Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraphs 5-6)

They should make their own the different ways of teaching which the Apostle Paul recommended to Timothy when he told him to make use of criticism, of entreaty and of rebuke. (From para. 5 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

In whatever ways I may teach, encourage or correct another, I pray that my response may be rooted in love -- in patience, kindness, and humility -- so that heart may speak to heart.

Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 4)

They should not select for special treatment any individual in the monastery. (From para. 4 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I think this is almost humanly impossible. But as meditation helps me to rely less on the lens of my ego, I begin to see others more clearly, and delight in treating them each with uncommon respect.

Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 3)

Any, then, who accept the name of abbot or abbess should give a lead to their disciples by two distinct methods of teaching -- by example of the lives they lead (and that is the most important way) and by the words they use in their teaching. (From para. 3 of Ch.2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

The methods St. Benedict mentions may be distinct, and yet I think there can be a synergism of them in the authentic voice of a teacher, such as John Main. Fr. John would often teach with the words, "in my experience", and the truth of those words has helped me to recognize my own authentic experience of the Spirit. Sometimes I'm blessed with the opportunity to share "in my experience" with others, by my life and by my words.

Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 2)

However, it is also true that, if the flock has been unruly and disobedient and the superiors have done everything possible as shepherds to cure their vicious ways, then they will be absolved in the judgement of God and may say with the psalmist: I have not hidden your teaching in my heart; I have proclaimed your truth and the salvation you offer, but the they despised and rejected me. (From para. 2 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I may not have the teaching authority of an abbot, but I do have opportunities in my life to teach authentically. May my ego become more transparent so that my heart is more visible.

Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 1)

Far from it, everything he or she teaches should be like a leaven of holiness that comes from God infused into the minds of their disciples. (From para.1 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB,)

  

A new twist for me in St. Benedict's simile -- "like a leaven of holiness" -- is the realization that, with grace, I can discern the redemptive value of circumstances, and again, with grace, I might share this lightness with others. 

Chapter 1: Four approaches to the monastic life

About the wretched way of life that all these so-called monks pursue it is better to keep silence than to speak. Let us leave them to themselves and turn to the strongest kind, the cenobites, so that with the Lord's help we may consider the regulation of their way of life. (From para. 5 of Ch. 1 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: "He who loves community destroys community; he who loves the brethren builds community."  It seems to me that community is built through mutually-transforming relationships.

Prologue to the Rule (paragraph 8)

If, however, you find in it anything which seems rather strict, but which is demanded reasonably for the correction of vice or the preservation of love, do not let that frighten you into fleeing from the way of salvation; it is a way which is bound to seem narrow to start with. (From para. 8 of the Prologue to Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

This approach to the Rule is, for me, also exactly the same approach to the saying of the mantra.