Scholars tell us that the Rule of the Master was written before the Rule of Saint

Benedict and that Saint Benedict edited the Rule of the Master and added some
Prologue Verse 1-7 material of his own.
Saint Benedict took material from many other sources, as did the Rule of the Master,
and formed that material into his own Rule.
Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with
Our formation in the Rule of Saint Benedict is always a formation in living. We must
the ear of your heart. This is the advice from a father who loves you; welcome
find the principles by which we choose to live.
it, and faithfully put it into practice. 2 The labor of obedience will bring you
In this small section of the Prologue of the Rule of Saint Benedict, we find two things
back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience. 3
that can be of highest importance to us. First, the very high place of obedience in this
This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own
Rule and secondly, the importance of prayer.
will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of
Are you ready to give up your own will? That is the question of formation for each of
obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord.
us, including the superior. We give up our will when we acknowledge that there is a
4 First of all, every time you begin a good work, you must pray to him most
wisdom much greater than our knowledge. As Benedictines, we must recognize that
earnestly to bring it to perfection. 5 In his goodness, he has already counted
our Rule presupposes that we are willing to give up a great deal of personal freedom
us as his sons, and therefore we should never grieve him by our evil actions.
in order to grow in deep, inner spiritual freedom.
6 With his good gifts which are in us, we must obey him at all times that he
In modern culture, there is a strong emphasis on MY deciding, MY choices, MY way of
may never become the angry father who disinherits his sons, 7nor the dread
thinking, etc. In the Rule, the emphasis is on accepting a way of wisdom that comes to
lord, enraged by our sins, who punishes us forever as worthless servants for
us from others. The emphasis is on allowing ourselves to be formed by the wisdom of
refusing to follow him to glory.
scripture, of tradition, of the desert monastic ancestors, etc. We must try to live the

Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert way they lived in order to understand their wisdom. That means giving up our own

The Rule is for us the guide of our life and our basic spirituality. We will hear it over will.

and over and over in our monastic life. We hope that every time we hear it, we are There is a dynamic way of relating to one another that is described in the Holy Rule.

able to accept it as our guide and our way of living. To hear it once is never enough. To To give up my own will implies that I know my own will and that I can express my own

have studied it in the past is never enough. We must hear it and revere it. We must will. In the Holy Rule it is presumed that we speak with our superior and our superior

hear it and strive each time to put it into practice in our daily lives. It is not a Rule that with us. Look for a moment at Chapter 2, verse 11 and following. The Abbot is to teach

we just study or just read. It must become our life. by example and by words. This presumes a communication from the superior of the

We do not study the Rule of Saint Benedict as scholars study it. We need to know some house. It implies that we are grown men and women who know our own thoughts and

of the scholarly details of the Rule insofar as they affect the basic spiritual teaching. feelings, can express them and can also live beyond them. This is the challenge of our

Always more important than being a scholar of the Rule is being a person who lives the monastic life.

