As the glorious Season of Easter continues, we are happy to announce a partial opening of the Monastery Chapel. By this is meant that the chapel is now open to our retreatants during their stay with us. The reason for not yet opening to the public in general is that our small Guest Chapel limits […]
Holy Abbots of Cluny
As we know, procrastinating because we don’t wish to make a decision is, in actual fact, a decision. Similarly, as Jesus insisted, whoever is not for him is against him—there can be no neutral position in relation to Christ. And in today’s gospel Jesus explains that if anyone hears my words and does not observe […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
Let us honor Mary, …. since she knows the course and outcome of all miseries, she soothes our fears, she awakens our faith, strengthens our hope, drives away our cowardice, and encourages us when we are timid. You fear to approach the Father? Terrified by the mere sound of his voice, you flee to the […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter
1 May, 2022: Third Sunday of Easter, Year C: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 Children, have you caught anything to eat? That’s a game-changing question, because Jesus shifts the emphasis from fishing to earn a living, to providing a meal for his apostles. This is no command to change, it’s a […]
Saturday of the Easter Octave
In our Christian tradition those who, under the influence of the Spirit, speak in the name of the Lord, are not mere mouthpieces or passive conduits of the divine message—the message they speak is transformative, not only for those who hear their message, but for the speakers themselves. Thus, those who speak in the Lord’s […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
And for that reason my advice to you, my friends, is to turn aside occasionally from troubled and anxious pondering on the paths you maybe treading, and to travel on the smoother ways where the gifts of God are serenely savored, so that the thought of him may give breathing space to you whose consciences […]
Fr. James’ Homily for Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday, Year C, 17 April, 2022: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 In this morning’s Gospel, there are yet no angels, no announcement of the Lord’s rising; rather, Mary Magdalene, Peter and the Beloved Disciple puzzle over the empty tomb. Was Peter driven to the tomb by his inner turmoil? He […]
Easter Vigil
Keep your hopes high and your expectations low is advice that, initially, seems counterintuitive. Surely, there should be a close correlation between hope and expectation? Can you have high expectations without hope, or can you have low expectations with hope? Well, if we consider that the dictionary defines the word “expect” as regarding something as […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for Holy Thursday
The final and devastating plague meted out on a stubborn and recalcitrant Pharaoh and his hapless subjects, is also the only plague that the Israelites had to consciously and actively choose to evade. According to the Exodus account all the other plagues assailing Egypt left the Land of Goshen (where the Israelites dwelt) untouched—all this […]
Friday of the 5th Week of Lent
It is, perhaps, relatively easy to dismiss an unwelcome message or difficult teaching, when the teacher’s life is clearly at variance with what he/she propounds. This is what so frustrated Jesus’ opponents—his life unfailingly mirrored the truth of the words he spoke. Accordingly, they were left to try and discredit his teaching and, in today’s […]