Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Chapter 40: The proper amount of drink to be provided


St Paul says that each of us has a special gift from God, one kind for one of us and quite a different one for another. That reflection makes me reluctant to decide on the measure of food and drink for others. (From para. 1 of Ch. 40 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Benedict's discussion of gifts from God, in relation to the proper amount of drink, surprises me. I understand self-control to be a fruit of the Spirit. But whether gift or fruit, perhaps the discernment of how to live my life in a way which makes me most consistently open to the selfless praise of God, is what he's talking about.

3 comments:

  1. “This we charge above all things, that they live without murmurings.” Thus Benedict ends his rule about wine and alcoholic beverages. Whatever I drink or do not drink, in other words, he enjoins me to “keep my eyes on my own glass”. Avoid murmuring, complaining, grousing about what someone else is doing. Mind my own business, my business of my own relationship to you, Abba. “Who am I to judge”, as Pope Francis might put it.

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  2. 'Each of us has a special gift from God...' Seems like St. Benedict is telling me that with that special gift that each one receives from God comes a special lifestyle, thus the differences in gifts and differences in lifestyle. Thus, I am reminded by this to accept and respect others as they are :-)

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  3. In this paragraph, Benedict also says,"...To those whom God gives the strength to abstain must know that they will earn their own reward." The reward perhaps comes when I can admit and address what passions and desires keep me from facing reality. I can pray for the strength to know them, and struggle with them, without "grumbling" trusting that my knowledge and struggle becomes a "gift from God". With that knowledge I can respond to life freely and joyfully because I know God knows and He is with me in the struggles with my vulnerabilities.

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