CHAPTER 2: Qualities of the Abbot (vv. 13-26)
13 Again, if he teaches his disciples that something is not to be done, then neither must he do it, lest after preaching to others, he himself be found reprobate (1 Cor 9:27) 14and God may some day call to him in his sin: How is it that you repeat my just commands and mouth my covenant when you hate discipline and toss my words behind you (Ps 49[50]:16-17)? 15And also this: How is it that you can see a splinter in your brother's eye, and never notice the plank in your own (Matt 7:3)?
16The abbot should avoid all favoritism in the monastery. 17He is not to love one more than another unless he finds someone better in good actions and obedience. 18A man born free is not to be given higher rank than a slave who becomes a monk, except for some other good reason. 19But the abbot is free, if he sees fit, to change anyone's rank as justice demands. Ordinarily, everyone is to keep his regular place, 20because whether slave or free, we are all one in Christ (Gal 3:28; Eph 6:8) and share alike in bearing arms in the service of the one Lord, for God shows no partiality among persons (Rom 2:11). 21Only in this are we distinguished in his sight: if we are found better in good works and in humility. 22Therefore, the abbot is to show equal love to everyone and apply the same discipline to all according to their merits.
23In his teaching, the abbot should always observe the Apostle's recommendation, in which he says: Use argument, appeal, reproof (2 Tim 4:2). 24This means he must vary with circumstances, threatening and coaxing by turns, stern as a taskmaster, devoted and tender as only a father can be. 25With the undisciplined and restless, he will use firm argument; with the obedient and docile and patient, he will appeal for greater virtue; but as for the negligent and disdainful, we charge him to use reproof and rebuke. 26He should not gloss over the sins of those who err, but cut them out while he can, as soon as they begin to sprout, remembering the fate of Eli, priest of Shiloh (1 Sam 2:11-4:18).
Commentary by Philip Lawrence, OSB, Abbot of Christ in the Desert
We can see Saint Benedict focus on the role of the Abbot in these verses. First he wants to make sure that the Abbot is trying to live what he is preaching. This is not to say that the Abbot must be perfect--no one is--but that he must be trying to live the Gospel in the same way that he preaches it to others. It does no good for the abbot to speak about silence if he is never silent--and so with every observance of the house.
We note also that the abbot must not be looking for ways to correct the brethren, but rather ways to lead them deeper into the divine life. This is a very different role from simply making sure that everyone is obeying the observances of the Gospel and of the Church and of the Monastery. Saint Benedict wants the Abbot to lead the monks into a living relationship with God.
Then Saint Benedict points out some of the dangers. The Abbot can have favorites because of his personal likes and dislikes. The Abbot must avoid this. In the 1990's, many people thought that everyone must have a special friend, or that one should certainly not refuse a close personal friendship if one develops. Saint Benedict points the Abbot in another direction: look for good works and obedience. Basically we are told that what matters in monastic life is the strong attempt to seek God and not the natural bonds of human affection. All of us can have entangled human relationships in our lives at some time, but we must work towards putting all of our relationships in the light of God's invitation to us to be monks who seek Him and to always put Him first.
Saint Benedict also warns against preferring one person to another because of external circumstances. At the time of the writing of the Rule, there was danger of preferring a free man to a slave. In our times there is more danger of preferring one person to another on account of nationality or personal talents or such things. In any case, we are directed by the Rule to look at the things that are necessary: how does this person live the monastic life? Good works and humility are brought out in this context.
The Abbot must be flexible and adapt himself to each situation. There is no room in the Rule for rigidity and for lack of creativity on the part of the Abbot. Rather, the Abbot must take the time to look deeply into a situation and to pray about what to do and then try to choose a course of action that is truly according to the Gospel and the monastic tradition as he seeks to draw each monk deeper into the monastic life.
The Abbot can be threatening or coaxing. Most of us prefer to be coaxed rather than to be threatened. There are times when threats are necessary to make a person see that he must come to his senses. The Abbot should never love threatening others--neither should he love coaxing them. The ideal is when the monk is truly adult and mature and gives himself to a full living of the monastic life with neither threats nor coaxings. If an Abbot is always threatening, the threats become normal and lose their force. So also with coaxing. The Abbot must learn how to do both without using his own energy unduly.
Firm argument works with some monks but not with others. In the same way the appeal for greater virtue is only for some of the brothers. We would like to hope that we might be among those who can be invited to greater virtue rather than among those who need firm argument. We must always strive not to be among those who need reproof and rebuke.
Finally we come to that phrase in the Rule in which the Abbot is not to gloss over the sins of those who err, but to cut them out while he can. This verse 26 of Chapter 2 is very important because most abbots and superiors hope that the monks will see their own errors or faults and correct them themselves, without the authority of the Abbot having to come into the situation.
Saint Benedict would surely have felt the same, but recognizes that letting faults and sins grow without mentioning them is not healthy for the community. In the popular psychology of the 1990's, it would be said that keeping family secrets makes everyone psychologically ill.
This does not mean publicizing the faults and sins of others. It means that the Abbot must be able to speak frankly and openly to the monks about what he sees as their faults and errors and that he should be able to expect them to respond in faith. There is no compulsive seeking for the faults of the brothers here, only a gentle awareness that all of us have faults and that we usually work more courageously against them when we have told them to someone else or when someone else has told us that he is aware of them.
It is good if the Abbot can make a commitment in faith to speak honestly to his brothers, with prudence, about their faults and their lacks. It takes courage because sometimes the brothers will get angry and reject the Abbot. Other times a monk who is corrected can become resentful and rejecting. And if the Abbot's correction is not done in faith it will be useless.
We must encourage our Abbot to be open with us. We might even ask him from time to time if he sees anything in us that needs special attention. If we can do this in faith, we can grow rapidly in the spiritual life.
May God give each of us the grace to be open to our Abbot or our superiors, prudently and with faith. May God open our hearts so that we may grow in this monastic way.