Rule of Benedict 32
June 29, 2009
In verses 44-47 St Benedict has a warning. He warns that the actions of our lives matter. The little things we do either move us in the direction toward God or away from God.
He says: Fear the Day of Judgment: be in dread of hell. Ardently desire everlasting life with deep spiritual longing. Keep death daily before your eyes.
Frankly speaking I spend little or no time reflecting on the first and last parts: judgment, death, and hell. I much prefer the middle part. I prefer to desire and long to be near God. Yet my actions, all of them, will one day be evaluated. The reality of this evaluation caused Benedict to earn his followers about the last things: Sin, judgment, death, and hell. To some these sound morbid. They seem to motivate by eliciting negative feelings. Yet there is a healthy way of viewing them. Those who are in Christ have no fear that they will experience any of these things outside of Christ. He is the judge and he will judge in mercy. Death, therefore, can be a daily reality and even at times welcomed out of longing to be nearer to our Lord.
Prayer: Dear merciful God, help us to conduct our lives in such a way as the dread of judgment and hell are far away from us. Yet keep us mindful that in your mercy, there is full assurance of justice. Awaken, reawaken, and constantly awaken within me a deep desire for the things that are above where Christ is seated with the Father. In gratitude I rejoice that the sting of death has lost its power in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
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