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This past fall I was doing my lectio divina with the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Praying over this prophet’s words can be difficult for me because the text frequently seems to portray God as upset, angry, and even destructive. Jeremiah includes such prophecies as, “See now, says the Lord God, my anger and my wrath I will pour out upon this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruits of the earth; it will burn without being quenched” (Jer 7:20). He also proclaims, “For the Lord has wrought our destruction, he has given us poison to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord” (Jer 8:14). How can this be? What can it mean for us? Perhaps we would like to dismiss these words as a distorted or exaggerated description of God from the Old Testament or would prefer to apply God’s…

We live in a society of many imbalances, one of which involves work. Large numbers of people are unemployed or underemployed. Other people are overworked, sometimes because others have been laid off and leave additional burdens behind for the remaining employees. People without sufficient work or income may be tempted to become discouraged and murmur. Those with too much work can likewise be tempted to lose heart and grumble. What do the Holy Rule and Benedictine monastic life have to say in response to…

As someone who is fortunately able to attend our community’s daily Mass and Liturgy of the Hours almost always, I am also very aware of the flaws that can occur from time to time. Aside from the graces to refocus on prayer and to overlook or forgive quickly, some of the failings contain hidden lessons for our journeys of faith. I have noticed that one frequently misstated phrase in the Mass occurs in the preface for martyrs, which includes the words, “You choose the weak and make the strong.” Having often heard the error “You chose the weak,” I wonder if this misstatement reflects a common human tendency to think of God’s marvelous actions…

This summer there is much new life in our monastic community. On the morning of July 9, five new novices were clothed with the monastic habit and took on new names. In the evening the four novices who had entered last year professed their first vows. Although we had no monks professing solemn vows this year, we now have thirteen “junior monks” (those in temporary vows), and most of these men are in their twenties and thirties. Also, during our intensive community meetings on July 8 and 9, we monks discussed a number of new situations in a new way. For us monks of the Archabbey…

During the past several decades our world has been dealing with a “crisis of authority” both in secular society and in the Church. Indeed there is a crisis. People in authority have often abused the trust placed in them, and in the case of the Church it is a sacred trust. Yes, the media have sometimes been wrong, and their destructive charges have often been directed disproportionately against the Church and Christianity. Nonetheless, we must face the fact that flagrant misuses of authority are widely known and that many people…

As I began to compose this essay about Saint Benedict and the Cross, I looked over the pamphlet that we give to newly invested Oblate novices along with a medal of St. Benedict. To my surprise and dismay, I noticed that the pamphlet‟s pages are in the wrong order; it took me a while to discover that the text on the front continues not on the next page but on another page. My first impulse was to plan to reassemble the master copy right away to eliminate all confusion. (When I discover any errors, I tend to want to set everything right in an instant!) On the other hand, common sense and prudence dictated that I allow the error to remain for the time being because I had plenty of other projects of higher priority. I must simply trust that Oblates and Oblate novices…

It is sometimes said that we live in an age characterized by a loss of reverence. Many people seem to be deprived of a sense of the sacred and even of common courtesies, which are a springboard into the holy. Likewise, what was once considered poor in taste or even blasphemous has become commonplace and acceptable to many. Language that was once deemed offensive or sinful has become standard in the media. Formalities which were considered normal at meals or in public places are now generally ignored. Even in churches it can be difficult to find reverence and a sense of awe; casual speech…

Although there may be occasions when some of us are called to do “great things,” most of the time we are rightly called to be faithful in doing “little things” as best we can. We may at times become discouraged that our simple prayers and ordinary actions are not producing visible fruit; but the Scriptures and the Holy Rule assure us that if we are acting, for the most part, out of love for Christ, then the little things of our daily lives do, in fact, glorify God and help to bring about sanctification and others’ sanctification.

