https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-16/time-john-bolton-said-its-good-lie-about-war That Time John Bolton Said It's Good To Lie About War Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com, Journalist Whitney Webb recently tweeted a 2010 video clip I’d never seen before featuring US National Security Advisor John Bolton defending the use of deception in advancing military agendas, which highlights something we should all be paying attention to as Trump administration foreign policy becomes increasingly Boltonized. On a December 2010 episode of Fox News’ Freedom Watch, Bolton and the show’s host Andrew Napolitano were debating about recent WikiLeaks publications, and naturally the subject of government secrecy came up. “Now I want to make the case for secrecy in government when it comes to the conduct of national security affairs, and possibly for deception where that’s appropriate,” Bolton said. “You know Winston Churchill said during World War Two that in wartime truth is so important it should be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies.” “Do you really believe that?” asked an incredulous Napolitano. “Absolutely,” Bolton replied. “You would lie in order to preserve the truth?” “If I had to say something I knew was false to protect American national security, I would do it,” Bolton answered. “I don’t think we’re often faced with that difficulty, but would I lie about where the D-Day invasion was going to take place to deceive the Germans, you’d better believe it,” Bolton continued. “Why do people in the government think that the laws of society or the rules don’t apply to them?” Napolitano asked. “Because they are not dealing in the civil society we live in under the Constitution,” Bolton replied. “They are dealing in the anarchic environment internationally where different rules apply.” “But you took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and the Constitution mandates certain openness and certain fairness,” Napolitano protested. “You’re willing to do away with that in order to attain a temporary military goal?” “I think as Justice Jackson said in a famous decision, the Constitution is not a suicide pact,” Bolton said. “And I think defending the United States from foreign threats does require actions that in a normal business environment in the United States we would find unprofessional. I don’t make any apology for it.” So that’s a thing. And it’s important for us to know it’s a thing because of the way things are heating up in Iran right now, since Bolton’s fingerprints are all over it. Bolton has long been calling for war with Iran and in a paid speech in July 2017 told his pro-regime change MEK terror cult audience that they would be celebrating the successful overthrow of the Iranian government together before 2019. Now we’re seeing threat alarms being elevated and fearmongering about Iranian missiles being circulated, with reports being leaked to the press of possible plans to send 120,000 US troops to the region. This is an environment that is ripe for deceptions of all sorts, and, given what Bolton said on live television nearly a decade ago, we would all do very well to remain very, very skeptical of any and all news we hear about Iran going forward. If for example you hear that within this environment of escalated tensions and military posturing Iran or one of its “proxies” has attacked the United States in some way, your immediate response should be one of intense skepticism about what the mass media talking heads are telling you to believe. Back in 2012 at a forum for the Washington Institute Of Near East Policy think tank, the group’s Director of Research Patrick Clawson openly talked about the possibility of using a false flag to provoke a war with Iran. “I frankly think that crisis initiation is really tough, and it’s very hard for me to see how the United States president can get us to war with Iran,” Clawson began. (Can I just pause here to note what a bizarre series of words that is? “Get us to war with Iran?” Get us to the thing that every sane human being wants to avoid with every fiber of their being? You want to “get us to” there? This is not the kind of thing normal humans say. You only hear this kind of insanity in the DC swamp where creatures like John Bolton have their roots.) “Which leads me to conclude that if in fact compromise is not coming, that the traditional way that America gets to war is what would be best for US interests,” Clawson added. “Some people might think that Mr. Roosevelt wanted to get us into the war… you may recall we had to wait for Pearl Harbor. Some people might think that Mr. Wilson wanted to get us into World War One; you may recall we had to wait for the Lusitania episode. Some people might think that Mr. Johnson wanted to get us into Vietnam; you may recall we had to wait for the Gulf of Tonkin episode. We didn’t go to war with Spain until the USS Maine exploded. And may I point out that Mr. Lincoln did not feel that he could call out the Army until Fort Sumter was attacked, which is why he ordered the commander at Fort Sumter to do exactly that thing which the South Carolinians said would cause an attack.” “So if, in fact, the Iranians aren’t going to