O God, love, you alone are my wall and rampart. Those who bear distress in this world, behold, they know what kind of shelter there is for them in your peace as a defense against heat and a canopy against rain. Ah! Look upon and see my battle; you yourself teach my hands to fight. […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Sacred Heart
27 June, 2025, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, YR C: Ezekiel 34:11-16; Romans 5:5b-11; Luke 15:3-7 It’s no surprise that today’s solemnity is about love, but how do I understand “love”? I don’t believe genuine love resembles the good feelings or effervescence of romance or infatuation. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is […]
Wednesday of the 12th Week of Ordinary Time
God’s answer to Abram’s question: How am I to know that I shall possess this land, is anything but clear or precise. Instead, he falls into a deep trance and is enveloped by a deep and terrifying darkness that calls for a surrender in loving trust to the Lord who called and brought him from […]
Memorial of Saint Boniface
Hate, malice, anger, and envy, all have the potential to bind people together in pursuit of a common cause. However, this unity is a false and fragile one that can easily fracture into violent factions which then turn on each other. Thus, the seething hate and malice that Paul aroused bound the Pharisees and Sadducees […]
Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions
Monasteries and monastic life are frequently associated with peace and calm. Accordingly, some are drawn to enter a monastery in the quest for inner peace and happiness. To their surprise and dismay, they discover that monastic life initially seems to rob them of the little peace they may have possessed. Then, misunderstanding what is really […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Ascension
It is perhaps necessary to remind ourselves that the period between Christ’s resurrection and ascension that we have been celebrating these last six weeks was not some kind of transitional existence in which he was no longer in the world and yet not quite in heaven either—and thus the need for the Ascension. Instead, this […]
Thursday of the 6th Week of Easter
Jesus’ telling his disciples: A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me, is reminiscent of the Bride’s lament in the Song of Songs, as she longingly seeks her beloved who has escaped her grasp. As nuns and monks, we can closely identify […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
I believe that some of our brothers can still be found alive today who listened with me to our blessed father and teacher [St Bernard] praise the nobility of silence, one of her greatest gifts, in Mary, mother of God, and greatest of all women. In all the holy gospels we find her words a […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter
25 May, 2025, 6th Sunday of Easter, Year C: Acts15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29 In only seven verses, today’s Gospel covers an immense territory, from fidelity to Jesus’s teaching, to intimacy with God, to the promise of the Holy Spirit AND the Spirit’s role in our understanding; to the peace that only Jesus […]
Saturday of the 4th Week of Easter
Certain spiritualities tend towards associating the so-called God of the Old Testament with God the Father—a God who often depicted as wrathful and punishing. And, in contrast, we have Christ as revealed in the gospels—one who is merciful and forgiving and who, as it were, stays the vengeful hand of God the Father. However, in […]