Benedictine Oblate #2

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tampa dave said:
i’m still scheduled to attend the sunday meeting with the discalced carmelites on july 15th. I’ll go with an open mind, but it will be hard to beat the attraction of opus dei. There is much to be said for catholic male fraternity. I was involved in competitive baseball and hockey for years (midway through college), so i spent a lot of time with teammates. Same idea, but now we focus on spirituality instead of batting practice or hockey drills.
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GO Habs! 😃
 
Luigi_Daniele said:
GO Habs! 😃
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You’re a Habs fan? Me too! From the days of the Original Six, I grew up a Canadiens fan in Northeast Ohio. My wife, a first-generation French Canadian from Montreal, is a Capitals fan. Goes to show you she has no taste in men or hockey teams … Hockey is great, but baseball has always been my first love. I played varsity ball in high school and a men’s league in college. I follow my home team Indians (AL) and the Nationals (NL). I have the Direct TV Extra Innings package and MLB.TV so I can catch games on my iPad when I’m away from home. Play ball!
 
Tampa_Dave said:
You’re a Habs fan? Me too! From the days of the Original Six, I grew up a Canadiens fan in Northeast Ohio. My wife, a first-generation French Canadian from Montreal, is a Capitals fan. Goes to show you she has no taste in men or hockey teams … Hockey is great, but baseball has always been my first love. I played varsity ball in high school and a men’s league in college. I follow my home team Indians (AL) and the Nationals (NL). I have the Direct TV Extra Innings package and MLB.TV so I can catch games on my iPad when I’m away from home. Play ball!
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Yup: Habs. Gionta:thumbsup:

Yankees fan. A bit the Giants, too.
 
I was at the Catholic Information Center in DC today. First time for me. They have the best Catholic bookstore I’ve ever seen, plus they have Mass at 12:00 PM and Eucharistic Adoration from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the St. Josemaria Escriva Chapel every weekday. They had a huge selection of books on St. Benedict and several shelves on monasticism in general. Unbelievable selection. I don’t know how the on-line store is, but here’s the link:

cicdc.org/store/
 
Tampa_Dave said:
I was at the Catholic Information Center in DC today. First time for me. They have the best Catholic bookstore I’ve ever seen, plus they have Mass at 12:00 PM and Eucharistic Adoration from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the St. Josemaria Escriva Chapel every weekday. They had a huge selection of books on St. Benedict and several shelves on monasticism in general. Unbelievable selection. I don’t know how the on-line store is, but here’s the link:

cicdc.org/store/
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That’s the store. The main website is: cicdc.org/
It looks as if they have podcasts and a lot of other features available.
 
Tampa_Dave said:
I was at the Catholic Information Center in DC today. First time for me. They have the best Catholic bookstore I’ve ever seen, plus they have Mass at 12:00 PM and Eucharistic Adoration from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the St. Josemaria Escriva Chapel every weekday. They had a huge selection of books on St. Benedict and several shelves on monasticism in general. Unbelievable selection. I don’t know how the on-line store is, but here’s the link:

cicdc.org/store/
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Thank you Dave!
 
iloveangels said:
That’s the store. The main website is: cicdc.org/
It looks as if they have podcasts and a lot of other features available.
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My post mentioned the selection of books on St. Benedict, so I purposely linked to the bookstore. I’ve reviewed the entire site. The CIC is wonderful - just over one block from the Metro station. Its quite accessible for daily Mass.
 
Tomorrow I’m expected at the Carmelite Monastery for the Sunday meeting of the OCDS community. However, I’m literally smitten by my experience with Opus Dei. My cram course on Opus Dei studies, visits to two OD Centers, and my interaction with members has so inspired me that I’m ready to take the next step with Opus Dei. I’ve prayed over this for hours. Any thoughts on whether I should cancel or simply postpone my visit to the Carmelite Monastery?
 
Tampa_Dave said:
Tomorrow I’m expected at the Carmelite Monastery for the Sunday meeting of the OCDS community. However, I’m literally smitten by my experience with Opus Dei. My cram course on Opus Dei studies, visits to two OD Centers, and my interaction with members has so inspired me that I’m ready to take the next step with Opus Dei. I’ve prayed over this for hours. Any thoughts on whether I should cancel or simply postpone my visit to the Carmelite Monastery?
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I’d probably still go check out the Carmelite Monastery if I were you. “Smitten” has a way of fading over time and you want to be sure. If you end up going with OD, at some point in the process you are going to question things. When that happens, you will want to know that you explored everything that you could. In addition, you may have a wonderful experience with the Carmelites.
 
jwinch2 said:
I’d probably still go check out the Carmelite Monastery if I were you. “Smitten” has a way of fading over time and you want to be sure. If you end up going with OD, at some point in the process you are going to question things. When that happens, you will want to know that you explored everything that you could. In addition, you may have a wonderful experience with the Carmelites.
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I agree with Jason, Dave.🙂
 
jwinch2 said:
I’d probably still go check out the Carmelite Monastery if I were you. “Smitten” has a way of fading over time and you want to be sure. If you end up going with OD, at some point in the process you are going to question things. When that happens, you will want to know that you explored everything that you could. In addition, you may have a wonderful experience with the Carmelites.
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Perhaps “smitten” was not the right word. I’m a very deliberative person not easily disposed to rash or emotional decisions. Nonetheless, you make a valid point. The Carmelites offer a sharp and distinct contrast to Opus Dei.
 
