Easter Sunday, YR C: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9 For us, as for the people in this Gospel, isn’t knowledge of the Resurrection posited by indirect evidence? The Risen Jesus has yet to appear to them. In all four Gospels, he will come to them, though he is often not recognized at first. […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Easter Vigil
Having celebrated, in orderly sequence, the last supper, the arrest and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and now his resurrection from the dead, we can naturally consider these as simply past events, annually recalled, and reverently honored. However, the truth is that they are not merely past events; instead, all the saving acts of […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper
At the beginning of each Holy Mass the priest invites us to acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred mysteries. This is a perhaps necessary reminder that the Eucharist is one of the central mysteries of our faith. And like all mysteries, our severely limited understanding of divine realities means that […]
Friday of the 5th Week of Lent
On Sunday (in the course of reading the Passion) we will again hear Jesus pray: Father forgive them, they know not what they do. And in this incredible expression of mercy and forgiveness, Jesus carries out his own teaching according to which we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you. […]
Wednesday of the 5th Week of Lent
We have just heard Jesus’ saddening observation: You are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. These words addressed to the Jews are being addressed to us also for all too often there is no room in our hearts and minds for God’s Word to enter and find a home; […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
For faith to be established, it must be tested. With regard to this testing Peter, in his first letter, speaks thus: ‘Although you may have to be saddened for a little while by various temptations so that the testing of your faith (which is much more precious than gold tested by fire) may be found […]
Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent
Striving to do God’s will, involves not only those momentous decisions facing us at crucial life-changing junctures in our lives, but also includes the many and varied choices we make in the course of every day. And whereas discerning God’s will in those momentous decisions is often difficult, knowing God’s will in the daily choices […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent
Although the two sons in this famous parable are very different characters, there is one way in which they are similar—that is, they value pleasures, things, and possessions over people and relationships. However, each goes about seeking to obtain these material things in a very different way. The younger son is brazen and unapologetic in […]
Friday, 3rd Week of Lent
Although the scribe who questions Jesus asks him only about the first of all the commandments, Jesus also reminds him of the second of all the commandments. Now, although love of God with all one’s heart, soul, and mind is the first of all commandments, for the Christian it is fulfilling the second commandment that […]
Fr. James’ Homily for The Annunciation
25 March, 2025, Solemnity of the Annunciation: Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1: 26-38 For centuries we have ransacked the scriptures for theological content, often at the cost of the narrative flow and a deeper theological and spiritual message. I propose that we would impoverish our reading of this Gospel without considering what goes […]