compromise, it would be best if somebody else started the war,” Clawson continued. “One can combine other means of pressure with sanctions. I mentioned that explosion on August 17th. We could step up the pressure. I mean look people, Iranian submarines periodically go down. Some day, one of them might not come up. Who would know why? We can do a variety of things, if we wish to increase the pressure (I’m not advocating that) but I’m just suggesting that this is not an either/or proposition — just sanctions have to succeed or other things. We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians. We could get nastier at that.” “We Know Where Your Kids Live” John Bolton threatened head of chemical weapons commission as part of effort launch war against Iraq https://t.co/p8uluxbWGH — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 2, 2018 So these are ideas that have been in circulation for many years. That gun is loaded and ready to fire. Bolton trussed up his 2010 confession using an example that most people would agree with: that it was reasonable for the Allied forces to deliberately deceive the Nazis about the nature of the D-Day invasion. But we know John Bolton better than that by now. This PNAC director and architect of the Iraq war once threatened to murder a foreign official’s children because his successful diplomatic efforts were putting a damper on the manufacturing of consent for the Iraq invasion. He wasn’t defending the use of deception in crucial military options used to halt tyrants trying to take over the world, he was defending the use of deception in the senseless wars of aggression that he has built his political career on advancing. Take everything you hear about Iran with a planet-sized grain of salt, dear reader, and everything you hear about Venezuela too while we’re on the subject. There are skillful manipulators who are hell bent on toppling the governments of those nations, and they have absolutely no problem whatsoever with deceiving you in order to facilitate that. And they don’t believe the rules apply to them.
One aspect not included in this analysis is that the use of atomic bombs to end the war in the Pacific in 1945 included an attack on Nagasaki, which was the center of Catholicism in Japan. Though a "secondary" target, it was designated so because of the key naval base in that city. However, mysteriously, the atomic bomb was detonated directly over the Catholic cathedral, some 3 kilometers from the naval base. The base, itself, did not suffer debilitating damage. Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
That's right. Also, when we consider all the Churches in the ME (that somewhat ironically lived in peace with their Muslim neighbors and even survived groups like ISIS taking over their towns?!?) that have been decimated recently and all the peaceful Catholics displaced, the lives of so many sacrificed it is heart breaking. Personally I think there is much we do not know about these wars and the Church. The Popes really held the line back then and it is not a real leap to come to the conclusion that the Church was targeted deliberately for it by many men. Now? We must not forget the Priests who survived that fateful day either nor their explanation for their providence... https://www.tldm.org/news18/eightje...atomicbombblastthroughthepoweroftherosary.htm "We survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the Rosary daily in that home."
I have been thinking about this a bit. YT is essentially turning it's platform into television by taking this sort of stance. They are undermining their stated mission. It is deliberately limiting the freedom of it's users, the subjects of its content and when it comes right down to it they are creating the boob tube all over again by doing so. YT urges us to feel free to use their platform just so long as it is the content they approve of, the people they approve of and that we never discuss what is verboten. Disengage your brain from any critical thought. Look HERE ---> X , not over there ----------->. This won't work and they know it. Like it or not YT is in many respects the public square of the present day for the younger generations. So much so that when people are ostracized and denied the means by which to air their beliefs (regardless of how mistaken they might be) they will ultimately foster the means for the very thing it claims to wish to avoid. YT is deliberately targeting a specific group for discrimination by discriminating against it. It's abjectly absurd. I am not saying that YT won't continue to show a profit or that they will overnight become the myspace of today but the days of plugging ones self into the screen and accepting the content that is served up to you are for a bygone era. I might add that it didn't work then either. A constantly growing number of people today are listening to, watching and seeking out information, looking for the truth. Trying to make sense of the world we live in and the chaos and injustice they see around them. This undoubtedly leads to some third rail subjects and try as they might the powers that be are only continuing to further expose themselves as the hypocrites they are by doing the very thing they accuse others of.
