Calling on the Name of Jesus

…a monk controls his tongue… (RB 7.56)

I am definitely an extrovert to the extreme in my thinking. If a thought crosses my mind you can almost bet that I will go ahead and blurt it out. That is not always a good trait to possess.

In the ninth step of humility, Benedict proposes that a monk should be trained not to speak unless asked a question or invited into a conversation. This section causes me to consider how often I could have avoided lots of problems if I had either just kept my comments to myself or, at least, paused long enough to pray for wisdom to say the appropriate words. How much embarrassment and pain might be avoided if I took just an extra few seconds to call on the name of Jesus interiorly rather than just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

Sr. Catherine, OSB