St. Benedict tackles the difficult topics head on in very succinct language. That is another lesson I should learn from his example. He defines good monks and bad monks. He writes instructions to leaders and followers. He offers rules on speaking, listening, and the role of humility in each. After describing the custom for celebrating each day the liturgy that fulfills the Lord’s precept to pray without ceasing, the monastic father turns our attention to discipline. It is a challenging subject in our contemporary culture. We are challenged with talk of submitting to authority and even more distressed by the idea of punishment. Generally, society rejects any restriction that prevents it from getting what it wants. St. Benedict devotes eight chapters to the need for discipline and the manner of punishment. Here he introduces the idea that strikes fear in the hearts of many, it is the punishment of excommunication.[1]
One reason the idea of excommunication is so fearful for me is that I interpret and equate that punishment to the idea of being stripped of my citizenship or branded as a traitor, a betrayer of my community. The full weight of the consequences rested solely on my actions. It is the sentence that I deserve, rather than the mercy and grace that I desire. Perhaps, I have come to expect mercy and grace too much. Perhaps the expectation of mercy and grace have numbed my senses to the just consequence of my rebellion. Perhaps I have taken God for granted and placed my desires above His will. When I frame the topic in such terms, I realize the source of my visceral response to St. Benedict’s focus on punishment.
A close look at St. Benedict’s rule and several points become clear. Benedict lived in an age and with a culture where corporal punishment was common throughout the social structure. Children were whipped by family and neighbors who witnessed indiscretions. Students were beaten by their teachers. Adults were whipped publicly and imprisoned in the harshest conditions. Corporal punishment for minor offenses were swiftly administered. Standing in the middle of that treatment is The Rule, which Sr. Chittister describes as, “one of the gentlest monastic rules ever written.”[2] Still, many of the disciplinary techniques are neither applicable nor acceptable today. One ought to seek to understand what lays what the heart of the discipline. What is its intent?
The intent appears to be two-fold. Each lesson is as relevant today as it was in the sixth century. First, Benedict did not promote punishment for a lack of ability or ignorance. Care was given to equip individuals with skills and knowledge. Even in offenses that threaten the harmony of community, care was taken to instruct better behaviors that promote healthy relationships. Attempts were made to eliminate grumbling, quarreling, and defiance before they took root and created division. Offenders were warned twice. The offenses were highlighted so that personal correction could be made. Perhaps unspoken grievances could be given space to be shared and corrected. If offenders were intent on creating dissension, then they were rebuked before the community. After all that, Benedict sought to ensure that offenders knew the reason for their punishment. After others were satisfied they understood the reason for their punishment then they removed from the fellowship of the community. Secondly, the real focus of excommunication was not punitive, but restorative. The desire of the community was to maintain fellowship with all its members. If the brother or sister’s love for community was greater than selfish desire, it was hoped they would repent of their disrespectful acts and be brought into full fellowship again with all others. Only when we face our faults can we grow. Archbishop Rwaje of Rwanda once addressed the four steps toward reconciliation saying, “All parties must first reconcile themselves before God. Realizing our many sins and receiving Christ’s redemption, each one must then reconcile themselves with themselves. Despite my sin, God forgives me and I turn to live as a new creation. Third, both parties, having reconciled themselves with God and themselves, can now turn to one another to be reconciled to one another. Finally, having been reconciled with my brother or sister, we must turn to the larger audience who witnessed our strife and be reconciled to the whole.”
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[1] The Rule of St. Benedict in English with notes Benedict, Saint, Abbot of Monte Cassino – Liturgical Press – 1981, p.49.
[2] Joan Chittister, The rule of Benedict: a spirituality for the 21st century (New York: Crossroad, 2010), 142.
