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.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 15)

The eighth step of humility teaches us to do nothing which goes beyond what is approved and encouraged by the common rule of the monastery and the example of our seniors. (Para. 15 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Are St Benedict's words a damper on individual initiative, or, rather, a warning about the ego? Perhaps Benedict is pointing me towards openness to being formed a wisdom tradition, and stability in seeking Christ in my heart. I also recognize the faithful discipline required by the practice of meditation. Humility can foster discernment, and thus, it seems that St Benedict offers me a guide to liberty of spirit.

1 comment:

Wally SaundersFebruary 5, 2019 at 5:12 AM
Benedict’s Eighth Step in humility reminds me to listen and learn. My narcissistic ego-centered, know-it-all mind hates to admit how little I really know, how much I have to learn. Counterintuitively saying the mantra helps open me to Benedict’s ever-expanding vision of life.
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