Rule in his or her life. In Chapter 3 of the Rule we find the presumption that all the brothers are called to
council and that all are able to speak. This chapter actually presumes that every
member of the community is both able to speak and able to listen. It is a most
Prologue Verse 8-14
important chapter in the Rule.
Chapter 5 tells us that obedience must be free from any grumbling and any reaction of
unwillingness; it should not be cringing, sluggish or half-hearted. Saint Benedict wants Let us get up then, at long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It
each of us to give himself or herself totally to the monastic way of life, with all our is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11). 9Let us open our eyes to
heart and with the joy of the Holy Spirit. the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven that
every day calls out this charge: 10 If you hear his voice today, do not harden
We can go through all the Holy Rule and point out this dynamic over and over. Each of your hearts (Ps 94[95]:8). 11 And again: You that have ears to hear, listen to
us should be reading the Holy Rule and finding this for yourself. Saint Benedict what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev 2:7). 12 And what does he say?
presume a community in which there is communication. He does not expect a Come and listen to me, sons; I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps
33[34]:12). 13 Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death
community of saints, nor a community of experts, nor a community that is perfect. He
may not overtake you (John 12: 35).
expects a human community that makes mistakes, that has sinfulness and that is
always learning. Saint Benedict presumes that we will give our whole energy over to Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
becoming a saint through following the monastic way of life. We listen to only a few verses of the Prologue today, because they are so important in
Each of us, if we follow the Rule, must become responsible for his own actions. We will our monastic formation.
not always take such responsibility even when the Rule invites us to do so. We cannot It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11). First we must say that monastic
say, for instance, “I am unhappy and it is the community’s fault.” Nor can we say, “I am formation is a living of the life of the Monastery that we have joined. So many monks
unhappy and it is this or that brother’s or sister’s fault.” and nuns come to the Monastery and begin to want the life of another Monastery. Too
We will only be able to take such personal responsibility if we have a life of prayer. often this is an evasion of accepting life as it is in the Monastery we have joined. Part
That is why the life of prayer receives such emphasis in the Holy Rule. The emphasis is of the task of formation is simply accepting the life of this community, under whoever
not on how to do a life of prayer, but throughout the Rule every action that is is the present superior, with these brothers who are here today.
mentioned presumes that we are praying and that our actions are based on prayer. We must arise from sleep. We must be aware that it is this community in which we
Whatever we do, we must do it with prayer. No matter what decisions we take in our live. This does not mean that we think that things are perfect in this community. We
lives, we are invited to pray about them first and to try to take such decisions from our must be radically honest about this. Our brothers and sisters are not saints. The
prayer. superior is not a saint. None of us is perfect, none of us follows every direction of the
Obedience and prayer. These are the cornerstones of our monastic life and we seek to Customary or the traditions of the house perfectly.
love God and our brothers and sisters more faithfully. May the Lord lead us all to Perhaps at times we are tempted to think that formation is teaching everyone how to
everlasting life. May God give us deeper faith, strong obedience and a lively life of observe all of the traditions of this Monastery perfectly. We must, of course, work at
prayer. understanding and following the traditions and customs. Sometimes we must ask how
things are done. Sometimes we must ask for certain things to be clarified, for ourselves
or for others or for all of us. Our task personally is to learn the life and live it the best
we can. That is one aspect of formation. Another aspect is that we must accept each
of our brothers or sisters just as they are. This cannot be repeated enough in formation
Prologue Verse 14-21
classes or by the superior of the community.
Yet we find that our hearts can become hardened and not listen to the voice of the
Lord. We can begin to use our energy to try to make others behave the way we think Seeking his workman in a multitude of people, the Lord calls out to him and
they ought to behave. Perhaps, in actual fact, they ought to behave the way we want lifts his voice again: 15 Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires
them to behave. Yet it is a waste of our energy to try to bring this about. to see good days? (Ps 33[34]:13). 16 If you hear this and your answer is “I
do,” God then directs these words to you: 17 If you desire true and eternal
Monastic life presumes a group of men or women who are striving to be adults and life, keep your tongue free from vicious talk and your lips from all deceit; turn
responsible for their own lives. It presumes that we are old enough to be responsible away from evil and do good; let peace be your quest and aim (Ps 33[34]:14-
for our own lives in good and healthy ways and that we can keep our energies focused 15). 18 Once you have done this, my eyes will be upon you and my ears will
listen for your prayers; and even before you ask me, I will say to you: Here I
on living the monastic life and a deep, interior life of prayer.
am (Isa 58:9). 19 What, dear brothers, is more delightful than this voice of
We see this over and over in the lives of the desert monastics and the lives of many the Lord calling to us? 20 See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of
