Had our society a set of Beatitudes, high upon the list would be something with the flavor of “Blessed are those who are cool, for they shall always look good, no matter what happens.” Enthusiasm for anything higher than sports is suspect, as is the very word “zeal.” As for “zealous,” that suggests being a bit unhinged, and “zealot” is simply a synonym for “nut-case.” Has not the Prophet of our age, Bart Simpson, admonished us, “Don’t have a cow”? Indeed, even during those dark ages Before Bart, few aspired to be called an “eager beaver.” Totally un-cool.

Totally un-cool, yet totally Benedictine (gentle readers can hardly imagine what a relief to me that I can equate the two!). St. Benedict’s Chapter 72 shows decidedly small concern over a monk’s “coolness” rating. Instead, he desires zeal, good zeal, in living with what he calls “ferventissimo amore.” Though not a man given to superlatives, here Benedict calls us to the most fervent, the warmest, love. 

But it is also significant that the verb used for manifesting this love is “exerceant,” with all the implications that carries of exercise, of disciplined practice. The love Benedict desires is not a splash of good feeling, of warm fuzzies and heartfelt hugs on those occasions when I happen to be in a “ferventissimo” mood. Rather, he wants love to be found in my day-to-day, one might even say my commonplace, behavior. No less when I don’t “feel like it” than when I do. Not an explosion of goodness when all the stars align, not random acts of kindness, but loving behavior that is predictable enough to be boring, at least for those who don’t see the point. 

Usually when we hear the phrase, “What would you expect?”, there’s a cynical tone present, a sarcastic wonder that anyone would expect anyone else to act in a consistently altruistic way. Benedict asks of us a behavior authentically Christian, if possible to the point that onlookers ask with wonder, “What would you expect? He or she is a Christian.” And, Chapter 72 tells us, one on a journey, together with brothers and sisters, all together to everlasting life.