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, March 3, 2013

Chapter 26: Unlawful association with the excommunicated

If any member of the community presumes without the permission of the abbot or abbess to associate in any way with or speak to or give instructions to one who has been excommunicated then that person should receive exactly the same punishment of excommunication.

(Ch. 26 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

At times, another person may need to come to the most serious terms with his or her commitment to community, or to any covenant relationship. I must respect the privacy and interiority of the other, without trying to change or control him or her.

1 comment:

NonaMarch 3, 2013 at 5:55 PM
A reminder that what opinion I have, believe or think concerning a particular situation, it may be entirely inappropriate or uncalled for. Think before speaking and/or acting!
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