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‘Benedict, Rebuild My Church’

Constructing a monastery in Norcia, and a future for the church in the West

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqQi1BWRcWI]

If you take a look at this amazing four-minute clip, you’ll hear from three of the Norcia monks quoted in The Benedict Option. Watching it, I thought of the words St. Francis of Assisi heard from God early in his own Christian journey: “Francis, rebuild my church.” Francis thought God was talking about a dilapidated church building, but God really meant renewing the entire church.

As you know, I’m not a Catholic, but I deeply believe God is working through the monks of Norcia to renew the entire church in the West — Catholic, Protestant, and what few Orthodox we have. We 41yq7npz9al-_sx331_bo1204203200_Protestants and Orthodox can’t walk in exactly the same path as these Catholic monks, if you follow me here, but we can walk alongside them on the pilgrim’s path, in the same direction. It makes me so happy to base this book in large part on the Christian witness of these monks and the life they live in community in Norcia. I’m only sorry that The Benedict Option is not in bookstores right now, so more people can read and understand how vital the work of the Benedictines of Norcia is to all Christians in the West — and in turn, give whatever they can to the earthquake rebuilding fund.

But that’s coming in March. In the meantime, give what you can out of your own treasure. Believe me, you will be building up a treasure for all the church, a refuge and a lighthouse in the new Dark Age.

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