saints. This means in a practical way for my formation that I must look into my own life. 21 Clothed then with faith and the performance of good works, let us set
out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide, that we may deserve to see
heart and see where my energy is going. If my energy is going into the lives of others,
him who has called us to his kingdom (1 Thess 2:12).
then I am on the wrong track. This cannot be said strongly enough: my energy must go
into my life, into my seeking to live the monastic life of this house, into my striving to Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
live a deep and strong inner life of prayer. In order to do this, I must constantly fight It is God who calls us to be monks. The Lord looks for us. The Lord wants us to give our
myself. It is much easier to spend my life trying to straighten out any problems a lives to Him fully and completely. We already know this, yet we remind ourselves that
community may have; it is easier to spend my time complaining to others about this the work of monastic life is done by God. We are here to cooperate with God.
or that situation in the Monastery; it is easier to be upset with my superiors and their God wants us and wants us to give our lives to Him. God invites us with gentleness: Is
lack of understanding or direction; it is easier to do almost anything than to fight my there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days? God’s invitation
own self so that I may love my brothers and my community just as it is. is to live fully and to have good days here in this life. This does not mean that monastic
My energy can be used in just idle chatter as well. I can find myself talking with others life is easy. The difficult work of monastic life will bring us deep into another way of
when there is no need and nothing to be gained. I can spend endless hours just living and another way of perceiving life. We find in history that some people with the
“fiddling” with this or that project, and waste all of my lectio and prayer time. most freedom are those who give up freedom entirely and voluntarily.
This is the theory of obedience presented to us in our Christian tradition. It gives us
personal freedom to become “slaves” of Jesus Christ. Freedom to do whatever I want
to do is not the same as spiritual freedom. There is much confusion in our present age
between these two different ways of freedom. Deep, inner spiritual growth is possible
in any situation, even in situations where there is no personal freedom. This has been
recognized by Christian writers, by pagan writers and by writers of other religious
traditions.
Many people believe that inner spiritual freedom is only possible with personal tradition does not tell us that we must not have distractions, only that we must not let
freedom. Much energy is spent trying to achieve personal freedom. Little attention is them become the center of our attention. This is a matter of voluntary mental and
given to developing inner spiritual freedom. As Benedictines, we must recognize that psychological discipline and takes some time to achieve. It is important for achieving
our Rule presupposes that we are willing to give up a great deal of personal freedom inner peace. True inner peace only comes from Christ, but we must do what is
in order to grow in deep, inner spiritual freedom. necessary from our human nature so that we can be at peace.
If you desire true and eternal life, keep your tongue free from vicious talk and your lips Again and again in formation it must be said that each of us is responsible for his or
from all deceit; turn away from evil and do good; let peace be your quest and aim. This her own peace and inner tranquillity. There are many situations which will pull us away
is the way of inner spiritual freedom. It sounds so simple and easy and takes all our life from such peace and tranquillity, and we must strive against them. When we are
to practice. irritated by someone else, when someone says bad things about us, when someone is
Monastic tradition has two very important practices among others. One is the practice mean to us, when someone ignores us, when we are ill treated in any way, when we
of silence and the other is the discernment of thoughts. Both of them are important in are abandoned by those we had trusted–in each of these situations, we must learn to
keeping our tongues free from vicious talk and our lips free from deceit. We will speak remain in peace and tranquility.
of both of these much more in another place.
It is not easy to acknowledge that we know very little about the spiritual life and that
we do not live very spiritual lives. We come to the monastery as sinners and as persons
who want to learn. We remain sinners all our lives and we are always just beginning
the spiritual life. We learn some aspects of the spiritual life and we may be freed from
certain sins. We shall still struggle all our lives to be faithful to the Lord and we can
always learn more of the spiritual life. This is an attitude that we must root deeply in
ourselves: we are always learning, we are always beginning.
Turn away from evil and do good. It sounds so simple. I want to do this. Yet each day I
find myself still attached to evil and still struggling to be free so that I can serve the
Lord. The important thing in the struggle is to continue to struggle. If we give up, we
are lost. Our desert monastic ancestors would say that if we think we have triumphed,
we are also in danger of delusion.
Let peace be your quest and aim. It is very difficult to achieve inner peace and quiet,
yet it is one of the most important elements in a monastic life. We must work so that
no matter what happens to us, we remain in peace. Part of formation is stating over
and over and over: never act when you are upset! Always wait until you are at peace
before making any major decisions in your lives!
One of the ways of achieving peace is in prayer. We must place ourselves in the
presence of the Lord and not let any distractions have our attention. Notice that our
 in the history of Christianity: the relationship between grace and good works, between
Prologue Verse 22-34
grace and free will, between salvation as a gift freely given and salvation as something
we must strive for.

