The abbot must always remember what he is and remember what he is called, aware that more will be expected of a man to whom more has been entrusted. He must know what a difficult and demanding burden he has undertaken: directing souls and serving a variety of temperaments, coaxing, reproving and encouraging them as appropriate. He must so accommodate and adapt himself to each one's character and intelligence that he will not only keep the flock entrusted to his care from dwindling, but will rejoice in the increase of a good flock. Above all, he must not show too great concern for the fleeting and temporal things of this world, neglecting or treating lightly the welfare of those entrusted to him. Rather, he should keep in mind that he has undertaken the care of souls for whom he must give an account. That he may not plead lack of resources as an excuse, he is to remember what is written: Seek first the kingdom of God and his Justice, and all these things will be given you as well (Matt 6:33), and again, Those who fear him lack nothing (Ps 33:10).

The abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them. Whatever the number of brothers he has in his care, let him realize that on judgment day he will surely have to submit a reckoning to the Lord for all their souls - and indeed for his own as well. In this way, while always fearful of the future examination of the shepherd about the sheep entrusted to him and careful about the state of others’ accounts, he becomes concerned also about his own and, while helping others to amend by his warnings, he achieves the amendment of his own faults.

Comment

From Norvene Vest's Preferring Christ:

The abbot has been given the name of Christ; he is entrusted with the most precious of treasures. By his implicit reference to the passage in Luke, Benedict makes clear that the abbot is a servant, but a highly placed one -- one who "knows what his master wants" (Luke 12: 47-8). If such a one defaults, there is severe punishment indeed.

So what does the master’s will call for the abbot to do? (1) He is to have great regard for the unique qualities of each one given to his charge, dealing with each according to his or her need or capacity. This goes against our modern instinct, by which, in the name of equality/fairness, we treat all the same. It takes both discernment and skill to regard and treat each according to who they are in God’s eyes.

(2) He is not to allow himself to become so burdened with administrative duties that he defaults on the spiritual formation responsibilities he carries. The abbot has considerable responsibility to provide for food, clothing, housing, and security -- none of which in Benedict’s time (nor often since) could be taken for granted. It is easy for us to carry these burdens so heavily that they preoccupy us and consume all our energy, especially today when our whole economy functions on the principle of relative scarcity. But here Benedict recalls the abbot (and us!) to the radical way of the Sermon on the Mount, and reminds us that there is only one fear that is important -- the fear of God. When that one fear is properly in place, all the rest falls into order. "How good Yahweh is - only taste and see! Happy the (one) who takes shelter in him!" (Ps 34:8).

The phrases which seem most to touch me today are these: "remember who I am and what I am called" and "may not complain for want of worldly resources." It seems to me that it is very important for me to remember who I am (child of God) and what I am called (Christian). Usually I forget. In fact, recently I participated in one of those exercises in which you fill out ten slips of paper, each one completing the sentence "I am ...." When I finished the exercise, I had listed ten different "identities" of myself. I did not even think to put down Christian on the list. Many days pass without my recalling that I am a baptized person and child of God. How would my days be different, if I were regularly to meditate on that identity of mine? For I do believe that it is my most important identity.

I suppose that one of the reasons I don’t take it more seriously is actually because I don’t think I have the resources. I am, after all, just an ordinary human creature, with the usual quota of neuroses. I get "stuck" in many ways in my days: in the blues, in physical diseases in preoccupation with my activities and engagements. There is so much to occupy me, and so little to uplift me. How could I possibly take very seriously a call God gives me to become "a holy person"? (I don’t even have good language for it.) But Benedict does take it seriously on my behalf. Even more astonishing to me than his continual lack of surprise in the face of human limitation is his constant emphasis on the ultimate human vocation. He never forgets that God longs for every one of us to "dwell in his tent." Nothing is to him more precious nor more valuable than MY soul. Can I say the same?....

In this chapter, Benedict has been establishing the authority and responsibility of the abbot. Indeed, he has actually defined monk (cenobite) as those who "do their service in monasteries under a rule and an abbot" (RB 1:2). So the abbot’s role and functions are foundational to the faithfulness of the monastery to its call in Christ.

Throughout, Benedict’s image of the monastic community seems very like St. Paul’s image of the ‘Body of Christ’: many members, each with own gifts and weaknesses, interdependent, drawn into being by Christ the head. While the abbot plays the incarnated role as head in Christ’s name, it is always clear that the abbot too is under Christ’s sovereignty. And that the abbot too is interdependent -- his life, indeed his very soul, is deeply entwined with the life of the members whom he serves.

Thus it is fitting to close this chapter with a reference to the profound importance of the daily deepening in the abbot’s own conversion to Christ, as he grows in the Spirit likewise to conform his monks to the mind of Christ.

REFLECTION: Several years ago a (very honest) retreat participant came up to me after a conference I had conducted and said to me, "Do you dare to speak like that without every day living that way?" it was a serious question, and not an accusation, and I was touched by it, for it is exactly to the point. Sometimes I get so carried away with the beauty and the power of who I am in Christ that I forget who I am without Christ. I am so often tempted to say, "OK, Lord, now I understand. I can go it on my own for a while." And I neglect my own word of humility and obedience as I allow my energies to be focused solely on my care of and for others.

