Chapter 31: The qualities required by the cellarer (paragraphs 2-3)
Among the most important qualities the cellarer needs to cultivate is humility and the ability to give a pleasant answer even when a request must be refused. (From para. 2 of Ch. 31 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Benedict pegs a pleasant manner to humility. To me, this is a kindness born of true self-knowledge, not of a selfish desire (or fear) to please. I pray that my manners may be ever more sincerely rooted in my heart.
Money, mammon, is a “tool” in the mini-monastery that is my home and family. My finances, too, then, need to be under the discipline of The Rule, my—and your—servant, not my Master. You are my Employer,my Master. You give me what I need as long as I do your work well. Remembering this my financial insecurity vanishes.
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