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, August 6, 2019

Chapter 54: The reception of letters and gifts in the monastery

No one in a monastic community may receive or send to others letters, gifts of piety or any little tokens without the permission of the superior, whether it is their parents who are concerned or anyone else at all or another member of the community. (From Ch. 54 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

For me this is a guideline about giving and receiving gifts without strings attached. Do I desire special attention or wish to control someone else, or is my receiving and giving done in a spirit of inner freedom, and respect for the other, without any expectations?

1 comment:

Wally SaundersAugust 6, 2019 at 4:53 AM
This mandate repels me, Abba, as anything that so totally challenges my ego and restricts my freedom can repel me and trigger my inner stubbornness and rebelliousness. Thereby, however, Benedict here reminds me once again, as does my meditation and the mantra, that You are my utterly clear priority.
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