I want you to think for a moment about a time when you were misunderstood.
Perhaps you said something as a joke, and it came across as rude. Perhaps you tried to explain yourself, but somehow made it worse. Perhaps someone judged you not on what you meant, but on what they thought they had heard.
It’s horrible, isn’t it — to be heard, but not understood?
Friendship is one of the best things in life. Our friends can make bad days manageable and good days better. They can cheer us up, steady us, make us laugh, and remind us who we are when life feels uncertain.
Picture this.
It’s a cup final. The clock is almost done and you’re about to go into extra time. Then the referee gives a penalty against you — and you think it’s completely wrong.
What do you do next?
Let me start with a thought that sounds simple, but is hard to live out:
Truth isn’t only something you know. It’s something you do.
Truth, lived properly, is integrity — being the same person in private as in public; doing the right thing even when it would be easier, or more profitable, not to.
What will you be doing on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, after you’ve opened your presents, eaten your Christmas dinner, maybe taken the dog for a walk?
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Have you ever stopped to really listen to the quiet whispers of nature? Nature is filled with wisdom and lessons for those who are willing to look closely.
What frightens you?
When I was a child, I was frightened of the Cross.
The crucifix - that is, the image of the cross with the crucified Jesus - in the church I attended as a child, was a very powerful piece of art. I wish I could show you a picture of it. Made of bronze, it shows Our Lord with his head bowed in death. One other detail I can remember is that His right foot is bent round, so that the nail can pierce both His feet.*
As we prepare to celebrate the patronal feast day of St Benedict this Friday 21 March, I want to talk to you about an important principle found in the Rule of St Benedict, which has shaped Christian hospitality for centuries: the idea of welcoming the stranger.
I don’t know if you’ve seen any good films recently. I don’t go to the cinema very often, but there is a movie which has just been released which I simply must see, and that is A Complete Unknown, the biopic of the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, starring Timothée Chalamet.