The call to love one’s enemies and do good to those who hate you, has all the appearance and feeling of losing control over one’s life, and thus being at the mercy (or lack thereof) of others—both friend and foe. Conversely, defensive retaliation in kind, and exacting an eye for an eye and a tooth […]

16 February 2025, Sixth Sunday, Year C: Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-25 Blessed are the poor; not the poor in spirit but the poor. Scholars explain that Luke’s Christian community was probably very poor, but that fails to tell my why they are blessed. Is it beatitude when you have nothing […]

26 January, The Founders of Citeaux: Genesis 12:1-4; Acts 4:32-35; Mark 10:17-30 The few historical sources describing the struggle to establish Citeaux tell us little of the subjective attitudes of Robert, Alberic or Stephan—very few medieval documents pay attention to such sentiments. I can easily imagine, though, there were days they wondered what they had […]

Christmas Day Mass, Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-5; John 1:1-18 The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. This verse is a token of hope today when too many people surrender to fear, doubt or passivity. We are indeed confronted by formidable obstacles. A glance at the news reminds us that […]

Thursday, 19 DEC, 2024: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Lk 1:5-25 Remember this Gospel tomorrow when we hear about the Annunciation to Mary. Both Gospels share a similar structure but, what distinguishes Zachariah from Mary? Is my righteousness, like Zechariah’s, a substitute for trust in God? Has it degenerated into an attempt to control reality and contain […]

Those hoping to purchase Fruitcakes from our Gift Shop need to know that we are ALL SOLD OUT AS OF Sunday, December 15th. However, at time of writing, cakes can still be purchased online at monasteryfruitcake.org

Second Sunday of Advent, Year C, 8 December, 2024: Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 1:1-6 Every Second Sunday of Advent we recall John the Baptist—and isn’t that appropriate? During Advent don’t we look forward to the Second Coming of the Lord as we look back to his First Coming? Being in neither one nor […]

24 November, 2024, Christ the King: Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37 What do we mean when we call Christ a King? In a nation born of revolt against a parliamentary monarchy, and with a representative democracy shaped by majority vote, how do we understand kingship? What can it possibly mean to us? Standing before […]

17 November, 2024, 33rd Sunday, YR B: Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13: 24-42 Sometimes people ask me whether I think these are the end times. I usually refer them to the Gospel verse we just heard: But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, […]

All Saints, 1 November, 2024: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a In listening to the Gospel it can be as important to note what is not said, as what is said. Jesus does not say, “Blessed are they who sing on pitch”; nor does he say, “Blessed are they who never arrive late […]