What is a monk's purpose?

[Thepeug]

The Church has always believed that monastic life is the most intimate possible relationship that a man can have with God. It is a way of life where everything is taken out of the middle so that all there exists is the individual and his God.

Family, society, career and relationships are not bad things. If they are properly used, they can lead to great holiness. This is not the message of manasticism. It is not a negative spirituality.

The message of monasticism is that through the union between the soul and God the monk climbs the cross with Christ and offers his life. As scriptures says, the greatest thing a man can do is to lay down his life for his friends.

In addition, a monk not only lays down his life for his friends, but like Martha and Mary, the monk is Mary. Instead of living in a world of constant activity, he has chosen the better part. He sits to look at the Lord. Hence he is a contemplative 24/7. He fulfills what Christ says, when he said that unless a man loses his life he will not find it. So a monk loses his life in the world to find his life in the Lord. In doing so he enjoys a foretaste of Heaven on Earth and like the angels and saints in Heaven, he applies the graces of this life toward the salvation of the world.

Finally, a monk is the light on the hill. He speaks to men, without words, of a better way of living. His life proclaims peace, justice, respect for all creation, detachment from everything that distracts us from God and of perfect charity through a life in community where all are one body as Christ calls us to be.

Monks are solitary, because they are lighthouses. The problem is not with monastic vocation. The problem is that society has stopped appreciating the value of a lighthouse. We, even Catholics, do not look toward these men and women for example. But God and the Church have given them to us to learn from them.

We have to change. We have to look elsewhere for our example on how to live the Gospel. It would help us all very much to pick up a book on monastic life and read. Even if we’re involved in raising families or serving the poor, monks can teach us how to go about it without being trapped by the fallacy of doing over being. Many great saints never became monks, but they borrowed from the monastic life what they needed in order to live in the world without being part of the world.

Fraternally,

JR

JR,

This is a beautiful and informed explanation. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JReducation]

JR,

This is a beautiful and informed explanation. Thanks for sharing.

It is my pleasure. I have learned so much from monastics and it has changed my life. Even though I’m a Secular Franciscan, monastics have taught me that the secular world is my cloister. My special vocation is not a negative. In other words, it is not a second place to being a Regular Franciscan living a conventual life in a friary or monastery. It is a unique and equal vocation in the Franciscan family. It is a call to stand within the secular world as a lighthouse.

When others work, we work well. When others play and compete, we play and show an appreciation for joy. When others pull away to be alone, we are alone to be in prayer. When others look forward to the weekend to get away from work, we look forward to the quiet time spent in doing other things with the Lord or with others. When other express anxiety over changes in politics or the economic situation, we live in hope that God will show us the way.

Monastics have helped me appreciate what it is to turn the world into a cloister where everything is directed toward God and where everything reminds us that God is near.

Fraternally,

JR

 

[3Sanctus]

The purpose of a Monk is to “Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with [his] god,” just like any other Christian. He simply feels called to do so in a particular way, in a particular place, with a particular community.

I read this thread last night, so forgive me if I’m duplicating others’ suggestions, but I’d strongly suggest you check out Thomas Merton (just be careful about some of his later, more whishy-washy works). I carry the Pocket Thomas Merton in my back pocket and find it inspiring and delightful.

I’d also suggest checking out the spirituality of the Desert Father (beware Hesychism though) and the writings of Saint Benedict and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. If you’re really into solitude and silence of live, then you should check out Saint Bruno and other Carthusians.

May God, by the prayers of Saint Benedict, Patron of Monastics, guide you in your search for knowledge.

 

[GailMac4]

To be Holy.

 

[JReducation]

To be Holy.

This is true of every human being. But if you ask monks they’ll tell you that they achieve holiness through single-hearted union with Christ, puting aside all other concerns.

JR