Saint Joseph, 19 March, 2021: 2 Sam 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22; Matt 1:16, 18-21, 24a According to the Gospels, Saint Joseph is descended from a fallen royal house, replaced by a monarchy that is only nominally Jewish, struggling to flex its muscle within the Roman Empire. Although aware of his […]
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
In our unhappily individualistic age we can miss the significance of Moses’ impassioned intervention on behalf of his own people threatened with annihilation because of their idolatry. Bear in mind that God’s uncompromising punishment would have spared Moses and made of him a great nation. Yet, later, when Moses returns to the Lord’s presence and […]
Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent
EZEKIEL 47: 1-9, 12 Our fear of losing control is bound up with our struggle to trust—a weakness that extends all the way back to Eden and our First Parents. God knows and understands this weakness and thus gently and gradually trains us to trust him and forgo our desperate need to be in control […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent
Fourth Sunday of Lent, YR B, 14 March, 2021: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21 Nicodemus has a literalistic, almost materialistic worldview while straining for something more, something better. Jesus can see this, as well as the great potential in this man, and is respectful, challenging and patient in their discussion, both […]
Friday: 3rd Week of Lent
Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, seems the obvious blessed state of those rare perfected souls whose entire being loves God and radiates his presence. And yet, even in our imperfect state we too are called—even now—to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This demands deep […]
Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
It would seem that it was by quickly forgetting the great debt he had been forgiven, that the wicked servant (in today’s gospel) had no qualms about refusing a similar mercy to his fellow servant. Yet, perhaps it wasn’t forgetfulness at all, but remembering too well! For, by using the very words he had used, […]
Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Thanksgiving every November is a time, not only to acknowledge so much we have to be grateful for, but also to remind ourselves of how ungrateful we have been. We can realize our ingratitude more clearly on those occasions when we are not thanked for our kindness and generosity towards others. Still more difficult to […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent
In our monastic tradition, one of the marks of perfected love is to love all people equally. Thus, Saint Benedict warns the abbot against any form of favoritism—at least that based on more superficial and worldly criteria. God too, is sometimes described as not showing partiality, with Deuteronomy declaring that the Lord of lords, the […]
A Word from our Cistercian Fathers
Truly, Lord, you are become our refuge; I have fled to you, teach me your will and make me do it. You have had compassion on the people that followed you into the wilderness. You have had pity and have provided food, lest they faint by the way. I have begun to follow you, my […]
Friday of the 1st Week of Lent
The conditions that God enunciates for the wicked person to live (and not die) seem rather exacting: turn away from the sins committed, keep all God’s statutes, and do what is right and just. And whereas this is a demanding requirement, it’s important that we not miss the point. The promise of “living” when these […]