ANYONE
WHO WILL NOT WORK SHALL NOT EAT
Paul writes: "Anyone who will not work shall not eat." The Apostle
himself would have been able not to work, since he had been entrusted with a
great mission. Notwithstanding that, he worked day and night.
All the more reason for others to do the same.
"We
hear some of you are living in idleness, not doing any work." Even if
they were passing the time in prayer and fasting, they would not be doing
the manual work of which the Apostle is speaking.
He concludes: "Such persons we command and exhort in the name of the Lord
Jesus to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living."
Paul does
not say: "If they are idlers, let the community keep them." On
the contrary, he demands two things: that they keep quiet and they
they work.
St. John Chrysostom
(10-26-10)
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