The Proper Amount of Food
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
(Sorry for the break from posting over the last couple weeks. Holy Week, as it does for most pastors, took over my life.)
Chapter 39 of the Rule of St. Benedict is a hard one for me. It addresses “the proper amount of food.” I usually behave myself here in my middle years, but my college buddies could tell you stories of the . . .
The Reader for the Week
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
If you ever eat with monks you’ll find they have a curious practice in that they listen to a reader during many of their meals. This comes from Benedict’s instructions; he says in Chapter 38: “Reading will always accompany the meals of the brothers.” While everyone is eating, one monk reads from a book. Many times the book is . . .
Care of the Sick Must Rank Above All Else
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
The care of the sick is holy work. Whether you’re a physical therapist or a doctor or a parent sitting beside the bed of a kid with the flu, when you care for those who are ill you’re doing something holy. Benedict understood this and tells us in Chapter 36 of his rule, “Care of the sick must rank above and before all else.” The reason . . .
Kitchen Duty and Serving One Another in Love
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
I like to cook, and years ago I hosted some friends for a dinner. I was serving my friends at the table, and one of the women made a comment to the other women. “Notice this,” she said to the other women, “A man is serving us.” It wasn’t a big deal to me, but for them it was, that they were the ones seated at the table while it was a man . . .
Benedict=Unfair
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
Benedict’s Rule isn’t fair. If you want everything divided equally among everyone you won’t be happy with how Benedict does things. In Chapter 34 he addresses the distribution of goods, and he recognizes it won’t happen equally, but it will be done based on need. “Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed, but whoever needs . . .
The Evil Practice of Private Ownership
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
In my childhood years, I remember a basic organizing principle for peace between siblings was the concept of private ownership. Certain things were yours; certain things were your siblings. I wasn’t to handle my sisters’ things, and they weren’t to handle mine. If we played by those rules there was a little more harmony in the house. Society, . . .
The Qualifications of the Cellarer, or What We Do with What We Have.
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
No one, at first glance, thinks, “Oh good, this part is going to be a real page-turner.” Chapter 31 is a detailed qualifications description for the Monastery Cellarer, which sounds like reading doubling as a sleeping pill. For Benedict, though, there is nothing dull about the Cellarer’s duties. The Cellarer is one who manages the goods . . .