Chapter 58: The reception of candidates for the community (paragraphs 4-5)
When the decision is made that novices are to be accepted, then they come before the whole community in the oratory to make solemn promise of stability, fidelity to monastic life and obedience. (From para. 4 of Ch. 58 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
These precepts, as they apply to my life, are tools of self-knowledge. They remind me that I'm not called to be perfect, but that I am called to be faithful.
“The underlying rationale of the Buddhist scriptures is that we must be serious about the purpose of life and not trivialize it or allow it to pass away in an endless series of distractions. As Christians we must be utterly serious in our commitment to the gift that is given us: the gift of life and the gift of redemption.” (John Main, “The Way of Unknowing.”, Kindle loc 1079). That is what the Benedictine monastic commitment, with or without walls, means to me, Abba: support for my learning how better—one day, one meditation, at a time--to take life and your gifts seriously, how not to let them evaporate or pass away in that endless series of distractions that surround and seduce me.
ReplyDeleteTo come before the community in the oratory... To make my desire of following your precepts public is something that I still struggle within me. But with this, you are assuring me not to fear because I have brothers and sisters and spiritual friends along the way who will journey with me and pray with me.
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