Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert

It is never easy to tell a superior what he ought to be, yet it is necessary. This chapter
Chapter 2: Qualities of the Abbot does not speak about the psychology of the abbot, nor about his relative wholeness as a
human being. Rather it sets a goal for the abbot, which he must constantly strive to
attain, even while he recognizes that daily he fails.
1 To be worthy of the task of governing a monastery, the abbot must always
That the abbot holds the place of Christ in the community is a theological statement. We
remember what his title signifies and act as a superior should. 2 He is believed
accept this by faith. We may find it difficult humanly to see the face of Christ in our abbot,
to hold the place of Christ in the monastery, since he is addressed by a title of
yet by faith we must constantly strive to accept the abbot in this role. It is not easy for
Christ, 3 as the Apostle indicates: You have received the spirit of adoption of
any of us.
sons by which we exclaim, abba, father (Rom 8:15). 4 Therefore, the abbot
The abbot must clearly teach sound Christian doctrine. In our time, it must be said that
must never teach or decree or command anything that would deviate from the
the abbot is bound to teach Catholic doctrine and be in union with the local bishop and
Lord’s instructions. 5 On the contrary, everything he teaches and commands
the Holy Father. We are reminded that all of us are answerable to God. The abbot must
should, like the leaven of divine justice, permeate the minds of his disciples. 6
strive to present a clear and faithful doctrine of prayer and holiness. The monks must
Let the abbot always remember that at the fearful judgment of God, not only
strive to live a life of holiness that is clearly and unambiguously in the monastic tradition.
his teaching but also his disciples’ obedience will come under scrutiny. 7 The
It is all too easy for the abbot to complain about the monks and insist that they are not
abbot must, therefore, be aware that the shepherd will bear the blame
all that they should be. It is just as easy for the monks to complain that the abbot has so
wherever the father of the household finds that the sheep have yielded no
many weaknesses that he does not really lead the community. A true Benedictine
profit. 8 Still, if he has faithfully shepherded a restive and disobedient flock,
spirituality is one in which each monk (even the abbot) takes responsibility for his own
always striving to cure their unhealthy ways, it will be otherwise: 9 the
life, for the challenge of loving each member of the community as he is, for the
shepherd will be acquitted at the Lord’s judgment. Then, like the Prophet, he
responsibility of being faithful to his own life of prayer however difficult it may be and
may say to the Lord: I have not hidden your justice in my heart; I have
for giving himself over to the community and to the work of the community with a strong
proclaimed your truth and your salvation (Ps 39 [40]:11), but they spurned and
decision of the will that is prepared for sacrifice and rejoices when God gives peace and
rejected me (Isa 1:2; Ezek 20:27). 10 Then at last the sheep that have rebelled
stillness.
against his care will be punished by the overwhelming power of death.
Our words and our life are to be of one peace. No one, and especially not the abbot,

11 Furthermore, anyone who receives the name of abbot is to lead his disciples ought to be preaching a life that cannot be lived. We can teach, however, that there are

by a twofold teaching: 12 he must point out to them all that is good and holy goals for which we aim in this life, even though we know that most likely we shall never

more by example than by words, proposing the commandments of the Lord to completely arrive there.

receptive disciples with words, but demonstrating God’s instructions to the In this context it is interesting to read the tenth rule of Saint Ignatius for thinking, judging

stubborn and the dull by a living example.
and feeling with the Church:
We ought to be more inclined to approve and praise the decrees, recommendations, and
conduct of our superiors than to speak against them. For although some of these acts
are not or were not praiseworthy, to speak against them either by preaching in public or
by conversing among the ordinary people would cause more murmuring and scandal
than profit. And through this the people would become angry at their officials, whether
Chapter 2, Verses 13-26
civil or spiritual. However, just as it does harm to speak evil about officials among the
ordinary people while they are absent, so it can be profitable to speak of their bad
conduct to persons who can bring about a remedy.
