To the haughty in religious life: Homily for the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Today we celebrate the memorial of St Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church. St Bernard, as you would know, was part of the famous Cistercian order. The Cistercians were themselves a reform of the Benedictine order. The famous Butler’s Lives of the Saints indicates that “Bernard's holy example attracted so many novices that other monasteries were erected, and our Saint was appointed abbot of that of Clairvaux.”

The monastic order which was so strong in the European Middle Ages is the inspiration for much of the religious orders today, and at a moment when our religious orders are in so much crisis, especially with the lack of vocations, it is to the example of Saints such as Bernard that we must turn.

The lectionary for today also has something in the spirit of St. Bernard to teach us today. In the first reading God speaks to us through the Prophet Ezekiel:

Because you are haughty of heart,

you say, “A god am I!

I occupy a godly throne

in the heart of the sea!”

So often when speaking, whether with the laity or with religious, we hear that the problem in religious life is that of a lack of true spirituality. This lack of true spirituality can be seen in the way we treat each other in religious life: harshness towards one another. This fault must particularly be placed at the door of formators who are reported to often be marked by cruelty in the treatment of those in their care, and religious superiors who act as if they have the power of life and death over those in their care. You can almost hear the Lord, through the prophet Ezekiel, direct his reprimand to them:

you may think yourself like a god.

Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,

there is no secret that is beyond you.

By your wisdom and your intelligence

If such is the case, it is no wonder then, that seeing the lack of what St Bernard emphasized, “the value of personal, experiential friendship with Christ and Our Lady”, people do not wish to join our life.

In the Gospel Our Lord promises that

everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters

or father or mother or children or lands

for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,

and will inherit eternal life.

However, in the Gospel of Mathew (7: 21) we also read that Our Lord warned us that:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

To take liberties from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s quotation from the scriptures, what does it profit a man to have given up house, brothers and sisters, father or mother, or lands, for the sake of His name, if we will not discipline our soul?

Let us recollect the words of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, our external acts of piety in the chapel that do not find a corresponding desire to internalise the effects of those action will not save us on the day of judgement, when we realise that it is not us, but as we sang in the psalm, God who deals death and gives life. Let us, therefore, my dear sisters, and brothers in the religious life, let us fear for the health of our eternal soul, and let that fear animate us to imitate the reforming spirit of St. Bernard, humble ourselves, embrace a poverty of spirit, and find new love for those in our communities, and especially for those in our care, through a personal love for Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.

Saint Bernard, pray for us.

(A version of this homily was intended for the good sisters at the Convent of the Handmaids of Christ, Old Goa.
Image reference: 'Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard,' Filippino Lippi, 1485–1487, Badia Fiorentina, Florence.)