Mercy (which God desires more than sacrifice) is not about turning a blind eye to sin and glossing over transgressions. Rather, it’s about the door to God’s heart never being closed to those who approach him in repentance and sorrow—no matter the gravity of the sin. And since this mercy is integral to God’s holiness—a […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Feast of Saint Benedict
Every now and again, either in our choir books or one of the mass sheets, the quality of the printing is less than perfect. This is partly because the page in question is sometimes a copy of a copy of a copy! And with each process of copying the quality slowly deteriorates until there is […]
Friday of the 13th Week of the Year
In these “dog-days” of summer, dehydration is something that we have to constantly guard against. Paradoxically, the more dehydrated we become the less capable our bodies are of absorbing life-sustaining fluids even when we do drink water. There is a similar spiritual dehydration that occurs when we fail to imbibe the life-giving waters of God’s […]
Independence Day
The disaffection of many Americans with the Catholic Church includes many of its own members whose faith in the church seems to be repeatedly assailed by scandals and the less than noble behavior on the part of some of its leaders. Despite the corrective emphases of the Second Vatican council with concepts like the church […]
Thursday of the 12th Week of the Year (Saint Irenaeus)
The fall of Jerusalem and exile into Babylon of all but the poor and seemingly useless is not unlike what happens within our own spiritual lives. We too have to be freed from all arrogance, pride, and self-sufficiency and left poor, spiritually destitute, and needy. In this humbled state, all that we might have prided […]
Saturday of the 11th Week of the Year
Christ’s admonition that we not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself seems, perhaps, a little irresponsible if not impossible to carry out. However, I believe that Jesus is impressing upon us the fact that anxiety about tomorrow and the days thereafter can obscure God’s presence and grace given in the present […]
Wednesday of the 11th Week of the Year
Treading that fine line between a false humility that hides God’s gifts and boastfully parading one’s good works before others is something that Elijah seems to have been able to do. Seemingly aware of his imminent ascent into the heavens and humbly not wanting Elisha to witness this amazing spectacle he requests that Elisha remain […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 11th Sunday of the Year
In the world of cartoons things like vacuum cleaners are credited with a life of their own and endowed with the ability to choose their actions. Now apart from the fact that vacuum cleaners don’t have brains—even though some may be programmable—they are totally dependent on being connected to an electrical outlet capable of delivering […]
Brother Theodore begins his postulancy
Having recently spent three months within the community as an “observer,” Brother Theodore Berezuk (formerly Todd) has returned as a postulant to begin his initial period of formation. He joins Brothers Mark, John, and Richard in their continuing process of discernment and seeking the will of God for their lives. It has been a long […]
Thursday of the 10th Week of the Year
The anger that brings one to murder a fellow human being is on the far end of that spectrum that has mild irritation at its opposite end. And although mild irritation is very unlikely to bring us to commit murder, unexamined irritation has the potential to eventually become blind and murderous rage. But even if […]