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.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Chapter 58: The reception of candidates for the community (paragraphs 1-3)

The entry of postulants into the monastic life should not be made too easy, but we should follow St John's precept to make trial of the spirits to see if they are from God. (From para. 1 of Ch. 58 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Trials of the spirits, for me, are often only the workings of my own inner demons: distractions, obsessions, fears. But the mantra guides to silence and can bring me to a point of transformation.

1 comment:

Wally SaundersAugust 11, 2019 at 5:29 AM
"Everyone has to be open to being formed again. The only thing that can possibly deter the new formation is if we ourselves refuse to let go of what was. If we cling to the past, the future is closed to us." (Joan Chittister, "Rule of Benedict Daily Reading"). Abba, help me to relax my firm grip on the past. Open my heart to the ever-new day and the ever-new future adventure you have in store for me.
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