As Catholics our abundant use of symbols and material objects like water, oil, bread, wine, and incense can open us to superstitious beliefs and even magical thinking. This occurs when symbols lose their purpose to point beyond themselves to deeper realities and are somehow imbued with powers of their own. It’s not holy water itself […]
Renovation underway
The building to the east of the Cool Spring House is one we call the “Old Dorm.” Its name derives from its original use as the primary dormitory for the monks during the early decades of Holy Cross Abbey. With the construction of two other dormitories the “Old Dorm” has, in recent years, become little […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year
Professional burnout is something that we have grown more sensitive to, not only in the secular world but also within the church and within monasticism. Spending oneself in loving and self-giving service to others can be life-giving, but when imprudently done can also drain us and leave us empty, listless, and unable to function. And […]
Feast of Saint James
We approach God and undertake a life of virtue for very mixed motives—some of which we are initially unaware of. Typically, it is in the disappointment of some of our expectations of God not being met that our deeper motivations come out of hiding. James and John’s desire to be at Christ’s right and left […]
Friday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
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 […]