Tuesday, 6 May 2025
Today, 11th July, is the Feast Day of St Benedict, the creator of Ora et Labora. For some his Day is celebrated on the date of his death, 21st March, but since the day could fall in the season of Lent, the day was set to be celebrated on 11th July.
So what is St Benedict’s relationship with our school? If you know our school motto, ‘Ora et Labora’ then you should know the answer. St Benedict penned or created ‘Ora et Labora’ which are the Latin words for Prayer and Work and our school motto.
Some have mistranslated ‘Ora et Labora’ as “Work is Prayer” and while this is inaccurate, it is not wrong. For Benedictine monks, life work is blended with prayer and prayer is work. When you look at the mission, you can read that Shung Tak follows our school motto ‘Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work)’: to empower our students to do their best in academic pursuits and glorify the Creator with their work. Work, our studies, become part of a sanctified life. Instead of it being drudgery, work becomes part of our calling to God and service.
We must admit that work is not always fun. This is the penitential element to work. When we work hard we realize that the journey to heaven is a long pilgrimage, not a walk in the park. Sanctity and sweat are not separated. Just as any good project requires long hours of work, so making our way to heaven requires blood, sweat and tears.
There is also rich symbolism in the routine of daily work. I read this from a sharing given by a priest: An old monk once told me, “When I pull weeds in the garden, I confess my failings and pull the weeds from the garden of my soul. When I wash dishes I ask God to wash me thoroughly for I am a vessel of the Holy Spirit. When I gather the sheep in from the fields I pray that the Good Shepherd may gather me home at last.”
Now when we really examine what was shared by the monk, we would know that St. Benedict’s ‘work’ means manual or physical labor. This kind of labor is important because it exercises the body in something that is bearing fruit or productive. When the monk is doing any kind of physical work which is what is needed in the Benedictine way of life, as they are a self-sufficient community, they are glorifying the Lord through engaging with the physical world. This engagement is important because the physical world is real and reality matters.
If all the monk does is pray and study then his heart and mind are exercised. Indeed, the monk also needs to exercise the body which is hard work like chopping wood for firewood, digging the garden to plant vegetables —- it is physical exercise through which man works with God for the production of good things from God’s earth. It involves sweating brows and aching muscles, and sometimes for these monks blisters and callouses and possibly even a bent back,
Let us be inspired by the rule of St Benedict. It is a practical wisdom to inspire more balanced lives and help us avoid burnout. As we continue to prepare for our exams, remember that the rest of life needs to go on, which means you can still help mum and dad with the household chores, the sweeping, the cleaning and possibly even the cooking. I would also like to take this chance to promote a project inspired and initiated by our ex-supervisor and my parish priest, Father Gervais, called Good Land Family Farming Project that according to Saint John XXIII “In the work on the farm the human personality finds every incentive for self-expression, self-development and spiritual growth… It is a noble task, undertaken with a view to raising oneself and others to a higher degree of civilization.”
Today as we celebrate the Feast Day of the saint on our school motto, let us reflect on our lives, our learning, and use of our God-given gifts for the good of all people.
Please close your eyes and join me as I say the
Gracious and holy Father,
grant us the intellect to understand you,
reason to discern you, diligence to seek you,
wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you,
a heart to meditate upon you.
May our ears hear you, may our eyes behold you,
and may our tongues proclaim you.
Give us grace that our way of life may be pleasing to you,
that we may have the patience to wait for you
and the perseverance to look for you.
Grant us a perfect end-your holy presence,
a blessed resurrection and life everlasting.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
Ss. Peter and Paul, pray for us
St. Benedict, pray for us
Ms. Brenda Lee
11 July 2022