The old adage, actions speak louder than words lies at the heart of striving to set a good example for others to follow. However, good example will only be followed by those possessing a humble and sincere desire for the good. Those who have little or no love for what is good and virtuous will […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The cross on which Christ died may not have looked exactly like our familiar crucifixes. It did indeed have a vertical support and each of the condemned carried his horizontal beam to the place of execution—so the basic configuration we know is an appropriate approximation. But no one who had witnessed that torturous form of […]
Tuesday of the 23rd Week of the Year
The call of Judas highlights the great mystery of grace and its complex interaction with human free will. Judas was called to be an apostle and not a traitor—despite some claims to the contrary. But instead of ensuring a deeper union with Christ, it resulted in his treacherous betrayal. Might he perhaps have been spared […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 23rd Sunday of the Year
Do you perhaps remember, as you were growing up and setting out on your own path, how threatened your parents felt by some of your choices? Perhaps as a parent of adult children, you today feel challenged or criticized when they do not replicate your own conduct. On a purely mundane level that happens in […]
Friday of the 22nd Week
The “new wine” of the Cistercian Reform was wisely placed in the new wineskin of Cîteaux—the so-called “New Monastery.” However, eventually this new wineskin itself became old and subsequent reforms were needed to create new wineskins for new generations of monks and nuns fired by that same early spirit and vision. In our own lives, […]
Gift Shop closed during Community Retreat
Please note that the Gift Shop will be closed during the upcoming Monks’ Retreat. The days affected are the following: Monday September 9 through Thursday September 12. The Gift Shop will reopen on Friday morning, September 13 at 10.00 a.m. However, we will be closed again on Saturday, September 14 for the Patronal Feast of […]
A Word from our Cistercian Fathers
There is another arrow: the living and active word of God that cuts more keenly than any two-edged sword, of which our Savior said: “I have not come to send peace but the sword.” “A polished arrow” too is that special love of Christ, which not only pierced Mary’s soul but penetrated through and through, […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 21st Sunday
Our faith in the humanity and divinity of Jesus can sometimes run up against vexing questions. An example is Jesus’ foretelling of the end of the world that he concludes by stating: But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Surely, if […]
Memorial of Pope Saint Pius X
As long as heaven consists of an infinite array of gifts, pleasures, and good things, then the entrance into heaven of someone who has a deathbed conversion will seem manifestly unjust to us who have labored long and hard on our Christian pilgrimage. However, if heaven is not about things but about God and entering […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 20th Sunday of the Year
Twentieth Sunday, Year C, 18 August, 2019: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53 Don’t we know from experience that if we honestly attempt to live the Gospel, we find ourselves at odds with conventional values, expectations and even our own desires? An alternative is flight from my inner conflicts, creating scapegoats and villains, […]