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

I'm Chris McGregor.

Discretion and self-knowledge. Episode 43.

St. Gregory now turns to a danger that follows responsibility closely. Losing sight of oneself. When a person is preoccupied with the care of others, it becomes easy to

neglect the interior life or mistake outward activity for real fidelity.

St. Gregory insists that leadership and service require constant self-knowledge,

not introspection for its own sake, but truthfulness. A person who doesn't know his own

weaknesses, limits, and tendencies cannot guide others well.

For St. Gregory, discretion is wisdom, formed by humility, prayer, and an honest awareness of

one's own need for conversion.

From the pastoral rule of St. Gregory the Great.

The ruler must examine himself carefully, lest while correcting others, he neglects his own wounds.

St. Gregory understands how easily responsibility can distort vision.

When attention is directed outward for long periods, the inner life can become thin, neglected,

or quietly evasive. A person may become skilled at seeing what is wrong in others,

while failing to notice what remains unhealed in himself.

That's why St. Gregory speaks so strongly about self-knowledge.

He doesn't mean a soul turn inward into endless analysis.

He means a soul willing to stand in the truth.

The one who serves others must remain teachable, repentant, and aware that he, too, stands in need of mercy.

That's where discretion matters.

Discretion helps a person judge rightly, not only about others, but about himself.

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