A crucial aspect of our growing union with Christ is becoming aware of, and breaking, our unhealthy attachments—usually to the passing things and values of this present world. Perhaps someone may wonder if God can ever become an unhealthy attachment? The crowds, described in today’s gospel, offer a clue: We are told that they sought […]

The greater our deficits in true self-knowledge, the greater our tendency to judge and harshly condemn others. This tendency underscores the fact that true self-knowledge includes a deep awareness of our own inherent weaknesses and propensity for sin—either by offending against love of God and/or love of neighbor. Accordingly, the deeper we know ourselves, the […]

Having been born into a sinful world—and ourselves afflicted with Original Sin from our birth—we tend to simply accept much of the dysfunctionality of our world and society as “normal,” or as just the way things are. In doing so, we need to be reminded—like the Pharisees—that this was not how it was in the […]

In what is something of a paradox, our quest for inner peace and happiness is such that when it is attained—even only partially—it exposes us to spiritual danger. And this is because the peace and cessation of the struggle can induce complacency. Then by careless neglect of inner vigilance we expose ourselves to the attacks […]

Memorial of Saint Dominic: In his list of the seven principal vices, Saint Gregory the Great doesn’t list Pride. Instead, he understands pride to be the source and instigator of all the vices. This is no less true of envy and jealousy—manifested so clearly in Miriam and Aaron’s sarcastic-sounding question: “Is it through Moses alone […]

In his catalogue of Tools for Good Works Saint Benedict includes his caution: Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first be holy that you may more truly be called so. And in this Benedict is warning against an unhealthy preoccupation with self that is overly concerned with creating a […]

Notwithstanding the total gratuitousness of God’s grace and salvation, the peace that Christ offers does come at a price—namely, living in total harmony with God’s will. Or, as Jesus expressed it: Doing just as the Father has commanded me. In contrast, the peace that the world offers, depends on realities outside ourselves and, especially, on […]

Philip, to see me is to see the Father: To look upon the face of Christ and see the Father, has little to do with gazing upon his physical features—however noble these may be. Rather, it is to behold in every action and in his every word, the Love that is the Father’s very essence […]

As Cistercians we are well aware of Saint Benedict’s warnings against bitter zeal—the kind that fueled Saint Paul’s earlier persecution of the church. It is well to remember, however, that the spiritual energy associated with zeal is fundamentally neutral. It is the objects or goals towards which zeal is directed that determine if it is […]

Today’s gospel is reminiscent of another occasion when Jesus asked Peter to put out into the deep and lower his nets for a catch—after a similar fruitless night of fishing. A significant difference is that on that earlier occasion, Peter was somewhat reluctant, explaining: Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, […]