For Catholics With Sources?

Question

Arent monks and those belonging to monastic orders more escapists than any thing else. Jesus said to go out and bring the many to the true faith and to help people but isent it counter productive and selfish to hole your self up in a cell and pray all day. This is not an attack on the faith i am a firm beliver.

PLEASE ONLY CATHOLICS!

You first 3 are missing the point. I know all about the differnt orders and i know they all have faith but how is it helping the world when your holed up in a monestairy.

Answer 1

It is not escapism, though some may construe it that way. It is always easier to understand that which may be seen, rather than that which is hidden.

There are many ways to bring people to the faith. One may show people to the one true Faith through a good example of Catholic life and the many blessings it brings. One may teach people the Church's truths through the Scriptures and the Catechism. One may minister to the people and try to demonstrate God's love through one's good works.

And one may pray for people to come to the one true Church. The Holy Spirit can do far more than we can alone. The Religious (monks and nuns) work to bring people to know God through the one true Faith with their prayers.

And one must understand that prayer is work! If you have never thought of it as work, close your eyes and try to pray for a while- without your mind wandering off... And then imagine year after year after year in unceasing prayer and reflection. Those in religious life work very hard to bring God's children to Him through their prayers. And I am very grateful to them.

Answer 2

---is Catholic with a personal library---

No monks are not escapists (though you can find escaptists in monastic orders).

The direction to physically spread the gospel is NOT given to all. If you look at the scriptural text, Christ is talking to the apostles. There is also several places in scripture that Christ tells a healed person, who wishes to follow him, to stay where that person is. So at a fundamental level, only the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons have the divine mission to physically go out and spread the gospel. Members of the laity and religious orders are not divinely commanded to do such, though they may spread the gospel, but only in concert with the bishops and the priests. (as a note, there is a difference between the daily witnessing of the gospel through daily living and the missionary activity of the Church).

All Catholic, though, are obliged to follow the Christian pilgrimage and work out their salvation in fear and trembling. The Monastic orders function in this regard, they are working out their salvation both for themselves and for other people. Monastic orders spend much of their time praying for other people and their salvation. In this sense, they are doing a greater and more productive work because it is spiritual. The life of a monk is not being holed up all day...it is very regimented and there is very little time for personal time. Monastic life is also a very communal life, with all people working together and living out the Christian life.

I suggest that:

you read the second part of the new encyclical Deus Caritas Est.
you read up on monasticism
you check this link out
http://www.diegrossestille.de/english/

Answer 3

No they are not. It is a good thing that there are monks and cloistered nuns who have given up the materialistic world for a life of prayer. Look what they have given up for love of God. The world has so much to offer, but they were called to God. Remember, as a Catholic, you know that becoming a religious is a calling, a vocation, just as others want to marry or be single. It is not counter productive. This is their work. Even in Jesus' time there were those who prayed constantly in the temple. We should be thankful that there are such people praying for us and the world, especially with the state it is in now.

Answer 4

First of all, there are many types of religious orders. Some are cloistered and devote themselves to prayer, some are uncloistered and preach or minister among the people.

1 Cor 12:4-5, 8-10 "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord....To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds..."

Not everyone is called to do 'mighty deeds' or 'gifts of healing.' Some serve simply through the use of their widom or knowledge or faith. Study and prayer are callings, just as ministering to the poor is a calling. Remember how in John 12 Mary (sister of Martha) took the costly oil and annointed Christ's feet with it? Judas asked why the oil wasn't sold and the money used for the poor, but Jesus answered, essentially, that there is a time and place for everything. Helping the poor is important, but so is praising God. Some people are called to the one, and some to the other. Also, it is the monks who copied Bibles, prayed constantly on the behalf of others, and developed theology. In any event, I would not call the life of a monk selfish. Having constant, ordered prayer, being kept away from the outside world, living very austerely - this might be a nice escape for a time, but not for one's entire life. I think it suits only those whom God calls to it.

Answer 5

"Pray without ceasing," St. Paul said. By observing the hours, contemplative monks obey this more faithfully than anyone.

When St. Peter established the order of deacons, the clergymen ordained specifically to service, he said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And so it is that some peoples' role is to go out into the world in roles of service and healing. That is the purpose of the diaconate, and that is even the role of many monastic orders that are not contemplative, such as Mother Theresa's Sisters of Charity.

But not all role are the same. Some are consecrated to service. Some are consecrated to praise and contemplation, a less visible but just as important function of the church.

This may be the point of St. Paul's essay in 1 Corinthians on the Spiritual Gifts - "Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary," he says, speaking of the need for different roles in the church.

The solitary monk Thomas Merton once wrote, "Yet it is in this loneliness that the deepest activities begin. It is here that you discover act without motion, labor that is profound repose, vision in obscurity, and, beyond all desire, a fulfillment whose limits extend to infinity." He found that he could deepen his solidarity with his fellow men - develop true charity for them - by focusing on his aloneness as a monk. The contrast allowed him to see his true unity to all men.

Answer 6

No, it is most certainly not selfish or counter productive. If you only knew how powerful the prayer is of these chosen religious, you would be thrilled that they were there!

While we are all loved by God, there are some that are on a higher spiritual plane and closer to Him. He calls some women to be his brides - religious sisters. Their prayers is so much more powerful than laypeople. There are different powers in prayer. Those of saints are most powerful (these people who are in a state of grace). Non-Catholics prayers are also heard, but they do not hold as much power as Catholic prayers because God will listen most to those who listen to Him.

Is is a great gift for the rest of us that these religious pray for our souls and for the graces for us to do as God wishes. As Our Lady of Fatima said, "Many souls will go to hell because there is no one who will pray for their soul."

Answer 7

you have to have an special devotion to do just that, i see monk's and Lamas, as well than Catholic priest (many Franciscan orders), as devoted to one faith, they also fight evil within their own life-existences.

Answer 8

Would you rather have them out in the world chasing altar-boys?