Eighteenth Sunday, Year C, 4 August, 2019: Qoheleth 1:2; 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21 I believe this Gospel is a very timely. We live in a religious culture that can distort the Gospel into a way of achieving prosperity. Some believe that if we behave and follow the prescribed norms, God will reward […]
A Word from our Cistercian Fathers
I am now able to see what I must seek for and receive before I may hope to attain to a higher and holier state. I do not wish to be suddenly on the heights, my desire is to advance by degrees. The impudence of the sinner displeases God as much as the modesty of […]
Wednesday of the 16th Week of the Year
As we know, Saint Benedict disapproves rather strongly of what he terms “murmuring” in the monastery. Similarly, the grumbling of the Israelites in the desert, is not favorably received by the Lord. Grumbling or murmuring against God ceases for one of three reasons: The first and most obvious is when God is believed to have […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year
The great mystic, Teresa of Avila, used to lament the fact that her soul was like a dirty and unkempt inn wherein she, nevertheless, welcomed her Lord. However, unkempt or not, she welcomed him whose coming and abiding within her would—as he did in the temple—cleanse her of all defilement and transform her! I am […]
Wednesday of the 15th Week of the Year
According to Saint Bernard, curiosity is the first step of pride. If this is true, what are we to make of Moses’ curiosity about the burning bush that was not consumed? After all, he was known as the meekest man on the face of the earth—a quality that is the very opposite of pride. One […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 15th Sunday of the Year
The parables suffer from our familiarity with them. That familiarity, however, may be more superficial than intimate. It is important to remember that the priest and the Levite mentioned in today’s Gospel were bound to fulfill their cultic obligations for the good of the people, obligations they couldn’t fulfill should they be defiled by a […]
Saturday of the 14th Week of the Year
Our Lord’s admonition that we not judge one another so as not be judged ourselves, is one we find difficult to heed. Almost at every moment we are making judgments and assessments—some necessary, others not. Judging the breaking distance required while approaching a red traffic light is necessary, but judging the motives of a brother […]
A final touch
Unlike the man in Jesus’ parable who began building a tower and was unable to complete it, we have finally completed our new bell-tower. This final touch was the dressing with stone of the base and foundation of the tower. And although this doesn’t add much to the strength and stability of the tower, it […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year
The German word “Schadenfreude,” is one we have come to use in those situations where the misfortune of another brings us pleasure—albeit one we will not openly admit to. Similarly, we have probably all had the experience of hoping for the downfall and punishment of some villain portrayed in a film or novel. In daily […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for Corpus Christi
In the long history of Christianity heresies have sometimes been associated with Christians unwilling to live with mystery and thus seeking (with puny human intelligence) to comprehend and describe the infinite. And although this tendency has been more pronounced in the great mysteries of the Trinity and the person of Christ, it has not been […]