As we know, it is not only the Pharisees who are filled with plunder and evil; each one of us has to make this same painful discovery in the progress of our self-knowledge. Saint Teresa was no exception and her inward scrutiny of her heart and soul was especially thorough and unsparing. However, in the […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 28th Sunday
Today’s Gospel occupies an interesting place in Luke’s Gospel. It’s preceded by this self-effacing admission of good servants: We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we are obliged to do. And it is followed the realization: Behold the Kingdom of God is among you. I believe that this healing of ten lepers both illustrates […]
Word from our Cistercian Fathers
And I beseech you, brothers, let us stand upon our watch, because now is the time of soldiery. Let not our conversion be on the dunghill of this wretched body, but in the heart where Christ dwells. Let our conversion be on the judgment and counsel of reason, so that we do not rely so […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 26th Sunday
Masochism is that mental and psychological aberration according to which a person voluntarily seeks out pain and suffering and actually derives pleasure and satisfaction thereby. I mention this because today’s parable of Lazarus speaks of the great chasm separating the place of torment from the peaceful and joyous repose with Abraham. The latter explains that […]
Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul
Viewing a Wrentham documentary in the novitiate the other day, we heard Mother Maureen affirm that Cistercian life is one hundred percent community and one hundred percent solitude. This seemingly contradictory statement finds an echo in today’s gospel where we read of Jesus praying in solitude and the disciples were with him. Now, if we […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 25th Sunday
Jesus had a reputation for keeping bad company—inevitable in a ministry as oriented to the conversion of sinners, as to announcing the Kingdom of God. He probably knew characters like today’s dishonest steward. Is Jesus trying to expose the naiveté of his well-intentioned followers with this outrageous parable? Or is he just taping into the […]
Memorial of Korean Martyrs
As Christians striving to imitate the self-giving and self-sacrificing love of Christ, we forget that receiving help and allowing others to serve us is integral to being Christ’s disciples. Although Jesus insisted that he had come to serve and not to be served, there were occasions when he did allow others to minister to and […]
Wednesday of the 24th Week
The old adage, actions speak louder than words lies at the heart of striving to set a good example for others to follow. However, good example will only be followed by those possessing a humble and sincere desire for the good. Those who have little or no love for what is good and virtuous will […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The cross on which Christ died may not have looked exactly like our familiar crucifixes. It did indeed have a vertical support and each of the condemned carried his horizontal beam to the place of execution—so the basic configuration we know is an appropriate approximation. But no one who had witnessed that torturous form of […]
Tuesday of the 23rd Week of the Year
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 […]