“Listen, O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and
incline the ear of thy heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the
admonitions of thy loving Father, that by the toil of obedience thou mayest
return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience thou hast gone away.”
I remember a few conversations that I had with fellow
Evangelical Protestants when I talked with them about discovering The Rule and
becoming an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Their response, without giving The Rule
so much as a casual reading, was, “A Rule? That sounds like legalistic bondage.
How can you get caught up in all that legalism?”
Here I am now, this far this side of completing my novitiate
and signing my Oblate Promises [September 22, 2007], ever more thankful that I
was able to begin listening to Saint Benedict by inclining the ear of
my heart. I have come a long way in returning to him from whom I had by
disobedience gone away. In my own life-process of conversatio morum I must
however admit that I yet have far to go in my own process of conversion of life.
Something that I can state with great assurance is that I
have never discovered The Rule to resemble anything remotely legalistic. To the
contrary. I have discovered The Rule’s authority to be full of liberating grace.
It is important to remember that there is no freedom without authority. In
fact, the greatest responsibility of authority is to insure freedom. We readily
accept this where our secular affairs are concerned. We must be ever more willing
to accept this where our spiritual affairs are concerned.
As part of my own process of conversion, I sensed [what I
believe to have been] an unction from the Holy Spirit to consider afresh the precepts
and admonitions of the spiritual master. These personal
perceptions and reflections are part of yielding to that unction and to
present, in an orderly fashion, something that will [1] assist me in my own
understanding and ongoing conversatio morum [conversion of life], and [2]
assist and encourage other Oblates and curious inquirers in their pursuit of
things Benedictine.
This is necessarily a process not to be rushed. A lot of
thought and prayer goes into such a process; without which the outcome would be
cold, surgical, and sterile. The promise of the Gospel is
abundant life.
The promise of Saint Benedict is
abundant life.
Integrating these precepts into our lives is the key to joyfully
experiencing the abundant life in the here and now.
At no point will I foolishly insinuate that my perceptions
are the most accurate way to interpret and apply The Rule. My
only claim in this matter is that I attempt to the uttermost to render due
diligence in understanding the precepts and admonitions of Saint
Benedict and in applying them to daily life as an Oblate outside the monastic
enclosure in a way that is [1] honorably consistent with the way they are
applied inside the monastic enclosure while [2] consistently honoring and
performing the responsibilities of my status in life as a husband, father, and
member of the at-large community of faith.
I have, thus far in these personal reflections, given
consideration to the Prologue. The Prologue is a grand invitation that calls us
to personal introspection. It calls us to open ourselves to the still and
gentle voice of God speaking to us in the depths of our being; a voice that
challenges and calls us to consider greater measures of surrender of our lives.
I have given consideration to Chapter 1 that clearly names the four kinds of
monks and defines them according to their personal characteristics; Chapter 2
that takes into consideration the qualities of the Abbot; Chapter 3 that
regards summoning the brothers for counsel.
Chapter 4 is an extremely challenging chapter.
I liken it to
being something akin to an examination of conscience; and not one for anyone
that is satisfied with making excuses and looking for loopholes. In the eye of
my own mind, I see chapters 4 through 7 as the criteria being used as the basis
of a Benedictine performance exam where absolute honesty is required. There
must, of necessity, be something that determines whether I am or am not
performing, outward black habit or not, as one that is attached by Solemn
Promises to a monastery of the Benedictine Order.
In opening up this next chapter, I do so in the spirit of
participating in a Chapter of Faults.
I recall something that Merton wrote in one of his journals
where he talked about the necessity of being honest about one’s faults when the
abbot convened a Chapter of Faults. Merton mentioned that one had better go
ahead and admit their faults to the brothers because, it they did not, the
brothers would take advantage of the opportunity to point them out for you.
It seems rather appropriate [perhaps even providential] that
I am concluding 2019 and beginning 2020 at this point in my fresh examination
of The Rule.
The Instruments of
Good Works
(1) In the first place to love the Lord God with the
whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength...
(2) Then, one's neighbor as one's self (cf Mt
22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27).
(3) Then, not to kill...
(4) Not to commit adultery...
(5) Not to steal...
(6) Not to covet (cf Rom 13:9).
(7) Not to bear false witness (cf Mt 19:18; Mk 10:19;
Lk 18:20).
(8) To honor all men (cf 1 Pt 2:17).
