WCCM Oblate Blog: Reflections from Daily Reading of the Rule of St. Benedict

WCCM Benedictine Oblates are encouraged to read a designated portion of the Rule daily, and to write a brief, personal response. I hope that this blog will support our Oblate community in this practice. Please, keep blog entries brief and in a first-person ("I") voice. Refrain from discussing, offering an opinion, or commenting on other entries. Simply consider how a particular section of the Rule is speaking to you in your present circumstances.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Chapter 64: The election of an abbot or abbess (paragraphs 1-2)

The grounds on which a candidate is elected abbot or abbess must be the quality of their monastic life and the wisdom of their teaching, even if they are the last in order in the community. (From para. 1 of Ch. 64 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

St. Benedict teaches me: Order is not merely rank. It is more importantly the quality of alignment in my inner and outer life, and in my life in community with others. This kind of alignment with the living Spirit that flows through me and sustains me, also liberates me.

1 comment:

UnknownAugust 16, 2016 at 8:45 AM
Those privileged to serve in a leadership role in Lord's community carry enormous responsibilities. How wonderful it is that St. Benedict cautions the community to select an Abbot or Abbess, on the sole criterion, he or she that is most able to shoulder this responsibility.
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