At Enlarge My Heart, I reflect on the Rule of Saint Benedict each month, with the goal of helping readers deepen their faith and follow Jesus. Following the Rule is practiced by Benedictine monks, religious, oblates, and adapted for everyday life by many Christians. These thoughts focus on one of the Rule’s core themes each month, inviting readers to incorporate the wisdom of St. Benedict into their lives.
Chapter 1.10-13
| Fourth and finally, there are the monks called gyrovaugues, who spend their entire lives drifting from region to region, staying as guests for three or four days in different monasteries. Always on the move, they never settle down, and are slaves to their own wills and gross appetites. In every way they are worse than sarabites. It is better to keep silent that to speak of all these and their disgraceful way of life. Let us pass them by, then, and with the help of the Lord, proceed to draw up a plan for the strong kind, the cenobites. |
Commentary
If we are going to be faithful followers of Jesus, we must constantly be open to the Holy Spirit, who molds our wills. The gyrovaugues (JAI-roh-vaygs) have no stability and live off their appetite. Benedict calls these monks drifters: “The labor of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience.” These drifters lack obedience and stability. We must give our hearts and availability to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to temper our will lest we become drifters.
Take the image of fire—the embers at the start of the fire blow. When one gently blows onto the embers, they become inflamed. If one blows too vigorously, the embers engage with fire, and the flames are out of control. When we give over the ember of our hearts to the Holy Spirit, he breathes and forms it so that we become the imperative light that shines. Without God, we are a raging fire out of control.
One practical way the Holy Spirit forms our hearts is in the Christian community. Being with your parish and staying with your parish in every season helps us grow with Jesus. So we must be still, practice stability, weather through the spiritual seasons, especially in their dryness, and wait …. for springtime.
Prayer
O Love of God, you have formed us in one community. Inflame my heart with your love. Let my will be your will. Amen.
Enlarge my heart 
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