Holy Rule for October 3
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St. Mary's Monastery
Oct 2, 2024, 5:37:22 PMOct 2
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
February 2, June 3, October 3
Chapter 7: On Humility (44-48)
The fifth degree of humility is that he hide from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts that enter his heart or the sins committed in secret, but that he humbly confess them. The Scripture urges us to this when it says, "Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36:5) and again, "Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 105:1). And the Prophet likewise says, "My offense I have made known to You, and my iniquities I have not covered up. I said: 'I will declare against myself my iniquities to the Lord;' and 'You forgave the wickedness of my heart'" (Ps. 31:5).
REFLECTION
A caution here: the Holy Rule uses the Septuagint version's numbering of the Psalms, not the Hebrew. Since most Bibles today use the latter system, even many Catholic editions, you might find that the Psalm referred to in this passage, which I strongly recommend you read through, is 32, not 31.
Psalm 31 (32) is a wonderful exposition of sin and forgiveness. It begins by recounting the joy of one whose sin has been forgiven, then proceeds to unfold how concealing sin affects one and confessing sin heals one. In v. 3-4, immediately prior to the 5th verse, which St. Benedict quotes, we find the following: "I kept it secret and my frame was wasted. I groaned all the day long for night and day Your hand was heavy upon me. Indeed, my strength was dried up as by the summer's heat."
Guilty secrets control us, they rob us of our freedom, and they destroy our peace. Long before one's frame is wasted (though that, too will eventually happen,) one's mind and spirit are trashed, laid low by the relentless fear of discovery. It's very true that one can run, but not hide. It is also true that, without the peace such shameful hiding steals from us, we shall have a MUCH harder time with our spiritual life.
What the guilty one is fleeing is within herself, and travels right along with her. Ever see a news clip about a fugitive who successfully hid for decades and then was caught? I wonder what kind of life they had in the meantime, a life never free, a life that always had to fear. This is not what Jesus called us to.
One may not belong to a tradition, which practices sacramental confession, but all of us need the abscesses of our secret guilt lanced and drained somehow. AA, a spiritual program, which can fit itself to any religion or no religion, insists that without confession to at least one other trustworthy person, our faults are likely to rule us forever. Don't spill your beans to just anyone, but don't hold them festering within, either! [A heavy PS, too: if you do belong to a Church that has sacramental Confession, GO!! Too many put that off at great risk and harm to themselves.]
What keeps us chained to our dirty secrets is lack of faith, lack of trust: no one will love me if they know this, not God, not anyone. Well, the ending verses of Psalm 31(32) deal quite neatly with this falsehood:
"Many sorrows have the wicked, but those who trust in the Lord, loving mercy surrounds them. Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, exult, you just! O come, ring out your joy, all you upright of heart!" (Ps. 31:10-11)
Not only does God forgive, but the guilty one now freed is accounted as among the just and the upright of heart, without any further ado. Now THAT is Divine Mercy! No heart is more full of such infinite mercy than the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Trust Him!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like unto Yours.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
February 2, June 3, October 3
Chapter 7: On Humility (44-48)
The fifth degree of humility is that he hide from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts that enter his heart or the sins committed in secret, but that he humbly confess them. The Scripture urges us to this when it says, "Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36:5) and again, "Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 105:1). And the Prophet likewise says, "My offense I have made known to You, and my iniquities I have not covered up. I said: 'I will declare against myself my iniquities to the Lord;' and 'You forgave the wickedness of my heart'" (Ps. 31:5).
REFLECTION
A caution here: the Holy Rule uses the Septuagint version's numbering of the Psalms, not the Hebrew. Since most Bibles today use the latter system, even many Catholic editions, you might find that the Psalm referred to in this passage, which I strongly recommend you read through, is 32, not 31.
Psalm 31 (32) is a wonderful exposition of sin and forgiveness. It begins by recounting the joy of one whose sin has been forgiven, then proceeds to unfold how concealing sin affects one and confessing sin heals one. In v. 3-4, immediately prior to the 5th verse, which St. Benedict quotes, we find the following: "I kept it secret and my frame was wasted. I groaned all the day long for night and day Your hand was heavy upon me. Indeed, my strength was dried up as by the summer's heat."
Guilty secrets control us, they rob us of our freedom, and they destroy our peace. Long before one's frame is wasted (though that, too will eventually happen,) one's mind and spirit are trashed, laid low by the relentless fear of discovery. It's very true that one can run, but not hide. It is also true that, without the peace such shameful hiding steals from us, we shall have a MUCH harder time with our spiritual life.
What the guilty one is fleeing is within herself, and travels right along with her. Ever see a news clip about a fugitive who successfully hid for decades and then was caught? I wonder what kind of life they had in the meantime, a life never free, a life that always had to fear. This is not what Jesus called us to.
One may not belong to a tradition, which practices sacramental confession, but all of us need the abscesses of our secret guilt lanced and drained somehow. AA, a spiritual program, which can fit itself to any religion or no religion, insists that without confession to at least one other trustworthy person, our faults are likely to rule us forever. Don't spill your beans to just anyone, but don't hold them festering within, either! [A heavy PS, too: if you do belong to a Church that has sacramental Confession, GO!! Too many put that off at great risk and harm to themselves.]
What keeps us chained to our dirty secrets is lack of faith, lack of trust: no one will love me if they know this, not God, not anyone. Well, the ending verses of Psalm 31(32) deal quite neatly with this falsehood:
"Many sorrows have the wicked, but those who trust in the Lord, loving mercy surrounds them. Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, exult, you just! O come, ring out your joy, all you upright of heart!" (Ps. 31:10-11)
Not only does God forgive, but the guilty one now freed is accounted as among the just and the upright of heart, without any further ado. Now THAT is Divine Mercy! No heart is more full of such infinite mercy than the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Trust Him!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like unto Yours.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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