Learning to habitually prefer Christ in all things, for a Benedictine, is entirely founded on the virtue of humility. The Rule of Saint Benedict, written to guide monks and nuns living the monastic life, is arguably just an extended treatise on learning and living the virtue of humility. Saint Benedict devoted the lengthiest chapter in the Rule to what he called the 12 degrees of humility, one of the most brilliant explications of humility ever written and quite possibly the original 12-step program! Humility is intrinsic to Benedictine spirituality because without it one simply cannot love God and neighbor with an undivided heart or be properly formed in God’s image. This should ring true for us in recovery because we learn that our addictions are fueled by our pride and narcissism. The Twelve Steps are nothing more than a methodology for exposing the deep and tangled roots of our pride and learning the salutary practice of humility “in all our affairs” (Step 12).

How a Benedictine comes to be humble in practice is centered on three core principles: stability, ongoing conversion, and obedience. Stability is “rootedness” in spiritual discipline, following the teachings of Saint Benedict and the Saints, and above all staying close to Christ in prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments. Ongoing conversion speaks to a dogged trust in God no matter the vicissitudes of life, recognizing that every moment of joy and suffering is always a providential invitation to love Christ and neighbor anew. And obedience, which derives from the Latin word “obedire,” meaning “to listen to,” signifies the essential “receptive” and “docile” disposition enabling one to “hear” the still, small voice of God and discern His will. Clearly, preferring Christ in humility as embodied in a life formed by these principles beautifully harmonizes, if not enriches, with our spiritual journey in recovery.

“Listen carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart…that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience” (Rule of Saint Benedict).

Saint Scholastica, pray for us!

Reflection Questions

• How do you seek to prefer nothing but Christ in your recovery?
• How do you practice the principles of stability, ongoing conversion, and obedience in your daily conversion in recovery?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Genesis 1:1-19
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10, 12, 24, 35c
Gospel: Mark 6:53-56

Reflection by Pete S.