Illinois Bishop Bans Pro-Abortion Lawmakers from Receiving Communion The bishop of Springfield, IL, has forbidden Catholic legislators who voted for the Reproductive Health Act from receiving Holy Communion in his diocese, citing penalties in Church Law for those who “persist in manifest grave sin.” In a statement released by the Springfield diocese Thursday, Bishop Thomas Paprocki declared that “Illinois Catholic lawmakers who promoted or voted for extreme abortion legislation are not to receive Communion.” Bishop Paprocki calls out two Catholic legislators by name, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, but extends the ban to any Catholic who voted for the bills. “Due to their leadership roles in promoting the evil of abortion by facilitating the passage of Senate Bill 25 this legislative session and House Bill 40 in 2017, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton have been barred from receiving Holy Communion,” the statement reads. “In addition, Illinois Catholic lawmakers who voted for either of these abortion bills are not to present themselves to receive Holy Communion,” it says. These legislative leaders “have shown obstinate and persistent support of extreme abortion legislation,” the statement declares. “House Bill 40 legalized taxpayer funding for abortion and Senate Bill 25 makes abortion a fundamental right, allows for the killing of innocent children up to the moment of birth, and requires private insurance to pay for abortion, among other anti-life changes.” The statement was accompanied by a formal decree, which was mailed earlier this week to those Catholic lawmakers who voted for House Bill 40/Senate Bill 25. “To support legislation that treats babies in the womb like property, allowing for their destruction for any reason at any time, is evil,” the bishop said. “It’s my hope and prayer these lawmakers reconcile themselves to the Church so they can receive Communion.” Bishop Paprocki, who is a canon lawyer, said that if these legislators would like to return to communion with the Church, they must seek sacramental absolution and demonstrate a “public conversion of life.” “In view of their gravely immoral action to deprive unborn children legal protection against abortion, it must be said that any Catholic legislator who sponsored, promoted, advocated, or voted for these pro-abortion bills has acted in a seriously sinful manner unfaithful to the 2,000-year-old Christian teaching against abortion and therefore, would place themselves outside of the full communion of the Catholic Church,” the bishop said. “Such persons are not to receive Holy Communion until they have celebrated the sacrament of reconciliation and displayed a public conversion of life.” Along with citing Canon Law, Bishop Paprocki appealed to recent statements by Pope Francis in which he compared abortion to hiring a hit man to resolve problems in life. “I want to thank lawmakers who stood up to these barbaric pieces of legislation and voted ‘no,’ and I applaud their courage to speak the truth that the most basic right we should all enjoy, is the right to life,” Paprocki said. https://www.breitbart.com/faith/201...-abortion-lawmakers-from-receiving-communion/
We really have to beat back their plans with prayers and fasting. Our Lady of Fatima said war is punishment for sin. Our Lady of Medjugorje has said Satan is strong and desires to destroy not only human life, but also nature and the planet on which you live. and Satan is strong and wants to turn all of you against God, and to return you to everything that is human, and to destroy in the heart all feelings towards God and the things of God. You, little children, pray and fight against materialism, modernism and egoism, which the world offers to you. Our prayers and penances are greater than their plans of destruction.
This is a very compex question. In the Book of Judges, we see how Jael deceived Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, and slew him in his sleep. It is not easy to know where lines can be drawn in the national interest when faced with a perceived enemy. I certainly am in absolutely no position to have even the remotest idea, but my hunch is that the United States plays a far too interfering role in the Middle East. My perception, also, is that Donald Trump is seeking to avoid conflict with Iran. It strikes me that he might have appointed Bolton on that long established principle of having one's enemies doing their business from the inside towards the outside of one's tent, the better to keep an eye on them. You see, I am increasingly realising that Mr Trump is exceedingly clever, or has the help of a very senior indeed Guardian Angel. There seems no other way to explain his ability to brush off so much opposition. Obama had a big mouth and a little stick, when it needed to be otherwise, allowing, perhaps intentionally, ISIS and other slaughter-cadres to thrive. Trump has a bigger mouth than anyone, but he might be about to keep the stick small and manageable in just the appropriate circumstances. Please God.
