Friday, May 3, 2013

May 3

The Rule of St. Benedict: Prologue pt. 2


Let us open our eyes to the deifying light,
let us hear with attentive ears the warning which the divine voice cries daily to us,
"Today if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts."

Our Father Benedict seeks here to inspire a disposition of urgent attention in the hearts of his disciples that we may perceive our true selves in God's "deifying light."  This urgency is set against our own lethargy and tendency to harden our hearts to the light and voice of God.  It is set against procrastination and ambivalence--the thought that we can fulfill our calling without giving our all.

St. Benedict strikes this tone at the outset of the Rule because one's disposition at the beginning of a journey sets one's course.  As we begin again, let us do so with earnest, eager, urgent attention to what the Spirit is saying in the actual circumstances of our real lives.

Br. Chad

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