ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

Saint Ignatius Loyola reminds spiritual directors that the "Lord wants to deal directly with his creature," meaning that the director must never intrude upon the Lord's relationship with each person.    Ignatius was s o certain of the Lord's deep love for each one of us that at the conclusion of his  Spiritual Exercises i n an ecstatic turn of phrase  he invites the retreatant to ponder:  quanto el  Señor desea  dárseme -  how much the Lord desires to give himself to me. Given this endless loving desire of our God and Lord for each of us, our only work then is to be ceaselessly available to him. He only asks us to crack the door open. If we give him even just a little opening, he will enter and love and transform our hearts, our very selves. Saint Ignatius of Loyola ,  Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1620-22, Norton Simon Art Foundation.

Today we celebrate a memorial unique to the Cistercian calendar, that of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Hosts of the Lord .  Our Father, Saint Bernard, compares the monastic community to a family, much like the one Jesus so often visited at Bethany. In the monastic community we find Lazarus, the penitent; Martha, the active servant and Mary, the contemplative. All three are necessary to make the monastery what it ought to be. For Saint Bernard true monastic perfection consists in "the union of all three vocations: that of the penitent, the active worker and the contemplative."  Thomas Merton agreed that while the contemplative life was to be preferred to the active life, the "most perfect souls" would combine the vocations of Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  Inside or outside a monastery the one who serves can only do so after having listened to and meditated upon the words of Jesus. The "one thing necessary" is the spiritual nourishment that we recei...

We rejoice this day as celebrate the American martyr for the faith, Blessed Stanley Rother. An Oklahoma priest he became a missionary in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, where he served the native tribe of the Tz’utujil. Father Rother was surrounded by extreme poverty of the Tz’utujil and ministered to them tirelessly. During his time in Guatemala, a civil war raged between government forces and guerrillas. Despite great pressures the Church continued to catechize and educate the people. Thousands of Catholics were killed. And when Father Rother’s name appeared on a death list, he briefly returned to the States. But he was so dedicated to his people that he soon returned to Guatemala insisting, “the shepherd cannot run.” A few months later three men entered his rectory around 1 a.m. on July 28, 1981, fought with Father Rother and then executed him. The people of Santiago Atitlan mourned the loss of their leader and friend and requested that Father Rother’s heart be kept in Gu...

Today’s Gospel of hidden treasure and of matchless pearl emphasizes the great value of what is discovered and the single-hearted response that this discovery calls forth. The struggle, the great cost to the discoverer is totally eclipsed by the unsurpassing treasure that is found, a treasure that is worth everything.*Like the wise scribe Jesus mentions at the end of today’s Gospel, we must let go of whatever impedes or is no longer useful as we seek God’s reign. Finding the treasure and selling all to acquire it demand, what the First Reading calls, "a wise and understanding heart,” a heart free to love, free to let go of all else because of love. We need clear vision, vision of simplicity even humility. Make no mistake, the letting go is never easy. But  He our pearl, our one treasure is worth all we can risk and surrender. For He is the one who proclaims and enfleshes God’s forgiveness. He has forgiven and freed me. Finding the treasure and selling all means I do as Jesus...

This morning a fter prayerful discernment,  the community elected Father Vincent Rogers as our new abbot. He succeeds Father Damian who has been abbot for twenty-four years. Father Vincent is a monk of prayer and silence and great generosity. Having served for many years as director of The Holy Rood Guild before attending seminary, Vincent is completing ten years as abbey cellarer, the monk in charge of all the temporalities of the monastery. Thus he brings many organizational skills to his new work as superior of our community. Like the early monks of the Cistercian Order, we can describe Father Vincent as "a lover of the brethren and the place." We rejoice. Please join us in praying for Father Vincent as he commences this new ministry as abbot of Saint Joseph's Abbey. Top Photograph by Father Emmanuel.

We rejoice today on this new feast of Saint Mary Magdalen, first witness to the Resurrection, apostle to the apostles, truly an evangelist who announces the joyful message of Easter to the apostles, indeed to the whole world.  We love Mary Magdalen because of the way in which the boldness of her love for Jesus made her stare death down beyond all human logic or hope.  For her there is no question that the Messiah of Israel, sent to redeem all humankind, and the Beloved of her most intimate heart are one and the same person. She perseveres in weeping at the entrance to the tomb because she perseveres in her love: the presence and actions of Jesus in her own life had taught her that love is indeed stronger than death. Against all odds and logic, in a sort of sublime madness, she clings to her Jesus dead or alive; and she does not reason about a her relative physical strength when she says ironically to the man she thought was the gardener, “Tell me where you lai...

