A Wise Companion

I am reminded of the saying: "Misery loves company." when I read Chapter 27 of the Rule.

Once a person's behavior has caused separation from the community, it is very easy to either fall into deep dispair about the situation or to become even more defiant and try to find allies within the community...causing greater division. What Benedict suggests is for the superior to allow one person to encourage the wayward back into the community. Care must be taken that this is not going to be a misery party. Therefore, the companion must have an adequate amount of maturity not to become part of the problem.

This companion or senpectae is to act as a truth teller to the wayward. We all need people in our lives that care about us enough and that know us well enough to be able to challenge us into growth. I am fortunate to have many friends that have done that for me in my life. The truth tellers in our lives are our truest friends.

May I always be willing to hear and open to the truth presented to me by those wiser than me.

Sr. Catherine

The Flexibility of the Rule

In the passages about community prayer, Benedict is very precise and ordered about when, how and which psalms are to be prayed. He regulates standing and bowing, time and manner. He definitely knows what the "ideal" for prayer is.

At the end of Chapter 18, however, Benedict shows true wisdom in allowing individual communities to adjust the order and manner if necessary to the circumstances of the local area. There is wisdom in placing this elasticity in the Rule so that although things might look a little different from monastery to monastery the basic values are still able to be preserved even 15 centuries later.

Sr. Catherine, OSB

Life Guides

The third step of humility is that a man submits to his superior in all obedience for the love of God…(RB 7.34)

“May I become your disciple?” the seeker asked.

“You are only a disciple because your eyes are closed. The day you open them, you will see that there is nothing you can learn from me,” the holy man answered.

“Then what is a master for”? the seeker asked.

“The purpose of a master,” the holy one said, “is to bring you to the point where you know the uselessness of having one.”

I know I have been taking directions all my life. God has placed guides in my life to give me intellectual, social, emotional, physical and spiritual direction. Admitting that I need direction and accepting it has all been part of growing up. I don’t believe I will ever grow up enough to see the uselessness of these guides. Through them, God has given me a confidence in myself, the power to control myself and the insight to guide others.

Sr. Veronica, OSB

Profit Forever

“…we must run and do now what will profit us forever.” (RB Pro. 44)

Benedict’s way of life is starting to sound a little like an investment plan—a guide for the present and an investment plan for the future. Benedict proposes that by putting my whole heart and energy into this new way of life it will not only benefit me today but in the future also. He is proposing the road to well-being and to ultimate happiness.

Since I tend to be a person who throws myself whole-heartedly into everything I do anyway, this concept appeals to me. I can live life fully today and know that I am doing what will bring about my ultimate good in the future if I follow this simple plan for life. What more could I want?

Sr. Catherine, OSB