The call of Judas highlights the great mystery of grace and its complex interaction with human free will. Judas was called to be an apostle and not a traitor—despite some claims to the contrary. But instead of ensuring a deeper union with Christ, it resulted in his treacherous betrayal. Might he perhaps have been spared […]

The “new wine” of the Cistercian Reform was wisely placed in the new wineskin of Cîteaux—the so-called “New Monastery.” However, eventually this new wineskin itself became old and subsequent reforms were needed to create new wineskins for new generations of monks and nuns fired by that same early spirit and vision. In our own lives, […]

As long as heaven consists of an infinite array of gifts, pleasures, and good things, then the entrance into heaven of someone who has a deathbed conversion will seem manifestly unjust to us who have labored long and hard on our Christian pilgrimage. However, if heaven is not about things but about God and entering […]

The other morning at vigils we heard of Saint Dominic’s longing to be scourged, cut into little pieces, and thus die for faith in Christ. I wonder if any one of us shares a similar longing—despite the great honor and privilege of dying for Christ. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we are incapable of […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Saint Paul’s claim that he would rather boast of his weaknesses than his strengths rings a little hollow coming, as it does, after a very impressive cataloging of the sufferings and persecutions that he so courageously endured. But two phrases following this long catalog of heroic endurance reflect the ultimate humility of this great apostle. […]

Our motivations for doing things are not always as clear as we might think, or as pure and unselfish as they need to be. Ideally, we should, like Paul, be impelled by love in all that we do—echoing Saint Augustine’s adage, love and do what you will. Unfortunately, pure love and unselfish love cannot be […]

Like some low-grade, persistent, but untreated infection in the body that, though not life-threatening, constantly undermines a person’s health, so habitual patterns of sin whose deeper roots are never uncovered may not extinguish the light of grace, but they do constantly rob us of inner peace and preclude that purity of heart without which we […]