Beer Was Never The Blood Of Christ

At the wedding in Cana, Jesus did not turn jugs of water into jugs of beer.  At the Last Supper, Jesus did not pour beer into the chalice to give to His disciples saying that this was His Blood.  On the cross, the pierced side of Jesus did not let out beer and water.

Beer had not been made holy by Jesus and it may never be used to represent the Blood of Christ, but it is the life blood of a number of Trappist monk monasteries.  For the first time, "holy" beer is being brewed and sold in the United States by the enterprising Trappist monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Massachusetts [1].  They even sell a glass specifically for their brew. 

I am not a beer drinker but would order a bottle of the "holy" beer if I get the chance.  In the strictest sense, I am against monks engaging in worldly commercial enterprises, but I am also a practical thinker.  If I were a monk, I would want to make some money to maintain the building and the grounds too, on the one hand, while trying to live a life detached from the riches of this world, on the other.  Even though that is a conflict in and of itself, reality dictates what is necessary and what is necessary in this world sometimes requires sleeping with the devil.  After all, not every monk can be San Francesco d'Assisi, and not every nun can be Chiara d'Assisi.

The question to ask is how close a relationship should a man of cloth have with the devil?  Do those Trappist monks have to brew beer?  Does beer not lead to drunk driving, alcoholism and broken families?  What about monks growing and selling "medical" marijuana, or manufacturing and selling firearms?  What is wrong with growing and selling organic vegetables and fruits?  Too much labor and not enough pay?  Can anything that can make lots of money be rationalized?  "[M]ore than 85 percent of the American brothers [at St. Joseph Abbey] voted for the [brewery]." [2], [3]

As if there is a dearth of brothers and priests with protruding beer bellies, then by all means let them drink beer, so that by Christmastime they can all get jobs in shopping centers as Santa Clauses, alcoholic Santa Clauses.  In a few years, maybe the monks can start a treatment center for alcoholics so that they can earn money on both ends of their brewing business.


[1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-monks-first-in-us-to-brew-authentic-trappist-beer/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Even in a monastery, money and majority, not God, rule.  I wonder what the few brothers who voted against the brewery were thinking of at the time.  The large financial commitment?  The possibility of failure? Alcoholism in the Abbey?  Saint Francis of Assisi? Christ?  All or none of the above?