For every Christian, and especially for the monk, reading is important in order to shore up the distinctive structure of beliefs and values that is necessary if we are to live a life worthy of the gospel and to be strangers to the ways of the world. The more exposure we have to unevangelical modes of thinking or systems of values, the more we have to keep reminding ourselves that we have freely chosen a different path. “Reading is an essential part of the ascesis that leads from the visible to the invisible, or from the sign to what is signified.”
We are also obliged to equip ourselves to explain to others the faith by which we live. “Always be ready to offer an apologia for the hope that is in you to anyone who asks you for an explanation” (1 Pet. 3:15). As we keep insisting, actions are not enough; they need to be sustained by appropriate beliefs and values. Otherwise motivation will melt away and we will cease our effort to lead a good life.
Michael Casey, OSCO
Strangers in the City, p. 47
