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.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 15)

The eighth step of humility teaches us to do nothing which goes beyond what is approved and encouraged by the common rule of the monastery and the example of our seniors. (Para. 15 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Is this a damper on individual initiative and discernment, or, rather, a warning about the ego? Perhaps Benedict is pointing me towards openness to being formed a wisdom tradition, and stability in seeking Christ in my heart. It's also not too much of a stretch for me to recognize the faithful discipline required by the practice of meditation. In this way, St. Benedict offers me a guide to liberty of spirit.

1 comment:

Melanie CondesFebruary 4, 2018 at 3:08 AM
"It is good for me that You have humbled me, that I may learn Your commandments" (Ps. 118[119]:71)." In lowliness, there us more room for expansion than in moments of success.
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