Chapter 36: The care of the sick in the monastery 

The care of those who are sick in the community is an absolute priority, which must rank before every other requirement, so that there may be no doubt that it is Christ who is truly served in them. (From para. 1 of Ch. 36 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

I can wish to avoid the sick or the weak because I see them as an inconvenience to myself. I can also wish to avoid seeming sick or weak myself, because I fear those experiences will expose my failure. But in the pure moment of being with sickness or weakness I paradoxically find the true center.