(9) And what one would not have done to himself, not
to do to another (cf Tob 4:16; Mt 7:12; Lk 6:31).
(10) To deny one's self in order to follow Christ (cf
Mt 16:24; Lk 9:23).
(11) To chastise the body (cf 1 Cor 9:27).
(12) Not to seek after pleasures.
(13) To love fasting.
(14) To relieve the poor.
(15) To clothe the naked...
(16) To visit the sick (cf Mt 25:36).
(17) To bury the dead.
(18) To help in trouble.
(19) To console the sorrowing.
(20) To hold one's self aloof from worldly ways.
(21) To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
(22) Not to give way to anger.
(23) Not to foster a desire for revenge.
(24) Not to entertain deceit in the heart.
(25) Not to make a false peace.
(26) Not to forsake charity.
(27) Not to swear, lest perchance one swear falsely.
(28) To speak the truth with heart and tongue.
(29) Not to return evil for evil (cf 1 Thes 5:15; 1 Pt
3:9).
(30) To do no injury, yea, even patiently to bear the
injury done us.
(31) To love one's enemies (cf Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27).
(32) Not to curse them that curse us, but rather to
bless them.
(33) To bear persecution for justice sake (cf Mt
5:10).
(34) Not to be proud...
(35) Not to be given to wine (cf Ti 1:7; 1 Tm 3:3).
(36) Not to be a great eater.
(37) Not to be drowsy.
(38) Not to be slothful (cf Rom 12:11).
(39) Not to be a murmurer.
(40) Not to be a detractor.
(41) To put one's trust in God.
(42) To refer what good one sees in himself, not to
self, but to God.
(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be
convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.
(44) To fear the day of judgment.
(45) To be in dread of hell.
(46) To desire eternal life with all spiritual
longing.
(47) To keep death before one's eyes daily.
(48) To keep a constant watch over the actions of our
life.
(49) To hold as certain that God sees us everywhere.
(50) To dash at once against Christ the evil thoughts
which rise in one's heart.
(51) And to disclose them to our spiritual father.
(52) To guard one's tongue against bad and wicked
speech.
(53) Not to love much speaking.
(54) Not to speak useless words and such as provoke
laughter.
(55) Not to love much or boisterous laughter.
(56) To listen willingly to holy reading.
(57) To apply one's self often to prayer.
(58) To confess one's past sins to God daily in prayer
with sighs and tears, and to amend them for the future.
(59) Not to fulfil the desires of the flesh (cf Gal
5:16).
(60) To hate one's own will.
(61) To obey the commands of the Abbot in all things,
even though he himself (which Heaven forbid) act otherwise, mindful of that
precept of the Lord: "What they say, do ye; what they do, do ye not"
(Mt 23:3).
(62) Not to desire to be called holy before one is;
but to be holy first, that one may be truly so called.
(63) To fulfil daily the commandments of God by works.
(64) To love chastity.
(65) To hate no one.
(66) Not to be jealous; not to entertain envy.
(67) Not to love strife.
(68) Not to love pride.
(69) To honor the aged.
(70) To love the younger.
(71) To pray for one's enemies in the love of Christ.
(72) To make peace with an adversary before the
setting of the sun.
(73) And never to despair of God's mercy.
Behold, these are the instruments of the spiritual art,
which, if they have been applied without ceasing day and night and approved on
judgment day, will merit for us from the Lord that reward which He hath
promised: "The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love
Him" (1 Cor 2:9). But the workshop in which we perform all these works with
diligence is the enclosure of the monastery, and stability in the community.
It must be pointed out that these instruments of the
spiritual art are not instruments unique to culture within a monastery. The
brothers [and sisters] diligently perform them within the enclosure of the
monastery in an environment enriched by the stability in the
community. These sharp-edged instruments belong to the Church. They belong to
every Christian. They belong especially to Oblates, to those of us that have
been described as monasticisms gift to the world.
“Oblates are monasticism's gift to the world. I hope that
through this statement all Oblates will come to appreciate who they are. The
Oblates are indeed a gift and have much to give to the world, a world which is
seeking and searching for its ultimate salvation. The Oblate stands between
monasticism and the world as a mediator, linking the two, drawing them
together, bringing to the world the values which monasticism holds up as
important for the Christian way of life.”
Oblation, taken seriously, is a serious life-calling.
