Praying the Divine Office every morning gives me lots to ponder. Sometimes it’s just to prepare for what’s coming later in the day but most often there are profound questions. Big questions. At morning praise today, Psalm 15 asked, “Lord, who is welcome in your house? Who can rest on your holy mountain?” And in the next verses the psalmist gives a simple yet challenging answer: “those who walk with integrity, who do what is right, and speak the truth with courage.”
Hospitality is at the heart of Benedictine spirituality. We prepare a place at the table, open our doors, and welcome the stranger. Yet the psalmist invites us to consider another kind of hospitality: What kind of person am I becoming? Do my words and actions create a place where others feel safe, respected, and welcomed?
To walk with integrity is to live with wholeness, to be who we claim we be. We let our faith shape not only our prayers but also our choices, our relationships, and the way we respond to injustice. To speak the truth with courage is not to speak harshly. It is to have the courage to name what is true, especially when silence would be easier. We recognize the need to do this as we see what is happening around us in our country and in the world. We know we need to do this in community and in our relationships with others.
At our Benedictine retreat centers, we are privileged to welcome guests who come for a private retreat of a single day or several days. This offers a good time to ask: am I living in a way that makes room for God? Am I making room for others? Where am I being called to greater integrity, greater courage, greater truth? We pray for each of our guests that your time with us may be a time of rest and prayer so that you can return to the world as people who walk faithfully, speak courageously and make God’s welcome visible wherever you are.
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