13 Again, if he teaches his disciples that something is not to be done, then
We are weak in this kind of thinking in our own time and our communities are therefore
neither must he do it, lest after preaching to others, he himself be found
weak. We are so conditioned that we think only brutal honesty will help any situation.
reprobate (1 Cor 9:27) 14 and God may some day call to him in his sin: How is
Instead, our monastic tradition, and that of Saint Ignatius, tells us always to find good in
it that you repeat my just commands and mouth my covenant when you hate
whatever it is that we are doing and in all the other persons in our lives.
discipline and toss my words behind you (Ps 49[50]:16-17)? 15 And also this:
This kind of thinking leaves us really free to listen to whatever the abbot says and to see
How is it that you can see a splinter in your brother’s eye, and never notice the
whatever of Christ is in his utterances. It seems to be a part of human nature, however,
plank in your own (Matt 7:3)?
to find the weaknesses of others. Once we find their weaknesses, then we tend to
16 The abbot should avoid all favoritism in the monastery. 17 He is not to love
discount anything they have to say if it gets into the way of what we really want to do.
one more than another unless he finds someone better in good actions and
This is not a good way of living, spiritually. Humanly, of course, we get just what we want.
obedience. 18 A man born free is not to be given higher rank than a slave who
Spiritually, we are called to seek God and we know that that often means walking on the
becomes a monk, except for some other good reason. 19 But the abbot is free,
path of sacrifice and suffering.
if he sees fit, to change anyone’s rank as justice demands. Ordinarily, everyone
The abbot is just as subject to this common human vice. He can begin to have deaf ears
is to keep his regular place, 20 because whether slave or free, we are all one in
once he discovers the weaknesses of the monks. He can think to himself that it doesn’t
Christ (Gal 3:28; Eph 6:8) and share alike in bearing arms in the service of the
matter, in any case, because the monks won’t really change–probably don’t even want
one Lord, for God shows no partiality among persons (Rom 2:11). 21 Only in
to.
this are we distinguished in his sight: if we are found better in good works and
The Rule in this Chapter calls us to another way of living. A way of living that is clearly in
in humility. 22 Therefore, the abbot is to show equal love to everyone and apply
Christ Jesus and is willing to listen to one another and accept one another, even after we
the same discipline to all according to their merits.
have seen each other’s faults and weaknesses. We need a great deal of faith to do this.
23 In his teaching, the abbot should always observe the Apostle’s
Oftentimes novices and those in the early stages of formation leave when they see the
recommendation, in which he says: Use argument, appeal, reproof (2 Tim 4:2).
scandal of the human weaknesses and failings of their brother monks. This is one of the
24 This means he must vary with circumstances, threatening and coaxing by
trials that those in formation must get through: how to live with the sinfulness and
turns, stern as a taskmaster, devoted and tender as only a father can be. 25
weakness of the community which I have joined. All of us must see the sins and
With the undisciplined and restless, he will use firm argument; with the
weaknesses of our brothers as simply the call to us to live more deeply in Christ, not as
obedient and docile and patient, he will appeal for greater virtue; but as for the
a sign that I do not belong here. It is easy to become discouraged. It must be said quite
negligent and disdainful, we charge him to use reproof and rebuke. 26 He
openly that we are likely to encounter every possible sin in the monastic community–
should not gloss over the sins of those who err, but cut them out while he can,
and, we would not be saved. We try to imitate Him and not run away because of the
as soon as they begin to sprout, remembering the fate of Eli, priest of Shiloh (1
sinfulness and weakness of our brothers. The community is our encounter with grace.
Sam 2:11-4:18).
May the Lord strengthen us to live in community and to fight for Christ and to love our
brothers.
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
We can see Saint Benedict focus on the role of the Abbot in these verses. First he wants
to make sure that the abbot is trying to live what he is preaching. This is not to say that
the Abbot must be perfect–no one is–but that he must be trying to live the Gospel in the
same way that he preaches it to others. It does no good for the abbot to speak about
silence if he is never silent–and so with every observance of the house.
We note also that the abbot must not be looking for ways to correct the brethren, but
rather ways to lead them deeper into the divine life. This is a very different role from
simply making sure that everyone is obeying the observances of the Gospel and of the
Church and of the Monastery. Saint Benedict wants the abbot to lead the monks into a
living relationship with God.
Then Saint Benedict points out some of the dangers. The abbot can have favorites
because of his personal likes and dislikes. The abbot must avoid this. In the 1990’s, many
people thought that everyone must have a special friend, or that one should certainly
not refuse a close personal friendship if one develops. Saint Benedict points the abbot in
another direction: look for good works and obedience. Basically we are told that what
matters in monastic life is the strong attempt to seek God and not the natural bonds of
human affection. All of us can have entangled human relationships in our lives at some
time, but we must work towards putting all of our relationships in the light of God’s
invitation to us to be monks who seek Him and to always put Him first.
