WCCM Oblate Blog: Reflections from Daily Reading of the Rule of St. Benedict

WCCM Benedictine Oblates are encouraged to read a designated portion of the Rule daily, and to write a brief, personal response. I hope that this blog will support our Oblate community in this practice. Please, keep blog entries brief and in a first-person ("I") voice. Refrain from discussing, offering an opinion, or commenting on other entries. Simply consider how a particular section of the Rule is speaking to you in your present circumstances.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Chapter 3: Calling the community together for consultation (paragraph 1)

The community themselves should be careful to offer their advice with due deference and respect, avoiding an obstinate defence of their own convictions. (From para. 1 of Ch. 3 of St. Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

St Benedicts reminds me of the violence that can be done with words, a violence that precludes selfless attention, and makes listening impossible.

1 comment:

Wally SaundersJanuary 17, 2019 at 5:52 AM
“We are sick as our secrets,” says one of the 12-Step slogans. Abba, help me to have the humility and the courage to seek counsel whenever I am stymied by a conundrum and its concomitant fear.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment