Chapter 35: Weekly servers in the kitchen and at table (paragraphs 1-2)
Everyone in the community should take turns serving in the kitchen and at table. None should be exonerated from kitchen duty except in the case of sickness or the call of some important business for the monastery, because serving each other in this way has the great merit of fostering charity. (From para. 1 of Ch. 35 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
St. Benedict links service among household members with charity. Often service is taken for granted -- I've felt that way about my own service and am sometimes negligent in honoring others' service. But to link service with charity means that my actions can be loving and therefore invaluable, despite whether or not they get "noticed".
"I like to think that serving God is like serving spaghetti," said a young friend at a Bible discussion group I once attended. Abba, that humorous metaphor speaks to me, too, when I reflect on service in the kitchen and at table. I do serve you because I am serving Love to each and every person you bring to my life today. Help me to do so consciously and generously.
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