Saint Benedict also warns against preferring one person to another because of external
circumstances. At the time of the writing of the Rule, there was danger of preferring a
free man to a slave. In our times there is more danger of preferring one person to
another on account of nationality or personal talents or such things. In any case, we are
directed by the Rule to look at the things that are necessary: how does this person live
the monastic life? Good works and humility are brought out in this context.
The abbot must be flexible and adapt himself to each situation. There is no room in the
Rule for rigidity and for lack of creativity on the part of the Abbot. Rather, the abbot must
take the time to look deeply into a situation and to pray about what to do and then try
to choose a course of action that is truly according to the Gospel and the monastic
tradition as he seeks to draw each monk deeper into the monastic life.
The abbot can be threatening or coaxing. Most of us prefer to be coaxed rather than to
be threatened. There are times when threats are necessary to make a person see that
he must come to his senses. The abbot should never love threatening others–neither
should he love coaxing them. The ideal is when the monk is truly adult and mature and
gives himself to a full living of the monastic life with neither threats nor coaxings. If an
abbot is always threatening, the threats become normal and lose their force. So also with
coaxing. The abbot must learn how to do both without using his own energy unduly.
Firm argument works with some monks but not with others. In the same way the appeal
for greater virtue is only for some of the brothers. We would like to hope that we might
be among those who can be invited to greater virtue rather than among those who need
firm argument. We must always strive not to be among those who need reproof and
rebuke.
Finally we come to that phrase in the Rule in which the abbot is not to gloss over the sins
of those who err, but to cut them out while he can. This verse 26 of Chapter 2 is very
important because most abbots and superiors hope that the monks will see their own
errors or faults and correct them themselves, without the authority of the abbot having
to come into the situation.
Saint Benedict would surely have felt the same, but recognizes that letting faults and sins
grow without mentioning them is not healthy for the community. In the popular
psychology of the 1990’s, it would be said that keeping family secrets makes everyone
psychologically ill.
This does not mean publicizing the faults and sins of others. It means that the abbot must
be able to speak frankly and openly to the monks about what he sees as their faults and
errors and that he should be able to expect them to respond in faith. There is no
compulsive seeking for the faults of the brothers here, only a gentle awareness that all
of us have faults and that we usually work more courageously against them when we
have told them to someone else or when someone else has told us that he is aware of
them.
It is good if the abbot can make a commitment in faith to speak honestly to his brothers,
with prudence, about their faults and their lacks. It takes courage because sometimes
the brothers will get angry and reject the abbot. Other times a monk who is corrected
can become resentful and rejecting. And if the abbot’s correction is not done in faith it
will be useless.
We must encourage our abbot to be open with us. We might even ask him from time to this way, while always fearful of the future examination of the shepherd about
time if he sees anything in us that needs special attention. If we can do this in faith, we the sheep entrusted to him and careful about the state of others’ accounts, he
can grow rapidly in the spiritual life. becomes concerned also about his own, 40 and while helping others to amend
May God give each of us the grace to be open to our Abbot or our superiors, prudently by his warnings, he achieves the amendment of his own faults.
and with faith. May God open our hearts so that we may grow in this monastic way.
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
Saint Benedict wants to make sure that the abbot does not rule the Monastery simply
Chapter 2, Verses 27-40 like a temporal ruler of his own time. Rather, the abbot must seek to give true Gospel
teaching to the monks. Saint Benedict also recognizes that not all monks will be able to
understand a teaching that is only verbal. It is interesting to us that Saint Benedict
27 For upright and perceptive men, his first and second warnings should be
presumes that there will be monks who are evil and stubborn and arrogant and
verbal; 28 but those who are evil or stubborn, arrogant or disobedient he can
disobedient. These are real monks in a real community. We would prefer to think that
curb only by blows or some other physical punishment at the first offense. It is
all monks are good and docile and humble and obedient.
written, The fool cannot be corrected with words (Prov 29:19); 29 and again,
The challenge for our formation is to become all the positive qualities and to recognize
Strike your son with a rod and you will free his soul from death (Prov 23:14).
