January 21

Chapter 4 pt. 4

The Rule of St. Benedict January 21

Today's list of tools mostly pertains to interpersonal matters within the community, and it's clear that our Father Benedict does not expect such matters to be a cake walk.  It requires constant vigilance--employing these tools "unceasingly day and night"--to keep the inner states of hate, jealousy, contention, and haughtiness at bay and to cultivate those of respect for seniors, love for juniors, prayer for enemies, and peace with adversaries.

We Benedictines are given the great benefit of having a workshop provided for us in which we are able to apply these tools.  We canons do not have an enclosure, per se, but we have stability in the community that is made manifest in our common practice and unity of intention.  As with any benefit, however, what we get from it is what we give to it.

Let us, with all diligence and resolve, arise from our tasks that lead away from what "God has prepared for those who love him," roll up our sleeves, and get to work where Christ has called us to labor.

Br. Chad 2013

January 20

Chapter 4 pt. 3

The Rule of St. Benedict January 20

In much of the bible, the Judgment of God is a great hope to be invoked by the people of God.  It is invoked, at its worst, as a punishment of enemies or as a means of control.  In its best form, the hope is in a Reality that frees us from the need to be judge, a posture that, when we assume it, reflects back upon us and a condition that profoundly clouds our vision (Matt. 7:1-5).  When God is Judge, I don't need to be.  I can accept what is as it is.

How often do my thoughts and my words seek to manipulate what is?  How often do I avoid the uncomfortable, formative moment?

One poignant image from this passage is in number 50, "When evil thoughts come into one's heart, to dash them against Christ immediately," or, as another translation puts it, "to cast them down at the feet of Christ."  This metaphor plays out often in my experience.  I find myself, daily, falling prey to habits of thought and emotion that are at home in my small, egoic mind instead of in God's large, unitive mind. I become the judge: impatient, overwhelmed, contemptuous, defensive, and, at the core, lonely. When I am given the grace to recognize this in myself, if I turn the attention of my heart to the Master (Christ), I find him to be as close as my breath: patient, at peace, kind, generous, and hospitable. At this point I find on my lips the request, "O God, make speed to save me. O Lord, make haste to help me," and Christ comes to me in the moment as liberator, as savior, as the judicious and longed-for judge.

Br. Chad 2013

January 19

Chapter 4 pt. 2

The Rule of St. Benedict January 19

In this portion of chapter 4, Benedict casts a vision of a human heart bereft of violence, defensiveness, and self-importance.  This is no easy ideal to fulfill.  It requires courage to lay down my defenses, give up "being right," and entrust my worth to God.  It requires generosity of spirit and vulnerability.  It is the heart of Christ.

The thing is, instilling these qualities into my being is not a matter of trying to do or trying not do all the things on the list, checking them off, one by one, from 22 to 43.  Such an approach would only serve to enshrine my false self that operates along the lines of success and failure, good and bad, in and out.

This vision must be viewed with the eyes of my true self, with my inner sight.  In other words, it must be seen through the clear, quiet lens of regular, daily prayer.  It is through prayer that I am able to attend to the contours of my emotions and desires.  Through prayer I can witness anger lying in wait; I can observe the deceit that I have entertained; I am able to identify the falseness of peace that I have given.  Through prayer I open myself to grace and welcome the qualities of hope in God, truth speaking, and love of enemies.

Chapter 4 is about awareness and attention to those things that comprise our response to the world around us.  Like a master gardener, our Father Benedict knows what to remove and what to nurture as we grow into the fullness of Christ.

Br. Chad 2013

January 18

Feast of the Confession of St. Peter the Apostle

Chapter 4 pt. 1

The Rule of St. Benedict January 18

Numbers 10-13 in this chapter about the tools for good works:

To deny oneself in order to follow Christ.  

To chastise the body.  

Not to become attached to pleasures.  

To love fasting.

provide a fascinating perspective from which to view number 9:

And not to do to another what one would not have done to oneself.

