Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
hate not your neighbor; and overlook faults.
(Sir 28:6-7)
In the Rule of Saint Benedict the monk was counseled: To keep death daily before one's eyes. This is not some dark purpose to keep monks perpetually depressed . . . rather as that particular chapter of the Rule suggests it’s one of the “instruments of good works.” Saint Benedict knew, as well as the writer of the book of Sirach, that in the light of eternity the everyday squabbles that arise from living in community don’t really amount to much. If we can keep death before our eyes we might be able to “set enmity aside . . . and overlook faults” especially the faults of others. Forgiveness is not optional. As Jesus says:
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart (Mt 18:35).