It was during Holy Week that I began to scribble down reflections for this essay. A central message of the Scripture readings and the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum is that Christ suffered and died for us out of love; He also rose for us out of love and the desire to share eternal life, divine life of immeasurable joy, with us. Christ ardently longs that we respond to His love with growing trust and love, limited though our capacity may be, and He wishes us not to sadden or scandalize one another but rather to encourage one another on our pilgrimage of faith…

During this past Christmas Season, and especially in the celebration of Our Lord’s Epiphany, it struck me how very ardently God wishes to reveal Himself to us. The readings at Mass for Epiphany speak of this great desire. Through Isaiah God invites ancient Israel and the Church today: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you …; upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears His glory” (Is 60: 1,2). In St. Matthew’s Gospel the magi from the East respond to…

Pondering the ultimate realities of death and eternal life may come naturally with the approach of mid-autumn and All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The fragility and imperfections of life on this earth are realities that may impinge upon our consciousness in a particular way at this time. All of us are vulnerable; all of us are broken in body, mind, and soul; all of are moving toward death in a manner that is largely out of…

Among the dangers of the spiritual life are the attitude that we have been perfected beyond improvement and, in contrast, the fear that we are so hopelessly deficient that God cannot help us to progress further. The first condition is one of pride, and so is the second, although it masks itself as humility. Our task as Christians is to trust totally in God’s merciful love despite our abysmal weakness and sinfulness and to hope that, in coöperation with God’s graces, He will lead us to the heights of perfection. And God does want us ultimately to be perfect in the way of Christ. Our Lord calls to “be made perfect as your heavenly Father…

All of us long for freedom. We long to be free from the constraints that keep us from becoming the people we are meant to be. We long for the freedom to lead joyful, fulfilling, purpose-filled lives. However, sometimes we seek an illusory freedom that is more akin to destructive self-indulgence or judgmental self-justification. What, then, is true freedom from…

Pondering the ultimate realities of death and eternal life may come naturally with the approach of mid-autumn and All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The fragility and imperfections of life on this earth are realities that may impinge upon our consciousness in a particular way at this time. All of us are vulnerable; all of us are broken in body, mind, and soul; all of are moving toward death in a manner that is largely out of…

My current wrist watch, like some of my previous watches, tends to lose time gradually, perhaps a fraction of a second each day. I measure its accuracy by our church bells since when I am at the organ I must finish playing the prelude before the 5:00 bell for Vespers. Now, I can easily grow accustomed to the watch‘s being slow; one day the bell will ring at 4:59:55, then a few days later at 4:45:50, and some days later at 4:59:30. Of course, I could move the hands up a minute at any time…

Truth is a commodity that is sometimes difficult to find in our society. The media regularly mislead us by promising happiness through the purchase of various products and services, whose benefits are highly overstated. The very use of language has been distorted in subtle ways to deceive both speakers and hearers. Instead of acknowledging the actual brutality of abortion, people may speak of “termination of pregnancy”; instead of admitting the sinfulness and destructiveness of fornication, people may refer to “companionship,” “significant relationship,” or other euphemistic misnomers. All of us can be caught up to some extent by such insidiously distorting terminology. Commitment to…

Our materialistic world tempts us to acquire as many possessions and pleasures as we possibly can. Subtle but powerful psychological appeals urge us to become attached to particular brands of food, clothes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and cars so that we may keep buying more and more, desiring more and more, and thus having no time or energy to ponder the deeper meaning of life. In contrast, Christ lovingly but sternly exhorts us, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in My footsteps. Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses…

Most of you who are Oblates are familiar with the oft-quoted verse from the Rule stating that “the life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent” (49:1). That gem of wisdom also applies to every Christian insofar as we all need to struggle relentlessly against sinful tendencies, live in a spirit of compunction of heart and repentance, and perform those penances that will open the way to God’s healing, transforming graces. It has also been said that the life of a Christian can be regarded as a continual Advent; that is, every Christian, placing his hope in God alone, trusts in His promises and waits longingly for their fulfillment. The notion…

God often lets us be thrown off balance,
but He never leaves us without His sustaining
presence and the grace to remain firmly rooted in
His love. This past June I went away for five
whole days to give a retreat, and on my return to
the Archabbey I bemoaned the fact that my usual
control over my work load was in shambles.
Furthermore, a few days after my return I was
asked to move the Oblate Office from Roderick
202 to Leander 116. When I initially heard the
news, I appropriately responded, “Yes, of course…

How much time and energy we spend trying to overcome suffering! Human remedies sometimes do bring us significant relief, and these can indeed be mediated gifts from God. In most cases, however, there is no lasting remedy despite all the powers of science and technology. In our pilgrimage of faith we know that the only ultimate consolation for our suffering comes from the Cross, whereby Christ compassionately unites us with Himself and shares our every suffering, and the Resurrection, whereby Christ gives us victory over sin, death, and discouragement and gives us new life in communion with Him. One of the means for our participation in this victory is mutual encouragement in the love of Christ..