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Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III hosts Sister Joan Chittister in a conversation about “Benedictinism: A Spirituality for the 21st Century.”

Chittister explains her motivations as a sister for over fifty years. She says of her early observations, “I saw…Benedictine sisters who genuinely loved one another. They had a good time. They liked one another. They told jokes—why else would you think I’d go there?” The old European ways of the order—the life of prayer, the chants that she heard as a girl in a convent school—also attracted her: “I was completely committed to the consistency of that spirituality.”

As five decades passed, “It changed a lot and it didn’t change at all. It’s still happy and it’s still a good life.” After the second Vatican Council, “we very consciously realized that Benedictinism had always been incarnational.” In their early days, Chittister says, Benedictines saved education, began the practice of collecting alms for the poor. They continued, as centuries passed, to discern ways to make Christ incarnate in the world.

Chittister now calls Benedictinism “the spirituality for the twenty-first century as it was for the sixth” century. In the lifetime of St. Benedict, “Society was not terribly unlike what we see right now” in many ways. Benedict did not even try directly to confront the problems of his society, the problems of slavery, of the superpower Rome in decline. Instead he said, “We need to live differently,” Chittister explains. Benedict established an example of a different life of work, holy leisure, community, stewardship, peace, service. “Where he was,…everyone was equal,” says Chittister. The Rule of St. Benedict guided—guides—this life.

As in Benedict’s lifetime, superpowers today have declined. “We don’t have a superpower anymore except what’s sitting in this church today,” Chittister says. “The superpower is you. It’s you.”

She underscores the importance of “communities of the heart” regardless of their location, regardless of where their members live, whether together or apart. By speaking together, people of faith can address such concerns as environmental pollution, which Chittister views as a deep spiritual problem.

Chittister urges people to speak out, to reject the old go-along-to-get-along rationale for keeping one’s thoughts to oneself. Many people challenge her advice, pointing out that Chittister lives in a community of like-minded people, whereas she is asking individuals to raise a lone voice. Her advice to the lone voice? “When in doubt, subvert.” This kind of subversion can grow out of, say, forming a book group that includes people of diverse beliefs and backgrounds. The group will find its way into difficult discussions and deeper understanding.

• Learn more about Sister Joan at Beliefnet.com.
• Read about Sister Joan and watch a video interview with her on NOW with Bill Moyers.
• Visit Benetvision, the website for contemporary spirituality founded by Sister Joan.
• Order Sister Joan’s books from Benetvision.
• Visit the website of Sister Joan’s order, the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.
• Listen to an interview with Sister Joan on public radio’s Speaking of Faith.
• Read Sister Joan’s weekly columns for the National Catholic Reporter.
• Listen to Sister Joan speaking at Trinity Church Wall Street’s 2004 Trinity Institute.
• Read Sister Joan’s columns at On Faith, a web forum jointly sponsored by Newsweek and the Washington Post.