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.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Chapter 55: Clothing and footwear for the community (paragraphs 3-5)

The superior ought to inspect the beds at regular intervals to see that private possessions are not being hoarded there. (From para. 3 of Ch. 55 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Hoarding is a function of my ego, and my ego hoards more than things. Fidelity to the mantra allows the Spirit to inspect my soul, and this simplifies me.

1 comment:

Wally SaundersDecember 8, 2016 at 5:30 AM
Hoarding is a growth industry in our acquisitive society. Storage facilities more and more dot the landscape, supporting my consumption addictions. Meditation and lectio and Benedict's Rule all help remind me, Abba, that, simply having you, I have enough, I am enough.
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