Easter 2026 - Reading #32 - Counsel
Reading
The Rule of Saint Benedict addresses the importance of seeking counsel in community: "As often as anything important is to be done in the monastery, the abbot shall call the whole community together and himself explain what the business is. And after hearing the advice of the brothers, let him ponder it and follow what he judges the wiser course. The reason why we have said all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals what is better to the younger."
Benedict continues: "In all things let all follow the Rule as their guide, and let no one rashly depart from it. In the monastery no one is to follow his own heart's desire, nor shall anyone presume to contend with his abbot defiantly. The brothers, for their part, are to obey the abbot in all things with willing and docile hearts."
For Benedict, the gift of counsel operates not only through private prayer but through community. The Spirit speaks through the wisdom of the group, including, as Benedict pointedly notes, through the youngest and least experienced members. Counsel is thus both a vertical gift (God speaking directly to the soul) and a horizontal gift (God speaking through the community of believers).
Reflection
Thirty-three days into Easter. Benedict, ever practical, ever communal, reminds us that the gift of counsel does not operate only in solitary prayer. The Spirit speaks through other people. The abbot must consult the whole community, including the youngest monks, "because the Lord often reveals what is better to the younger." This is a radical claim: God's counsel may come through the person you would least expect.
This challenges the isolated individualism that many of us bring to decision-making. We pray alone, think alone, and decide alone, and then wonder why we so often get it wrong. Benedict says: that is not how counsel works. The Spirit speaks through the Body of Christ, through the community of believers, through the trusted friend, through the spiritual director, through the person who sees what we cannot see because they stand at a different angle.
If you are facing a significant decision, have you sought counsel from others? Not merely gathered opinions to confirm what you have already decided, but genuinely opened yourself to wisdom from unexpected sources? The gift of counsel requires a community. No one sees the full picture alone. The Spirit distributes wisdom across the body, giving each person a piece of the truth, and it is only when the pieces are assembled that the full picture emerges. Today, bring your decision to someone you trust, not to outsource your responsibility, but to receive the gift of counsel through the person God may have placed in your life for precisely this moment.