A painful legacy

Rule of St. Benedict

CHAPTER XXX
How Young Boys Are to Be Corrected

Every age and understanding should have its proper discipline. Whenever, therefore, boys or immature youths or such as can not understand how grave a penalty excommunication is, are guilty of a serious fault, let them undergo severe fasting or be disciplined with corporal punishment, that they may be corrected.

I know that the concept of physical punishment is viewed very differently now then it was in the time of Benedict. In fact sensitivities have changed dramatically within the span of my lifetime. Even the idea of “fasting” or, in our modern terms, “being sent to bed without supper” seems unnecessarily harsh. The reality is, however, that our children do need to be disciplined for behavior that left uncorrected could result in much more serious problems as adults. The legacy of abuse that is being laid on many of our religious orders, particularly the Jesuits in Oregon is haunting and humbling. I often listen with deep sadness as people I know recount the stories of what their childhood in orphanages or boarding school involved. I don’t pretend to know the whole truth of any of this and I have to admit that when my children were young I tended to parent the way I was parented rather than way I should have parented. The thoughts that keep running through my head are that justice must be tempered with mercy and that punishment must focus on correction and not retribution.

A cornerstone the builder rejected

“A stone which the builders rejected that became a cornerstone.”

The line is first found in Psalm 118 and again in Matthew 21 and finally in the first letter of the apostle Peter. The phrase, of course, is very familiar to us because we encounter it frequently in our daily reading but I have never really taken the time to really examine the origin and intent of the scripture. The commentaries I reviewed suggested the line referred to an event that took place during the building of the great temple. A large oddly shaped rock was delivered to the construction site but the laborers could find no use for it so they set it aside. Later, when the temple was nearly finished they needed a large stone to fill a gap in the lintel so they could finish the building. It turns out the seemingly useless rock sent to the site long before had a critical purpose after all because the rock fit in the space perfectly. The stone that had been rejected became the cornerstone of the temple.

Since we are not far removed from Easter we remain keenly aware that Jesus became the new temple of the new covenant. In Matthew 21:42 Jesus said: Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?”

He clearly is referring to himself as being the stone that will be rejected when he is crucified but upon his resurrection, he will become the cornerstone.

Is this not a common theme in our faith? Men reject but through divine intercession what has been rejected will become not only accepted but critically needed.