ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

"Your desire is your prayer; and if your desire is without ceasing, your prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer."  St. Augustine The Lord always wants to stir up our desire for him, and perhaps most of all to stir up our confidence in his desire to share all that he is, all that he has with us. Our confidence in his desire is so essential. The God who is at once totally available and at the same time altogether beyond our reach, draws us into the mystery that he is; draws us into himself. For God in Christ is always moving toward us. "His desire gives rise to yours," says Saint Bernard, "and if you are eager to receive him, it is he who is rushing to enter your heart; for he first loved us, not we him." Jesus enfleshes this towardness of God -  going out of himself, rushing toward us as he seeks to captivates us with the “spell of his love and his desire.” 1 Imagine then the awesome...

We rejoice to honor Our Lady today in prayer and song as Queen of heaven and earth.  We often imagine what her response would be to a friend, a bit jaded, complaining to us some years ago about Mary’s feast days, annoyed and confused. “I don’t understand what it all means. It gives her too much, makes her too privileged.” Mary’s response would be, we imagine, something like this, “I was, I am as amazed as you are. All I can tell you is that the Almighty has done great things for me. He has looked on his servant in her nothingness. This, this alone is why all generations have called me blessed. It has little to do with me; it’s all about him, his pleasure, his delight in my nothingness.” Clearly to be distracted by Mary’s privileges would be to miss the point. For her story, is our story, individually and as Church. For the Virgin Mary of Nazareth shows us our true self - as total capacity for God in Christ. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, Coronation of the Virgin,...

Where can the weak find a place of firm security and peace, except in the wounds of the Savior? Indeed, the more secure is my place there, the more he can do to help me. The world rages, the flesh is heavy, and the devil lays his snares, but I do not fall, for my feet are planted on firm rock. I may have sinned gravely. My conscience would be distressed, but it would not be in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: He was wounded for our iniquities. What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ? And so if I bear in mind this strong, effective remedy, I can never again be terrified by the malignancy of sin. Surely the man who said: “My sin is too great to merit pardon,” was wrong. He was speaking as though he were not a member of Christ and had no share in His merits, so that he could claim them as his own, as a member of the body can claim what belongs to the head. As for me, I can appropriate whatsoever I lack from the Heart of the L...

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Ultimately, Jesus’ mission as Son of God is to reconcile all things and to break down all dividing walls of hostility; for he is our peace. His Church is to be universal and distinguished from all others by its unity. His followers are to be “careful to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit even has you were called in the one hope of your calling.” But when he makes his appearance he is a sign of radical division; even among family members. This was contrary to expectations of the Messiah at the time. Rabbinic tradition taught that divisions in the family would precede the coming of the Messiah, but his coming would heal all divisions. Jesus says rather that his presence will intensify divisions. In Matthew’s version the language is even stronger: “Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I have come to bring a swo...

"I have come to set the earth on fire,  and how I wish it were already blazing!"   May the Lord Jesus, Born of the Father before all ages, breathe  the warm breath of his kind Spirit  into our hearts and stir into a great flame, the ardor of love he himself has enkindled within us. "There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!" May the  the fiery ardor of  Jesus'  love for us revealed in his  baptism of anguish on the cross open our hearts in compassionate love.

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty, too, is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:13-14) Paul goes on to explain why the resurrection of the dead is constitutive of the Gospel. And so he refers to Jesus as “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Our resurrection is essentially linked to his. He is the first to be raised up. We will follow.             Because Jesus has been raised up, Mary was also destined for a bodily resurrection. But unlike us, Mary does not need to wait until the last day. Because of her unique role in salvation history, by a special grace she has already been raised up into the fullness of resurrected life. Mary’s glory is a foretaste of our glory. Christ’s resurrection leads the way, and we will follow, with Mary preceding us.             The ordinary makes ...

Today we rejoice as Jesus welcomes his Virgin Mother  into Paradise. And we know her journey is a foretaste of our own – we are destined like her to be with him forever. When he ascended Jesus took   our flesh into heaven. In Christ Jesus matter has been glorified forever; f or our flesh, all that we are, is very precious to God. And so he has taken the sinless Virgin Mary first of all, and with her we celebrate this sacred intersection, this interconnectedness between heaven and earth. Mary’s Assumption into heaven is a sign of things to come for all of us and for all creation, a great sign of hope, for it reveals the destiny God intends for each of us. Our homeland as human beings is heaven.  All of us, all of creation, is in a vast progression toward God in Christ. He is our beginning, our way and our goal. With Mary as our guide, our confidante, our intercessor, the Mother of Mercy we live in hope and confidence. Ti ntoretto,  The Assumption of...

We always overestimate ourselves when we imagine we are completely indispensable and that the world or the Church depends on our frantic activity. Often it will be an act of real humility and creaturely honesty to stop what we are doing, to acknowledge our limits, to take time to draw breath and rest – as the creature, man, is designed to do. I am not suggesting that sloth is a good thing, but I do want to suggest that we revise our catalog of virtues, as it has developed in the Western world, where activity alone is regarded as valid and where the attitudes of beholding, wonder, recollection, and quiet are of no account, or at least are felt to need some justification. This causes the atrophying of certain essential human faculties. Pope Benedict XVI Photograph by Brother Brian.