and work against the negative qualities. Monastic life is a matter of growing in Christ,
30 The abbot must always remember what he is and remember what he is
not something that we can just put on immediately.
called, aware that more will be expected of a man to whom more has been
There are monks who put on all the good qualities almost from the beginning. Often
entrusted. 31 He must know what a difficult and demanding burden he has
times they do not persevere because it was only a “putting on,” not a “becoming.” There
undertaken: directing souls and serving a variety of temperaments, coaxing,
is a subtle process at work here. At times we must “put on” while we strive to “become.”
reproving and encouraging them as appropriate. 32 He must so accommodate
At other times we seem unable to “put on” and yet we must still strive to “become.” We
and adapt himself to each one’s character and intelligence that he will not only
are in deep trouble when we no longer struggle to become.
keep the flock entrusted to his care from dwindling, but will rejoice in the
The abbot himself must constantly be striving to help his brothers, to be of profit to
increase of a good flock. 33 Above all, he must not show too great concern for
them. Saint Benedict makes it very clear that the abbot has a true responsibility for each
the fleeting and temporal things of this world, neglecting or treating lightly the
of the brothers. As always, there are extremes. The abbot can lack responsibility and use
welfare of those entrusted to him. 34 Rather, he should keep in mind that he
the Monastery simply for his own honor. The abbot can also become over-responsible
has undertaken the care of souls for whom he must give an account. 35 That
and not leave room for the brothers to grow and to make their own mistakes.
he may not plead lack of resources as an excuse, he is to remember what is
The Rule points out that the abbot always has God’s help. The first task of the abbot is
written: Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will
to seek the Kingdom of God, then all else will be added. To seek the Kingdom of God
be given you as well (Matt 6:33), 36 and again, Those who fear him lack nothing
means also to do whatever abbots have to do. It does not mean simply praying and
(Ps 33[34]:10).
hoping that God will take care of all the practical items of the Monastery.
37 The abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be
There is a homily from the 2nd century that mentions that many people do not become
ready to account for them. 38 Whatever the number of brothers he has in his
Christians because they do not see Christians living the Gospel of Christ. Christ tells us to
care, let him realize that on judgment day he will surely have to submit a
love even our enemies, and we find it difficult even to love our friends consistently! If
reckoning to the Lord for all their souls–and indeed for his own as well. 39 In
Christians cannot forgive one another and everyone else, what hope is there for our
Chapter 3: Summoning the Brothers for
world? On the other hand, we must recognize that loving one another does not
Counsel
necessarily mean being friends with one another. Love is rather a deep willing of the
good of the other person and learning how to treat that person with respect and honor.
Saint Benedict ends this chapter on the abbot by reminding all monks that the abbot
1 As often as anything important is to be done in the monastery, the abbot shall
should be amending his own faults as he works with his monks on the amendment of
call the whole community together and himself explain what the business is; 2
their faults. It is said at times that the things that most bother us in other people are the
and after hearing the advice of the brothers, let him ponder it and follow what
things that we ourselves have yet to deal with in our own lives. This is not always true,
he judges the wiser course. 3 The reason why we have said all should be called
but there is enough truth in it that it should be said here in the chapter on the abbot. All
for counsel is that the Lord often reveals what is better to the younger. 4 The
of us could take time in our lives to become aware of the things that really bother us in
brothers, for their part, are to express their opinions with all humility, and not
others. Then we ought to take a bit more time and ask ourselves how those things have
presume to defend their own views obstinately. 5 The decision is rather the
been dealt with in our own lives. This is simply a suggestion to further our own growth
abbot’s to make, so that when he has determined what is more prudent, all
and commitment to Christ. We must not become caught up in the psychology of all of
may obey. 6 Nevertheless, just as it is proper for disciples to obey their master,
this, but in the opportunity of dealing with our own challenges and finding ways of
so it is becoming for the master on his part to settle everything with foresight
growing in ourselves and accepting others more deeply.
and fairness.
