17 hours ago
Friday, May 08, 2009
An Idea For Monks and Nuns
Like the rest of us, monastics have to make a living. But, and it seems odd to me, they invariably do work that is not very remunerative and have to ask the rest of the church to support them with money. So, I'm wondering, why don't we have a monastery that specializes in a profession such as law or accounting. This would give the monks an opportunity to book 4 to 6 billable hours each day, maintain an active liturgical life, position them to be of great service to the parishes and dioceses by providing legal and/or auditing services.
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3 comments:
My thought would be that professions like those would require too much involvement with the world. Generally, I think, enterprises that pull in major bucks require major involvement with the world.
In my experience such professions require you to be very client-centered, which means having a significant chunk of yourself poised to take a call, make a presentation or jump into some sudden crisis. I don't think that would jibe very well with the monastic life and services.
How much more peaceful and conducive to a monk's prayer-life to make candles, work on an icon....even measure coffee beans into a bag.
We have chosen the harder portion, scrapping our way along making a living with one hand while fighting the wiles of Satan with the other. Each person has his calling from God.
---By the way, this is a great blog!
Technically, monks and nuns are cloistered, meaning they only leave the monastery for serious reasons. And, because prayer is their primary work, they look for work that is conducive to maintaining prayer even while working, so usually some type of manual labor.
Also, just fyi, the Church does not support vowed religious. They are required to be self supporting, either from their work or by donations. The Church themselves does not provide for them monetarily.
Obviously, I know very little about monasticism.
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