The Rule of St. Benedict: Chapter 70
We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In response to tragedies such as the one we commemorate today wherein greed and lust for power lead to the slaughter of innocents, I have often found it easy to set myself up as judge and executioner. From my perspective trapped behind my two small eyes, I succumb to the temptation to act as though I see the world as it is, unadorned and objective. My angry reactions are then justified as acts of defense in the service of Truth and Justice. Our Father Benedict seeks to uproot this disposition here in Chapter 70. Sr. Joan comments,
Benedictine spirituality depended on personal commitment and community support, not on intimidation and brutality. Benedict makes it clear that the desire for good is no excuse for the exercise of evil on its behalf. . . . To become what we hate--as mean as the killers, as obsessed as the haters--is neither the goal nor the greatness of the spiritual life.
As Benedictines, we are to consider carefully the posture we assume toward each other, with those we encounter in our daily lives, and with our ideological adversaries. As much as it might appear at times to be the case, we have not been set up as vigilantes for God's own Truth.
Br. Chad
...so I should put my Magnum away, then? (Seriously, though, I see this from both sides, and I am both grateful for and challenged by it. This is one to bookmark.)
ReplyDeleteI am challenged too. I've spent most of my life with a plank of judgment protruding from my eye.
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