Chapter 30: The correction of young children

There is a proper way of dealing with every age and every degree of understanding, and we should find the right way of dealing with the young. (From Ch. 30 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

What should be my response to those whose mental or emotional development is immature? Firmness, yes, but also patience, and acceptance, and humble attention.

Chapter 29: The readmission of any who leave the monastery

Anyone who is guilty of serious wrong by the personal decision to leave the monastery but then asks to be received back again must first of all promise full reparation for leaving the monastery. (From Ch. 29 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I'm intrigued by what "full reparation" might mean. Certainly each situation may have its own practical factors that need to be considered. But in general, I think full reparation means repairing harm to relationships. 

Chapter 28: The treatment of those who relapse

If even such prayer does not bring healing, the superior must turn to the knife of amputation, following the guidance of St Paul, who told the Corinthians to banish the evil from their midst, and again he said: if the unfaithful one wishes to go, let him go, lest one diseased sheep corrupt the whole flock. (From para. 2 of Ch. 28 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

To be fair and merciful, the whole process of letting go of someone harmful to community must be selfless, first in responding their needs, secondly in discerning what is the most life-giving, redemptive course of action for everyone.

Chapter 27: The superior's care for the excommunicated

Therefore the superior should use every curative skill as a wise doctor does, for instance by sending in senpectae, that is, mature and wise senior members of the community who may discreetly bring counsel to one who is in a state of uncertainty and confusion; their task will be to show the sinner the way to humble reconciliation and also to bring consolation, as St Paul also urges, to one in danger of being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow and in need of the reaffirmation of love which everyone in the community must achieve through prayer. (From Ch. 27 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I think what St. Benedict is offering is a compassionate response, or re-balancing, to an experience of penitential solitude. In solitude I can build a true relationship with myself, and with my Inner Teacher. But I can also be prone to the dilemmas that he observes: uncertainty, confusion, a need for humble reconciliation and consolation, being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow, in need of the reaffirmation of love. Thus, there seems to me to be a trinity of essential relationships: to myself, to God, and to others -- a trinity of redemptive relationships. 

Chapter 26: Unlawful association with the excommunicated

If any member of the community presumes without the permission of the abbot or abbess to associate in any way with or speak to or give instructions to one who has been excommunicated then that person should receive exactly the same punishment of excommunication. (Ch. 26 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Presumption, arrogance, the sins of pride -- Benedict is warning me against myself and my "good intentions". He reminds me that what I think is good for another may be based on my own self-importance or desire to control, determined that I know how to live another's life better than he or she does. Benedict wants to preserve conditions that make it possible for those who have separated themselves from God, to have the solitude and the stillness to hear the Inner Teacher.

Chapter 25: Punishment for more serious faults

None of the community should associate with or talk to the guilty person, who is to persevere alone in sorrow and penance in whatever work has been allotted, remembering St Paul's fearful judgement when he wrote to the Corinthians that such a one should be handed over for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (From Ch. 25 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

This harrowing injunction begins to make more sense to me in the experience of the tragic loss of relationship, the resulting experiences of loneliness groaning and growing into solitude, and the painful opportunities in all of this to transform my ego (what St Paul calls, I think, "flesh"). A new relationship forms for me in this standing alone before the Lord: the always new, ever deeper relationship with Christ. This relationship with Christ is my true self, so I can then return to truer relationship with others.

Chapter 24: Different degrees of severity in punishment

The severity of excommunication or any other punishment should correspond to the gravity of the fault committed, and it is for the superior to decide about the seriousness of faults. (From Ch. 24 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

This direction from Benedict powerfully focusses the light on my responsibility, by linking my self-righteousness about "punishing" another with an urge to overreact. I'm responsible in any situation where I get hurt or angry, and have an opportunity to respond to another. Do I react with a wallop of uncontrolled emotion? Do I step back and consult my Inner Teacher? Do I with respond with love, appropriateness, and concern for the other and our relationship?