Our waiting in prayer is ultimately about powerlessness, for the mystery of God’s presence is constantly revealed even as it is hidden. If indeed we seek intimacy with this Mystery, vigilance is essential because God is always reversing things, doing it his way, sneaking in quietly through the side door, even on tiptoe, trying to engage us in unexpected ways. Mindful attentiveness is our way of being in the kingdom, because with the eyes of faith all of reality becomes increasingly transparent to the transcendent beauty of the One who is always advancing toward us. By faith we wait and pray, because we know instinctively that there is always more. Christ’s love and attentiveness and generosity will not be outdone. For in the crucified and risen Christ Jesus, we experience God’s "modest but insistent, incessant plea for our love." This plea is in our gut ; we sense its presence, its power and pull even now. But still the, the waiting can seem so passive and so muc...

Jesus tells us this morning: “Be sure of this, if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You too must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Vigilance, preparedness, indeed, but with a twist. In a sort of coded language, Jesus seems to be dropping some clues about how he operates and how he understands himself - perhaps as a bit of a sneak, even a thief. Literally in this passage having your house being broken into means having it burrowed through. In the Palestine of Jesus’ day, walls were made of mud bricks, and to break in all a thief had to do was dig through the wall. Perhaps the Son of Man, is like a thief sneaking around in the night, just outside and trying to burrow through the walls of our resistance and fear, the thick wall of our supposed self-sufficiency. That’s hard stuff alright, and Mercy wants to dig right through, invade our space and suf...

The greatest figures of prophecy and sanctity step forth out of the darkest night. But for the most part, the formative stream of the mystical life remains invisible. Certainly, the most decisive turning points in world history are substantially co-determined by souls whom no history book ever mentions. And we will only find out about those souls to whom we owe the decisive turning points in our personal lives on the day when all that is hidden is revealed. These words of Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) remind us of the words of our own  Constitutions  which speak of the monastic life  as having "a hidden apostolic fruitfulness." In the mysterious reality of prayer for and in the mystical Body of Christ, we hope that our lives here help to draw the world closer to the heart of Christ.

  Today we eavesdrop on an intimate conversation between the Father with the Son.  T he heavens are opened and  in a place of intimacy and prayer, in an intense spiritual experience named Transfiguration, Jesus and all of us listen as the Father says, “You are my beloved one.” Baptized into Christ Jesus, our Lord, we too are truly b eloved in Him. Beloved as we are - God's own daughters and sons -  we are confused, heartbroken and  we grieve  in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in El Paso and in Dayton. And we pray for an end to all gun violence. Heavenly Father, we your children, beg you to send us peace, help us to be more and more filled with your own compassion and lovingkindness. Raphael,   The Transfiguration (detail) , oil on wood, 1516-1520,  159” X 109”,  Pinacoteca Vaticana. 

In mid-morning on Sunday, August 4 after a prolonged illness, our Father Gerald passed to the Lord. He was always exemplary in his steadfastness despite numerous setbacks and sicknesses. We mourn his passing, even as we rejoice that he is at last with Lord who loved him beyond all telling. Saints of God, come to his aid!  Come to meet him, angels of the Lord! Receive  his soul and present him to God Most High. Give him eternal rest, O Lord,  may he live on in your presence. and may your light shine upon him forever!  

Communities which are entirely dedicated to contemplation, so that their members in solitude and silence, with constant prayer and penance willingly undertaken, occupy themselves with God alone, retain at all times, no matter how pressing the needs of the active apostolate may be, an honorable place in the Mystical Body of Christ, whose "members do not all have the same function." For these offer to God a sacrifice of praise which is outstanding. Moreover, the manifold results of their holiness lend luster to the people of God which is inspired by their example and which gains new members by their apostolate,which is as effective as it is hidden. Thus, they are revealed to be a glory of the Church and a well-spring of heavenly graces... The principal duty of monks is to offer a service to the divine majesty at once humble and noble within the walls of the monastery... Excerpts from Perfectae Caritatis   Seeking Jesus alone as our Treasure, we desire to live out these s...

Our Father Immediate Dom Jean-Marc Chené of Bellefontaine Abbey in France is with us for the biennial visitation of our community. As the Cistercian  Constitutions  state: The Father Immediate is to watch over the progress of his daughter houses. While respecting the autonomy of the daughter house he is to help and support the abbot in the exercise of his pastoral charge and to foster concord in the community. If he notices there a violation of a precept of the Rule or of the Order, he is to try with humility and charity and having consulted the local abbot, to remedy the situation. Each of the monks has an opportunity to meet with Dom Jean-Marc to speak about his sense of the current state of the monastery. After he has visited with each monk and consulted with the Abbot, Dom Jean-Marc presents his summation, called the  Visitation Card , to the entire community and gives his impressions of the graces we ha...

Today we celebrate the Anniversary of the Dedication and Consecration of the Abbey Church. This is a special solemnity that is ours alone to remember. Our church's rose window, composed as it is from fragments of glass from the large lancet window in the church of the monastery of Our Lady of the Valley is an apt symbol of the many transitions that have marked our community's history. During the Abbey's early years, the growth of the community was remarkable. And ground was broken for our church on 19 March 1952. On 15 August 1953 the first Mass was solemnly celebrated in the newly completed church. Designed by some of the monks in collaboration with a local architectural firm, the  church was built by contracted lay workers and the many monks who assisted them. We are grateful for the beauty and simplicity of our monastic church, grateful for the labor and inspiration of our monastic forebears.  Today ' s feast, brothers, ought to be all the more devout as...