{"id":2878,"date":"2007-07-12T04:44:21","date_gmt":"2007-07-12T04:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2007\/07\/saint-john-gualbert-abbot\/"},"modified":"2014-07-12T08:36:06","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T07:36:06","slug":"saint-john-gualbert-abbot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2007\/07\/saint-john-gualbert-abbot\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint John Gualbert, Abbot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stjohn%20gualbert.jpg\"<\/a>Good for Evil and Blessings for Curses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good rendered for evil; blessings for curses; pardon, peace, concord, and reconciliation. The Collect for the Memorial of Saint John Gualbert speaks the language of the Gospel, ageless and ever new.<\/p>\n

Almighty and ever-living God, source of peace and lover of concord,
\nto know Thee is to live, to serve Thee is to reign;
\nestablish us in Thy love,
\nthat by the example of the blessed abbot John Gualbert,
\nwe may render good for evil and blessings for curses,
\nand so obtain from Thee both pardon and peace.<\/em><\/p>\n

Victory Over Vengeance<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Gualbert\u2019s monastic vocation unfolded in dramatic circumstances. A medieval Florentine nobleman, he lived in an age and culture that, in spite of the Gospel, exalted vengeance as a matter of honour. When his elder brother was murdered, John felt compelled to avenge him.<\/p>\n

On a certain Good Friday, riding through a narrow mountain pass, John came face to face with his brother\u2019s killer. The man was alone. The place was isolated. There was no escape. John drew his sword, ready to exact a bloody vengeance. The murderer raised his arms in the form of a cross and, in the Name of Jesus Crucified, begged John\u2019s forgiveness.<\/p>\n

The Encounter With Jesus Crucified<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cut to the heart by the grace of the Cross, John dropped his sword, embraced his enemy, and made his way straight to a church in Florence. There, kneeling before the crucifix, John saw Jesus Crucified bow His head, acknowledging his act of forgiveness and, by the same token, forgiving him all his sins. And so, John became a monk.<\/p>\n

A splendid stained-glass window telescopes the story into one scene. John is shown as a young nobleman. With his eyes fixed on the image of the Crucified, he is embracing his enemy, the murderer of his brother. The iconography of Saint John Gualbert makes for a fascinating study. In nearly every image the saint is represented looking at Jesus Crucified, embracing Him, or holding the Cross against his heart.<\/p>\n

Life in the Shady Valley<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a few years in Florence, a sympathetic Lady Abbess gave John Gualbert land at Vallombrosa \u2014 the name means \u201cShady Valley\u201d \u2014 where he established a new monastery. He never became a priest. The Benedictine observance of Vallombrosa was characterized by simplicity, poverty, and the care of the sick in the monastery hospice. In some ways, Saint John Gualbert prefigured Saint Francis of Assisi.<\/p>\n

Peace in the Shadow of the Cross<\/strong><\/p>\n

What speaks to us in all of this, I think, is that John Gualbert\u2019s monastic vocation began on Good Friday in a decisive encounter with Jesus Crucified. Saint John Gualbert points to the Cross as the source of all forgiveness and reconciliation, giving peace to those who dwell in the shadow of its branches. \u201cThey shall return,\u201d says Hosea, \u201cand dwell beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden\u201d (Hos 14:7).
\n\"johngualbert1.jpg\"<\/a>
\nThe Benedictine lectionary offers us proper readings today: Leviticus 19:1\u20132, 17\u201318; and Matthew 5:43\u201348. The lesson taken from Leviticus, speaks powerfully: \u201cYou shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbour, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord\u201d (Lev 19:17-18). The Benedictus<\/em> Antiphon proposed for today is another stroke of liturgical genius: \u201cSave us, Lord, from our enemies, and from the hands of all who hate us, to guide our feet into the way of peace\u201d (Lk 1:71, 79).<\/p>\n

The Face of Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Word of God compels us always to seek the Face of the crucified, risen, and ascended Christ. One cannot look at the Face of Christ and harbour resentment in one\u2019s heart. One cannot look at the Face of Christ and refuse to look at one\u2019s brother. One cannot look at the Face of Christ with compassion and then refuse a look of mercy to one who waits for it.<\/p>\n

The Refusal to Look at the Other<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a matter of simple psychological observation that when one is holding a grudge against another person, one avoids looking at the person\u2019s face. Refusal of the face\u2013to\u2013face is a way of protecting oneself from the heart\u2013to\u2013heart. This is as true of our relations with one another as it is of our relations with Our Lord.<\/p>\n

It will be a terrible thing to hear Our Lord say in the hour of judgment: \u201cI sought from you a look of tenderness, a look of reverence, a look of acceptance and you refused to give it to me.\u201d Then one will reply, \u201cLord, when did I refuse to look at Thee? When did I turn away from Thy Face? I looked at Thee in the Eucharist. I contemplated Thine images. I sought Thy Face in the Scriptures.\u201d And He will say, \u201cSo often as thou didst refuse thy gaze to one of the least of my brethren, thou didst refuse to look at Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Show Me Your Face That I May Know Your Heart<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ask Saint John Gualbert today to obtain for us the grace to seek always the Face of Jesus Crucified: His Eucharistic Face, His Face hidden in the Scriptures, His Face depicted in holy images \u2014 yes \u2014 but also His Face in one another. One who refuses to meet the gaze of Our Lord will never come to know the secrets of His Sacred Heart. Quaerite faciem Domini semper<\/em>. \u201cSeek always the face of the Lord\u201d (Ps 104:4b).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good for Evil and Blessings for Curses Good rendered for evil; blessings for curses; pardon, peace, concord, and reconciliation. The Collect for the Memorial of Saint John Gualbert speaks the language of the Gospel, ageless and ever new. Almighty and ever-living God, source of peace and lover of concord, to know Thee is to live, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-Kq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2878"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7642,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878\/revisions\/7642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}