Given his triple denial of Christ and his apparent moral cowardice—as exemplified in today’s first reading—Peter seems an unlikely candidate for sainthood. However, there is one thing that explains why he became Saint Peter: And that is that he was able to accept correction and reproof without making excuses for his behavior or trying to […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 27th Sunday
In contrast to Luke (in today’s gospel) Saint Matthew records Jesus saying that faith the size of a tiny mustard seed will move mountains—and not just a little mulberry tree! How tiny must our faith be, then, if even uprooting a mulberry tree and planting it in the sea is beyond us? Needless to say, […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
Let us, along with the disciples, now follow the Lord as he goes to the wedding. Then, as we see what he was going to do, we may believe along with them. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Being merciful, being extremely kind, she felt […]
Saint Jerome
According to Saint Jerome, ignorance of the scriptures, is ignorance of Christ. It is worth noting that he said ignorance of Christ and not ignorance of his teachings or philosophy. We need to remember this in our lectio divina and that the sacred text is the privileged medium through which Christ reveals himself to us. […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
There are some things about which we are uncertain whether God wills them or not, so we must not really want them or deeply reject them. … it is certainly here in the middle that the whole danger lies … we seduce ourselves by faithless flattering and coaxing in order to pretend that we are […]
Friday of the 21st Week
Unlike yesterday’s parable about the need to stay awake, all ten virgins (the wise and the foolish) do actually fall asleep. However, this is not what excludes the foolish ones from the wedding feast, but the fact that by not bringing extra oil they were not there to greet the arrival of the bridegroom. Perhaps […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Solemnity of Saint Bernard
Solemnity of Saint Bernard: Sirach 3:17-24; Ephesians 3:14-19; Matthew 11:25-30 I remember an academic guest speaker, when I was a novice, who dismissed Saint Bernard’s confessions of being a sinner as something a pious writer “had to say.” But I don’t think Bernard was putting on an act since he described himself as the […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Assumption
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10b; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56 Alphonsus Ligouri was not prone to moderate his baroque extravagance when writing about the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, when he considered the end of her earthly life, his opinion was sober. If the eternal Word of […]
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
I suspect that we have all experienced shame for some of the things we have done in our lives. Shame, like embarrassment, is to be distinguished from guilt or sorrow for sin. Shame is primarily self-focused, whereas guilt typically incorporates those we have sinned against. And although shame and embarrassment seem to be the opposite […]
A Reelection at Holy Cross Abbey
This morning, following a Holy Mass invoking the Holy Spirit, Abbot Joseph (having completed his first term of six years) was re-elected Abbot of Holy Cross Abbey, for a new six-year term. This grace-filled and peaceful event was presided over by Dom Vincent Rogers OCSO, abbot of Saint Joseph’s Abbey, and Father Immediate to our […]