Alinski and his puppet, the one who fluked the presidency. Dedicating one's work to Lucifer is likely to obtain his aid.
Check out the video posted in #7376 of this thread. It is an analysis of last year's Bilderberg meeting. Minutes 5:47 - 9:47 gives convincing proof that war with Iran has long been in the plans.
It has been on the agenda, as you say, for a very long time. I suspect that Trump is doing his best to inhibit it and hope he continues to be successful. I also believe that Iran is making it easy for herself to be accused of the activities concerned. Iran is a rather nasty country, just as guilty as the United States of interfering in the affairs of other countries in pursuit of its own ends.
This is awesome!!! I hope that Cardinal Cupich doesn't mess this up. Isn't this happening in his neck of the woods?
I never understood why Pakistan was allowed to get nuclear? I think that was one of the most stupid decisions the U.S. ever made, as well as, the CIA and Carter getting rid of the Shah. Personally I really fear Iran getting a nuclear weapon.
In general, people really are quite stupid. Exacerbating present troubles is that, unlike most previous generations, recent ones have little appreciation of this reality.
We are seeing more and more choices in our current time for good or evil being made and forced to do so openly due to the extreme times. Instead of the hidden moves that we've experienced now for decades the time has arrived when the light is exposing those who must openly show their side of this long time division within. When I saw this one announcement of banning those out of communion from receiving Christ's Body I thought about how long it will take before those in authority, and on the "progressive" side of the Church, to come out and snidely cover over such a move. You can be sure that certain people of influence (and sin) will begin whining to their favorite weakling Bishops (and perhaps favorites of the Pope) to draw the line against such a move. So we'll see.
Arson suspected in fire at Florida cathedral Catholic News Agency 7 June, 2019 The Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More after the June 5, 2019 fire. (St Thomas More parish) The co-cathedral of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee was damaged by fire Wednesday, with several of the chairs in the sanctuary set ablaze using an accelerant. The church’s rector has said he suspects arson. According to the diocese, the cathedra and presiders’ chairs were set on fire and were destroyed, while the flames charred the walls of the sanctuary and the building suffered smoke damage. No one was hurt and an investigation is underway, the diocese said. Father John Cayer, rector of the Co-Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, told WCTV that a Florida State University student first noticed the smoke and called authorities. Mass was scheduled for 5:15pm on Wednesday, so the church was unlocked, he said. The co-cathedral also houses the Catholic Student Center for Florida State University. “We have no idea who has done this,” Cayer told WCTV yesterday. “This is an obvious case of arson. We are very upset. The community is becoming very upset and we hope that there is some resolution to this.” “I am saddened to hear of an apparently intentional fire set at the St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral in Tallahassee yesterday,” CFO and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said in a statement today. “My arson detectives responded immediately to assist local authorities in determining the cause. Arson is a costly and dangerous crime, and my arson detectives will continue to assist authorities in any way to bring those responsible to justice.” The diocese said they are hoping to be able to celebrate weekend Masses in the church. “We are hurt, upset, and deeply saddened, but we continue to place our hope in Christ during this Easter season in which we celebrate His resurrection,” the statement concluded. https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/06/07/arson-suspected-in-fire-at-florida-cathedral/
