JGS 13:2-7, 24-25a; LK 1:5-25 Isn’t it odd that when the angel tells the righteous Zechariah that his prayer for a son has been heard, he protests the biological improbability of such an outcome? What had his prayer been like? Had he only expressed the pious sentiments expected of a priest? Was he shifting the […]
Fruitcake Update
PLEASE NOTE: ALL OUR FRUITCAKES ARE NOW SOLD OUT. We apologize to those unable to purchase a fruitcake this Christmas. We will begin baking early in the New Year and so our cakes will be available by mid-February.
Fr. James’ Homily for the Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception, 8 December, 2023: Genesis 3:9=15, 20; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12; Luke 1: 26-38 Our First Reading could remind us that when Adam and Eve chose to sin, their wills had not been weakened by original sin. Mary, even as the Immaculate Conception, could have sinned but chose not to sin. Her extraordinary status is […]
Thursday, 1st Week of Advent
According to Jesus, doing the will of God the Father is the prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. This entering of the kingdom can be understood in two complementary ways: The first is that heaven we presently long for and hope awaits us as the end of our long earthly pilgrimage. The second is […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
Though you may have access to your Son, O blessed finder of grace, bearer of life, and mother of salvation, so that through you he – who by you was given to us – may accept us. May your integrity plead before him for the guilt of our corruption, and may the humility which pleases […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for Christ the King
Given the relatively obsolete nature of kings and monarchs in our contemporary world—and considering the less than exemplary conduct of some of the few who remain—we might wonder about retaining this annual feast honoring Christ the King. But perhaps an even greater problem with this title and all it signifies, is our modern western overvaluation […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 33rd Sunday
Thirty-third Sunday, YR A, 19 November, 2023: Proverbs 11:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30 This man who distributes money to his servants is described as a demanding person, harvesting where he did not plant and gathering where he did not scatter. I know I wouldn’t want to work for such an intimidating person! […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 31st Sunday
If you’ve ever watched television coverage of major sports events, you will probably have noticed that large companies and businesses are willing to pay large sums of money simply to have their name or logo on the sporting attire of a sport celebrity—all because it is believed to be a very effective means of advertising. […]
Fr. James’ Homily for All Saints
All Saints, Wednesday, 1 November, 2023: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a Aren’t all the conditions described as “Blessed” in today’s Gospel, much more liminal situations than virtues of my own concocting? Doesn’t meekness or mercy, only emerge when I find myself in situations beyond my devising? They are not responses I have […]
A Word in time of Temptation
How often, and in how many different guises, have you communicated the sensation of your saving presence to me! In what an immense blessing of sweetness have you consistently gone before me in my littleness, … especially when I am permitted to share in your blessed body and blood. … But thanks be to your faithfulness, […]