Chapter 29: The readmission of any who leave the monastery
Anyone who is guilty of serious wrong by the personal decision to leave the monastery but then asks to be received back again must first of all promise full reparation for leaving the monastery. (From Ch. 29 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I'm intrigued by what "full reparation" might mean. Each situation calls for its own discernment. But in general, I think full reparation includes forgiving myself for my mistakes, opening to the transformative power of God that allows me to begin again, and repairing any harm I have done to relationships.
Cardinal Newman famously said that “to be human is to change, to be perfect is to have changed many times.” How wonderful, Abba, that you, love itself, allow, even invite, me to make mistakes with you today, big, bold, mistakes—to be human, in other words, and thereby to change, as any growing child does.
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