The laypeople seeking a monastic life in the modern world Are oblates the future of monastic orders? The adobe Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe sits in the mountainous high desert of New Mexico, some 25 miles from Santa Fe. It is a popular destination for retreatants, an oasis of prayer and peace alongside the Pecos River. Only eight monks reside at Our Lady of Guadalupe. The abbey, however, has 270 lay associates—men and women who live and work in the secular world but seek to follow the Benedictine values of community, hospitality, humility, simplicity, prayer, and praise in their daily lives. Halfway across the country, the red brick bell tower of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery rises on a hill in Atchison, Kansas, not far from the Missouri River. With 111 sisters in residence, “the Mount” is one of the largest Benedictine women’s monasteries in the country. Still, it has three times as many lay associates as sisters. Monasteries across the country are experiencing a similar trend. As the ranks of monks and women religious dwindle and age, the decline is more than offset by an increasing number of laypeople yearning to replicate within their secular lives the kind of prayer and contemplation they’ve experienced inside monasteries. Benedictines call these lay associates oblates, a word that means “offering.” Other orders, such as the Franciscans, Carmelites, and Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, have witnessed a similar influx of lay associates, which are also sometimes called Third Order or secular members. While oblates have been around in one form or another almost as long as the Rule of St. Benedict itself, for the first time in the order’s 1,500-year history lay oblates now outnumber monks and women religious. This trend marks both an opportunity and a challenge for the Benedictine way of life. And, as the order with one of the longest histories accepting lay associates (including Dorothy Day and novelist Walker Percy), how Benedictines adapt to the growing number of oblates will serve as a model for other orders. An ancient vocation Oblates have existed in some form for centuries. Often they were persons of limited means who shared in the manual labor of a monastic community. Only in recent decades have professional men and women seized the oblate role as a way of sharing in the life of a monastery while still living outside of it. In 2008, the most recent year that statistics are available, there were 25,400 oblates worldwide, according to International Benedictine Oblates, a website that tracks oblates across the globe. The number includes nearly 11,000 in the United States. By contrast, there were 22,000 monks and women religious worldwide, according to the 2014 and 2015 Catalogus Monasteriorum OSB. The number of oblates has likely increased in the ensuing years, while the number of monks and sisters has declined, as few who die are replaced with new vocations. Like monks and sisters, oblates follow the Rule of St. Benedict, the classic guide for seeking God through prayer, work, hospitality, humility, community, and quietude. Oblates take vows similar to those of professed members, including vows of stability (promising to remain affiliated with one particular monastery) and conversatio morum, a commitment to seek constant conversion through a life of service and holiness. Oblates can be married. Most work. They include members of other Christian denominations as well as Catholics. Many strive to follow the daily monastic prayer regimen of the Liturgy of the Hours, either on their own or with their monastic communities. They regularly practice lectio divina, a method of praying slowly and meditatively with scripture that monks and women religious have used for centuries. Jodi Kileup, an oblate of Mount Angel Abbey outside of Portland, Oregon, says oblates aren’t “another club or social group.” Nor are they “monastic groupies,” but rather people with a vocation “connected but not the same” as professed monastics. “We have the same spiritual yearning,” Kileup says. A new challenge Behold I am doing something new. Do you not see it? Sister Teresa Jackson, membership director at the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho, uses these lines from Isaiah to describe both the opportunities and challenges oblates represent. “Can we who are professed Benedictines humbly embrace the great new wave of vocations that are coming to us in the form of Benedictine oblates?” Sister Teresa asked last fall at a forum called “Oblates for the Future,” held in Cottonwood. “Are we failing to see the new life, new energy and longing for monastic life?” Several monasteries are experimenting with ways to better integrate oblates into their religious communities. Mount St. Benedict in Erie, Pennsylvania and Our Lady of Guadalupe in New Mexico have invited their lay associates to live and work full time within the monastery, sharing in the community’s prayer life as well as the day-to-day responsibilities. “It’s important to recognize that our oblates are not a program. Oblates are a community,” Sister Teresa of St. Gertrude says. “A program is something that is staffed, that is offered. A community indicates mutuality and responsibility. There’s a deeper connection.” Oblates already play many key roles that would have been unlikely just 50 years ago. When the sisters of Red Plains Monastery in Piedmont, Oklahoma left several years ago to join the monastic community in Atchison, Kansas, they left behind a number of oblates they had trained to become spiritual directors. One of the oblates established a retreat center in the area, and another is the pastoral associate of one of Oklahoma City’s largest parishes. At the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Idaho, the chief financial officer is an oblate. And Kileup, the oblate from Mount Angel Abbey, serves as her monastery’s development director. (cont'd below)
