Bruderhof - Benedict Option - Catholic Style

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I have read Rod Dreher’s book “The Benedict Option” a couple times. I find it inspiring (while not agreeing with all of it.) It did get a lot of reviews where it seemed the reviewer either didn’t read it, or didn’t bother to understand what Dreher was saying.

A good review is here: https://thosecatholicmen.com/articles/stop-misunderstanding-the-benedict-option/

So what options or movements are there to start something like a Catholic Bruderhof? For those unfamiliar with the Bruderhof, Dreher writes about his visit here: Life among the Bruderhof

I have great respect for the monastic orders, but I am thinking of something more for Catholic families who want to share their lives together, educate the children together, work together and keep their faith strong together. This doesn’t need to be isolated from society - but be part of society as a group.
 
I’m personally leery of both Rod Dreher and his concept of a Benedict Option, but it does bring to mind the communities that have long formed around particular abbeys and monastic communities. One such example Dreher himself wrote about is Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma. Like I said, I’m on the fence about the Benedict Option, and not really drawn to the idea as I understand it (I haven’t read the book, just several articles and commentaries), but since you brought it up, here’s Dreher’s article about Clear Creek

 
Wasn’t Ave Maria, Florida intended to be that kind of Catholic community where there would be a lot of support for the faith? I’m not under the impression it has succeeded, but it’s an interesting idea. Personally I would love to live close enough to the monastery where I’m an oblate so that I could drop in at any time for Mass or the office through the day.
 
This has long been discussed and tried, even before Dreher’s book, and though I am familiar with some of these, I don’t know any that succeeded. The closest thing is probably the community that has naturally grown up around Clear Creek Monastery. I think the problem in a planned community is that no one can mind their own business and insist that because it is a community on purpose, then the members ought to be homogenous. However, Catholics today have a much broader range of living out their faith than in the past, but we all think we are doing it “right”. Or at least we’re heading that way. As a result, there gets to be a lot of bickering in these communities, people telling each other what to do, and eventually, no one can stand it anymore. In the case of the community near Clear Creek, no one was moving to be a part of a Catholic community, but just wanted to be near the monks. As a result, no one had expectations of their neighbors’ behavior. I think communities that naturally spring up around monasteries are the only ones that can work.

However, let me ramble on… the problem with this is that the communities with monasteries often cannot provide jobs essential for the average family. What seems to happen, then, is that mostly those who are wealthier end up in these communities. In the past, the monasteries provided lots of jobs. Those who didn’t work in the monasteries were farmers. Now, however, the monasteries provide very few jobs, and mostly at stipend wages, and most people aren’t farmers. This can be an insurmountable obstacle to the average family.

I think our best course of action right now is to hunker down and be Catholic. Form friendships with like-minded Catholics where we are now. And, of course, pray that our society will eventually change to be more friendly to those like us.
 
Thanks very much for the answers. I problem with people not being able to get probably affects all denominations! The Bruderhof and some other groups have made it work, but I am aware that most intentional communities fail.

But there is increased interest in intentional community. I understand what you mean by “hunkering down and being Catholic where we are.” The trouble is that the problems families face with society are best faced when like-minded people can support each other. For instance, look at social media. Many parents are worried about the effect of it on their children. But hardly any parents feel able to do anything about it. If 10 families were living together, and sending their children to the same school, problems like this could be overcome. I think this is what Dreher is driving at.
 
One big problem is…what to do with the members who fall into sin?
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
One big problem is…what to do with the members who fall into sin?
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Uh, yeah. And what if everyone doesn’t agree with that definition? I’ve known a community, for example, fall apart over the question of modesty. What one family may consider modest, for example, another may not, and some mom is bound to say it is not modest enough.
 
Exactly—a religious order of single people are free to join or not. The rules are spelled out up front. People can make the choice to join.

But parenthood is complicated—the kids didn’t ask to join, and when a kid inevitably screws up, then what?

Or, a spouse joins up and then at a later time point goes off the rails and wants to leave the Church, where does that leave the other spouse and the kids?

Sin is very real, and life is very messy, and the more people you bring into it, the more complicated it gets.
 
I’m thinking about something like Amish communities and how they function. The difference is that they’re well established already so the people largely share the same values. It would be quite different for a bunch of strangers to come together and try to blend their lives.

Something formed around a monastery would have a stabilizing influence from the monks or nuns. Otherwise, even something like how the Mass is celebrated could be a cause of dissension.
 
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