Saint Benedict is challenging the abbot to look at his own faults as he deals with the faults
7 Accordingly in every instance, all are to follow the teaching of the rule, and
of others. This is a wonderful challenge for any monk who wants to grow deeply in the
no one shall rashly deviate from it. 8 In the monastery no one is to follow his
monastic life. Saint Benedict is surely not encouraging the abbot not to deal with the
own heart’s desire, 9 nor shall anyone presume to contend with his abbot
faults of others, but to deal with others’ faults always with this deep awareness of his
defiantly, or outside the monastery. 10 Should anyone presume to do so, let
own personal sinfulness and imperfection. This will bring much compassion to the
him be subjected to the discipline of the rule. 11 Moreover, the abbot himself
monastic life.
must fear God and keep the rule in everything he does; he can be sure beyond
The challenge for our formation, once again, is to grow in our ability to love one another
any doubt that he will have to give an account of all his judgments to God, the
while striving to be totally faithful to the Gospel of Christ and the teachings of the
most just of judges.
Church. We must not become disillusioned by the sinfulness of our brothers or of our
12 If less important business of the monastery is to be transacted, he shall take
abbot. We are challenged to live our own lives so deeply that the grace of God will come
counsel with the seniors only, 13 as it is written: Do everything with counsel
upon our community in abundance and invite each brothers to live his life faithfully.
and you will not be sorry afterward (Sir 32:24).
The Curé of Ars often said that if a bishop wanted a holy diocese, he must challenge his
priests to holiness. So also if an abbot wants a holy Monastery, then he must challenge
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
each brother to holiness. So often today our inclination is to think that if our brothers
This whole chapter speaks about the need of communication within the monastic
were holy, I would be holy. Rather, it is the other way around: if I will strive to be holy,
community. The abbot is always to consult the community or the seniors. Saint Benedict
then my brothers will also be holy. The challenge is always for me to change my life. The
recognizes that the abbot needs to hear the advice of the brothers. There are many times
challenge is never that my brothers must change so that I will be content.
when the abbot may not want to consult, for many reasons. It may be difficult to explain
May God give each of us this grace to live for Him alone.
how important this advice of Benedict is for handing on the wisdom tradition that he
inherited. Experience has shown over and over again that the Monastery is best guided
when the abbot does ask for advice and listens to his brothers.
Think of Saint Bernard who became angry at his own blood brother and made him leave
monastic life. His monastic brothers then told him he was wrong. He was able to hear
them and to apologize to his brother and re-admit him to the community.
The Rule and Saint Benedict presume that the abbot will make decisions and that he
needs advice in making them. Sometimes there are abbots who do not want to make
decisions or who seem incapable of making decisions. This does not work well for a
monastery. Monasteries function better when the abbot makes the decisions after
consulting.
It is also presumed that the monks will give advice and have thoughts about the various
situations of the monastery. Sometimes our image of holiness can be that of a a person
without strong feelings, without thoughts of his or her own and without preferences.
This is not the type of person we find in the Rule of Benedict.
Thus there is advice to present one’s ideas and opinions with humility and not presume
to defend them obstinately. A certain amount of defense is seen as part of presenting
our views. These monks seem to be real human beings that Saint Benedict is legislating
for, not listless and thoughtless beings.
This chapter shifts back and forth between advice to the abbot and advice to the monks.
There must be a mutual respect for one another. This does not mean that there will not
be disagreements, or even rather sharp disagreements. The abbot and the monks must
both seek for God’s will even though at times it may seem that more human disputes
will prevail. The stronger each member of the community is in this search for knowing
what is right and striving to do it, the better off the community will be.
It is not easy always to try to do what is right. Saint Benedict even tells the monks that
no one is to contend with his abbot defiantly or outside the Monastery. This presumes
that there is a non-defiant contention with the abbot that can happen in the Monastery
and is probably even good for the health of the community.
It is difficult to speak about these rather intimate matters of a monastic community.
Monks disagree among themselves and they do not always do so gracefully. There are
also less than edifying exchanges between abbots and monks from time to time. One
could always wish that the Monastery were a perfect world, but it is not. Instead, our
sanctification takes place in a real world in which we are less then perfect and even
sometimes sinful.
One of the most difficult lessons of monastic life is that of humility and that is why
Benedict has such a large chapter on humility. We must learn to apologize. We must
learn to say to one another: “I am sorry.” We must learn to accept the apologies of one
another and continue striving to love and serve one another. At the heart of our salvation
in Christ Jesus is God’s forgiveness of us for all our offenses. Our response to that
forgiveness must be to forgive one another. At the heart of monastic life must be this
forgiveness and acceptance of another.
