Do not gratify the promptings of the flesh Galatians 5:16; hate the urgings of self-will. (Rule of St. Benedict 4. 59-60) What is “the flesh”? “The flesh” is a Christian metaphor. The struggle represented by “the flesh” consists of our efforts to do good and to reject evil. It’s this vital spiritual struggle that builds …
Tag Archives: spiritual
Align Your Will With God’s Will
Scripture tells us: Turn away from your desires Sirach 18:30. And in the Prayer too we ask God that his will be done in us Matthew 6:10. We are rightly taught not to do our own will, since we dread what Scripture says: There are ways which men call right that in the end plunge into the depths …
Fear Of The Lord
The first step of humility, then, is that a man keeps the fear of God always before his eyes and never forgets it. Psalm 36:1 (Rule of St. Benedict 7.10) The practice of humility isn’t so daunting once you realize that it’s not about what other people think of you. It’s about your existence. The first step in this practice …
Character Building
Post-Hurricane Clean-Up Meditation We shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. (Rule of St. Benedict Prologue 50) Patience is a topic that we get tired of quickly. If we were hanging out in the Italian countryside like St Benedict, maybe it would be …
The Call: Awake!
Let us get up then, at long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: “It is high time for us to arise from sleep” Romans 13:11 (Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue.8) This “sleep” is the spiritual stupor of ordinary people who imagine that the front line is somewhere else. They think that they themselves …
The Challenge
This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord. (RB Prologue.3) St. Benedict is of course not the first to describe the …