Chapter 49: How Lent should be observed in the monastery
There can be no doubt that monastic life should always have a Lenten character about it, but there are not many today who have the strength for that. Therefore we urge that all in the monastery during these holy days of Lent should look carefully at the integrity of their lives and get rid in this holy season of any thoughtless compromises which may have crept in at other times.
(From para. 1 of Ch. 49 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
Benedict's challenge to notice my thoughtless compromises brings me face to face with the question of how I understand obedience in my own life. Without a direct superior to answer to, I understand that my obedience is to Jesus, the Teacher within. Do I turn to that Teacher in a consistent and integrated way, or in a way that is compromised by selfish habits?
For me, part of the spiritual journey and a good part of the spiritual challenge is about giving things up. What are those things I am attached to? That distract me from what has real value? Can I give these things up? Lent is that time when I honor and nurture the spiritual practice of "Giving Things Up."
ReplyDelete"The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent...so that each of us will have something above the assigned measure to offer God...and look forward to holy Easter with joy." Lent is about self-denial which is walking in the way of Christ to His final life surrendering offering in complete love to His Father. I try to remember that when it is time for meditation, I am really offering to God my life for a half hour by dying to self-desires. After each meditation there is an Easter, a resurrection from old life to new, the recognition of which may come much later and unexpectedly with a change either in attitude or in a quiet joy that cannot be explained.
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