St. Benedict the Moor’s life presents a theological response to the tension between individualism and tribalism. In modern thought, people often feel the need to choose between radical self-sufficiency and an exclusive loyalty to racial, national, or ideological groups. St. Benedict rejects both errors, embracing instead the fullness of Catholic universality.

Despite experiencing discrimination, he did not retreat into a separatist identity. Instead, he fully embraced the Church as his family and the monastery as his spiritual home. His Franciscan community was composed of men of various backgrounds—European and African alike—yet he did not demand special recognition, nor did he deny his roots.
 
In his role as guardian (superior) of the monastery, St. Benedict governed with wisdom and justice, demonstrating that the highest calling of humanity is not self-preservation within a racial or cultural enclave but full participation in the divine order with all of its universality. He lived in the fullness of his human vocation as a son of God, a brother to his fellow monks, and a servant of the world.
 
This reflects the classical theological approach that the human person is most fully realized not in tribal identity or radical individualism but in communion with God and others. In Aristotelian-Thomistic thought, human beings are social and rational creatures, meant to live in ordered relationships, not self-isolation or ideological camps. St. Benedict embodied this ideal.
 
At a time when we are pressured and tempted to define ourselves exclusively by racial or political identity, St. Benedict offers a model of full human flourishing—one in which our dignity is rooted in our divine calling, not in social constructs.