PROLOGUE FROM THE RULE OF SAINT BENEDICT
Hence the Lord says in the Gospel,
"Whoever listens to these words of Mine and acts upon them,
I will liken to a wise person
who built a house on rock.
The floods came,
the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it did not fall,
because it had been founded on rock" (Matt. 7:24-25).
Having given us these assurances,
the Lord is waiting every day
for us to respond by our deeds to His holy admonitions.
And the days of this life are lengthened
and a truce granted us for this very reason,
that we may amend our evil ways.
As the Apostle says,
"Do you not know that God's patience is inviting you to repent" (Rom. 2:4)?
For the merciful Lord tells us,
"I desire not the death of the sinner,
but that the sinner should be converted and live" (Ezech. 33:11).
I love this interplay that Benedict seems to have between the promises of God and the deeds of the believer. A protestant might read this and say it is works righteousness but notice how he frames this. From God's promises, spring righteous acts, holiness, and transformation. It is as if, all of the Christian life is just a river of goodness flowing down from God. Notice that for Benedict, goodness in the Christian person is first initiated by God's assurances. That our lives are constantly lived in response to God rather than reaching up to God. For Benedict all the goodness of the monastic practice of faith as an act of harmony with God.
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