One expectation put upon a Benedictine canon is that she make "a regular practice of confession to [her] priest." This is one way that a non-cloistered religious is able to forge a spiritual bond with a local parish and thus live out this vocation within a sacramental community. We must be clear as we engage in such practices, however, that when we reveal all "of the evil thoughts that enter [our] heart or the sins committed in secret" to our priest, we do so to God. The priest, in this context, is a sort of icon through which we see and experience the Grace and forgiveness of God for our lives.
As an unordained Prior, I am willing to bear with my sisters and brothers the burdens of their hearts, and I will speak words of peace, but my role is not yet a sacramental one. It is important, then, that we as canons give ourselves over to the Holy Mystery experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, not because we are unforgiven if we don't, but because we seek to cultivate within ourselves the humility our Father Benedict describes.
Br. Chad
Thanks...In A.A. people who are their own sponsors, quite often cannot remain sober. A.A. is not about only stopping the drinking of alcohol. It is about establishing a relationship with a higher power. Inside of the balance created by admitting that one needs help and cannot do it alone and working the 12 steps one by one from from front to back, just as they are written, a foundation is laid for living in peace, serenity, hope and balance. It is called accepting life on life's terms and then applying the steps again and again. In this way, We stay in the conversation of relationship with higher power, The honor that comes with mental and emotional healing of gaining the wisdom of knowing what to change oneself and what to release to the higher power.
ReplyDeleteThus the Serenity prayer...pt. 1
"God grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
People who tell on themselves as it were, as you mentioned below through confession, are freed from the deep disease of the obsession of "If Only." The if only I would have done..., or If only I had gotten a break... Confession brings these things out in the open. Confession or conversation with my Prior, releases the power of thinking the same things over and over again and expecting a different answer to questions that i have or those things I consider as failures in myself. My Prior helps me to redefine and align my obsessive thoughts through asking me questions that I might never think to ask myself.
So, My Prior is a sponsor. Talking to him is my "Wisdom to know the difference.
Peace and Light,
Br. Rawleigh
Thank you, beloved brother. Your perspective helps me to see more clearly my vocation and my role in our community. May all the blessings of spiritual friendship in the spirit of St. Aelred be ours for evermore.
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