Meeting Christ in Service and Care

In Chapters 35 and 36, St. Benedict presents service and care as privileged places of encountering Christ. Chapter 35 calls all members of the community to take turns serving at table, making clear that no work is beneath anyone and that service is a shared expression of love. Chapter 36 deepens this teaching by insisting that the sick are to be cared for before all else, explicitly identifying them with Christ himself. In this, Benedict echoes Jesus’ words: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you cared for me.” For modern Christians and oblates, these chapters reveal that love of Christ is inseparable from love of neighbor. Christ comes to us hidden in weakness, need, and dependence, and how we respond to those moments becomes our response to Him. Benedict teaches that holiness is lived not only in prayer, but at the table, in the sickroom, and in the quiet, often unnoticed acts of care where Christ waits to be loved.