Recent Entries

• St. Romuald's Brief Rule For Camaldolese Monks

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM May 8, 2011
  Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms — never leave it. If you have just come to the monastery, and in spite of your good will yo...

• St. Benedict's Rule: A Twelve Step Approach

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 29, 2011
  Humility isn't popular in today's culture. We're individuated, unique, proud. But, this misses the point. Never confuse Humility with Humiliation. Humility, from the Latin "humus", meaning ground or earth, is a matter of staying right sized. "...for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to...

• "Regula Para Eremitas" or (Rule for Hermits), by Padre Fray Alb

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 27, 2011
  For those of us who live anywhere; In the world or outside it or beyond all the worldand in whatever time.  LECTOR: Grasp the opportunity to spurn this world and follow the Lord. Don't doubt for an instant. Don't stay gazing at the road stretching behind you nor, rapt ...

• Paschal Vigil Format

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 22, 2011
  Not to be worried. This is a simple guide to the readings at our gathering tomorrow. The address is: www.oblatesulm.webs.com These instructions are posted there as well. Please sign-in to the virtual chat-chapel a little early and greet your ULM family! The schedule is: 14 UTM (GMT) = 6am PST or 9...

• Metaphorical Ambiguity

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 18, 2011
  Incompatibility Metaphor involves speaking of something (tenor) as though it were another (vehicle). "She runs fast, the girl is a deer." The claimed equation between the tenor and vehicle, girl and deer, is clearly not true, factually or literally. This incompatibility may initially disturb or con...
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• Love and Monastic Spirituality

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 18, 2011
  Love of God: In the first place to love the Lord God with the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength. (RB 4; cf. Deut 6:5; Mark 12:30) Love of Neighbor: To love one's neighbor as oneself that he/she may be served as if he were Christ in person. (RB 4; Luke 10:27) Love of Prayer: The...

• Metaphor and Imagination

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 15, 2011
  "Whoever can give the people better stories than the ones they live is like the priest in whose hands common bread and wine become capable of feeding the very soul."~Hugh Kenner There is something unquestionably right about the metaphor, and something unquestionably wrong. This tension of "is" ...

• Lenten Traditions

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 12, 2011
  During Lent we traditionally take on spiritual disciplines that help draw us closer to the Holy Provider. I hope you find one or more of these practices helpful along your Lenten journey. Fasting:  This Lent let go of the inessential to hold fast to what is essential. If you abstain from food,...

• Spiritual Reading and Meditation

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 9, 2011
  Reading scriptures and other inspirational writing is something that many devout already do regularly. However, it is also a practice that many find easy to drop and then hard to keep up in a helpful way. The monastic tradition has kept alive a tradition of prayerful reading which can greatly enrich...
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• The Rule of Humility

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 7, 2011
  The fundamental virtue for living the the Christ-life, as envisioned by monastics, is humility. The virtue is not a popular one today, but it is so fundamental that as oblates we must reflect on it. To begin with, humility is essential for the imitation of Christ. Benedict quotes Phil 2:6-11 where S...
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• An Oblate's Rhythm of Work, Study, and Prayer

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 6, 2011
  There are any number of monastic rules passed down through the centuries from the time of the Desert Fathers. In his, Benedict makes it clear that living the Christ-life means giving worship pride of place when he says: "Let nothing be preferred to the Work of God." When Benedict outlines the daily ...

• Beginnings of Monasticism

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 5, 2011
  Monasticism began as a recognizable institution in the fourth century, but monastic values can be seen in many practices before this time. The first monks who moved out of the cities into the deserts of Egypt and Palestine are know as the Desert Fathers. The practiced a radical asceticism, often...

• The Divine Office (Praying the Psalms)

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 4, 2011
  The Divine Office is the central act of prayer for the oblate. Other aspects of the oblate's prayer life are fed by the Office. The Psalms, which are the heart of the Office, shape one's prayer at all levels. Critics of liturgical prayer often complain that it is too objective and that one is not p...

• "Not Waiting for Godot"

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 4, 2011
  "A crucial turning point in...history occurred when men and women of good will turned aside from the task of shoring up the Roman imperium and ceased to identify the continuation of civility and moral community with the maintenance of that imperium. What they set themselves to achieve...

• So What's an "Oblate?" ...Read on

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 2, 2011
  An oblate in monasticism is a person who is specifically dedicated to spiritual service. “Oblate” is also used in the official name of some religious orders. Oblates individually affiliate themselves in prayer or meditation with a monastery of their choice. These make a formal priva...

• ULM Spirituality on the Social Networks

  by Joseph Lynn, Obl. ULM April 1, 2011
  PAX    I have been a member of the Apostolic Benedictine Order since 2001. I entered into solitaire vows on August 19, 2009. I have made life vows of poverty, chastity and perpetual "conversion of life." I am responsible for a ministry of spiritual direction, and twelve-step retreats reach...