If we wish to dwell in the tent of this kingdom, we will never arrive unless we We monks must be aware of this debate, because it always affects the way we live.
run there by doing good deeds. 23 But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet: Saint John Cassian was accused of semi-Pelagianism because of his emphasis on the
Who will dwell in your tent, O Lord; who will find rest upon your holy need to work for salvation. Others have been accused of quietism because of the
mountain? (Ps 14[15]:1). 24 After this question, brothers, let us listen well to
what the Lord says in reply, for he shows us the way to his tent. 25 One who emphasis on God’s work in salvation. A classic statement of how these two aspects of
walks without blemish, he says, and is just in all his dealings; 26 who speaks salvation work together is this: we must pray as if everything depends on God and we
the truth from his heart and has not practiced deceit with his tongue; 27 who must work as if everything depends on us.
has not wronged a fellow man in any way, nor listened to slanders against
Saint Benedict would describe such people as those who do not become elated over
his neighbor (Ps 14[15]:2-3). 28 He has foiled the evil one, the devil, at every
turn, flinging both him and his promptings far from the sight of his heart. their good works because they recognize that it is the Lord’s power that brings about
While these temptations were still young, he caught hold of them and dashed the good in them. They are also the people who build their house upon rock.
them against Christ (Ps 14[15]: 4; 136[137]:9). 29 These people fear the Lord,
We must ask ourselves what the relationship is between psychology and this service
and do not become elated over their good deeds; they judge it is the Lord’s
power, not theirown, that brings about the good in them. 30 They praise (Ps of God. Quite often we encounter people who are unable to acknowledge that they
14[15]:4) the Lord working in them, and say with the Prophet: Not to us, Lord, are capable of any good and end up despairing of life itself. This is not the Gospel sense
not to us give the glory, but to your name alone (Ps 113[115:1]:9). 31 In just
of God being responsible for all. Rather we are dealing with a need of psychological
this way Paul the Apostle refused to take credit for the power of his
preaching. He declared: By God’s grace I am what I am (1 Cor 15:10). 32 And growth.
again he said: He who boasts should make his boast in the Lord (2 Cor 10:17). Today we would be more inclined to say that a person is in need of a healthy self-image
33 That is why the Lord says in the Gospel: Whoever hears these words of
and sense of self-worth before the person can really give himself or herself over to the
mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house upon rock; 34 the
floods came and the winds blew and beat against the house, but it did not service of God. There is a need to accept the necessity of some psychological
fall: it was founded on rock (Matt 7:24-5). wholeness without putting too much emphasis on this aspect. There is a danger of
confusing psychological wholeness with holiness and they are not the same. Generally
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
a person must be somewhat whole psychologically in order to live a good Christian life.
If we wish to dwell in the tent of this kingdom, what kind of desires do we have? Do
What is perhaps not recognized or emphasized much in our own time is that striving
we really want to dwell in the kingdom of God, or do we just seek our own comfort
to live a good Christian life, when that is well understood, brings about a psychological
and a situation where we can live without being bothered?
wholeness. So also in the Monastery, if a brother is basically sound psychologically,
If we can really desire the kingdom of God more than anything else, then we can begin
then living the monastic life can bring about a deepening of psychological health and
to have more and more energy to face the truly difficult task of doing good deeds and
well-being. When the monastic life is well lived, it is therapeutic.
loving one another.
One of the recommendations that Saint Benedict gives us is to cast our evil thoughts
Saint Benedict speaks to us using the words of Psalm 14, helping us to be more deeply
