The rule of St. Benedict for a daily life, learning to listen to God with a discerning heart.

I'm Chris McGregor.

The Second Degree of Humility, Episode 17.

In the second degree of humility, St. Benedict turns from awareness of God's presence

to the ordering of the will.

Humility becomes real when you feel a strong pull toward what you want

and you still choose God's will.

The Holy Rule teaches the heart to place desire and preference

within obedience to God,

so the will is formed rather than governed by our own preferences.

From Chapter 7 of the Rule of St. Benedict, the second degree of humility is that a person

loves not his own will, nor takes pleasure in satisfying his desires, but

imitates the Lord, of whom the Scripture says, I came not to do my own will, but the will

of Him who sent me."

St. Benedict names self-will directly because it's subtle and persistent. The desire to arrange life according to personal

preference rarely appears as open rebellion. It often presents itself as reasonableness, efficiency,

or conviction. It can sound sensible. It can feel justified. Over time, it can also harden into insistence.

The holy rule forms the heart to relinquish the need to dominate. Humility grows when a person

allows God's will to take precedence over personal inclination, even when that inclination

feels strong and persuasive.

This degree of humility is explicitly Christ-centered. Benedict points to Christ, whose life is

shaped by listening and obedience to the Father. Christ's surrender of his own will is loved,

...