Chapter 65: The prior or prioress of the monastery (paragraphs 2-3)
We have no doubt, therefore, that it is best in the interests of preserving peace and charity that the authority for the whole administration of the monastery should rest with the abbot or abbess. (From para. 2 of ;Ch. 65 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
St. Benedict urges me to understand that peace and charity reign when Christ is the head of my household.
Living in a family is not an easy place with an easy prescription for decisions to be made. Husband and wife do not always see "eye to eye", nor do adult children who have some decision making authority in the family/community. "There are seldom instances in life when there is only one way to do anything."(Chittister)
ReplyDeleteLove has everything to do with decision-making. The way of love is the way of humility. Love, of course, is Christ met in meditation. There can be no self-promotion there, in meditation. There is only the very quiet space where rest with Christ is possible and the clearer understanding of what divine truth I am to represent in life comes if I patiently wait for it.
Thomas Aquinas defined contemplation, meditation, as “simple enjoyment of the truth”. “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God”, wrote Teilhard de Chardin. Teresa of Avila prayed to be preserved from “sad-faced saints”. Abba, wherever you place me in a “prior”/authority position, as with my children and grandchildren, keep me joy-full, en-joying, putting joy, putting you, into, my every moment.
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