upon Christ. This is good advice and will bring about a healthy well-being in the mind
aware of our desires. We must never think that the kingdom of God is something that
when it is well used. It is possible to encounter people who become obsessed with
is just given to us without our having to respond to it. This is one of those great debates
their evil thoughts. They are possessed by the thoughts rather than having the
thoughts. We must come to understand that any thought can enter our mind and then
Prologue Verse 35-44
we must deal with the thought.
Many of the desert monastics and other early monastic writers were convinced that
the heart of the spiritual life lies in the understanding of thoughts and how to deal with
With this conclusion, the Lord waits for us daily to translate into action, as
them. Perhaps today it could be added that the understanding of both thoughts and
we should, his holy teachings. 36 Therefore our life span has been lengthened
feelings and the wisdom of knowing how to let thoughts and feelings lead us to Christ
by way of a truce, that we may amend ourmisdeeds. 37 As the Apostle says:
is the heart of the spiritual life.
Do you not know that the patience of God is leading you to repent (Rom 2:4)?
The Greek philosophers often taught that self-knowledge was the most important
38 And indeed the Lord assures us in his love: I do not wish the death of a
element in living a wise and good life. Christian philosophers would add to that self-
sinner, but that he turn back to me and live (Ezek 33:11).
knowledge the ability to spend our energies for Christ.
39 Brothers, now that we have asked the Lord who will dwell in his tent, we
Our challenge as monks today is to live the Gospel fully and totally in a manner that
have heard the instructions for dwelling in it, but only if we fulfill the
shows our love of Christ to all who encounter us. The tradition embodied in the Rule
obligations of those who dwell there. 40 We must, then, prepare our hearts
of Benedict guides us to fight with our thoughts and feelings until they are in accord
and bodies for the battle of holy obedience to his instructions. 41 What is not
with doing the will of God. At the heart of this fight with thoughts and feelings is the
possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the help of his grace.
recognition that I am NOT my thoughts and feelings. Rather, thoughts and feelings are
42 If we wish to reach eternal life, even as we avoid the torments of hell, 43
elements in my life over which I can have some influence. I can also offer them to the
then–while there is still time, while we are in this body and have time to
Lord Christ and ask him to transform them so that they reflect his goodness, love and
accomplish all these things by the light of life –44 we must run and do now
mercy.
what will profit us forever.
Monastic life calls for a real discipline on my part and the willingness to give myself
over to learning that discipline. The discipline is for the sake of putting myself at the
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
service of Christ.
The teaching of this short section of the Holy Rule is about patience and obedience.
May our lives give glory to God now and always. May we be strengthened by the Holy
God gives us time to repent of our sins and to change our way of living. God does not
Spirit to live this life more deeply and with a deep desire for the kingdom of God.
immediately reject us because we are sinners. Rather God constantly invites us to
change our ways.
Perhaps one of the most important facets of our formation as monks is the process of
acceptance that we are all sinners, that we are all imperfect. I must accept my brothers
as they are, with their sinfulness and their imperfections and their faults–and my
challenge is to love them just as they are. Also I must come to accept my imperfections
and my faults and I love myself properly as I am. My challenge is to allow the Holy Spirit
to change my life from within. I cannot change anyone else’s life, but I can ask the Spirit
to change my life, to transform me. I can use my energies to fight against my own So often we choose not to fight ourselves. So often we find ourselves still living in sin.
defects, faults and sins. So often we find ourselves wanting to be faithful to God but not wanting to spend the
