Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

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.

About Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB

Joan Chittister has been one of the Catholic church’s key visionary voices and spiritual leaders for more than thirty years. A Benedictine Sister of Erie, Pennsylvania, Sister Joan is an international lecturer and award-winning author of more than 40 books.

She is the founder and executive director of Benetvision (benetvision.org) a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality located in Erie. Currently she serves as co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the UN, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders, particularly in Israel and Palestine.

Her latest book, Monasteries of the Heart, published in the spring of 2011, is part of a program she is helping to develop to enable lay groups to live Benedictine spirituality in a contemporary way.

Her best selling 2008 book, The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully, won Sr. Joan her 9th Catholic Press Association award. Her latest publications include: Uncommon Gratitude, co-written with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life, part of an eight-volume series organized by Phyllis Tickle.

In January 2011 she took part in Michael Dowd’s web interview series, “Evolutionary Christianity.” She has also been a presenter in three of the National Conferences sponsored by the Trinity Institute.

Sister Joan writes a regular web column, “From Where I Stand,” for the National Catholic Reporter and has received numerous awards and recognition for her work for justice, peace, and equality, especially for women in the Church and in society.

Sister Joan received her doctorate from Penn State University in speech-communication theory and was an invited fellow and research associate at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University. She was prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie for 12 years.

Other recent books by Joan Chittister:

The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century, Crossroad, 2010
God’s Tender Mercy: Reflections on Forgiveness, Twenty-Third Publ. 2010
The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer, Twenty-Third Publ. 2009
Welcome to the Wisdom of the World: And its Meaning for You, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007
In Search of Belief, Triumph Books, 2006
The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, Waskow, Chittister, Chishti, Beacon Press, 2006
The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible, BlueBridge, 2006
Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir, Sheed & Ward, 2005.