Obedience. Benedict goes on, oboedientiam sibi certatim impendant. We obey one another. We obey one another but certatim. Certatim expresses the idea of a certain jostling. If everybody is trying to obey each other, obviously there is going to be a certain competition there. That is what Benedict is saying. You struggle to be the one who is able to obey your brother.
Benedict develops that. Nullus quod sibi utile iudicat sequatur, sed quod magis alio. Nobody seeks to do what is best for himself, but he seeks rather to do what is best for his brother. He is always putting his brother first. Not what is best for me but what is best for you. It is the living for the others, the giving of your life for others. To love one another as I have loved you [8]. And Jesus gave his whole life. For Benedict, we are to give ourselves, to be there, to do what is best for others rather than seek what is best for ourselves.
Love. What is this leading to? Caritatem fraternitatis caste impendant. They love each other chastely with charity—with that divinely infused love. Fraternitatis. The divinely infused love of brothers. It is the realization that divine love is poured into us which is Holy Spirit. Charity is the Holy Spirit living in us. It is the love of brothers. Because we have all been made one with Christ, we are sons of the Father. Truly we are brothers to each other. We love each other chastely as brothers with the divine love given to us. In this honoring each other, tolerating all the weaknesses, seeking what is best for each other, we are, indeed, loving each other with this divine love—with the love which Christ loves us. To love one another as he has loved us.
Reverence. Then Benedict says, amore Deum timeant. Now he is back to amore. To fear God with this almost passion. Fear, here, is not servile fear. It is reverential fear. You have to begin with reverence before you can go on to love. It is this reverence for God, a passionate love for God. God is God! Be wide open to let the divine reality invade us and your whole life is spent in adoration.
Benedict develops that. Nullus quod sibi utile iudicat sequatur, sed quod magis alio. Nobody seeks to do what is best for himself, but he seeks rather to do what is best for his brother. He is always putting his brother first. Not what is best for me but what is best for you. It is the living for the others, the giving of your life for others. To love one another as I have loved you [8]. And Jesus gave his whole life. For Benedict, we are to give ourselves, to be there, to do what is best for others rather than seek what is best for ourselves.
Love. What is this leading to? Caritatem fraternitatis caste impendant. They love each other chastely with charity—with that divinely infused love. Fraternitatis. The divinely infused love of brothers. It is the realization that divine love is poured into us which is Holy Spirit. Charity is the Holy Spirit living in us. It is the love of brothers. Because we have all been made one with Christ, we are sons of the Father. Truly we are brothers to each other. We love each other chastely as brothers with the divine love given to us. In this honoring each other, tolerating all the weaknesses, seeking what is best for each other, we are, indeed, loving each other with this divine love—with the love which Christ loves us. To love one another as he has loved us.
Reverence. Then Benedict says, amore Deum timeant. Now he is back to amore. To fear God with this almost passion. Fear, here, is not servile fear. It is reverential fear. You have to begin with reverence before you can go on to love. It is this reverence for God, a passionate love for God. God is God! Be wide open to let the divine reality invade us and your whole life is spent in adoration.
Abbot M. Basil Pennington, OCSO
The Good Zeal of Monks
A talk given on the Rule of Saint Benedict
Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery
Thursday, April 4, 2002
Thank you –these pages help me to begin another day.
Ed