In this Sunday’s first reading, Moses ascends Mt. Sinai to be in the presence of the Lord. Republican presidential hopefuls descended on Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire Monday to debate in the presence of potential voters in the nation’s first presidential primary state.

The school has hosted Republican and Democratic presidential debates in previous election cycles, sometimes drawing criticism for appearing to get involved in partisan politics. But a professor of politics at the college defended the school's role as being a great example of Benedictine hospitality.

“The Rule of St. Benedict says every visitor should be treated as Christ himself,” said Prof. Dale Kuehne. “If you talk to people about the events at Saint Anselm, they would’ve felt that hospitality . . . regardless of their political or religious position.”

Thirty monks live in the abbey at Saint Anselm. One of their goals is to provide pastoral care for students at the college, a liberal arts school. “What we try to do is develop the spiritual side of the faith dimension, to integrate their beliefs with their life so [students] have an active faith,” said Father Anselm Smedile, O.S.B. of the college's campus ministry.

As for the debate, the seven Republican presidential hopefuls were on their best behavior in this early introduction to voters, reserving their sharpest jabs for President Obama and holding their fire against each other--at least for the time being.

Source: An article by Jeremy Moorhead for CNN