Prologue to the Rule (paragraph 7)
Well then, brothers and sisters, we have questioned the Lord about who can dwell with him in his holy place and we have heard the demands he makes on such a one; we can be united with him there, only if we fulfil those demands. We must, therefore, prepare our hearts and our bodies to serve him under the guidance of holy obedience. (From para. 7 of The Prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
What does it mean to prepare my body to serve under the guidance of holy obedience? That my body is not my own, as St Benedict tells his monks elsewhere? I'm not a monk under obedience to a superior in the conventional sense. I think I must follow the teaching that mediation is the most incarnational form of prayer there is. Thus, even qualities such as physical fitness and moderation prepare me to be wholly in the Presence.
"...let us ask God
ReplyDeletethat He be pleased to give us the help of His grace for anything which our nature finds hardly possible." All good things will never be possible without the grace of God. In like manner, nothing is impossible with God's burning love for me in the guise of wonderful blessings ...