Readings: Genesis 12:1-4; Acts 4:32-35; Mark 10:17-30 What do we celebrate with today’s solemnity? Of course, we’re celebrating people, whether we mean the first three Abbots or all the monks who began life at Citeaux. But people aren’t just biographical data, done and gone. They reverberate through our lives and in our memories and choices: […]

Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20 To sin–especially to sin grievously–is not only to offend God, but also to fundamentally act against our human nature and become less, and even subhuman. Conversely, to live a life of virtue and goodness is to honor God by become authentically human. And this explains why […]

Due to the noise from construction down the hallway from our church, Mass for the Solemnity of the Founders or Citeaux, Friday, 26 January, will be celebrated after Lauds rather than at 10:00 AM. The Rest of the day, however, will follow the Sunday schedule with Midday Prayer at 12:20 PM and Benediction following Vespers.

The Community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM. It is a non-work day for the monastic community and we follow the Sunday schedule; Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament follows Vespers (5:30 PM).

Readings: 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20; John 1:35-42 Come and see. Those words of Jesus are very poignant to me because a very good friend of mine told me that was the beginning of his monastic vocation. He’s not pietistic or at all conventional but hearing those words–Come and see–in a homily […]

Readings: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21 In the interest of ecumenical dialogue and Christian Unity, Mary under the title “Mother of God” would seem to be an unwelcome stumbling block. And to the degree that this title in any way suggests Mary as–in some sense–preexisting God or even the person of Christ, it surely […]

Behold peace, not promised, but present; not deferred but conferred; not prophesied but presented! Behold, God the Father has sent to the earth, as it were, a sack filled with his mercy, a sack that must be cut to pieces in the passion so that it can pour out what is concealed in it for […]

Readings: Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3; Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; Luke 2:22-40 It is no surprise that we celebrate a Feast of the Holy Family, given the emphasis the Church puts on the family. But how Scripture describes families, including the Holy Family, reflects the realities we actually know, as opposed to the ideals we never attain. […]

Readings: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21 The community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM, Abbot Joseph Wittstock presiding and preaching. It is a non-work day and we follow the Sunday schedule. Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament follows Vespers (5:30 PM).

Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-5, 9-14 He is the refulgence of God’s glory, the very imprint of his being…who sustains all things by his mighty Word. We heard these words from the Letter to the Hebrews, one of the most majestic and beautiful writings of the New testament. And these words describe the […]