True Masculine and Feminine in the Rule

In the Prologue of the Rule, Benedict exhorts us to "Listen, my son, and with your heart hear the principles of your Master." He wants us to be Aware of our true relationship with God and Alert to his voice. Thus he emphasizes a feminine quality of receptivity. But in the next sentence he stirs us up to masculine action ..."so that through the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you have withdrawn because of the laziness of disobedience". To attain wholeness as a person then, we must integrate both the True Masculine and the True Feminine into our souls. Benedict recommended Prayer, Work, Study and Silence as the means to attain such holiness. We would do well to heed his advice so that we may overcome the fourfold alienation of sin, and attain more and more to the state of being an 'undifferentiated Adam'( Donald Joy's phrase), fully conformed to the image of the Incarnate Son.