Prologue to the Rule (paragraphs 1-2)
Attend to the message you hear and make sure that it pierces to your heart, so that you may accept with willing freedom and fulfil by the way you live the directions that come from your loving Father. (From para. 1 of the Prologue to Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Piercing to the heart means nothing less to me than participating in Jesus' free and obedient suffering on the cross. In this way, Jesus teaches me that even the small sufferings of my daily life, especially in community, can be meaningful, redemptive and inexplicably bring joy.
That small still Voice within accompanied and sustained me through what seemed to be a "turbulent day" for me. Indeed, listening and obeying Him is grace.
ReplyDelete“If you want to change something in your life, you have two broad possibilities open to you. You can try to will that change, to redirect your life by acts of the will. . . . There is another way: the way of total openness of the whole person. It is not the way of intention but the way of attention.”(John Main, “Radical Simplicity”, Kindle loc 495). This, for me, is a good summary of the “labor of obedience” (the “way of attention”) versus the “sloth of disobedience” (the “way of intention”) that these first words of the Rule are describing. How wonderful, Abba, that through the gift of Benedict and his simple Rule you offer me this choice, every day, every moment. You show me and offer me this simple path to freedom.
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