Like so many aspects of our lives, we must learn this forgiveness. We are not called to
look at anyone else and ask if they have forgiven, but we must each pray that we shall
always have the grace to forgive and accept. If we cannot accept and forgive yet in our
lives, then we must pray for God to change our hearts.
One other aspect of this chapter is the necessity of accepting and living out the decisions
that are made in community. This is so important for formation and for the on-going life
of the community. Many times in our monastic lives we shall encounter decisions that
we think are wrong or incorrect. Once we have had our chance to say what we think, and
if the decision remains the same, then we must accept it and get on with living it in a
positive way. This is very difficult but quite possible.
We must learn how to speak about the decisions in the community to guests or to other
outsiders without ever demeaning the community or the brothers or the superior. We
must learn how to speak about all the matters of community life in such a way that we
show our sense of loyalty and belonging to the community.
Finally, when all is said and done, we must recognize that there is a strong asceticism in
really living in community. It will not be easy for us at first, but will become easier in
time. If we form good community habits now, we shall enjoy their fruits later.
May the Lord bless and guide us always.
 34 You must not be proud,
Chapter 4: The Tools for Good Works 35 nor be given to wine (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3).
36 Refrain from too much eating
37 or sleeping,
38 and from laziness (Rom 12:11).
1 First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your wholesoul and all 39 Do not grumble
your strength, 2 and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-39; Mark 40 or speak ill of others.
12:30-31; Luke 10:27).
41 Place your hope in God alone.
3 Then the following: You are not to kill, 42 If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to
4 not to commit adultery; yourself,
5 you are not to steal
43 but be certain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to
6 nor to covet (Rom 13:9); acknowledge.
7 you are not to bear false witness (Matt 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20).
8 You must honor everyone (1 Pet 2:17), 44 Live in fear of judgment day
9 and never do to another what you do not want done to yourself (Tob 4:16; 45 and have a great horror of hell.
Matt 7:12; Luke 6:31).
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
10 Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23);
11 discipline your body (1 Cor 9:27); The tools for good works are short statements of how we are to live our lives as
12 do not pamper yourself, Christians, and therefore as monks. There is nothing in these first 45 verses that the
13 but love fasting. normal Christian should not strive to live–and if the normal Christian strives to live this
14 You must relieve the lot of the poor, way, then we monks must also strive. Verses 1 through 9 are simply the Ten
15 clothe the naked, Commandments seen in the eyes of the Gospel. Verse 10 begins to speak of
16 visit the sick (Matt 25:36), renouncing our selves in order to follow Christ and this is the heart of the good works.
17 and bury the dead.
We come to the Monastery to follow Christ in the monastic way and we must renounce
18 Go to help the troubled
all other ways and all other gods. Verse 11 speaks of bodily discipline. This is not
19 and console the sorrowing.
popular today because it brings to mind all kinds of physical penance of the past.
20 Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; Discipline your body, do not pamper yourself, but love fasting–all of this goes together
21 the love of Christ must come before all else. in our tradition. Our tradition says that to be a Christian or a monk is very difficult and
22 You are not to act in anger hard work and basically has nothing to do with how we feel about ourselves, but has to
23 or nurse a grudge. do with how we live. To attain the inner freedom that is necessary to love everyone
24 Rid your heart of all deceit. else and to accomplish the will of God in all circumstances, bodily discipline is
25 Never give a hollow greeting of peace necessary. While most of us would not aspire to be weight-lifters, we can recognize
26 or turn away when someone needs your love. easily that a weight-lifter cannot just start off pressing 500 pounds. Rather, the weight-
27 Bind yourself to no oath lest it prove false, lifter must train in order to be able to lift such a weight without bodily injury. The same
28 but speak the truth with heart and tongue. is true of monastic life and of the spiritual life. We must do the small tasks first so that
we can be able to live more deeply.
29 Do not repay one bad turn with another (1 Thess 5:15; 1 Pet 3:9).
30 Do not injure anyone, but bear injuries patiently. In some Zen centers, it is said that the novice Zen monk or Zen practitioner must first
31 Love your enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27). learn to close doors and to cook before there can be any thought of a deep spiritual
32 If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead. life. The tools for good works are like that also: simple advice that is difficult to follow
33 Endure persecution for the sake of justice (Matt 5:10). in our lives because we want to get on to that which feels good and makes us feel good
about ourselves. Our approach must be simply to do the small and apparently easy
things until we do them truly well.
