Today in our reading of the Rule of Benedict, we are called to the Prologue (14-20). The reading begins with:
And the Lord, seeking His laborer in the multitude to whom He thus cries out, says again, “Who is the man who will have life, and desires to see good days?” (Psalm 33: 13). And if, hearing Him, you answer, “I am he,” God says to you, “If you will have true and everlasting life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips that they speak no guile. Turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it” (Psalm 33: 14-15). “And when you have done these things, My eyes shall be upon you and My ears open to your prayers; and before you call upon Me, I will say to you, 'Behold, here I am.’” (Psalm 33: 16; Isaias 65: 24; 58: 9).
Consider the words of the Lord: “… before you call upon Me, I will say to you, 'Behold, here I am.’”
We long for love. We search for one to share our life with. We desire union. Here the Lord is offering that and much more. He offers himself to us in total intimacy in our response of “I am he” to His call for laborers. There is no duplicity, but unity and simplicity of life when one seeks God alone.
I paraphrase: Commentary for Benedictine Oblates on The Rule of St. Benedict - G. A. Simon
“What can be sweeter to us, dear brethren, than this voice of the Lord inviting us? Behold, in His loving kindness the Lord Himself shows us the way of life.”
And the day that we asked for the Oblature, was it not in reality because we wanted thus to follow better the Lord’s invitation and, aided by His grace, to “do good” and “seek after peace”?
We aspire to perfection because we have felt the divine call, have understood it and want to answer it. “We desire, for a more secure realization of personal perfection, to draw near and to participate in and be pervaded with the Spirit.”
The Oblature, then, was our way of replying “I will follow, Lord” to the Master’s call.
And so, how sweet it is for us to remember the circumstances of that call and of our answer! How appealing the voice of the Lord seemed to us! Starting from that moment, if we have been faithful, have we not felt ourselves invaded, as it were, by that ineffable peace which was promised us, that Benedictine peace which is one of the characteristics of our Order? How right it is that in conformity with our Statutes we have adopted and loved the motto “Pax,” which is that of all the sons of St. Benedict, and which expresses so well the profound and lasting sentiment residing in every soul that seeks God sincerely.
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