Tampa_Dave said:
Perhaps “smitten” was not the right word. I’m a very deliberative person not easily disposed to rash or emotional decisions. Nonetheless, you make a valid point. The Carmelites offer a sharp and distinct contrast to Opus Dei.
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Hi Dave,

To me it always comes down to whether or not the spiritual approach of a particular group resonates with you and is one that you can see yourself follow for the rest of your life. If the Carmelite path is one that seems possible to you then I suggest checking it out. While I am very deliberate as well, it is sometimes easy for me to get caught up in the process, the beauty, and seem like it is a direction that I want to go when perhaps it isn’t the best fit.

I suspect that is what happened to me with the Dominican Laity. I love the Order of Preachers and admire what they stand for greatly. I love their beautiful liturgy, their seeking the truth of God’s plan, the fact that they work for the salvation of others even at their own expense, and l love the balance they find between being active and contemplative. With the situation the world finds itself in, I believe strongly that the Order of Preachers is desperately needed and I hope that their numbers continue to grow.

Having said all of that, after months and months of study I came to suspect that the spiritual approach simply was not a good match for who I am as a person on my own journey to personal holiness. I did not see this until after I started exploring the Benedictines after coming into contact with a Monk while on vacation. The more I started looking into the spiritual path that the Benedictines offer, the more I had the feeling that the path I was following might not be the right one for me. At this point I feel as if the OSB is the direction I wish to go, but I am at the beginning stages of formation and who knows what might come up down the road.

For your own situation, I doubt that you would really have a grasp of the spiritual approach of Opus Dei, the Carmelites, etc. until you have spent a good amount of time reading and practicing what they are teaching. That is not intended to be an indictment of you, merely an observation that there is too much there to grasp in one or two sessions and a couple of months of informal study. Thankfully, there is no reason for you, me, or anyone to make a decision in the short term. Most groups of this nature have an extended formation and inquiry period for that exact reason.

Long story short, I agree with checking out the Carmelite group where you are at but suggest even more than that, particularly with your upcoming move, to focus on the spiritual path that various orders/congregations/prelatures offer to make sure it is that path you can follow on your journey to Heaven.

Peace of Christ,

Jason
 
jwinch2 said:
Hi Dave,

To me it always comes down to whether or not the spiritual approach of a particular group resonates with you and is one that you can see yourself follow for the rest of your life. If the Carmelite path is one that seems possible to you then I suggest checking it out. While I am very deliberate as well, it is sometimes easy for me to get caught up in the process, the beauty, and seem like it is a direction that I want to go when perhaps it isn’t the best fit.

I suspect that is what happened to me with the Dominican Laity. I love the Order of Preachers and admire what they stand for greatly. I love their beautiful liturgy, their seeking the truth of God’s plan, the fact that they work for the salvation of others even at their own expense, and l love the balance they find between being active and contemplative. With the situation the world finds itself in, I believe strongly that the Order of Preachers is desperately needed and I hope that their numbers continue to grow.

Having said all of that, after months and months of study I came to suspect that the spiritual approach simply was not a good match for who I am as a person on my own journey to personal holiness. I did not see this until after I started exploring the Benedictines after coming into contact with a Monk while on vacation. The more I started looking into the spiritual path that the Benedictines offer, the more I had the feeling that the path I was following might not be the right one for me. At this point I feel as if the OSB is the direction I wish to go, but I am at the beginning stages of formation and who knows what might come up down the road.

For your own situation, I doubt that you would really have a grasp of the spiritual approach of Opus Dei, the Carmelites, etc. until you have spent a good amount of time reading and practicing what they are teaching. That is not intended to be an indictment of you, merely an observation that there is too much there to grasp in one or two sessions and a couple of months of informal study. Thankfully, there is no reason for you, me, or anyone to make a decision in the short term. Most groups of this nature have an extended formation and inquiry period for that exact reason.

Long story short, I agree with checking out the Carmelite group where you are at but suggest even more than that, particularly with your upcoming move, to focus on the spiritual path that various orders/congregations/prelatures offer to make sure it is that path you can follow on your journey to Heaven.

Peace of Christ,

Jason
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Excellent advice, sir. I have found that there is a “glow” period (when the order seems to be perfect, speaking to you personally even), followed by a “settling in” period, followed by a “see all the warts” period, followed by a “time of decision” period, followed by a decision.

If each period is a 1 minute clock, I am at 59 seconds of the “time of decision” period. D-Day (D for decision) for me is tomorrow. I honestly have no idea what my decision will be, as of this writing…
 
What causes my hesitation (and I’ve told the story before), is that I decided when I was in Italy in 1990 after seeing Assisi that I wanted to be “more connected” to the Church.
After visiting Assisi, and falling in love with it (the people just radiate holiness…there are maybe 4 places on earth where I feel home…Assisi is one), I went to my family’s Marian shrine, which was run by Franciscans* and my decision was made. Involved with the Franciscans for over 10 years. Unfortunately it got so wacko (gay “masses”, lesbian “couple” running meetings) that I finally quit. I have great friends there, still. The fraternity has undergone a “house cleaning” and is now in full communion with the Church. I can honestly say that I love many of the members there.

*except that they weren’t, as you know, Franciscans–they were Benedictines (valombrosian). I ask myself again and again why the good Lord would allow me to make that “mistake” in identity, unless He was trying to tell me that the Franciscans were where I would fit best. Hence my dilemma.
Comments/thoughts/advice deeply appreciated.
 
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