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X-WR-CALDESC:The prioress or abbot should avoid all favoritism in the mo
nastery. They are not to love one more than another unless they find someo
ne better in good works and obedience. One born free is not to be given hi
gher rank than one born a slave who becomes a monastic\, except for some o
ther good reason. But the prioress and abbot are free\, if they see fit\,
to change anyone's rank as justice demands. Ordinarily\, all are to keep t
o their regular places\, because 'whether slave or free\, we are all one i
n Christ (Gal 3:28\; Eph 6:8)' and share equally in the service of the one
God\, for 'God shows no partiality among persons (Rom 2:11).' Only in thi
s are we distinguished in God's sight: if we are found better than others
in good works and in humility. Therefore\, the prioress and abbot are to s
how equal love to everyone and apply the same discipline to all according
to their merits.\n\nIf Benedict of Nursia was anything\, he was not a
pious romantic. He knew the Gospel and he knew life and he set out to brin
g the two together.\n\nIn one paragraph of this chapter\, he shapes a comp
letely new philosophy of authority\, in another paragraph he hints at a di
fferent philosophy of religious life and in this one he rejects\, out of h
and\, the common social structures of the period. In his communities\, sla
ve and free are equal as the gospels demand.\n\nThis is the Jesus life. Wh
at is insane in the streets is common coin here. What is madness to politi
cians is life breath here. What is unheard of in nice company is taken for
granted here. Here people are ranked in the order in which they came to t
he group--not by education\, not by money\, not by social status but simpl
y according to the moment they came to Christ. There is\, as a result\, no
rank at all and this is very disconcerting to a world that loves uniforms
and titles and knowing people who are in Who's Who.\n\nBut do not be misl
ed. Benedict is a realist\, not a feckless libertarian. There are differen
ces among us and he recognizes those. There is a kind of natural hierarchy
of gifts. Some of us are business people and some of us are not. Some of
us are musicians and some are not. Some of us are leaders and some are not
. The question is not whether or not some of us should be put over others
of us. The question is how we get there and why we're put there.\n\nHere B
enedict draws another sharp contrast with life as we know it. The monastic
life\, the spiritual life\, is not a life dedicated to climbing and clawi
ng to the top. The monastic mind is not set on politicking or groveling. A
bbots and prioresses\, good leaders anywhere\, are not in the business of
forming kitchen cabinets or caucuses.\n\nNo\, favoritism and intrigue are
not the mint of the monastic mindset\, commitment is.\n\nBenedict doesn't
just want a business manager who can make money for the monastery. He does
n't want workers for their productivity only. He doesn't take for leaders
simply those who know how to control a group or build a business. Whom Ben
edict wants appointed to positions of responsibility are people who are di
stinguished 'in goods works and obedience\,' in 'good works and humility.'
It is a model for leadership in those places where profit and power and t
he party line take precedence over what the business or the diocese or the
social service agency proclaims it is about.\n\nHe does not want people i
n positions simply to get a job done. He wants people in positions who emb
ody why we bother to do the job at all. He wants holy listeners who care a
bout the effect of what they do on everybody else.\n\nImagine a world that
was run by holy listeners.
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DTSTAMP:20260405T120042Z
DESCRIPTION:The prioress or abbot should avoid all favoritism in the mon
astery. They are not to love one more than another unless they find someon
e better in good works and obedience. One born free is not to be given hig
her rank than one born a slave who becomes a monastic\, except for some ot
her good reason. But the prioress and abbot are free\, if they see fit\, t
o change anyone's rank as justice demands. Ordinarily\, all are to keep to
their regular places\, because 'whether slave or free\, we are all one in
Christ (Gal 3:28\; Eph 6:8)' and share equally in the service of the one
God\, for 'God shows no partiality among persons (Rom 2:11).' Only in this
are we distinguished in God's sight: if we are found better than others i
n good works and in humility. Therefore\, the prioress and abbot are to sh
ow equal love to everyone and apply the same discipline to all according t
o their merits.\n\nIf Benedict of Nursia was anything\, he was not a p
ious romantic. He knew the Gospel and he knew life and he set out to bring
the two together.\n\nIn one paragraph of this chapter\, he shapes a compl
etely new philosophy of authority\, in another paragraph he hints at a dif
ferent philosophy of religious life and in this one he rejects\, out of ha
nd\, the common social structures of the period. In his communities\, slav
e and free are equal as the gospels demand.\n\nThis is the Jesus life. Wha
t is insane in the streets is common coin here. What is madness to politic
ians is life breath here. What is unheard of in nice company is taken for
granted here. Here people are ranked in the order in which they came to th
e group--not by education\, not by money\, not by social status but simply
according to the moment they came to Christ. There is\, as a result\, no
rank at all and this is very disconcerting to a world that loves uniforms
and titles and knowing people who are in Who's Who.\n\nBut do not be misle
d. Benedict is a realist\, not a feckless libertarian. There are differenc
es among us and he recognizes those. There is a kind of natural hierarchy
of gifts. Some of us are business people and some of us are not. Some of u
s are musicians and some are not. Some of us are leaders and some are not.
The question is not whether or not some of us should be put over others o
f us. The question is how we get there and why we're put there.\n\nHere Be
nedict draws another sharp contrast with life as we know it. The monastic
life\, the spiritual life\, is not a life dedicated to climbing and clawin
g to the top. The monastic mind is not set on politicking or groveling. Ab
bots and prioresses\, good leaders anywhere\, are not in the business of f
orming kitchen cabinets or caucuses.\n\nNo\, favoritism and intrigue are n
ot the mint of the monastic mindset\, commitment is.\n\nBenedict doesn't j
ust want a business manager who can make money for the monastery. He doesn
't want workers for their productivity only. He doesn't take for leaders s
imply those who know how to control a group or build a business. Whom Bene
dict wants appointed to positions of responsibility are people who are dis
tinguished 'in goods works and obedience\,' in 'good works and humility.'
It is a model for leadership in those places where profit and power and th
e party line take precedence over what the business or the diocese or the
social service agency proclaims it is about.\n\nHe does not want people in
positions simply to get a job done. He wants people in positions who embo
dy why we bother to do the job at all. He wants holy listeners who care ab
out the effect of what they do on everybody else.\n\nImagine a world that
was run by holy listeners.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260513T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260513T235900
LOCATION:Chapter 2
SUMMARY:Qualities of the Abbot or Prioress
END:VEVENT
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