The Rule of St. Benedict November 8
This second half of Chapter 31 conveys to me a spirit of hearth and home that our Father Benedict seeks to instill in the community. The gentle organization and the humble carrying out of the duties of cellarer remind me of households I have known wherein love, courtesy, and peace describe the family culture. There are no power plays, no passive-aggression weaving through the daily interactions.
The instructions for the cellarer given here point to the heart of Christian authority as self-sacrificial service. The cellarer serves in the idiom of Christ in the midst of a needy community. Matthew 20: 25-28 lays it out:
But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Br. Chad 2012
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