Verses 14 through 19 are the corporal works of mercy. Verses 20 and 21 remind us that May God help us all grow in the awareness of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. May we
the wisdom of the Gospel is not in accord with the wisdom of the world. This is a come to live more and more fully in the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may give
necessary reminder today when there is such an impulse to try to make everyone glory to God our Father.
happy by changing the teachings of the Church. We need to be aware in this context of
the difference between the teachings of the Church as objective realities, and the
pastoral approach that is so often necessary to help persons understand the teachings.
The love of Christ that comes before all else keeps us from judging others and helps us Chapter 4: Verses 46-end
find ways to speak of the Gospel that do not dilute its strength yet at the same time
show forth its wisdom for our human lives.
46 Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire.
Verses 23 through 41 are again practical advice for a strong spiritual life that is lived in
47 Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die.
our actions. In verse 25 we have the admonition never to give a hollow greeting of
48 Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do,
peace. We must be cautious with this advice because in the present time we judge the
49 aware that God’s gaze is upon you, wherever you may be.
hollowness of a thing by how we feel about it. This is certainly not the intention of the
50 As soon as wrongful thoughts come into your heart, dash them against
Rule. Rather, the Rule is asking us to choose the good of the other, even when I feel
Christ and disclose them to your spiritual father. 51Guard your lips from
total animosity toward the other. As Christians we are not to follow our feelings–and
harmful or deceptive speech.
yet we must acknowledge them. Thus, a person must be able to acknowledge the
52 Prefer moderation in speech
dislike of another person, even anger towards another person, and yet still choose in
53 and speak no foolish chatter, nothing just to provoke laughter;
Christ to act in a manner that is truly a reflection of Christ’s love for us.
54 do not love immoderate or boisterous laughter.
Verse 41 reminds us of the importance of placing our trust in God alone. Once again we
55 Listen readily to holy reading,
encounter advice that is very simple and very difficult. We want to place all our hope in
56 and devote yourself often to prayer.
God, but often we do so only when there is no other possibility! We are invited to learn
57 Every day with tears and sighs confess your past sins to God in prayer
how to place this hope in God before we get to a situation when we have no other
58 and change from these evil ways in the future.
choice.
59 Do not gratify the promptings of the flesh (Gal 5:16);
We end this half of the Chapter on the Tools for Good Works with a recognition that all
60 hate the urgings of self-will.
good comes from God and that all we have that is good comes from God. We are
61 Obey the orders of the abbot unreservedly, even if his own conduct–which
capable of doing evil and that comes from us, not from God. This should remind us of
God forbid–be at odds with what he says. Remember the teaching of the
the tradition that we must always offer our sins to God, since that really is all we have
Lord: Do what they say, not what they do (Matt 23:3).
to offer that is singularly our own. We offer our sins to God with the hope that God will
transform our evil into good and transform us also into beings who do His will. 62 Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first be holy that
you may more truly be called so.
To live in fear of judgment day is only to be aware of the need for conversion in our
63 Live by God’s commandments every day;
lives. The reality of our lives–at least for most of us–is that we want to serve God, but
64 treasure chastity,
have not yet begun to do so in a complete manner. We are still in the “active life” of
65 harbor neither hatred
purgation from our sinfulness, rather than in the “contemplative life” where our whole
66 nor jealousy of anyone,
focus is simply on loving more.
67 and do nothing out of envy.
We must strive to develop in ourselves a deep horror of offending God, a deep 68 Do not love quarreling;
repulsion towards sinfulness, a sensitivity towards the awfulness and ugliness of sin in 69 shun arrogance.
our lives. We do this not to denigrate ourselves, but to see reality as it truly is and to 70 Respect the elders
help us desire to change our ways and to love God more and more deeply. 71 and love the young.
72 Pray for your enemies out of love for Christ.
73 If you have a dispute with someone, make peace with him before the sun
goes down.
 74 And finally, never lose hope in God’s mercy.
75 These, then are the tools of the spiritual craft. 76When we have used them
without ceasing day and night and have returned them on judgment day, our
wages will be the reward the Lord has promised: 77 What the eye has not
seen nor the ear heard, God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).
