Monday, November 12, 2018

Chapter 35: Weekly servers in the kitchen and at table (paragraphs 1-2)


Everyone in the community should take turns serving in the kitchen and at table. None should be exonerated from kitchen duty except in the case of sickness or the call of some important business for the monastery, because serving each other in this way has the great merit of fostering charity. (From para. 1 of Ch. 35 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I know that common meals can be a sacrament of community. St Benedict is reminding me that the small sacrifice of helping in the kitchen during mealtimes is also an occasion of grace.

1 comment:

  1. Kitchen and table: where You and I have the joy of meeting today, Abba, over every dirty dish and cluttered counter.

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