“Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; prefer nothing to the love of Christ.” RB 4:20-21 The first time I visited Sacred Heart Monastery I was with good friends, who had surrounded me with their love and concern and thought a trip to such a place…
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Some of us at the monastery have been reading and discussing Fr. Michael Casey’s new book Coenobium, pronounced koe̯ˈno.bi.um or t͡ʃeˈno.bi.um. (Don’t feel bad; I mispronounce it all the time!) In biology the Latin term refers to a colony of cells that act as a single organism, such as algae….
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“Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives.” This kind of sums up several Scripture passages I have been pondering lately. One of these passages is from Ecclesiastes 3:1-12 which begins, “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the…
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A couple of weeks ago the play Fiddler on the Roof, the 1964 Broadway classic, came to the city where I live. The play, one of my all-time favorites, is the tale of Tevye the dairyman, his wife Golde, and his family’s struggles in a changing Russia. The three oldest…
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It is hard to rejoice with a broken heart. Perhaps the gripping images coming out of Ukraine have seared your soul to its core. Perhaps the continued disintegration of social, political, and environmental stability has created an emotional earthquake in the ground of your being. Perhaps an unexpected loss of…
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Having just completed five weeks of Lent, we find ourselves now in the middle of Holy Week. If we feel that we have not quite accomplished our Lenten resolutions or experienced our intended prayerful Lenten journey, it is the Holy Week liturgy that will wake us up to what Lent…
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The Celtic Saint Aidan (died A.D. 651), whose name I took when I became a Novice, plays a significant role in my vocation story. Even now, the example of his life inspires me. It sets a “high bar” for which to stretch, as does The Rule of St. Benedict. Both…
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As I write, we are approaching the feast of the Annunciation, one of my favorite feasts. But by the time this blog is posted, this feast will be in the rear-view mirror. However, I would like to share the special and deep resonance this feast has for me. We are…
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I started gazing at an early age. Terrified of the dark, my dad held my hand and guided me out to the backyard. Swaying back and forth on the swing, he taught me names of the constellations like Little Dipper, Big Dipper, and Orion. I found Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and…
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As we journey through Lent, the daily and Sunday scriptural readings remind us of a Jesus who experienced rejection, opposition, and suffering. All of us encounter, at some time in our lives, suffering whether it be physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual. When suffering is the type that is prolonged or…
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