Chapter 50
The Rule of Benedict April 1
We have in this chapter a good example of circumstances that are more similar to our own as non-cloistered members of an order. We must be equipped with spiritual practices that can sustain us throughout our days outside of a monastery, just as those referenced here who are working at a great distance. This task of becoming so equipped has, in fact, been the most important work that our order has done over this first year.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
March 31
Chapter 49
The Rule of Benedict March 31
As I read this chapter and my notes from the last few times through the Rule, I realize that I had intended to ask you each to share with me your Lenten observance(s) so that I could hold them with you in prayer. It makes perfect sense, if we are listening for how we can apply the wisdom of Benedict to our lives, that we would share the additional practices or fasts we have taken on with the Prior. This path is a community path, not a solo journey.
The Rule of Benedict March 31
As I read this chapter and my notes from the last few times through the Rule, I realize that I had intended to ask you each to share with me your Lenten observance(s) so that I could hold them with you in prayer. It makes perfect sense, if we are listening for how we can apply the wisdom of Benedict to our lives, that we would share the additional practices or fasts we have taken on with the Prior. This path is a community path, not a solo journey.
March 30
Chapter 48 pt. 3
The Rule of Benedict March 30
It seems to me as that many in our culture find their days spent between the two extremes of frenetic busyness and idleness. We are consumed by tasks, one after another, until we crash in front of a television or computer screen and, as we put it in our family, "veg". Benedict's vision for our days is one of balance: ora et labora, prayer and work. We are to work, but work mindfully with attention to Spirit. We are to pray and study with that same mindfulness, allowing the gentle rhythm to take hold and form us into the likeness of Christ. Let us continue to seek Father Benedict's vision of balance for our days.
The Rule of Benedict March 30
It seems to me as that many in our culture find their days spent between the two extremes of frenetic busyness and idleness. We are consumed by tasks, one after another, until we crash in front of a television or computer screen and, as we put it in our family, "veg". Benedict's vision for our days is one of balance: ora et labora, prayer and work. We are to work, but work mindfully with attention to Spirit. We are to pray and study with that same mindfulness, allowing the gentle rhythm to take hold and form us into the likeness of Christ. Let us continue to seek Father Benedict's vision of balance for our days.
Monday, March 28, 2011
March 29
Chapter 48 pt. 2
The Rule of Benedict March 29
In this passage we see Benedict creating conditions for ever further spiritual formation throughout the year. We also see him building into these conditions a support system for those who might resist going further. How is it that our lives can conform to Father Benedict's intentions here? Besides our practices of prayer, what other intention can we apply to the formation of our souls? This seems to me to be part of the work we are to do with our spiritual directors as we develop a personal rule of life.
The Rule of Benedict March 29
In this passage we see Benedict creating conditions for ever further spiritual formation throughout the year. We also see him building into these conditions a support system for those who might resist going further. How is it that our lives can conform to Father Benedict's intentions here? Besides our practices of prayer, what other intention can we apply to the formation of our souls? This seems to me to be part of the work we are to do with our spiritual directors as we develop a personal rule of life.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
March 28
Chapter 48
The Rule of Benedict March 28
We have in this section of chapter 48 a picture of a balanced life. One challenge of living as a non-cloistered vowed community is that of finding a structure for our days that strikes a balance between prayer and work. Reading, in this chapter, is regarded by Benedict as prayer, and the type of reading that he is referencing here is known as Lectio Divina. There are many resources available if you would like to know more about this ancient Benedictine practice. The question that this passage poses to us seems to me to be the following. What sort of time and attention do we devote throughout our day to open and prayerful attention to the Spirit's voice in our lives?
The Rule of Benedict March 28
We have in this section of chapter 48 a picture of a balanced life. One challenge of living as a non-cloistered vowed community is that of finding a structure for our days that strikes a balance between prayer and work. Reading, in this chapter, is regarded by Benedict as prayer, and the type of reading that he is referencing here is known as Lectio Divina. There are many resources available if you would like to know more about this ancient Benedictine practice. The question that this passage poses to us seems to me to be the following. What sort of time and attention do we devote throughout our day to open and prayerful attention to the Spirit's voice in our lives?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
March 27
Chapter 47
The Rule of Benedict March 27
I have observed, over the course of these last months, that the primary work we have been called to thus far as vowed members of our order is the work of establishing our personal practices of daily prayer. In the most natural of ways, this central element of Benedict's Rule, the Work of God, has replaced my focus on our roles as that task towards which our efforts should be applied. I sense that this has been the kind work of the Spirit in our midst, and, as with all that she does in the hearts of the willing, it has borne good fruit.
Let us give thanks today to God, who has seen to the ringing of the bell and has given us the grace to respond in obedience.
The Rule of Benedict March 27
I have observed, over the course of these last months, that the primary work we have been called to thus far as vowed members of our order is the work of establishing our personal practices of daily prayer. In the most natural of ways, this central element of Benedict's Rule, the Work of God, has replaced my focus on our roles as that task towards which our efforts should be applied. I sense that this has been the kind work of the Spirit in our midst, and, as with all that she does in the hearts of the willing, it has borne good fruit.
Let us give thanks today to God, who has seen to the ringing of the bell and has given us the grace to respond in obedience.
March 26
Chapter 46
The Rule of Benedict March 26
Father Benedict desires to cultivate a climate of trust and intimacy in the community. Without trust, the community is poisoned by cycles of deception, suspicion, and accusation. Without safe intimacy, the individual suffers the soul-killing trajectory of hidden guilt, self-loathing, and hardness of heart.
Let us be a community of absolute safety for each other. Let us set aside all that would keep us from trusting ourselves and our sisters and brothers in the course of our formation. I encourage us each to consider who can be for us a spiritual mother or father to whom we can reveal our hidden sin-sickness of the soul. And let us also consider whether we are called to be a spiritual father or mother for another.
The Rule of Benedict March 26
Father Benedict desires to cultivate a climate of trust and intimacy in the community. Without trust, the community is poisoned by cycles of deception, suspicion, and accusation. Without safe intimacy, the individual suffers the soul-killing trajectory of hidden guilt, self-loathing, and hardness of heart.
Let us be a community of absolute safety for each other. Let us set aside all that would keep us from trusting ourselves and our sisters and brothers in the course of our formation. I encourage us each to consider who can be for us a spiritual mother or father to whom we can reveal our hidden sin-sickness of the soul. And let us also consider whether we are called to be a spiritual father or mother for another.
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