BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//eriebenedictines.org//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.30.10// CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH UID:9d09e576-d3a0-4ffc-9761-d6c4f52bc814 X-WR-CALDESC:The abbot and prioress must exercise the utmost care and co ncern for the wayward because 'it is not the healthy who need a physician\ , but the sick (Mt 9:12).' Therefore they ought to use every skill of a wi se physician and send in senpectae\, that is\, mature and wise members who \, under the cloak of secrecy\, may support the wavering sister or brother \, urge them to be humble as a way of making satisfaction\, and 'console t hem lest they be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Cor 2:7).' Rather\, as the apostle also says: 'let love be reaffirmed (2 Cor 2:8)\,' and let all pray for the one who is excommunicated.\n\nThe place of punishment in the Rule of Benedict is never to crush the person who is corrected. The p urpose of excommunication is to enable a person to get life in perspective and to start over again with new heart. So\, though not just anyone with any agenda--personal dissatisfaction\, a misguided sense of what support i mplies\, community division--is encouraged to talk to the person who is en during excommunication\, someone must. The abbot and prioress themselves a re expected to see that the confused or angry or depressed person gets the help they need to begin fresh again from discerning and mature people who are skilled in the ways of both the mind and the soul\, who know life and its rough spots\, who realize that humility is what saves us from the blo ws of failure.\n\nExcommunication is no longer a monastic practice but hel p from the wise through periods of resistance and reluctance must be a con stant or the spiritual life may never come to fullness. Community--family- -is that place everywhere where we can fail without fear of being abandone d and with the ongoing certainty that we go on being loved nevertheless. P erfection is not an expectation in monastic life any more than it is an ex pectation in any healthy environment where experience is the basis both of wisdom and of growth.\n\nA contemporary collection of monastic tales incl udes the story of the visitor who asks of the monk: 'What do you do in the monastery?' And the monastic replies: 'Well\, we fall and we get up and w e fall and we get up and we fall and we get up.' Where continual falling a nd getting up is not honored\, where the senpectae--the wise ones who have gone before us--are not present to help us through\, life runs the terrib le risk of drying up and blowing away before it is half lived.\n\nIt is the responsibility of the abbot or prioress to have great concern and to act with all speed\, discernment and diligence in order not to lose any of the sheep entrusted to them. They should realize that they have undertake n care of the sick\, not tyranny over the healthy. Let them also fear the threat of the prophet in which God says: 'What you saw to be fat you claim ed for yourselves\, and what was weak you cast aside (Ez 34:3-4).' They ar e to imitate the loving example of Christ\, the Good Shepherd\, who left t he ninety-nine sheep in the mountains and went in search of the one sheep that had strayed. So great was Christ's compassion for its weakness that ' he mercifully placed it on his sacred shoulders' and so carried it back to the flock (Lk 15:5).\n\nThe idea that the spiritual life is only for the strong\, for those who don't need it anyway\, is completely dispelled in the Rule of Benedict. Here spiritual athletes need not apply. Monastici sm is for human beings only. The abbot and prioress are told quite clearly that they are to see themselves as physicians and shepherds tending the w eak and carrying the lost\, not as drill sergeants\, not as impresarios. W hat we have in monasteries and parishes and all fine social movements and devoted rectories and most families are just people\, simple people who ne ver meet their own ideals and often\, for want of confidence and the energ y that continuing commitment takes\, abandon them completely. Then\, our r ole\, the Rule of Benedict insists\, is simply to try to soothe what hurts them\, heal what weakens them\, lift what burdens them and wait. The spir itual life is a process\, not an event. It takes time and love and help an d care. It takes our patient presence. Just like everything else. X-WR-RELCALID:d2bde35bf10dd5b08ae3b08fd9cda2c5 X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RDATE:20241103T020000 RDATE:20251102T020000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RDATE:20250309T020000 RDATE:20260308T020000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a8542f3-2db3-4016-a463-47a998edffa5 DTSTAMP:20260408T020640Z DESCRIPTION:The abbot and prioress must exercise the utmost care and con cern for the wayward because 'it is not the healthy who need a physician\, but the sick (Mt 9:12).' Therefore they ought to use every skill of a wis e physician and send in senpectae\, that is\, mature and wise members who\ , under the cloak of secrecy\, may support the wavering sister or brother\ , urge them to be humble as a way of making satisfaction\, and 'console th em lest they be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Cor 2:7).' Rather\, as the apostle also says: 'let love be reaffirmed (2 Cor 2:8)\,' and let all pray for the one who is excommunicated.\n\nThe place of punishment in the Rule of Benedict is never to crush the person who is corrected. The pu rpose of excommunication is to enable a person to get life in perspective and to start over again with new heart. So\, though not just anyone with a ny agenda--personal dissatisfaction\, a misguided sense of what support im plies\, community division--is encouraged to talk to the person who is end uring excommunication\, someone must. The abbot and prioress themselves ar e expected to see that the confused or angry or depressed person gets the help they need to begin fresh again from discerning and mature people who are skilled in the ways of both the mind and the soul\, who know life and its rough spots\, who realize that humility is what saves us from the blow s of failure.\n\nExcommunication is no longer a monastic practice but help from the wise through periods of resistance and reluctance must be a cons tant or the spiritual life may never come to fullness. Community--family-- is that place everywhere where we can fail without fear of being abandoned and with the ongoing certainty that we go on being loved nevertheless. Pe rfection is not an expectation in monastic life any more than it is an exp ectation in any healthy environment where experience is the basis both of wisdom and of growth.\n\nA contemporary collection of monastic tales inclu des the story of the visitor who asks of the monk: 'What do you do in the monastery?' And the monastic replies: 'Well\, we fall and we get up and we fall and we get up and we fall and we get up.' Where continual falling an d getting up is not honored\, where the senpectae--the wise ones who have gone before us--are not present to help us through\, life runs the terribl e risk of drying up and blowing away before it is half lived.\n\nIt is the responsibility of the abbot or prioress to have great concern and to a ct with all speed\, discernment and diligence in order not to lose any of the sheep entrusted to them. They should realize that they have undertaken care of the sick\, not tyranny over the healthy. Let them also fear the t hreat of the prophet in which God says: 'What you saw to be fat you claime d for yourselves\, and what was weak you cast aside (Ez 34:3-4).' They are to imitate the loving example of Christ\, the Good Shepherd\, who left th e ninety-nine sheep in the mountains and went in search of the one sheep t hat had strayed. So great was Christ's compassion for its weakness that 'h e mercifully placed it on his sacred shoulders' and so carried it back to the flock (Lk 15:5).\n\nThe idea that the spiritual life is only for t he strong\, for those who don't need it anyway\, is completely dispelled i n the Rule of Benedict. Here spiritual athletes need not apply. Monasticis m is for human beings only. The abbot and prioress are told quite clearly that they are to see themselves as physicians and shepherds tending the we ak and carrying the lost\, not as drill sergeants\, not as impresarios. Wh at we have in monasteries and parishes and all fine social movements and d evoted rectories and most families are just people\, simple people who nev er meet their own ideals and often\, for want of confidence and the energy that continuing commitment takes\, abandon them completely. Then\, our ro le\, the Rule of Benedict insists\, is simply to try to soothe what hurts them\, heal what weakens them\, lift what burdens them and wait. The spiri tual life is a process\, not an event. It takes time and love and help and care. It takes our patient presence. Just like everything else. DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241103T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241103T235900 LOCATION:Chapter 27 SUMMARY:The Concern of the Prioress for the Excommuncated END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR