Chapter 55: Clothing and footwear for the community (paragraphs 1-2)

The community must not be too sensitive about the colour and quality of this clothing; they should be content with what is available in the locality at a reasonable cost. However the superior should see to it that the garments are not short and ill-fitting but appropriate to the size and build of those who wear them. (From para. 1 of Chap. 55 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Contentment with what is reasonably available, and yet also appropriate to size and build. It seems to me that Benedict counsels against a preoccupation with clothing and the false identity that can come with it. But against the false identity he also counsels for clothing that recognizes the dignity of the True Self in every size of person.

Chapter 54: The reception of letters and gifts in the monastery

Then it will be for the superior, after agreeing to the reception of the gift, to decide who in the community should receive the gift and, if it is not the one to whom it was sent, that should not give rise to recriminations lest the devil be given an opportunity. (From Ch. 54 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

A generosity of spirit, an attention to my true needs and those of others, a detachment from using things to control others, and from being controlled by things myself: All of this is a liberating message to me in a season of commercial chaos.

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.)

I may not have two kitchens, but I have the grace of a discipline, the practice of meditation twice a day. Circumstances may require me to be flexible, and sometimes I may fail, but I have the stability of knowing what my practice is, so that I may always be grounded in it, always return to it.

Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 1-4)

The greatest care should be taken to give a warm reception to the poor and to pilgrims, because it is in them above all others that Christ is welcomed. (From para. 4 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

What the poor and the pilgrims represent for me a lack of pretense, a way of being that is transparent. Freed of being encumbered, the heart shines out.

Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery

The oratory must be simply a place of prayer, as the name itself implies, and it must not be used for any other activities at all nor as a place for storage of any kind. (From Ch. 52 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

The mantra is like a broom that sweeps away the debris of my inner space. This broom clears the way of poverty, a path of dispossession, that leads to purity of heart. The mantra takes me deeper and deeper, pushing aside psychological baggage, bringing me closer to my source.

Chapter 51: Those on local errands or work

Any who are sent on an errand which will allow them to return to the monastery on the same day must not eat outside, in spite of pressing invitations whatever their source, unless the superior has approved this. (From Ch. 51 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

In the midst of many pressures and temptations which would take me off course, I thank God for allowing me to return to the discipline of meditation.

Chapter 50: Those whose work takes them away from the monastery

Those whose work takes them some distance from the monastery so that they cannot manage to get to the oratory at the right times for prayer must kneel with profound reverence for the Lord and perform the work of God at their place of work. (From para. 1 of Ch. 50 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

For me, St Benedict's call to faithfulness in doing the work of God, echoes Fr John's teaching that the only progress in meditation is in growing fidelity to the practice. I think that in this faithfulness, the gap between "times of prayer" and daily life closes, and that a fruit of this fidelity might be continuous prayer.