it becomes possible for a brother in Christ to bring us back to consciousness and our immediate need for the Divine Physician. When a community is established on the primacy of love and the mutual desire for integral wholeness, it becomes possible to point out the weaknesses and wounds of a brother – not for the purpose of condemnation and shame – but for the purpose of restoration and healing. 

So, who are we?

A few guys no different than the rest of humanity since Adam. Fortunately, we know there is a Physician who has never lost a patient who was faithful to His directives. Sometimes, though, we know the treatment options are painful and would rather be avoided. 

That’s why he gave us brothers – to keep us close to the Physician and on the treatment plan – even when we can’t see straight or are oblivious to the blood of our egoism gushing from our jugular.