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 […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 19th Sunday
Nineteenth Sunday, Year C, 7 August, 2022: Wisdom 18:6-9; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke 12:32-48 As Jesus invites us to change, watching for a future as yet undisclosed, he addresses us from a dynamic central to Judaism’s engagement with the living God. Stuck in a dead end—be it idolatry, bondage in Egypt, exile in Babylon, […]
A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers
Not only is Christ’s mercy celebrated, but his judgment as well, because even if he learned compassion from the things that he suffered so that he was merciful, he had also the power of judgment. In short, our God is a consuming fire. How can sinners not fear to come near? As sure as wax […]
Feast of the Transfiguration
Visions and other mystical phenomena are sometimes construed as proofs of holiness and being specially favored by God. Today’s feast gives us pause, however, when we consider Peter, James, and John at the time of their privileged witnessing of Christ’s transfiguration. Although much would change after the resurrection and the Pentecost event, these were still […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 17th Sunday
Christ breathing his last on the cross amid the jeers and cruel mocking of those who crucified him, epitomizes what seems to be the weakness and powerlessness of good in the face of the apparently overwhelming power of evil. Again and again in the long and violent history of humanity, evil tyrants, dictators, and corrupt […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 16th Sunday
Sixteenth Sunday, Year C, 17 July, 2022: Genesis 18:1-10a; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42 Today’s succinct Gospel is richly detailed, details well worth exploring. Martha, who welcomes Jesus, is mentioned first so perhaps she is the head of this household. If she is prosperous enough to offer hospitality, she is not rich enough to […]
A Word from Saint Gertrude the Great
“O God of my life, I do not know how I may worthily praise you or with what I may reward you, my beloved, for all the good with which you have rewarded me. Consequently, I offer you in me, and me in you, my cherished Jesus, as a holocaust of praise to you. I […]
Independence Day 2022
In theory, theocracies should be the ideal way of ordering our political and societal lives. In reality, attempts at setting up a country or nation with God as its head fail, and often end up being oppressive, intolerant, and thereby seriously marring the true face of our loving God. Even God himself seems to have […]