Genesis 12:1–4a
Philippians 4:4–9
John 17:20–26
It seems that for centuries we Benedictines have call this day the Transitus of our Holy Father Benedict. Transitus easily translates into English as “the Passing” of our Holy Father Benedict. In our American culture where death is often spoken of without using the term, ‘passing’ may seem to be nothing more than a euphemism for death.—a word to soften the reality, to avoid talking about it or at least holding back a bit. And yet, we Benedictines today are celebrating the Passing of St. Benedict, we are honoring him on the day he died. We read the account of his death and are impressed and comforted. There is no sense of Benedict hiding his death or avoiding it. He planned for it, prepared for it, told others of it. He was helped by the brothers when the moment came. He was helped into the oratory where he received the body and blood of the Lord. He died with his arms lifted up in prayer.
When we say someone passed, we might ask, passed from what to what, from whom to whom? Passing is not a dead end. Transitus means a movement from one place to another. Death is not the end. Death is the moment when we definitively move from our visible life here to one which is not visible to those who have not yet passed. It is very visible for those who have transited, who have passed. Perhaps calling death a passing is not so much to soften its impact but to draw out its meaning and its movement.
To speak of death as a passing, a transitus, is to ground it in the gospel, in John’s gospel to be exact. There when Jesus’ public life has concluded, the evangelist moves the story forward by simply saying, “Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.” He knew this because the community was about to celebrate their Passover, the foundational act of their passing out of slavery into freedom and at the same time to remember that God passed over them when handing out death to the Egyptians. Like Jesus, Benedict knew that his hour to pass was at hand.
A transitus, a passing, in a Christian sense is to move from one place to another; it fact it is to be on the move, presumably on the move forward. We hear the beginnings of that transitus in the Lord’s call to Abraham. “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk. I will show you the way forward.” From that moment on Abraham was in transit; his life was life of moving, always moving. And all that kept him moving was God’s constant word of promise, promise of land, promise of a son, promise of a legacy, promise of a name. Abraham was kept in transit by the word of the Lord. And that became a blessing. To always follow the promise and keep moving forward is a blessing. Such was Abraham, such was Benedict, a man blessed by God.
We are remembering today Benedict’s final moments in his transitus to what lay ahead. Like Abraham, like Paul, like Jesus, those who pass through life well attract others on their transit through life. And when the final moment comes to step forward from this life into the Kingdom, they leave behind a word for those still in transit and following their footsteps. Abraham walks his journey following the promise of many nations yet to come, his transit in this world is based on the word of promise. Paul in prison writes to his Philippian community, his favorite community, about what will make their passing through life one of peace and joy. Stay with what is pure, lovely and gracious, be grateful. And we hear Jesus in the midst of his followers praying for them as he departs from this life. And as he prays he lays out the vision and hope for who they are to become. As he enters into his passing from this world to the Father, he lays out for them their goal, what they themselves are transiting into. It is a communion between him, them and their Father. It is a legacy of unity for the world. Their movement into this unity is in fact what the Father wants so that all are united in him. It is another way of speaking of the blessing promised to Abraham generations before.
It is customary for us today as we remember Father Benedict transiting from this world to the heart of the Father, passing into the unity he saw in his vision a short time before his death, to called to mind his legacy. Perhaps at one time we did that by counting the number of his followers. But that is perhaps not the legacy that concerned him. Benedict’s legacy was a short rule, a guide of how to live as you and I transit through this world into the love of the Father and Son. This is his word. Not an end in itself, he says, but a beginning. What we can say today about this legacy of his guide is that it works. Follow it and what the Scriptures promise as the goal will happen to you: You will be transformed from a person of fear into one of love; at the end you will see what God has prepared for those who love him. For the transitus, the passing is a movement into that love which is the foundation of the world, the spirit and energy that upholds it. Yes, we will be at home in the love that has always passed between the Father and his Son. It is the love that is the foundation of each of us. For at is core a transitus is the final acceptance and the great Amen we say when our hearts are fully expanded by the indescribable sweetness of love.
~Prior, Fr. Joel Macul, OSB