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.)
St. Benedict links service among household members with charity. Often service is taken for granted -- I've felt that way about my own service and am too often negligent in honoring others' service. But to link service with charity means that my actions can be loving and therefore invaluable, despite whether or not they get "noticed".
Abba, I just spent some days visiting my gravely disabled brother in an Assisted Living facility. Being with all these impaired folks reminds me what a privilege it is to be of service to others. I do not HAVE to help out in the kitchen. I GET to do so. Thank you for the gift of being able to be of service to those about me for this one more day.
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