2024 February
Our holy Father Benedict urges us “during these days of Lent to keep [our] manner of life most pure and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times” (RB 49:2b-3). And, in his admonition to the abbot, Benedict cautions him to “avoid all favoritism in the monastery. He is not to love one more than another, …the abbot is to show equal love to everyone” (RB 2:16-17, 22). May I suggest this Lent that we miss “not a one, not a one.” By that, I mean that we overlook not a single opportunity for service, And when we practice our good works, we don’t “forget a one, not a single one,” but demonstrate equal charity for all. I assure you, this Lenten penance is “done with abbot’s approval” (RB 49:10). Scripture says that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). Dare I paraphrase that to “the Son of Man came to give valentines, not to receive them!”