The practice of the Canon Communities of St. Benedict is for canons and novices to take on the title of sister or brother when they take their vows. This practice brings the reality of the community very close to home, as our Father Benedict indicates in this passage. We take on a formal identity in our relationships with each other when we enter into religious life, and it is appropriate for our names to reflect it.
This passage also has much to offer us as we live out our Benedictine lives in a parish setting. The way in which we think about, talk about/to, and treat the elders and the juniors in our parish is an important matter. I have been guilty harboring ungracious thoughts about some in the older generation at our church, and I hear from this passage that it is mine to lay aside my own sense of entitlement and/or rightness in the face of the inevitable conflicts of interest that will arise in a multi-generational community. We are to practice deference and gracious concern for the best interest of every person in our parishes, old and young, rich and poor, grumpy and cheerful.
Br. Chad
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