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.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Chapter 47: Signalling the times for the work of God

The superior is personally responsible for making sure that the time for the work of God, both at night and during the daytime, is clearly made known to all.
(From para. 1 of Ch. 47 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

I take it as a sign of maturity, I hope, and increasing fidelity to my meditation practice, that I let my family, and others, know more firmly and clearly when it's time for me to meditate. I temporize less, and risk more -- and gain more -- in the process.

1 comment:

Roger SessionsJuly 27, 2012 at 12:22 PM
"And no one shall presume to sing or read
unless he can fulfill that office
in such a way as to edify the hearers.
Let this function be performed
with humility, gravity and reverence,
and by him whom the Abbot has appointed."

If I am to be a source of "edification", I must first be able to let go of ego and embrace humility, gravity, and reverence. Easier said than done. Mediation is the path.
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