CHAPTER 2: Qualities of the Abbot (vv. 1-12)
1To be worthy of the task of governing a monastery, the abbot must always remember what his title signifies and act as a superior should. 2He is believed to hold the place of Christ in the monastery, since he is addressed by a title of Christ, 3as the Apostle indicates: You have received the spirit of adoption of sons by which we exclaim, abba, father (Rom 8:15). 4Therefore, the abbot must never teach or decree or command anything that would deviate from the Lord's instructions. 5On the contrary, everything he teaches and commands should, like the leaven of divine justice, permeate the minds of his disciples.6Let the abbot always remember that at the fearful judgment of God, not only his teaching but also his disciples' obedience will come under scrutiny. 7The abbot must, therefore, be aware that the shepherd will bear the blame wherever the father of the household finds that the sheep have yielded no profit. 8Still, if he has faithfully shepherded a restive and disobedient flock, always striving to cure their unhealthy ways, it will be otherwise: 9the shepherd will be acquitted at the Lord's judgment. Then, like the Prophet, he may say to the Lord: I have not hidden your justice in my heart; I have proclaimed your truth and your salvation (Ps 39 [40]:11), but they spurned and rejected me (Isa 1:2; Ezek 20:27). 0Then at last the sheep that have rebelled against his care will be punished by the overwhelming power of death.
1Furthermore, anyone who receives the name of abbot is to lead his disciples by a twofold teaching: 12he must point out to them all that is good and holy more by example than by words, proposing the commandments of the Lord to receptive disciples with words, but demonstrating God's instructions to the stubborn and the dull by a living example.
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
It is never easy to tell a superior what he ought to be, yet it is necessary. This chapter does not speak about the psychology of the abbot, nor about his relative wholeness as a human being. Rather it sets a goal for the abbot, which he must constantly strive to attain, even while he recognizes that daily he fails.
That the abbot holds the place of Christ in the community is a theological statement. We accept this by faith. We may find it difficult humanly to see the face of Christ in our abbot, yet by faith we must constantly strive to accept the abbot in this role. It is not easy for any of us, the abbot
The abbot must clearly teach sound Christian doctrine. In our time, it must be said that the abbot is bound to teach Catholic doctrine and be in union with the local bishop and the Holy Father. We are reminded that all of us are answerable to God. The abbot must strive to present a clear and faithful doctrine of prayer and holiness. The monks must strive to live a life of holiness that is clearly and unambiguously in the monastic tradition.
It is all too easy for the abbot to complain about the monks and insist that they are not all that they should be. It is just as easy for the monks to complain that the abbot has so many weaknesses that he does not really lead the community. A true Benedictine spirituality is one in which each monk (even the abbot) takes responsibility for his own life, for the challenge of loving each member of the community as he is, for the responsibility of being faithful to his own life of prayer however difficult it may be and for giving himself over to the community and to the work of the community with a strong decision of the will that is prepared for sacrifice and rejoices when God gives peace and stillness.
Our words and our life are to be of one piece. No one, and especially not the abbot, ought to be preaching a life that cannot be lived. We can teach, however, that there are goals for which we aim in this life, even though we know that most likely we shall never completely arrive there.
In this context it is interesting to read the tenth rule of Saint Ignatius for thinking, judging and feeling with the Church:
We ought to be more inclined to approve and praise the decrees, recommendations, and conduct of our superiors than to speak against them. For although some of these acts are not or were not praiseworthy, to speak against them either by preaching in public or by conversing among the ordinary people would cause more murmuring and scandal than profit. And through this the people would become angry at their officials, whether civil or spiritual. However, just as it does harm to speak evil about officials among the ordinary people while they are absent, so it can be profitable to speak of their bad conduct to persons who can bring about a remedy.
We are weak in this kind of thinking in our own time and our communities are therefore weak. We are so conditioned that we think only brutal honesty will help any situation. Instead, our monastic tradition, and that of Saint Ignatius, tells us always to fine good in whatever it is that we are doing and in all the other persons in our lives.
This kind of thinking leaves us really free to listen to whatever the abbot says and to see whatever of Christ is in his utterances. It seems to be a part of human nature, however, to find the weaknesses of others. Once we find their weaknesses, then we tend to discount anything they have to say if it gets into the way of what we really want to do. This is not a good way of living, spiritually. Humanly, of course, we get just what we want. Spiritually, we are called to seek God and we know that that often means walking on the path of sacrifice and suffering.
The abbot is just as subject to this common human vice. He can begin to have deaf ears once he discovers the weaknesses of the monks. He can think to himself that it doesn't matter, in any case, because the monks won't really change--probably don't even want to.
The Rule in this Chapter calls us to another way of living. A way of living that is clearly in Christ Jesus and is willing to listen to one another and accept one another, even after we have seen each other's faults and weaknesses. We need a great deal of faith to do this. Oftentimes novices and those in the early stages of formation leave when they see the scandal of the human weaknesses and failings of their brother monks. This is one of the trials that those in formation must get through: how to live with the sinfulness and weakness of the community which I have joined. All of us must see the sins and weaknesses of our brothers as simply the call to us to live more deeply in Christ, not as a sign that I do not belong here. It is easy to become discouraged. It must be said quite openly that we are likely to encounter every possible sin in the monastic community--and ,we would not be saved. We try to imitate Him and not run away because ofthe sinfulness and weakness of our brothers. The community is our encounterwith grace.
May the Lord strengthen us to live in community and to fight for Christ and to love our brothers.