RB Reflection: 5 May 2008

I have found that the RB 1980 is under copyright to The Liturgical Press. Today I will contact them for permission to use their translation in our study of the holy rule. Therefore today I will use the rule as it is found on the Benedictine their webpage.

Jan. 4, May 5, Sept. 4

Having our loins girded, therefore,
with faith and the performance of good works (Eph. 6:14),
let us walk in His paths
by the guidance of the Gospel,
that we may deserve to see Him
who has called us to His kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12).

For if we wish to dwell in the tent of that kingdom,
we must run to it by good deeds
or we shall never reach it.

But let us ask the Lord, with the Prophet,
"Lord, who shall dwell in Your tent,
or who shall rest upon Your holy mountain" (Ps. 14:1)?

After this question,
let us listen to the Lord
as He answers and shows us the way to that tent, saying,

"The one Who walks without stain and practices justice;
who speaks truth from his heart;
who has not used his tongue for deceit;
who has done no evil to his neighbor;
who has given no place to slander against his neighbor."

This is the one who,
under any temptation from the malicious devil,
has brought him to naught (Ps. 14:4)
by casting him and his temptation from the sight of his heart;
and who has laid hold of his thoughts
while they were still young
and dashed them against Christ (Ps. 136:9).

It is they who,
fearing the Lord (Ps. 14:4),
do not pride themselves on their good observance;
but,
convinced that the good which is in them
cannot come from themselves and must be from the Lord,
glorify the Lord's work in them (Ps. 14:4),
using the words of the Prophet,
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name give the glory" (Ps. 113, 2nd part:1).
Thus also the Apostle Paul
attributed nothing of the success of his preaching to himself,
but said,
"By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).
And again he says,
"He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor. 10:17).

This is a daunting snippet of the rule today. I find it challenging me "what do you say that I am?" It's almost personal from Benedict to me.

Benedict: What am I saying? To what am I challenging you?

Steve: Now we are dressed with faith for good works and now we're setting out to see the kingdom. I am involved with trying to do the same thing with the Lay Cistercain's of Gethsemani.

Benedict: By what path?

Steve: By following the path of the gospel.

Benedict: God tells us who may "The one Who walks without stain and practices justice;
who speaks truth from his heart;
who has not used his tongue for deceit;
who has done no evil to his neighbor;
who has given no place to slander against his neighbor."

Steve: I have done all those things.

Benedict: This is the one who,
under any temptation from the malicious devil,
has brought him to naught (Ps. 14:4)
by casting him and his temptation from the sight of his heart;
and who has laid hold of his thoughts
while they were still young
and dashed them against Christ (Ps. 136:9).

Steve: So you are saying that by practicing this right now, I can become one who might cling to Christ?

Benedict: Yes, and you must lay hold of those thoughts and temptations in the first moment they appear in your mind and let them be dashed them against Christ (Ps. 136:9).

Steve: What can the Lay Cistercian's of Gethsemani learn from this?

Benedict: By purifying your own thoughts, you own opinions. Let the Holy Spirit work within the Lay Cistercian's of Gethsemani, as it is working already for the upcoming Lay Encounter in Spain.

Steve: We are very busy people.

Benedict: It is they who,
fearing the Lord (Ps. 14:4),
do not pride themselves on their good observance;
but,
convinced that the good which is in them
cannot come from themselves and must be from the Lord,
glorify the Lord's work in them (Ps. 14:4),
using the words of the Prophet,
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name give the glory" (Ps. 113, 2nd part:1).