ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

Sometimes when you are meditating on the Sacred Scripture, a phrase or even a single word will leap out at you and grab your full attention. For me, reading today's gospel passage (Luke 6:39-45), the word was: “HYPOCRITE!” This word occurs smack dab in the middle of today's gospel pericope which is taken from the Sermon on the Plain found in the 6th chapter of St. Luke's gospel. The Greek original makes you jump: HYPOKRIT A ! As you probably know this Greek word comes from the brilliant Greek theater culture and simply meant, at first, an actor. Later, it gained a negative change in meaning to “an actor who really has not identified with his part.” From there it was easily adopted into Greek-speaking Judaism as in Sirach 32:15, “He who studies the Torah masters it, but the hypocrite finds it a trap.” A verse from Sirach in today's first reading alludes to this concept and this verse is used by our Lord in today's gospel parable of the fruit tree; the verse goes: “Th...

As we remember Our Lady on Saturday, we recall God’s unique intervention in Mary’s life. This radically changed the whole direction of her personal history and challenged her to give up every preconceived notion of virtue and righteousness.   Nevertheless, Mary still had to live out the full course of her appointed time on earth in an (externally speaking) most ordinary manner.  And yet  within,  in the interior chamber of her prayer and in her keen awareness of God’s intense presence in her being, she was one unceasing act of gratitude, praise, and joy; in her own words: " My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked upon his servant in her nothingness.  Henceforth all generations will call me blessed."   These words of her  Magnificat  mark the most significant turning-point in the human race’s understanding of itself.  Small, hidden, humble Mary turned the course of world history and man’s self-understanding on its head....

  Again this morning we hear Jesus’ question to Peter, tinged with self-doubt, magnificent in its quiet simplicity – “Who do you say that I am?” It is a hauntingly beautiful question from Jesus to each of us, “Who do you say that I am? Who am I for you? What is your experience of me in your life, in your history? How do you experience me now? Do you know that I know you, and love you well?”  How shall each of us answer Our Lord? Perhaps when we come to understand who we are, how wounded we are, and who Jesus wants to be for us, we can say with Peter, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." You search me and you know me. All my ways lie open to you. You alone are my love, my fortress, my stronghold. All I want is to know is you Christ Jesus my Lord and the power flowing from your resurrection. Everything else is a pile of rubbish to me. Jesus did not give up on Peter, and he will never, ever give up on us. He is a relentless rescuer, the God who saves us, even chases ...

This morning Jesus leads us up a very high mountain, draws us up higher and higher, asking more and more of us at each step. “You can do it! Come on. Come higher. Yes, yes. Forgive. Turn the other cheek. Lend. Give to those who can’t possibly repay. Be exceedingly kind to those who despise you or hurt you. Love your enemies. Return good for evil. Be merciful, merciful like God. Do not judge, don’t even think of it. Refuse to retaliate. Pardon. Give without expecting a return. Give. Give. Love and forget yourself.” It seems like much too much. Higher and higher we go. The air gets thinner, it’s cool and misty, and I can’t see the way ahead or behind for that matter. And perhaps you, like me, feel a bit light-headed, even faint. Jesus’ message is dizzying after all. In short, he expects so much of us, too much of us, demands too high a standard of excellence of us his disciples - like the teacher or the coach we secretly loved and found absolutely infuriating, who always expected more, w...

  Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, It is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things endures all things. Love never fails . Who have I made Christ Jesus out to be? How do I experience Him? How is He trying to reveal God’s own Self to me? And am I, are we often simply missing the point, the simple truth of who God wants to be for us in Christ? Paul shows up just in time with the classic beauty of his hymn to love, a hymn to Christ Jesus who is God’s Word of love enfleshed for us. Love is patient, love is kind, he says. Christ Jesus our Lord is patient, always waiting for us, in no hurry, never coercive; waiting outside the door for us to let Him in; awaiting our return to God, and so bearing the cruel hardship of the cross without complaint- in pat...

the more He wants to give, the more He makes us desire until He leaves us empty so as to fill us with blessings...God's immense blessings can only fill a heart that is empty. They come in that kind of solitude. We pray that our solitude will be a space for Christ, a space that He can fill with His presence and His very Self. Photograph of colored glass in the abbey cloister by Brother Daniel. Quotation from John of the Cross.

The Galilee of Jesus’ day was a muddle of power struggles; rich elites were getting richer and richer by burdening the poor with endless tolls and ever-higher taxes. And religious leaders kept piling on rules and regulations that assured the poor of their exclusion. Jesus arrives and announces a higher grace.* He brings good news to the poor, sets free those oppressed and heavily burdened, and he is teaching the people how to hope again. Jesus is this great surge of God’s compassion rushing in with a relentless, astoundingly gentle but ferocious urgency and energy. And he is enacting a great reversal. He eats with sinners, casts out demons, cures people no matter which day of the week it is. He touches lepers and so has become unclean. He even dares to forgive sins. Who does he think he is?   Jesus sees things differently, he grants access to the kingdom directly to outcasts and the downtrodden, offering not pity but blessing. He speaks to them this morning on a “stretch of leve...

On this memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, we rejoice because Mary is gateway to all the compassion that Jesus longs to be for us. Through her intercession we pray for all the sick, for all who are in need, for all refugees. We are assured of Our Lady's attentiveness. Like Saint Bernadette, we stand beneath the watchful gaze of Mary. The humble maiden of Lourdes tells us that the Virgin, whom she called “the Lovely Lady”, looked at her as one person looks at another. Those simple words describe the fullness of a relationship. Bernadette, poor, illiterate and ill, felt that Mary was looking at her as a person. The Lovely Lady spoke to her with great respect and without condescension. This reminds us that every person is, and always remains, a human being, and is to be treated as such. The sick and the those who are disabled, even severely, have their own inalienable dignity and mission in life. They never become simply objects. If at times they appear merely passive, in reality that i...

