Anniversary

This Wednesday, 18 November, is the Sixty-fifth anniversary of Holy Cross’ founding from Our Lady of Refuge in Rhode Island. We thank God for all those who were our founders that day and those who came here to join them, however briefly or permanently, and now rest in our cemetery. We ask God to continue to sustain us in living our monastic vocation and to bless us with persevering vocations for our Abbey’s future. Certainly we can trust in God’s providential care. Wednesday is not just an ordinary day but a time to be mindful of all we have received from God and from those who went before us; to be mindful of our own commitment to God and our commitment to this community which has received each of us and has supported us in our search for God. We are, each of us, supports for one another.

We are especially called to commit ourselves to those who will come here, seeking to discern whether this is where God is calling them, whether they are called to be Cistercian monks. Our anniversary would be a good day to reflect on why I am here and how I have responded so far to God’s call to me; what I hope and pray God will continue to accomplish in me to fulfill that call. And for those who will be coming after us, how will I receive them here? What am I willing to sacrifice in my own life to support their perseverance?

Let us try not to let Wednesday be just another day.

from a Chapter Talk of Abbot Robert Barnes