We may have been accustomed in the past to refer to the
daily "grind" of our life; and certainly the routine of the monastery, as the
routine of any committed life, may be wearisome. And so we were heartened this
morning, as we heard once again those poignant words of Saint Ignatius of
Antioch as he approached his martyrdom in the arena. “I am God's wheat and I
shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become the pure bread of
Christ.” The “grind” is good; it is an opportunity for self-gift, a way to
become Eucharist, a chance to be Bread as Christ is Bread.