Today’s Gospel presents us with the question of the relationship of the “wheat”, the “children of the kingdom” and the “weeds”, the “children of the evil one”. The slaves of the householder propose to him what appears to them the obvious solution: pull up the weeds. Concerned that they might pull up the wheat as well, he says to let them grow together until the harvest.  If this is the case, the question is how this co-presence of wheat and weeds is to be lived out; specifically, by us as monks? The slaves of the householder know enough to recognize the difference between good seed and bad seed, wheat and weeds, but they do not know the householder’s mind. Reflecting on the word ‘slave’, I thought I might revisit St. Bernard’s distinction between the slave, the hireling and son and see where it might lead. Bernard originally treated this in his Letter on Charity to the Holy Brethren of Chartreuse , which he later appended to his treatise On Loving God. The love of a slave ...

Some years ago, we heard the story of a parish conducted by an active religious order. In the community there was one priest who was the bane of the brethren, judged by all (but especially the younger men) as lazy and inefficient, always disheveled; clearly an embarrassment to the apostolate of this eminent order. He slept in late and could only manage to preside each day at the noon Mass, then have lunch and go back to his room. They never saw much of him. And soon they never saw him at all. He didn’t show up for his Mass one day; and the superior found him dead in his cluttered, stuffy room. After he died the doctor informed the superior of the rare incapacitating disease this priest had endured for years, the bone-numbing fatigue that was part of it. The  superior  recounted the priest’s daily routine - the one Mass, the drowsy lunch, the laziness. “Oh no, not laziness, Father,” the doctor assured him. “The little he was able to do was truly heroic.” Mayb...

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.  Matthew 11 How blessed are those who know their need for God. These are the childlike, wise enough to realize that all that they are and all that they have comes from their Father in heaven. Such is the great wisdom of Saint Bonaventure whom we remember today. In all your deeds and words you should look upon this Jesus as your model. Do so whether you area walking or keeping silence, or speaking, whether you are alone or with others.  Saint Bonaventure Photograph by Brother Brian.

What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you? Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load. When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.   Is 1.10-17 Today's First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah reminds us in no uncertain terms that our worship must always be accompanied by...

We know that in the Palestine of Jesus’ day, sowing involved broadcast ing handfuls of seed which were later plowed under. In the exaggerated scene Jesus depicts for us this morning, it seems the sower is a bit too generous, scattering the seeds rather haphazardly. They’re going everywhere - over brambles, rocks, well-trodden pathways and hungry birds are constantly swooping overhead. The parable gives us an image of the dynamic outward movement of God, as in the beginning of creation, always moving beyond the sphere of his own self-sufficient Being into the void of nothingness. God is constantly pouring himself in abundance into what is not-God. Fr. Simeon Leiva  It is this outpouring of Godself that takes flesh in Christ Jesus Our Lord. Jesus himself is the divine Sower who gives himself away to us completely, scattering his word, his very self upon us constantly. He is that Grain of Wheat falling to the earth, dying and rising for us, and bearing abundant fruit in us if we w...

Jesus invites us back to a place of immense littleness, where with wonder and deep reverence, we will be one with him and so truly children of the Father.  Perhaps he is even inviting us back to what we might call the anguish of littleness. Not to put us down, but because he knows the immense freedom that is hiding there beneath our frustrations and defeats and surrender. He points to a treasure hidden in that low place where we can only depend on God our Father to provide for us. He knows, because this is how he lived and died and rose. A treasure is there because God understands; God is waiting to meet us down there in a low place,  welcoming our need of him. During this week the community will be on our annual retreat. We promise our prayer for those who follow our blog. Please pray for us. Photograph of the north road by Brother Brian.

Today we begin our annual community retreat. It is an important moment, not only as a special time to reflect on our monastic life, but also to think about our future and the transition to new leadership. So what is our situation? What is God asking of us at this time? What is the one thing necessary, or the two or three things? Thankfully, we can trust that God will give us a word that speaks to our situation today, and I think he does, if only we will listen to the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are like a window into his intimate relationship with his Father. In Luke’s version Jesus “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father…such has been your gracious will…No one knows who the Father is except the Son…” One thing necessary for our vocation is to look through this window of Jesus’ praise to see this intimate and familiar exchange of glory and honor that proceeds from the Father through the Son and back again from the Son to the Father – an ...

On a sober note Father Emmanuel reminded us in this morning's homily that our country has still far to go in reaching the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence. For,  as recent events have made clear, racial prejudice still lurks in many hearts. We pray this day that, as we chanted in our responsorial psalm, justice may flourish in our land and fullness of peace forever. We pray that we may  be loving and wise, choosing for ourselves and for one another what is life-giving, life -nurturing:  whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious.  Photograph by Brother Brian.

We are always touched by the humility of Christ's accommodation to Thomas' request. He does not chide him for his lack of faith. Instead he simply shows him his wounded hands and side. And it is amazing to notice, particularly during this time of quarantine and isolation, that Jesus invites Thomas to touch him and to inspect the holes in his body.  Our own willingness to be  vulnerable  with God and with our brothers and sisters always brings about transformation.