Making Adjustments as Necessary

There is a definite wisdom in setting a structure in place but allowing enough flexibility for adjustments or changes as necessary. This format is what the Rule of Benedict provides. After setting up the preferred order for prayer with painstaking precision, Benedict allows the individual communities to make the adjustments that are necessary for their circumstances. He provides us with an elastic structure.

Over 15 centuries later, I can still go to a Monastery during my travels and find some elements of my community's prayer and structure in the host community. It provides a basic unity and universality to our life.

During this Season of Lent, I need to look at the structures that I place around my life. Are they structures that will allow for growth and flexibility? Or, are they structures that can be used to insulate myself against the possibility of change and maturity? Which kind of structures do I want in my life?

Sr. Catherine, OSB