Benedict has lots to say about stewardship, especially in chapters 31 through 34 of his Rule for Monasteries. To begin with, he mandates that the monastery cellarer (the monk in charge of supplies and tools) should be someone who is wise, mature, temperate, and not wasteful, among other things. He instructs the cellarer to take care of everything without waiting for an order from the abbot to do so, regarding all utensils and goods of the monastery as he would the sacred vessels of the altar. In other words, all the practical matters of our communal life should be considered sacred.
Second, the cellarer must show the same kind of attention and care to the people in his community, especially the sick, the young, guests of the monastery, and the poor. Benedictine spirituality is as much about compassion, wise management, and hospitality as it is about the contemplative aspects of religious life.
In her book, The Monastic Heart, Chittister extends this care of material things to the conservancy of creation, being conscious of the impact on the earth of the things we own. In her words, “Preservation, conservation, authenticity, and moral impact mark the monastic charism of stewardship.”[1]
Finally, there is a fourth aspect of stewardship that the apostle Peter writes about in his first epistle—that is, being stewards of God’s grace. Peter writes,
The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers . . . Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. (1 Peter 4:7-11)
We are stewards of our relationship to God and to others. We must be attentive to the spiritual practice that gives us “the strength that God supplies” to exercise the spiritual gifts we have been given. We are called to be the light of Christ that others will see in us.
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[1] J. Chittister, The Monastic Heart. (New York: Convergent, 2022), 220.
Improbable Benedictine 