78 The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the
enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
Do we regularly take the time to yearn for everlasting life? Or are we caught up yet in
the love of this life? It is a challenge for us to truly desire everlasting life. And one of
the ways to remind ourselves of this desire is to remind ourselves that we are going to
die. It seems to straightforward, and yet we do not want to remember it too often!!
Especially while we are young we are normally not interested in thinking about dying.
As we get older, at least for some of us, dying is a very pleasant thought because we
trust that we shall be with God finally and without the sometimes bitter struggles of
this life.
One of the most ancient methods of the spiritual life is that of watching the thoughts
and struggling with them. Today not many persons practice this form of spirituality.
Saint Benedict suggests it to us and perhaps we need to accept the challenge to at least
try this form of spirituality some time in our life. It is so simple. Watch your thoughts.
Take all the thoughts that are not in Christ and throw them on Christ. We will spend a
lot of time at the beginning throwing thoughts on Christ, but eventually there can be a
deep peace and tranquillity. We are much more comfortable today accepting all of our
thoughts and acting as if they were from God. Our tradition asks us instead to place our
thoughts in the light of Christ and throw out all those that do not reflect his love and
his light.
Another important and tried way of the spiritual life is to listen to holy reading and
allow our lives to be formed by that holy reading. In this reading God often calls us to
pray. We must be prudent in what we read, and we must be committed to reading
Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, the early monastic writers and the writers
approved by the Church. We can read other theologies and other ways of thinking that
will lead us out of the Church and out of monastic life. We are invited to use real
wisdom in choosing what we shall read.
When Benedict asks us to obey the orders of the abbot unreservedly, he also gives a
method of spirituality. There is a deep and sure form of growth in truly accepting the
obedience that we profess in our vows. We can spend a lot of our life trying to make
our own decisions and doing things our own way. There is peace and tranquillity when
we finally hand ourselves over. It does not take away the pain of living nor the struggle
of making mature decisions, but it is done in an entirely different manner than before
we accepted obedience. Benedict obviously recognizes that we can have bad superiors,
but this does not make him shy away from asking for obedience.
Harbor neither hatred nor jealousy of anyone and do nothing out of envy. This advice is
again quite strong. We all have our bouts of anger, hatred, jealousy and envy. We are
invited to accept them and not act from them. The same with quarreling and with
arrogance. How strong we shall become when we begin to take these tasks of the
spiritual craft seriously. When we are young we do not like them so well, but normally,
even in Monasteries, we are less interested in spiritual growth when we are young. Our
passions are stronger and reactions are in some sense more “primitive.” The challenge
is to grow and to mature and to put on Christ and his way of acting and living.
We must recognize that these tools are given to us as challenges to incorporate in our
lives. It can never be said enough in formation and throughout our lives: if we are
unhappy or angry or resentful, then we must recognize that all of those feelings and
attitudes come from us. We must battle them. When we have achieved some peace
and tranquillity, then we are finally approaching a point in our life when we can make
more adult decisions. We want to be adults and yet often we act as children.
Saint Benedict tells us to stay in the Monastery and work at all these aspects of our
lives. So often we think that life will be easier if we just leave. If we are called by God to
leave, then life will be different, but not necessarily easier. So many monks leave
monastic life when they are upset with something, when they are angry, when they are
resentful, when they are depressed, etc. Such leavings are not the leavings of someone
seeking God’s will, generally, but the leavings of someone who no longer wants to stay
and fight for that inner freedom that will allow a strong decision in Christ.
Our whole world is infected with this running from place to place looking for that place
where I will have no problems. It is as though the whole world has gone insane and no
longer recognizes that my happiness comes from within me and no external situation
can take it away as long as it is firmly anchored in God. There can be much sadness and
sorrow in my life, but always there is this foundation of seeking God’s will.
There are many stories of the saints who have suffered incredible hardships and
difficulties and who remained steadfast in their joy and contentment because they
were seeking God’s will. And there are plenty of stories also of saints who spent a lot of
their life fighting against God’s will and not accepting what was given to them in their
lives until a more advanced age.
Monks have chosen a monastic way of life. Benedictines have chosen a life under the
Rule of Benedict. How foolish for monks not to live as monks or for Benedictines not to
follow the wise spiritual direction of Saint Benedict!
May the Lord our God give us the wisdom of His Holy Spirit to guide us in our lives. May
that Holy Spirit strengthen us in the path of a virtuous monastic life.