January 27

Today begins my third time through the Rule since my profession.  On May 28, 2012, the day after I became a canon, this was the passage concerning which I first posted.  As we begin again, I encourage you to keep in mind that one main value of reading the Rule cyclicly is found in returning to the same passages and hearing them again with ears that have traveled a bit further along the path.  I hope you will continue to listen with me.

Chapter 7 pt. 3

The Rule of St. Benedict January 27

We are called to live in the eternal Now with respect to God because God lives in the eternal Now with respect to us.  The option to turn our attention to God is always available because God, at each moment, inhabits the realm of our inner workings.  Wrongful thoughts are those that make this option difficult to choose, not because God is further away, but because such thoughts overwhelm our perceptions.

St. Benedict reminds me today that I am not the master of anything in my life, not my vocation, not the canon community I shepherd, not even my own thoughts.  In fact, the greatest danger I face as I drape my habit over my head, fasten my belt, and place the cross over my chest is the temptation to pride and vanity that slithers among my semi-conscious thoughts.  If I am to overcome this temptation, I must subject all of myself to the warm, gentle, and piercing light of God, who, my Father Benedict says, is ever present within my mind anyway.  My work is to stop pretending that what I hide from myself and repress deep within is hidden and repressed from God.  God has always seen all of me, and has loved me all along.

Br. Chad 2013