Reflection for Blessed Gundulf and All Holy Monks and Nuns - 8th March 2025
Statue of Blessed Gundulf on the West Front of Rochester Cathedral
Today we celebrate our founder Blessed Gundulf1 along with all holy monks and nuns, known and unknown, who have followed Christ in the monastic way. I think particularly of all those women who lived as nuns in this place for nearly 500 years from Gundulf’s foundation through to the dissolution of the monasteries. We know few of their names but they have left their mark on this place in the atmosphere of prayer that still clings to these stones. For more than a hundred years now in modern times the sisters of our community have sought to follow in their footsteps, leaving everything to follow Christ. They and we too leave our mark on the atmosphere of this place.
Our community is known as a ‘contemplative’ community, focussing on the work of prayer and the practical work of providing for our daily needs. The story of Mary and Martha in Luke’s gospel [Luke 10:38-42] is one much loved by contemplatives and it has been much on my mind since we heard it read at Vigils for St Scholastica. We have Martha fretting about her many duties whilst Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to listen to his words. Mary is commended for her choice of the ‘one thing necessary’. It’s taken as pointing to the priority of prayer over ‘active works’, but I don’t doubt that Jesus enjoyed a good meal cooked by Martha so I think we need to look more deeply at what he is trying to communicate.
I have been reading through Luke’s gospel in my times of lectio and I noticed that this passage follows on directly from the story of the Good Samaritan. In the space of a few verses Jesus commends the actions of the Samaritan in caring for the man left for dead beside the road, and then Mary who sits at his feet listening. Who knows whether the original editors of this gospel had some intention in juxtaposing these two stories but I have found sitting with them together has proved very fruitful. Whether it is a ‘right’ reading or not I simply offer some thoughts that have come to me in my lectio.
Jesus answers the lawyer who asked ‘who is my neighbour?’ with the story of good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite had good religious reasons not to engage with what looked like a corpse, and probably had important duties to attend to at the end of their journey. So they passed by, but in doing so they missed God’s call at that moment. It was the Samaritan who was prepared to set aside whatever he was intent on, to step aside and care for the man in need of help, thus fulfilling God’s call to love his neighbour.
Now what about Mary and Martha? Mary neglects the demands of hospitality and leaves the work to her sister whilst she sits at Jesus feet to listen to his words. Martha is caught up in her many tasks, with her own agenda of being a good hostess. She is so stressed that she cannot see that this is God here in her own house, speaking to them with love. In that moment maybe Jesus would have been content with simple fare and would rather that she let go of the preparations and listen to him. Maybe after listening to Jesus for a while Mary then got up to help her sister. Who knows? What we do know is that Jesus commended Mary who sat and listened to him, the one thing that was truly necessary.
The Good Samaritan had learned to listen for God’s voice in each moment and to be open to the needs of others however inconvenient that might have been. Mary in her quiet listening let go the demands of her ego that might have said ‘cook a spectacular meal’ and instead took the time to be present to Jesus. Both action and contemplation are valid and necessary ways of responding to God’s call – it is not what we do but the motivation behind it, are we pandering to our own pride in what we choose to do or are we truly listening to God’s voice?
So this is the challenge God has been putting before me as we step into Lent. Can I let go my desire to achieve, to be the best, to be in control, with all the anxiety that brings? Can I, can we, take the time this Lent to slow down and listen to God, trusting that he will lead and inspire us in the way that he wishes us to go.
As we pray in today’s collect: ‘May we follow with Gundulf in the footsteps of Christ; that with our founder and all holy monks and nuns we may seek and serve God alone.’
Amen
Mother Anne - 8th March 2025
1A Norman monk who became Bishop of Rochester after the Norman Conquest and founded a monastery for Benedictine nuns here at Malling around 1090: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundulf_of_Rochester