Gaudate Sunday 2024
December 17, 2024
Third Sunday of Advent —Gaudete Sunday We have come to Gaudete ( Rejoice ) Sunday, and the prophets Isaiah and Zephaniah in their writings call the Anawim, ( a people
Chapter Talk – Synodality in the Rule of Benedict – 8-21-2022 How does an ancient Rule, specifically the Rule of St. Benedict, offer a perspective and ways forward in implementing ‘synodality’ for the present and future renewal of monastic life and of the Church? This is the subject of a short essay by the Abbot […]
Chapter Talk – 19th Sunday of the Year – August 7, 2022, cycle-C Stay awake… for what? For whom? Be aware…vigilant…have your lamps lit…why? Fears, anxieties, confusion, uncertainty…. silence. Imagine an encounter: I and Christ…or Christ and I: fears, anxieties, confusion, uncertainty: in the living encounter of faith what happens to these ‘pulls’ of the […]
Chapter Talk – 19th Sunday of the Year – August 8, 2021, cycle-B “It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God’. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me’” (Jn 6:45). If we took just this sentence into prayer, how are we each being addressed […]
Chapter Talk – 14th Sunday of the Year – July 5, 2020 – cycle-A “You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and have revealed them to the little ones,” says Jesus (Mt 11:25). Jesus is praising his abba for revealing the mysteries of God to the little ones, that is to […]
The Second Sunday of Advent opens with the cry of John the Baptist out of the wilderness: ‘Prepare the Way’. This cry is intended to pierce our hearts so that we may be ready for the new unfolding life of ‘the God who is to come’. As we live into the hope of God’s gift […]
Ephphatha, be opened. What opens the ear to hear? Is it not true that when the heart is open we are able to hear? Feel into this reality for a moment: when my heart is closed or hardened by harsh judgments, hurt, presumptions, shadow stuff, worries, and you can add to the list, we do not hear. We hear […]
ART: IVAN MESTROVICRecently we received some conferences on prayer in the monastic tradition by Fr. Daniel Hombergen OCSO. I was moved by Fr. Daniel’s reflections of Enzo Bianchi’s book, Why Pray, How to Pray especially the chapters “On the subjects of The Initiative God takes in relationship,“ and “The germinating of authentic prayer where there […]
The poet David Whyte has a book on ‘words’. He takes a word, presumably a word that has evoked something within him, and he writes a poetic prose reflection. It is as though he is doing lectio divina on each word that he reflects on. For example, here is how he begins his reflection on […]
Third Sunday of Advent —Gaudete Sunday We have come to Gaudete ( Rejoice ) Sunday, and the prophets Isaiah and Zephaniah in their writings call the Anawim, ( a people
Monastery Lentils A popular Guest House recipe that is vegan, easy to make and packed with flavor. Recipe calls for dry herbs – but use fresh for extra flavor. Serve
A lot goes on in the world, but little changes in a monastery. The life is regular and is set by defined intervals of prayer, work, and study. We are
