Chapter 33: Personal possessions in the monastery

It is vitally important to cut out by the roots from the monastery the bad practice of anyone in the community giving away anything or accepting any gift for themselves, as if it were their own personal property, without the permission of the superior. (From Ch. 33 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

St Benedict reminds me that everything I think of as "mine" is only on loan to me, and that I must learn to consider the common welfare in relation to my acquisitive habits. Fr John reminds me that even meditation is not "my" meditation. This must be how meditation creates community.