  Once upon a time, Scholastica went to visit her twin brother Benedict. They spent the day in spiritual conversation and dined together. As it began to get dark, Scholastica begged her brother to stay there all night, so that they could continue speaking of the joys of heaven. But Benedict could not be persuaded. The sky was clear and cloudless, as Scholastica joined her hands, bowed her head, and prayed ardently to God.  Suddenly there was such a rainstorm with lightning and thunder, that Benedict could not possibly depart. He was very annoyed and said to his sister, "God forgive you. What have you done?" She answered, "I wanted you to stay, and you would not listen to me; so I asked our good Lord, and he  granted my request." And so, they spent the whole night in heavenly  conversation  and comforted one another.  Reflecting on the power and efficacy of Scholastica's prayer, Saint Gregory the Great will remark,  "It's no wonder at all. Those who lov...

It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance - for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into itself again, and to look at it no one would know it had anything to do with fire, or light ... Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. You don't have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it? .... Theologians talk about a prevenient grace that precedes grace itself and allows us to accept it. I think there must also be a prevenient courage that allows us to be brave - that is, to acknowledge that there is more beauty than our eyes can bear, that precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm.   Photograph by Father Emmanuel. Lines by Marilynne Robinson    

We are always amazed by the story of Saint Josephine Bakhita, whose feast we celebrate today. Stolen from her family and sold into slavery when she was only about nine years old, Bakhita’s childhood was filled with cruelty and suffering. Her young body cruelly tattooed, whip marks on her thighs, and one leg forever damaged by brutal kicking, so much so that she limped for years thereafter.  Children are great survivors. But surely this was a little girl who suffered far too much. Hounded by pain and death from her girlhood, Bakhita somehow learned early on how to live as if death did not have the last word.  And finally years later when she hears about Jesus, she is magnetized and seeks baptism with a tenacity and conviction that astound us. As she gazes at the cross, she is transfixed. The cross is key to her self-understanding, her true self-identity, her freedom, her hope. Jesus, an innocent victim like her, bestows life; her survival has meaning at last. She is drawn into ...

  For most of his public ministry, Jesus’ pulpit was the great outdoors. A hillside, a boat, an open road. Today we see Jesus teaching the people from the shore of Lake Galilee. As with any popular public figure, everyone wanted to see him close-up, to touch him. With the crowd pressing in on him, Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and asked him to put out a short distance from the shore which prevented the crowds from pressing in too close. When he had finished speaking, he gave Simon Peter the command that can apply to all of us: “Put out into deep water.” He told Peter to lower his nets for a catch. Peter and the others knew that night was the best time to fish, not the morning. Besides, they had worked all night and caught nothing. However, out of respect for Jesus they did as he has asked. To their surprise, they caught such an incredible number of fish that their nets were tearing. Peter was so overwhelmed that he fell on his knees before Jesus and asked the Lord to leave him, for ...

  We hear three stories of call this morning, three epiphanies really; three characters recognizing their unworthiness in the brilliance of divine presence and blessing: Paul and Peter and their holy forebear Isaiah. We witness their religious experience and its reverberations. “Woe is me,” says Isaiah, “I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then Paul, only recently back on his feet after falling from his horse, will proclaim, “I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” And finally, in the Gospel, there is that tremendous haul of fish and Peter falling at Jesus’ knees, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” With the realization of divine favor, there is neither boasting nor complacency but wonder and bitter self-knowledge. In the brilliance ...

Saint Methodios tells us, quoting St Paul, that his fellow Sicilian, St Agatha, whose name means ‘the good one’, was 'a virgin espoused to one man, Jesus Christ’. She was ‘good’ not necessarily by nature but because she used her young freedom to choose the highest Good possible, namely, the Son of God as Spouse of her soul. For the sake of her fidelity to this highest and most enthralling Good, she was willing to sacrifice a lesser good: the life of her body. This clinging exclusively to the person of Jesus her Bridegroom was Agatha’s manner of ‘going apart to a deserted place to rest’ with her Beloved, just as the apostles are invited to do by Jesus in today’s gospel. We are all invited to do the same. Let us repent of all our own infidelities to the highest Love, to all our duplicity of mind, heart, and body, as we beg the Lord to be move with pity for us when we choose to go astray as if we did not already have him as our ever-solicitous, ever-loving Shepherd. And, through the...

As we remember the martyrs Blaise and Agatha this week, we pray that like them we may be faithful unto death, embracing death as an open portal to eternal life in Christ, embracing even our daily  dyings  as ways to encounter Christ's kind presence.

Your merciful love, O God, we have received in the midst of your temple… Just as Simeon and Anna received the child presented by Mary and Joseph so do we come today to receive the child from Mary his mother and Joseph, patrons of our monastery. At the first Presentation, only four were present. Today, thanks to the efforts of countless believers over the centuries, the “light for revelation to the Gentiles” has been passed on to us. We are privileged to be part of these original four. Luke is at pains to show that these four have been carefully chosen by God as credible witnesses for the presentation of his Son to Israel. Each of us, too, has been chosen by God to receive His Son today and to bear the light of consolation and redemption to the nations.  We too are to be credible witnesses just like them. This is a lofty task. How do we become people who are up to it? Let us look to these four the Lord has given us as examples, as sure guides along the way. In bringing Jesus t...