Homily for the Close of the 175th Anniversary Year of Gethsemane Abbey
Most Reverend Shelton J Fabre
Archbishop of Louisville
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Abbey of Gethsemane
Song of Songs 2: 8 – 14 Psalm 33: 2 – 3, 11 – 12, 20 – 21 Luke 1: 39 – 45
My dear friends in Christ:
It is my honor to be present here with you as you close the year-long celebration for the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Abbey of Gethsemane. I wish to offer to you, Abbot Elias, and all the community here at Gethsemane my sincerest congratulations on this significant event in the history of this holy place. In the name of all who have come here and benefitted from the hospitality, spiritual direction, prayer, hope, and comfort that is offered to all on their journey with Christ, I offer a heartfelt thank you. This community of brothers in the Lord, this sanctuary of calm and quiet, provides a great witness to the power of prayer and faith to the Archdiocese of Louisville, and the church in Kentucky, in the United States, and indeed around the world.
On a humorous note, I want to share that whenever I inform people that I am blessed to serve as the Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, the most asked question is “Have you been to the Kentucky Derby?” In all honesty, the next most asked question is “What do you think about the bourbon?” However, rounding out the top three most asked questions is “Have you been to Gethsemane?” While I give the response that “I have not been to the Kentucky Derby,” and that “I prefer scotch over bourbon,” I am always delighted to state when asked, “I have indeed visited the Abbey of Gethsemane on more than one occasion and thoroughly enjoyed my visits.” My brothers in the Lord, I thank you for the prayers offered for me, and for the welcome you have given to me when I have come here to be still and quiet among some of the storms of life and ministry. Again, my sincere congratulations as you celebrate 175 years of the foundations of this abbey.
Anniversaries such as this are graced with opportunities to reflect upon the past, the present, and the future. Guided by the scripture readings given us today by the Church from the Song of Songs and St. Luke’s gospel, I offer a few observations as to how this abbey has been and is a reflection of what is shared with us in the Word of God today.
Our first reading is from the Old Testament Song of Songs, and this book is rarely used in the Eucharistic Liturgy. If my research is correct, the Song of Songs is not used on any Sunday of the year, and during the weekdays of the year it only appears on this day, Thursday in the Third Week of Advent. The Church offers it as one of two options for the first reading on this day. For the most part, readings from the Song of Songs are relegated to a few times for use during Masses for the Dead, Votive Masses, or Ritual Masses. Perhaps the reason for this is the intimate imagery that fills the Song of Songs, which portrays Israel and the Lord as two lovers interacting quite passionately with one another. It seems that the Church blushes at these images, and therefore chooses largely not to draw attention to the Song of Songs in the readings at Mass.
I must admit that when I searched the readings for this Mass, I was a little apprehensive about using the Song of Songs for a group committed to poverty, chastity, and obedience. However, I think that this community of the Abbey of Gethsemane and the Song of Songs share a common struggle, and this is that both tend to be misperceived. Given the themes already mentioned, I believe the Song of Songs is perhaps largely misperceived as being inappropriate for our liturgical celebrations by liturgists and laity alike. Similarly, I believe in like manner that the call to the life of a Trappist is also misperceived today by many in our society. Properly understood and meditated on, the Song of Songs gives us great insight into our relationship with the Lord, who pursues us as one who deeply loves us. The season of Advent and our first reading today from the Song of Songs remind us that God seeks us out, and pursues us because of His love for us. Allowing nothing to separate God from us, our first reading images God as springing across the mountains and leaping across the hills to get to us. Our God is Emmanuel, God-with-Us, and God will do everything within his power to get to us. If we do our part to return to God, which is the call of Lent, then God will do his part to come to us, as we are reminded by the season of Advent and the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs can be a powerful source for both our public and private prayer and reflection before God.
Similarly, the call to life as a Trappist, the call to live life apart from the world in silence, community, and prayer, is misperceived today and not often understood. I think that people probably ask those who discern or vow themselves to life as a monk here at the Abbey of Gethsemane questions such as “Why would you want to do that?”, or even “Is such a life still relevant today?” Questions of this nature usually express the petitioner’s discomfort with such a life based on their misperception, misunderstanding, or even suspicion of the vocation. However, we know the benefit of such a religious vocation, both for those who vow themselves to this life and for the Church. Those, like yourselves, who vow themselves to life as a Cistercian of the Strict Observance know what it means to be pursued by God, who calls them to this vocation. Those who respond to this life respond to the call to live life uniquely in God’s presence, ordering their days based on prayer and reflection. This life of faith and prayer serves to benefit the one called, others, and also to the Church at large. Like the Song of Songs, the grace that is available in life as a Trappist is today not understood by many, and therefore largely marginalized or sadly even ridiculed or dismissed by many. However, those who discern or surrender to this call in life, again like yourselves, know its great benefit and welcome the grace that is found in accepting a call from God who pursues them in this manner in life. For these reasons, in the end, I thought it most appropriate that this reading from the Song of Songs serve as our first reading for this celebration of the Eucharist honoring the 175 years that the call and pursuit of God have been lived by men in this sacred place and on this holy ground.
As we reach the final days of this Advent season, our liturgical focus has turned to the coming celebration of Christmas, the celebration of Jesus’ historical birth at Bethlehem, the Incarnation of the Son of God. The central figure of these final days of Advent is Mary, pregnant with the Word of God. Our gospel today is the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, an encounter between two cousins, both with child, both awaiting the respective births with faith-filled anticipation. At the time of the Visitation, St. Elizabeth emphasizes Mary’s faith when she declares to her, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45). By this declaration, the Visitation reminds us of Mary’s response, her fiat, to the message delivered by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation, that is, Mary believed that what had been spoken to her by the Lord would indeed be fulfilled. Mary’s trust in the Lord was so all-encompassing that her entire being, her spirit, and soul, sought to declare with unhesitating certainty God’s greatness and she professes, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”
However, this certitude in God’s fidelity did not mean that Mary did not have to reflect upon God’s will in her life. St. Luke in his gospel at different times portrays Mary, who responded to God’s call, as nonetheless pondering in her heart God’s actions.
Similar to Mary, for 175 years men have responded to the Lord by coming here to answer the call to life as a Trappist. Here in this place, these men have prayed their way into a deeper relationship with our Lord who pursues them. They have reflected on and pondered how God continues to approach them in this vocation. Through it all, they have believed and trusted that the Lord is faithful, worthy of the trust that what God has promised to them will be fulfilled. Here in this place, like Mary, monks have responded, prayed, pondered, believed, trusted, and hoped. Here in this place, in the silence and somewhat though not completely apart from the world, they have lived their faith, in appropriate ways served the needs of others, and lived in expectation of the Lord, who lovingly pursued and pursues them. In so many ways, their lives and our lives are blessed and graced by their faithful witness to the importance of listening to God, responding to his will, and trusting that he is faithful and will fulfill his promises. Like Mary, they trust, they surrender to God, they ponder his love and call, and they trust in his promises.
So, I thank you, dear brothers, here at the Abbey of Gethsemane, for your humble, ever-faithful witness to the Lord. For 175 years, your faithfulness and that of this community have echoed throughout the Church in these hills and beyond. Through the intercession of Mary, may you all know God’s blessings, welcome more men who wish to discern and live this vocation, and never doubt the positive effect your discipleship lived in this manner has on both believers and non-believers. With profound gratitude, I wish you ‘ad multos annos,’ many more years, of your quiet but powerful testimony to the Church and the world. May the God who lovingly pursues you keep you faithful until that day when he fulfills his promises made to you. Amen.