Chapter 36: The care of the sick in the monastery 

The care of those who are sick in the community is an absolute priority, which must rank before every other requirement, so that there may be no doubt that it is Christ who is truly served in them. (From para. 1 of Ch. 36 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

I can wish to avoid the sick or weak other as an inconvenience to myself, and I can wish to avoid being sick or weak as a personal limitation or failure. But in the pure moment of being with sickness or weakness I paradoxically find myself standing on firm ground.