Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraphs 5-6)

They should make their own the different ways of teaching which the Apostle Paul recommended to Timothy when he told him to make use of criticism, of entreaty and of rebuke. (From para. 5 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

In whatever ways I may teach, encourage or correct another, I pray that my response may be rooted in love -- in patience, kindness, and humility -- so that heart may speak to heart.