RB Reflection: 13 & 14 July

I am cheating today because of the length of this chapter, I have copied it lock, stock, and barrel from the OSB website.

Let the brethren serve one another, and let no one be excused from the kitchen service
except by reason of sickness or occupation in some important work. For this service brings increase of reward and of charity. But let helpers be provided for the weak ones,
that they may not be distressed by this work; and indeed let everyone have help, as required by the size of the community or the circumstances of the locality. If the community is a large one, the cellarer shall be excused from the kitchen service;
and so also those whose occupations are of greater utility, as we said above.
Let the rest serve one another in charity.

The one who is ending his week of service shall do the cleaning on Saturday. He shall wash the towels with which the brethren wipe their hands and feet; and this server who is ending his week, aided by the one who is about to begin, shall wash the feet of all the brethren. He shall return the utensils of his office to the cellarer clean and in good condition, and the cellarer in turn shall consign them to the incoming server, in order that he may know what he gives out and what he receives back.

An hour before the meal let the weekly servers each receive a drink and some bread
over and above the appointed allowance, in order that at the meal time they may serve their brethren without murmuring and without excessive fatigue. On solemn days, however, let them wait until after Mass.

Immediately after the Morning Office on Sunday, the incoming and outgoing servers
shall prostrate themselves before all the brethren in the oratory and ask their prayers.
Let the server who is ending his week say this verse: "Blessed are You, O Lord God,
who have helped me and consoled me." When this has been said three times
and the outgoing server has received his blessing, then let the incoming server follow and say, "Incline unto my aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me." Let this also be repeated three times by all, and having received his blessing let him enter his service.

There is a lot in this chapter and all of it deals with serving the food.

Let the brethren serve one another, and let no one be excused from the kitchen service except by reason of sickness or occupation in some important work. For this service brings increase of reward and of charity.

In other words, no one is too good to serve the community. No one is allowed to get away with an uppity attitude of "I'm much too important to do something so very lowly as serve dinner to this group of ingrates." Can you hear the upper classes of the sixth century saying that? Oh, wait, was that just yesterday I said that, and you said it too?

I am always amazed at Benedict and his knowledge of human nature

Let the server who is ending his week say this verse: "Blessed are You, O Lord God, who have helped me and consoled me."

To me, there is something almost sweet in that simple statement ending a week of, what could have been grueling, service. As Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani or anywhere else, here is the example of how we should bring to a close any service we are required to render to our community. I think this should be taken to heart by those who will soon rotate off the Executive Council.

let the incoming server follow and say, "Incline unto my aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me."

And this said by those who will replace them. We are called to help bring out the Charism from behind the walls of enclosure and show it to the world, as such we are the kitchen servers for our monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, to the secular world that needs our witness of contemplation, and silence. But not those alone! Also, loving service.

May God bring us altogether to everlasting life.