Our culture generally conceives of the golden rule with regard to simple pleasure or pain: "I don't want to feel pain, so I won't cause it in others," but our Father Benedict prescribes a treatment of oneself that is difficult and unpleasant in the service of transformation.

So perhaps I should ask myself the question, "which me does not want to be treated in such and such a way," when considering my actions towards others.  Is it the me that wants to be transformed and is willing to suffer difficulty and unpleasantness in order to change?  Or is it the me that simply wants to feel pleasure and not pain?

Jesus practiced the deeper golden rule when he did not hesitate to rebuke Peter in the moments after his confession of Jesus as the Christ.  Peter had let pride arise in the moments after Jesus had praised him for speaking God's words, and when he spoke again, this time to contradict the call of God upon the Christ, Jesus calls the place from which Peter spoke "Satan".  The golden rule can seem harsh at times in the service of transformation, but it is always good.

Br. Chad 2013

January 17

Feast of St. Antony, Abbot in Egypt

Chapter 3 pt. 2

The Rule of St. Benedict January 17

Part of what it means for us to bear the title "Benedictine" is for us to accept the Rule of St. Benedict as a rule, or a standard, by which to measure our lives.  This does not imply that we subject ourselves to a simplistic, one-to-one application of the Rule, but rather that we each submit ourselves to the authority of the Rule instead of to our "own heart's fancy" in matters pertaining to our spiritual formation.

Such submission takes place in the realm of practice.  There is no Benedictine spirituality without the Daily Office in some form or another.  Prayer, balanced with work and study, in the course of a daily schedule, creates the conditions that form us into people who are at home where God is at home.

Br. Chad 2013

January 16

Chapter 3 pt. 1

The Rule of St. Benedict January 16

Directly on the heels of a chapter in which his religious superior is entrusted with the sacred responsibility of spiritual formation for the entire community, our Father Benedict instructs that no important matter is to be resolved without summoning the community to counsel "because it often happens that the Lord makes the best course clear to one of the youngest" (tr. Patrick Barry OSB).  It seems to me that we have here an instance of St. Benedict's profound wisdom as a master of the Way.  Yes, some are called to assume responsibility for the spiritual well-being of others, but God is no respecter of persons and will not be confined to the minds and lips of the powerful.  The culture of a Benedictine community has built into it the capacity to listen to the Lord through the voice of every last member.

Any healthy community is in need of participation from the range of voices present at the table.  Let us continue, for our part, to endeavor to add our voice with "all deference required by humility" and not "presume stubbornly to defend [our] opinions."

Br. Chad 2013

January 15

Chapter 2 pt. 7

The Rule of St. Benedict January 15

This concluding passage in the chapter on the qualities of the religious superior brings into clear focus the priority of values that Benedictine leadership is to hold.  Never are the material needs to outweigh the cuna animarum, the cure, or care, of souls in the hands of the superior.  Our Father Benedict wants there to be no mistaking that a Benedictine community is to be an environment wherein nothing supplants spiritual formation as the primary undertaking.

This priority of values is to exist especially within the leader herself, who St. Benedict reminds to take care of her own soul as she assumes the role of caring for others.  For an insight into some of the context behind this chapter, I turn to my friend, Ruth Lindsay, who commented on this blog in 2011.  She writes,

A role imposes order, discipline, and expectations upon us in order to transform us into something better.  This is the classical/medieval concept of prudence, which basically referred to the process of intellection that helps us discern proper actions in light of our circumstances.  Prudent behavior has the potential not only to change us as individuals, but the world we occupy.  Through prudence we are empowered to bring about accord between heaven and earth.

It is the virtue of prudence, the queen of all virtues, as St. Thomas Aquinas calls her, that our Father Benedict seeks to instill in each Benedictine, from the greatest to the least in the community.  Each member of the community, especially the leader, is tasked with the responsibility to act under the direction of prudence in all things.  When prudence is seated on her throne, all our actions are themselves transformed into virtues.  Heaven is brought to earth.

Br. Chad 2013