Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 9)
The third step of humility is to submit oneself out of love of God to whatever obedience under a superior may require of us; it is the example of the Lord himself that we follow in this way, as we know from St Paul's words: he was made obedient even unto death.
(Para. 9 from Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
I'm obedient when I respond to another out of love and gratitude, not out of fear or resentment. Love and gratitude are aspects of my true self; fear and resentment are but habits of my ego. Love expands; fear dies; little by little my ego is transformed.
I'm obedient when I respond to another out of love and gratitude, not out of fear or resentment. Love and gratitude are aspects of my true self; fear and resentment are but habits of my ego. Love expands; fear dies; little by little my ego is transformed.
Sometimes the obedience is not so easy to discover because it comes not from another but from deep inside the self-like Mary's
ReplyDeleteannunciation. I pray for the strength of faith to follow that inner urging, the discernment of wisdom to know its truth and the courage to act upon it when it seems foolish in other people's eyes. "Cherish Christ", Benedict tells me. Christ is my strength, wisdom and example. Meditation brings me to Him and He to me.