“The ‘love of our neighbor’–that outpouring of the love of God, or at least our striving to know what this means–leads us to see Christ in the guest who knocks at our doors, and in the poor, especially, who are in need of our help. The riches of the monastery, whether spiritual or material, are to be shared with others. A monastery may well appear to be a barrier–indeed, in a sense, it is symbolically so, for the values by which many people in the world live must not be the values of the monk–but the door must be open, and the porter welcoming.”
Cardinal Basil Hume’s remarks: “Ealing Abbey, London, 21 March 1980,” from In Praise of Benedict (Petersham, MA: St. Bede’s Publications, 1981) 33.