This week in our Saintly Summer series, we reflect on the life and legacy of Saint Benedict, a spiritual giant whose response to a collapsing world was radical simplicity, prayer, and deep friendship with Jesus. Born in the shadow of the fallen Roman Empire, Benedict left behind the chaos of Rome to seek God in solitude—and unknowingly sparked a movement. From that retreat came the Rule of St. Benedict, a way of life rooted in ora et labora—prayer and work. It became the foundation for monastic life and still inspires Christian communities across the globe today.  In just a few minutes, discover what it means to let the Gospel be your way of life—and how we can follow St. Benedict’s lead in choosing friendship with Christ above all.

Jolt of Faith – Full Text
St. Benedict & the Gospel Life: A Rule for Holiness Then & Now | Jolt of Faith 7/10

This week, we have the opportunity to contemplate the life of Saint Benedict. Saint Benedict was born in Norcia around the year 480
AD. Now this is a pretty important time period because about four years earlier, the Roman Empire had fallen. And it was invaded by Barbarians. And when St. Benedict got a little bit older, he ended up studying in Rome. And when he went to Rome, he encountered a ton of sin and a ton of difficulty to live out his faith. And encountering this, he decided that he had to leave Rome and flee to the mountains so that there, he could go and live alone in complete communion with God. He performed this great miracle, and he realized that all of these people who began to follow him would also be an opportunity for him to be drawn away from friendship with Jesus. And so he entered more deeply into this life of a monastic lifestyle where he lived only according to the Gospel. The Gospel would be his way of life. And soon enough, he started to have followers who were interested in living according to the Gospel. And so he created his rule, the rule of St.Benedict, the foundation of it is prayer and work.And really it’s just this way of following the Gospel, living the Gospel, And that rule even extends to this day.There’s Benedictine monasteries in every single monastery.Today finds its foundation on St.Benedict’s own spirituality. And so for us, we can learn from St. Benedict that really to live a good and holy Christian life, we have to live in friendship with Jesus and the Gospel is our way to do that. Not a sermon, not a homily, but just a Jolt of Faith that we all sometimes need.