Think of the desert monks who were personally so convinced of their own sinfulness time and energy that that faithfulness requires of us.
that they knew that they could never condemn anyone else. When a group of early This is why Saint Benedict urges us to ask the Lord to supply by his grace that which is
monks was trying to throw out a monk from their group because he was a sinner, their not possible by our nature. We must each day ask the Lord to change us. Each day we
“abba” came walking through with a bag of sand on his back, letting the sand fall out must recognize that we are loved and that God invites us over and over to come to live
of the sack behind him. The brothers asked him if he knew that he was losing all of his more fully in Him.
sand. He replied that, of course, he knew it, and that their actions in trying to expel a It is not enough simply to ask to be changed. We must know that God loves us even in
sinner from their midst were the same. Their own sins were flowing out behind them our stubbornness and refusal to accept His graces. A daily meditation on the love of
and yet they were rushing to condemn one of their brothers who had sinned. God is very helpful in giving the courage to continue to fight against ourselves and to
We must focus on our own sins and failures and work against them and we must seek ask God to change us.
to live with our brothers as they are, with their sins and failures, and not try to correct Life in Christ flows from this awareness that we are loved. Whether we live in sin or in
them. God is patient with us and so we must be patient with one another. This teaching grace, we are loved. Whether we persevere and keep our vows or if we leave or break
comes up over and over again in the Gospel and in the monastic tradition, and yet how all of our vows, we are loved. The invitation is to persevere and to keep our vows and
hard it is to live it! It is difficult to live it because it is much easier to fight against to live more and more deeply in the love and mercy of Christ. Christ’s love for us never
someone else than to have to fight against myself. fails, is always constant, is always creative and seeking to draw us deeper into His life.
It is so much easier for me to spend my energies against my brothers or against some May Christ’s love and mercy come to form us more and more in our daily lives. We
situation outside of myself than to spend my energies fighting myself. In our own lives, shall constantly find ourselves as sinners, and we must entrust ourselves into the hands
we must do this all the time. Generally we human beings dislike fighting ourselves. We of a God who loves us and forgives us over and over.
are much more comfortable doing those things that bring us pleasure and happiness. We must strive to live that same way with our brothers: loving and forgiving over and
We can even live a fairly good life without fighting ourselves. over.
On the other hand, to really develop a deep life of prayer and faithfulness to God, we We can only do all of this, we can only be formed as Christians and as monks, if we
must learn to discipline ourselves and to fight ourselves. We must fight against our have a regular life of prayer. We must work at having a regular conversation with God.
laziness. We have to fight against sexual desires. We have to fight against likes and We must ask God to strengthen our Christian and monastic life. We must ask God for
dislikes for this and that. We have to discipline our eating. We have to discipline our the graces that we need. So we come always back to the challenge to live in Christ, to
sleeping and our waking. We must discipline our talking and our silence. We have to pray constantly, to plead with God for grace and conversion.
discipline ourselves to the asceticism of the common prayer, the singing, the being
present, the participation. All of these are necessary to a life of prayer.
We must, then, prepare our hearts and bodies for the battle of holy obedience to his
instructions. What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the
help of his grace.
 to give up. We need to offer them to God. Even though we cannot yet give them up,
Prologue Verse 45-50
we can ask for the grace to give them up.
Non-Christian systems of spirituality and asceticism also recognize that our lack of

Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord’s service. 46 In drawing freedom comes from attachments to things of this life that are really not important in
up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. the light of the world to come. At some point in our monastic journey we shall be
47 The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in tested about every attachment that we have. We must prepare now for those tests.
order to amend faults and to safeguard love. 48 Do not be daunted
immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is The way to prepare is not to give up everything now, because that would be our own
bound to be narrow at the outset. 49 But as we progress in this way of life energy and will. Rather, we must constantly beg of the Lord that He would change our
and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts hearts so that we are attached to nothing except Him.
overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love. 50 Never swerving from
Benedict teaches us that at times the road will be difficult. We all know that, even
his instructions, then, but faithfully observing his teaching in the monastery
until death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that when we choose not to accept it. Benedict says that he hopes that the regulations he
we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. Amen. lays down will not be harsh or burdensome (Cf. RB Prol 46). We hope also that the
regulations in our community will not be harsh or burdensome. Benedict reminds us
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
that there is need of some strictness, a need for discipline on our part, both to amend
We always read the Rule from a perspective. We read it sometimes as young monks,
the faults we have and to safeguard our love for one another (Cf RB Prol 47). This is
and later hopefully as old monks. We read the Rule from the perspective and
surely one of the best statements about why there are regulations in a community, not
understanding of our own time. We read the Rule from a historical perspective. And
only the Rule, but also now in Canon Law, in Constitutions and in Customaries. The
we read the Rule from the perspective of the Monastery in which we live, and from a
purpose of these documents is to help us amend our faults and to safeguard the love
perspective of life as we experience it at a particular time.
of the community.
Our monastic life is one of the many Christian ways that have been established to lead
It is important that we accept some discipline in our lives for the sake of the Kingdom.
us into deeper and deeper union with God in this life, so that we can choose God as
It is important that we begin early in our monastic life to learn how to deny ourselves
fully as possible while we are yet alive. What holds us back from choosing God are the
this or that good thing so that we grow in such freedom to give up even that which is
attachments that we have. The school of the Lord’s service (Cf Prol 45) is to teach us
good. It is good for us to read our Constitutions and our Customary at least once a year.
how to become free of attachments and choose only God–that is not an easy task. Let
We often forget what is actually said there. It is good to remind ourselves of the way
us look at our personal lives and see the things that we choose. As monks we have
of life which we have agreed to live.
professed vows and promised our lives to the community, and yet we find ourselves
There is always a time and a place where regulations do not hold, where the exact
at times choosing not to live out fully the life we have chosen and promised.
observance of regulations goes against the real spirit of the Gospels.
We take back in little ways the fullness of life we have promised, and end up giving
Benedict tells us that traveling on the monastic road will be difficult at the beginning.
God what is left over. It is not that any of us chooses against God in big ways, only that
This is so, then as today, because it is not easy to live under another’s direction,
we are on the way of perfection, not having reached it at this point. We ought to look
whether that be the present superior of the community or the direction of the Church
into our personal lives and ask ourselves what are the things that we are not yet willing
in Canon Law, or the direction of the Congregation in the Constitutions, or even the
direction of our own community, expressed in the Customary.
We know that a deep acceptance brings about progress in this way of life and in faith
(Cf. RB Prol 49). Progress is not measured by external standards, but by the life of the
Spirit at work within us, which necessarily shows itself in our outer life, and especially
in the way we treat one another and all those who come into our lives.
For now, of course, the most important thing is to keep our eyes on the goal: life with
Christ, life in the kingdom, life ever-lasting (Cf RB Prol 50). We have this wonderful
hope within us of this life to come. This hope gives us courage day by day to take up
once again the monastic drudgery: the daily work, the same old people, the trials of
choir, the difficulty of prayer (lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio).
If we lose sight of everlasting life, we shall surely begin to wonder what is the meaning
of our vocation. We do give up a lot to be monks and we say that we do this for the
sake of the Kingdom of God. We need to deepen our faith in the next life in order that
we can see more deeply the meaning of everything in this life. The more we are able
to live with our eyes set on the world to come, the more faithful and true will be our
decisions about the things of this life with one another.
We can encourage one another in hope as brothers. We can remind one another of
the world to come by our own deep faithfulness. That does not mean we will always
feel full of smiles, or full of laughter, or even full of a surface joy.
It does mean that we can communicate to one another a deep commitment and trust–
trust not in one another, but in God. We must pray for one another and work diligently
in the Spirit to live as fully as we can a monastic life based in the love of Christ.
Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brothers live in unity! This is always the
promise of our monastic life and its goal. The more we place all our hope and trust in
Christ, the stronger will become our community because of Christ. If we want our
community to become better, each of us must commit himself or herself to becoming
a saint. Let us pray for one another.