What is piety you ask? To take time for consideration. … For what is as integral to the worship of God as that which he himself urges in the Psalm: ‘Be still and know that I am God’? This certainly is the essence of consideration. What is as valuable as consideration which benevolently presumes to […]
Wednesday of the 24th Week of the Year
Much of our growth in self-knowledge, and understanding the full extent of our estrangement from God, comes from our daily interactions with one another in the give-and-take of community life. And whereas the self-knowledge hereby acquired certainly includes positive and noble aspects of our identity, it more frequently reveals what is negative, sinful, unflattering, and […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 25th Sunday of the Year
Twenty-Fifth Sunday, YR A, 24 September, 2023: Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20-24, 27a; Matthew 20:1-16 Today’s Gospel could address our culture afflicted with entitlement. Or should I suggest that the laborers hired at the beginning of the day might rejoice in the good fortune of those hired in the late afternoon? Well, I believe that’s easier […]
Retreat House vacancies:
Due to several cancellations, there are five rooms available at the Retreat House this weekend—Sept 22-24. Please call 540-955-4383 or e-mail information@hcava.org asap if you would like to come on retreat this weekend.
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Exaltation of the Cross
As Christians we have become so accustomed to seeing the crucifix in our churches and homes that we can perhaps forget the horrific suffering it represents. When we do reflect on that suffering, the Exaltation of the Cross—that cruel instrument of torture and execution—can seem scandalously insensitive to what Christ underwent for our salvation. Indeed, […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 23rd Sunday
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10 September, 2023: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20 If I’m looking for a calculus to cut off someone, I won’t find it in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ instruction makes every effort to ensure respect for the person who sins against me. And his final point is very challenging in […]
Wednesday of the 22nd Week of the Year
A crucial aspect of our growing union with Christ is becoming aware of, and breaking, our unhealthy attachments—usually to the passing things and values of this present world. Perhaps someone may wonder if God can ever become an unhealthy attachment? The crowds, described in today’s gospel, offer a clue: We are told that they sought […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 22nd Sunday
Lifeguards attempting to rescue a drowning person are sometimes hindered in their attempts by the panicking of the one they are rescuing. This usually results in their wildly thrashing around in the water and being unable to stop trying to save themselves and allow the lifeguard to do his/her work. This is somewhat analogous to […]
Wednesday of the 21st Week: Saints Warren & Amadeus
The greater our deficits in true self-knowledge, the greater our tendency to judge and harshly condemn others. This tendency underscores the fact that true self-knowledge includes a deep awareness of our own inherent weaknesses and propensity for sin—either by offending against love of God and/or love of neighbor. Accordingly, the deeper we know ourselves, the […]
Friday of the 19th Week of the Year
Having been born into a sinful world—and ourselves afflicted with Original Sin from our birth—we tend to simply accept much of the dysfunctionality of our world and society as “normal,” or as just the way things are. In doing so, we need to be reminded—like the Pharisees—that this was not how it was in the […]