We initiate the holy Lenten Season with our annual Ash Wednesday Mass at 7.30 a.m. on February 26. There will be the customary imposition of ashes as we pray to open our hearts to the special graces of this penitential season in preparation for the joyful celebration of Our Lord’s Resurrection. Also, a Mass Time […]
Wednesday of the 6th Week
That purity of heart without which we cannot see God is also the same purity of heart that enables us to truly see one another. Many of our interpersonal conflicts are the result of viewing others through the distorting lenses imposed by our still unpurified hearts. Thus, like the man in today’s gospel—who saw people […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Sixth Sunday
In today’s Gospel there’s probably something to make each of us wince. It’s evidently an important passage, located as it is after the Beatitudes. In a sense, today’s Gospel might be a practical guide for living the beatitudes; but that makes it no more pleasant to hear. If you feel you’ve never […]
Saturday of the 5th Week
Saint Augustine reminds us that our prayers of petition are not to inform God of needs we have and of which he is unaware. Instead, says Augustine, our petitions are a way of preparing our hearts to receive what God already knows we need and wishes to give us. Jesus exemplifies this in the feeding […]
Wednesday of the Third Week
This morning’s readings have an important lesson about sin and an equally important teaching about grace. David’s sin reminds us that sin impacts not only the sinner but inevitably affects others in typically negative ways. On the other hand, Jesus’ ability to cure some of the sick in his hometown—despite the majority’s disbelief and rejection […]
A Word from our Cistercian Fathers
Pay heed to this, you who pray on the run but dally with books, you who are fervent in reading and lukewarm in praying. Reading should serve prayer, should dispose the affections, should neither devour the hours nor gobble up the moments of prayer. When you read you are taught about Christ, but when you […]
Elijah come among us
On Sunday morning we had the happy occasion of witnessing Brother Gregory Wilson receive the Cistercian Habit and formally begin his two-year novitiate. In keeping with a long monastic tradition, Brother Gregory felt led to take a new name—that of the great Prophet Elijah. We thank God for bringing Brother Elijah to this important juncture […]
Saint Augustine’s Homily for today’s Gospel
Each one’s heart is a sailing boat [that cannot] be wrecked so long as we fill our minds only with what is good. When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind; when your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds […]
Friday of the 3rd Week of the Year
Confessing our sins over and over again while not seeming to make any progress can be very discouraging. However, this unsparing recognition of our sins is an indispensable means to ensuring that even though we aren’t making great progress, we are at least not getting worse. It is inadvertence to our sins—especially the less serious—that […]
Wednesday of the 2nd Week of the Year: Day of Prayer for the legal protection of the unborn
Although the death of Goliath (described in our first reading) was that of a dangerous enemy and most likely prevented the death of many others, it was nevertheless the ending of a life deemed precious in the eyes of the Lord. Accordingly, even when the death of one, prevents the death of many, it remains […]