Afternoon, and it's worktime again. Everyone in the monastery has a particular assignment. Gardening, cleaning, cooking, bookkeeping, and in many cases doing some sort of work to bring income to the Community.
We probably all know a few of these monastic endeavors. In order to enable our Brothers and Sisters behind the walls to continue their lives of prayer, we may have purchased (just to name a few) ...
Vestments
http://vistyr.org/our-work/chantal-artisans
Coffee
http://www.mysticmonkcoffee.com/store/storefront.php
And what about our own time of work?
As I go about the tasks of this day, am I doing my job(s) for the love of God? It can be a tough question, for the truth is: I've developed a HABIT of slotting prayer into prayer time, leisure into leisure time, work into work time. Like nickels and dimes dropped into a coin sorter, the moments of my life get categorized into little neat rows.
Habits are hard to break. By the grace of Our Lord, however, I am convinced that they can be broken. I'm quite certain that, if I just start to cooperate, the power of Christ is able to transform even me, so that one day all I do could be done for the glory of God.
"If the fact that God sees us were fully impressed on our consciences, and if we realized that all our work, absolutely all of it, is done in His presence - for nothing escapes His eyes - how carefully we would finish things and how differently we would react!" (St. Josemaria Escriva)
"Let us love God, but with the strength of our arms, in the sweat of our brow." (St, Vincent de Paul)
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