(cont'd from above) A deepening vocation Marilyn Payer is an oblate of Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey. She entered a religious community after high school but decided “it wasn’t the right fit.” She eventually married and worked in nursing. About 20 years ago, Payer walked into Our Lady of Guadalupe for the first time. “I immediately felt at home,” she recalls. Payer now spends extended periods at the abbey (sometimes with her husband) and serves as Our Lady of Guadalupe’s assistant oblate director. While there, she wears a simple white dress that serves as a kind of habit. (Most oblates wear a pin or oblate medal on a chain.) Visitors to the abbey know her as “Sister Scholastica,” a name she took with the abbot’s permission in honor of St. Benedict’s sister and her patron saint. Payer’s time at the monastery, she says, “fills a void in my heart for community and a more disciplined prayer life.” Occasionally an oblate vocation will develop into a religious profession. Camille Wooden was working as a public school teacher when she became one of the 50 oblates at St. Placid Monastery in Lacey, Washington, a community with only 11 sisters. Wooden says she was drawn to Benedictine spirituality because of its emphasis on balance, moderation, and contemplation. “But in the end, there is something I can’t explain exactly,” she says. “It is a call or invitation that I wasn’t able and still can’t quite put into words.” In the classroom, Wooden says, she always wore her oblate pin. “It reminded me of what I was about,” she recalls. “I remember thinking if one of my students sees this pin or a Benedictine cross in the future, what will they associate it with? A cranky, unkind sixth grade teacher, or a teacher they remember with fondness and affection?” After a period of discernment Wooden decided to enter St. Placid as a novice. The monastery currently has four women in formation to become professed members, a number most monasteries can only wish for. Still, those in formation bring the total number of sisters to only 15. Oblates represent an important part of St. Placid’s future. “The St. Placid community is by and large a very forward-thinking one,” Wooden says. The sisters have made rooms available for oblate “affiliates,” people who want to spend extended periods within the monastery. There is also an option to become a “claustral oblate,” a choice not much in use since the Middle Ages, which allows a layperson to engage in the same formation as a religious sister but without the aim of a lifetime profession of vows. Not just for Catholics The oblate life is attracting a growing number of Protestants as well as Catholics. Gregory Peters was raised in an evangelical Baptist church and is now an Anglican priest. He is also an oblate of St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California and teaches monastic history at Biola University. Peters says he believes there is a place for monasticism in the evangelical Protestant tradition. “I think it is important to bring the richness of monastic history and spirituality to a largely untapped audience,” he says. Peters is also vice president of the American Benedictine Academy, an organization that fosters monastic scholarship and research. He sees correspondences between his evangelical roots and Benedictine spirituality, such as a “strong para-church element” that inspires many in the evangelical tradition to look beyond “the four walls of the church for things that will enhance their spiritual life and commitment to Jesus Christ,” he says. Peters regularly brings his evangelical university students to visit monasteries in Rome. “Lacking their own monastic tradition, there’s something mysterious about monasticism that calls people to it,” he says. “There’s the sense that the monks have figured something out.” For some Protestant oblates, their oblate vocation unfolds in the context of work and ordinary secular life. Alysa Hilton, for example, says her oblate vocation informs her work as a nurse practitioner. “Before I open the clinic, I bless the space with prayers of gratitude and petitions for anyone that walks through the door, that they will find a refuge of help and hope,” she says. Hilton grew up in the Episcopal Church where her father was a priest. She describes herself as a spiritual seeker “from about the age of 4 on.” She sought to become an oblate after attending several retreats at Queen of Angels Monastery outside of Portland, Oregon. Hilton’s monastery has 25 sisters living in it, most over the age of 65. Like many oblates, she fears her monastery will not be able to sustain itself in the future. The sisters of Queen of Angels have discussed creating some living quarters within the monastery for oblates. But there is little hope that other professed members will join the community. For as long as possible, Hilton says, “I want to be with the sisters, to honor this time, and make the most of it.” Looking forward The question of what will happen to the oblate community when a monastery closes remains a common concern. “The near future will almost assuredly be a crucible moment for oblates,” says Dan Johnston, a former mediator who now serves as director of operations and finance for the Benedictine sisters in Idaho. “Oblates will likely face a diaspora of sorts,” he says. “The oblate vow of stability will undergo significant change, shifting from being community-centered with a strong sense of place to perhaps a more practice-centered focus and nomadic orientation.” Johnston likens the situation to that of Ezekiel, the prophet who “with packed bag digs a hole in the wall of certitude and climbs through it, entering the unknown.” Johnston says oblates, like the prophet, “may have to resort to carrying their Benedictine spirituality on their shoulders, like exiles.” There is also the question of the aging of the oblate community itself. Though no official statistics exist, those familiar with oblate communities say their demographic is only slightly younger than that of professed monastics, whose median age at many monasteries is 75. “I know there are some who believe oblates are the answer to a declining number of vowed members,” says Sister Linda Romey, a Benedictine from Erie who works with “Monasteries of the Heart,” an online community started by Sister Joan Chittister to connect people across the globe interested in Benedictine spirituality. “Oblates are very similar to vowed members in terms of demographics. There may be more of them, but that doesn’t matter if we’re not drawing in younger seekers, some of whom will eventually choose to be vowed or oblate,” she adds. “I’d probably say seeker is what we most need to cultivate now, especially seekers who are Gen X and Millennial,” Romey says. Those willing to “sign on the dotted line” for a lifetime commitment will remain essential to Benedictine life, Romey contends. “Oblates are necessary too, but their first commitment isn’t to the monastery. Their first commitment is to their family, their spouse, their own lives, and rightly so. There are some single oblates, but even they have not given their life over to the monastery. I believe that the full commitment is necessary to keep the tradition alive.” Romey is the driving force behind “Being Benedictine in the 21st Century: Spiritual Seekers in Conversation,” a conference planned for June 2020 at Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison. The event will bring together sisters, monks, oblates, and Benedictine staff, as well as nonreligiously affiliated Millennials interested in contemplative spirituality. The aim is to ask tough questions about the future. Romey says that one question that needs to be answered is: “Did Benedict found a movement and over the centuries we turned it into an institution and now it is moving back to being a movement?” Benedictine oblates believe the tradition will endure. It has for 1,500 years by adapting to the needs of every age. Johnston of the Monastery of St. Gertrude describes the Benedictine Rule as timeless wisdom—a spirituality that engraves itself on the hearts of those who discover it. “Twenty or so years ago, I found myself in this Odyssean situation of longing to return home to the Christ at the ground of my very being, and yet time and again being pushed off course and spun outward. Becoming an oblate made the homeward journey possible for me . . . and helped me navigate the fierce landscape from exile to return,” Johnston says. Sister Teresa of the Monastery of St. Gertrude says she is confident an increasing number of people will be drawn to that same journey, whether or not there is a physical monastery nearby to ground them. “We have seen a situation where oblates have been drinking from the monastic well,” she says. “Now oblates are going to have to start digging their own well, which they are fully capable of doing.” This article also appears in the June 2019 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 84, No. 6, pages 28–32). http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201906/laypeople-seeking-monastic-life-modern-world-31738
