It is only one of the ways the Rule invites monks to imagine what they can become, and then to become what they are shown. At dinner the monks take their turn serving each other at table. When they sit down at dinner, or process into church, or exchange the peace with one another, the established order of seniority in the community prevails, not by age but by time of entrance into the monastery. It is the way that the junior monks show reverence for their seniors. When a senior monk speaks to a junior, he calls him by the title Father or Brother, and not by his name only, and in this way he shows him genuine love rather than a haughty prestige.
Reverence opens a door for respect within all sorts of human relationships.
The funeral of a monk offers the final signs of reverence. Just before the procession leaves the church for the cemetery, the abbot and monks gather around the coffin. The scene resembles the moment of solemn profession when the monk once lay prostrate on the floor of the church. Now the monks together sing the same verse that the monk who has died sang at his final profession. And do not confound me in my expectation.