Chapter 46: Faults committed elsewhere
Any member of the community who in the course of some work in the kitchen, in the stores, while fulfilling a service to others or in the bakery, the garden or the workshops or anywhere else does something wrong or happens to break or lose something or to be guilty of some other wrongdoing, must as soon as possible appear before the superior and the community with a voluntary admission of the failure and willing reparation for it. (From para. 1 of Ch. 46 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
For me, this passage poses an examination of conscience: am I aware that every task, every moment, every relationship is an opportunity to work with love and gratitude? Does my work mediate Christ's love, no matter how small the work seems? Am I alert to the difference it makes to my consciousness, and to those around me?
"if the sin-sickness of the soul is a hidden one,
ReplyDeletelet her reveal it only to the Abbess or to a spiritual mother,
who knows how to cure her own and others' wounds
without exposing them and making them public." This is a good reminder to be very discerning of my faults committed. For there are different treatments to different faults. It is comforting how the rule provides for the best options/ solutions to our weaknesses.
“Clearly, Chapter 46 is not about punishment. Chapter 46 is about social consciousness.” (Joan Chittister) Abba, you and Benedict today ask me to use your gift of my “ability to respond” to the needs of our “Common Home”, this planet. You and the Rule ask me to be socially responsible, socially “response-able” and not just another mindless consumer of Mother Earth’s resources.
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