Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 35:1-11 Kitchen Servers of the Week
Mass: Is 1:10-17; Resp Ps 50; Mt 10:34-11:1
As has been shared before, it is said that verse 1 of today's reading from the Holy Rule is the center of the Rule. It comes from the chapter on kitchen service, "service that no one will be excused from unless unless she is sick or engaged in some important business of the monastery" (RB 35:1). The first verse begins in this straightforward way: "The sisters or brothers should serve one another" (RB 35:1). Why? It's pretty simple. Kitchen service "increases reward and fosters love" (RB 35:1). Still, kitchen service does not come without demands. Kitchen service, and all service for that matter, as rewarding as it can be, does not come without crosses, both big and small. I'm sure you can think of at least a few when you think about preparing a meal, serving food, and/or cleaning up after others. In this regard, it is good to keep in mind something Jesus tells us in today's Gospel: Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Mt 10:38). There goes that essential function of the job of a disciple again, that is, carry your cross. After all, whoever loses his life for the sake of Jesus will find it (Mt 10:39).
All you can do now is hold your poor barren self constantly before God, thanking Him for loving you, and believing that all you suffer is love.
(Sister Wendy Beckett, d. 2019).
SAINT HENRY,
PRAY FOR US.
© Gertrude Feick 2020
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