Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 5-6)
The kitchen to serve the superior together with the guests should be quite separate, so that guests, who are never lacking in a monastery, may not unsettle the community by arriving, as they do, at all times of the day. (From para. 5 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
My household isn't large enough to contain two kitchens. And yet, I respond to the parallel arrangement that Benedict describes, of hospitality and stability standing side by side.
My household isn't large enough to contain two kitchens. And yet, I respond to the parallel arrangement that Benedict describes, of hospitality and stability standing side by side.
"We will discover as we persevere in meditation that we cannot put God on hold, keep Him in a waiting room and say to Him, ‘When I’m through with this important business I’m so absorbed in, I’ll attend to you.’ " (John Main "The Way of Unknowing"). Abba, throughout this day, help me make you my Priority Guest, beginning with my two meditations. Lead me beyond my busy-ness-created illusions and delusions to the rock-solid truth of your presence here, now.
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