Perhaps, though, the other extreme is equally bad: to be so aware of who I am without Christ that I refuse to act when and where I am called to, because I know I can’t do it alone. Obedience calls me to take authority when appropriate, even though it may cause me to carry a burden for other souls that I know I am not good enough to carry alone.

From Esther de Waal's A Life-Giving Way:

The real point in the growth that the abbot encourages is growth in the love of Christ. If there is anything characteristic of the Rule, it is the way in which Benedict constantly stresses the love of Christ as the focal point. It is always the love of Christ that is the center of our growth process . . . everything must lead to this. . . . The role of authority is to help the individual to develop that personal relationship, to foster growth in the love of Christ. Rembert Weakland, whom I am quoting here, adds, "and I would like to repeat that a hundred times." There is never anything static about Benedict or the Rule. This dynamic element, with the sense of growth, progress, opening out, is vital. As I come to the end of this chapter, I appreciate the image that Benedict uses in verse 5 when he likens the abbot’s teaching to leaven that would permeate the minds of his disciples. These are words that suggest a process that is slow and thorough, working so that change will take place at its own pace. This is a leadership that understands about growth, spiritual and psychological, and will help to promote it. It is God at work, which will lead to the rising like yeast in each individual.

Yet even while he is being reminded of how he is to act gently, the abbot is also being reminded that at the day of judgment both his teaching and the obedience of his disciples will be examined (38). Benedict again adheres to gospel teaching. Christ more than once affirmed the fearful possibility of falling short of his love. Benedict does not let us forget the sobering thought that God will one day judge our actions. So the abbot is to bear this in mind, to anticipate God’s judgment on his actions, to make the same judgment that God would make, and so not to act without regard to the consequences. Yet Benedict also puts limits to what might sound a huge responsibility, for he never says that the salvation of each soul depends on the abbot. If the monks spurn and reject the abbot in spite of all that he has tried to do to cure their unhealthy ways, then their final punishment lies with themselves and not with him. There is never any idea that the sheep belong to him; they belong to "the father of the household, the paterfamilias" and that is God himself. So I too must impose the same limitations on those for whom I feel responsible, in family, marriage, or work, for I must never forget that ultimately they belong to God. Somewhere I remember Thomas Merton telling me that I can be brother or sister to another but I must never try to play the role of keeper, for to do that is to abrogate to myself a role that belongs to God alone. In No Man Is an Island, Merton reminds us, "A person is a person insofar as he has a secret and is a solitude of his own that cannot be communicated to anyone else . . . which God alone can penetrate and understand." This standing back is a recognition that every one of us is unique and that uniqueness must be respected.

While each one may be equal in love, differences in personality and temperament, or of a physical and a psychological kind, must not be overlooked. "Everyone has his own gift from God, one this and another that." Later in chapter 40 Benedict will quote from I Corinthians. He is here emphasizing the flexibility of approach that the abbot will need. The respect and reverence is due to each as a unique creature of a loving father (echoes once again of the opening words of the prologue). Being ready to adapt appropriately to each requires the gift of discernment, and Benedict shows the skills of a spiritual director as he tells the abbot to use encouragement and persuasion or reproof as the spiritual needs of those in his care require. He is also responsible for the material welfare of his monks and while he does not want to deny the earthly and perishable things, Benedict is saying that we are to seek the things of the kingdom first and God’s justice. The quotation from Matthew 6 in verse 35 brings me back to the thread of "divine justice" that runs throughout this chapter. God’s justice is not justice in terms of just rewards for desserts as the world would understand it. The secrets of each heart, the intentions, the struggles, are known to God alone, and it is on this that each will be judged at the end. The reference in verse 5 to the leaven of "divine justice" carries an implication whose significance I should not miss, for it clearly refers to Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The behavior of the owner turns the accepted order of things on its head. Am I really expected to reward someone as much for one hour’s work as for ten? This is not a description of just desserts as today’s world understands it. It is rather a description of the overflowing of a generous love that does not count the cost, or reward by achievement, or weigh up time and labor and results. If I am going to take this seriously, then Benedict is challenging me to make the radical demands of the Gospel real and practical in my daily relationships.

The abbot is not only responsible for others; he is also responsible for himself. The position of leadership does not put the leader apart from the rest in the responsibility that he is also to exercise toward himself. Here is a caution that is only too wise for anyone involved in caring for others: they too will be held responsible on the day of judgment for the way in which they have handled their own gifts and talents, dealt with their own faults. It is something that I need to hear myself, to take seriously.

Response

I have found much food for thought in these meditations on the abbot.

Since I am a lay person, I almost skipped over them, but was glad that I

went ahead and read them. I found that several of the commentaries

truly illuminated some of the puzzle that I as a teacher have had in the

area of discipline when it has proven necessary.