Chapter 33: Personal possessions in the monastery
Following the practice of the early church described in Acts, everything in the monastery should be held in common and no one should think of claiming personal ownership of anything. (From Ch. 33 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
This is a very difficult sentence, a very difficult teaching, for me to grasp. Coming after chapters about the care of common items, and, in this chapter, mentioning things as dear to me as books and writing materials, I'm at a loss to know how to begin to practice it. Except I know that in meditation I own nothing, and that the meditation isn't even "mine". I'm simply opening myself to the grace of entering into the prayer of Jesus. So, entering into grace may be the way I need to see my life today.
This is a very difficult sentence, a very difficult teaching, for me to grasp. Coming after chapters about the care of common items, and, in this chapter, mentioning things as dear to me as books and writing materials, I'm at a loss to know how to begin to practice it. Except I know that in meditation I own nothing, and that the meditation isn't even "mine". I'm simply opening myself to the grace of entering into the prayer of Jesus. So, entering into grace may be the way I need to see my life today.
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