Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: work

3 Morning habits that start your day off on the wrong foot

Aleteia: We crowd-sourced lots of ideas for starting your morning off on the right foot, in order to have a more successful day. Whether we’re early birds getting our worms or night owls hooting it up until the wee hours, starting our day off right — no matter when we get up — is not… Read More ›

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The mythical nature of work in the modern world

In our society, a society of business rooted in Puritanism, based on a pseudo-ethic of industriousness and thrift, to be rewarded by comfort, pleasure, and a good bank account, the myth of work is thought to justify an existence that is essentially meaningless and futile. There is, then, a great deal of busy-ness as people… Read More ›

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Benedict of Nursia on the Value of Work

. . . One of [St. Benedict’s] most famous dictums was ora et labora: “pray and work.” His Rule served as the standard community rule for monasteries in the West for hundreds of years. Consistent with his dictum, the Rule of St. Benedict contains some wonderful passages about the value of work in addition to other… Read More ›

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Forgetfulness

Often when I pray, or read scriptures and also when I meditate, I often forget or perhaps the better word or statement is: “I get careless about the Presence before and within me, relating back”. It seems strange but that is the truth. I would suppose that is one reason, though I am sure there… Read More ›

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The nature of work

Abba Theodore of Pherme came one day to see Abba John, a eunuch from birth, and during their conversation he said to him, “When I was at Scetis, the works of the soul were our work, and we considered manual work to be subordinate; now the work of the soul has become subordinate and what… Read More ›

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What Good Work Shall I Do?

A brother asked one of the elders: what good thing shall, I do and have life thereby? The old man replied: God alone knows what is good. However, I have heard it said that someone inquired of Father Abbot Nisteros the great, the friend of Abbot Anthony, asking: What good work shall I do? And… Read More ›

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Work as an expression of love

22. Work was the daily expression of love in the life of the Family of Nazareth. The Gospel specifies the kind of work Joseph did in order to support his family: he was a carpenter. This simple word sums up Joseph’s entire life. For Jesus, these were hidden years, the years to which Luke refers… Read More ›

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Work is healthy but Agitation destroys

Work occupies the body and the mind and is necessary for the health of the spirit. Work can help us to pray and be recollected if we work properly. Agitation, however, destroys the spiritual usefulness of work and even tends to frustrate its physical and social purpose. Agitation is the useless and ill‑directed action of… Read More ›

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The Danger of Infrastructure

Mobility does not involve large investments in infrastructure. We are familiar with agencies of charity or service that become identified with their real estate. Long before the first meal is served or the first medicine is distributed, humanitarian organizations set up a building to house staff -responsible for gathering and distributing funds. This is usually… Read More ›

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When things don’t go as planned….

If you seek God and work for Him in everything, without pause, the result will be miraculous. Translation: answer when he knocks. When we have failure, we have to investigate the reasons behind it. It could just be a test, or as I just said, God’s way of nudging us from something that really isn’t… Read More ›

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