July 13th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“The opposite of individualism is mutuality: living in the context of others. When individualism yields to mutuality, selfishness is replaced by sensitivity, conflict is replaced by harmony, stalemate is replaced by dialogue, obstinancy is replaced by...July 12th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Everything good that ever happened to me in my life began in the Church. I ask you to do three things: Stay close to God. Stay close to one another as a family. Stay close to the Church.” Catherine Wall, who died on May 1st, 2020, at the age of...July 11th, Solemnity of Saint Benedict: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Let us open our eyes to the divine light, and listen with astonished ears to the warning of the divine voice, which daily cries out to us: ‘Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.'” Prologue of the Rule of Saint Benedict, +547...July 10th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Whoever is wise, understand these things: the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them.” Book of the Prophet Hosea, chapter 14, verses 9 & 10.July 9th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“The monk is one who is united with all because he sees himself constantly in each.” Desert Father Evagrius Ponticus, +399July 8th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“To bid a man to live quietly is to bid him to live happily. It is to advise him to be in a state perfectly happy, in which he can think at leisure without finding therein a cause of distress.” French mathematician, inventor and Catholic theologian Blaise...July 7th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.” Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 35, verse 18.July 6th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks–we will also find our path of authentic service in the...July 5th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“The opposite of envy is a sense of solidarity in which I take delight in the use and expansion of the talents of others and see my own as of value insofar as they can be of such benefit to others that my gifts may be seen as not only mine but also...July 4th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Love is maintained and increased by a friendly expression, a pleasant word, a cheerful deed.” Cistercian abbot Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, +1153July 3rd: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“For lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day.” English mystical writer Evelyn Underhill, +1941July 2nd: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey.” Prophet Zechariah 9:9 (also Gospel of Saint John...July 1st: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Saint Benedict refers to the dignity of work in the phrase he borrowed from the First Letter of Peter to conclude his chapter on the artisans of the monastery: ‘so that in all things God may be glorified.'” Trappist Abbot Augustine...If You Are Still Feeling Cooped Up
Dear Friends in Christ, If you are feeling cooped up, which is completely understandable, you may still be looking for things to do at home. I recently saw an article about creating really unattractive flower vases from discarded paper cartons and the plastic...June 30th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“The better part of valor is discretion.” William Shakespeare, +1616Fourteenth Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
Scripture Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9,11-13; Matthew 11:25-30 How can we possibly know the mind and heart of God? Undoubtedly the best way is to listen to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we hear in the Gospel today thanking his Father in heaven for revealing to...June 29th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour thy dew; Wash the stains of guilt away.” Pentecost Sequence, The Roman Mussel, 2012June 28th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“It is today, and not yesterday or tomorrow, that life must be lived.” Belgian Discaled Carmelite friar Wilfrid StinissenJune 27th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“The life where Hope and Memory are one, Earth quiet and unchanged; the human soul Consistent in self-rule; and heaven revealed To meditation in that quietness.” English poet William Wordsworth, +1850June 26th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“In a single act of love hold the entire world in your heart. There consider all the good people together and rejoice. There look upon the evil and lament. Gaze upon those in trouble and oppressed and share their suffering.” Cistercian abbot and author...June 25th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“In the darkening June evening I draw a blossom near, and bending close search it as a woman searches a loved one’s face.” “Peonies at Dusk,” by American poet Jane Kenyon, +1995June 24th: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“For most of us, this is the aim Never here to be realized; We are only undefeated Because we have gone on trying… For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” American poet, playwright, essayist publisher T. S. Eliot,...Summer News Letter 2020
PO Box 270, Abiquiu, NM 87510 • Telephone: 575-613-4233 • www.christdesert.org JOURNEY TO GOD Many people ask today: where is our Church and Catholic culture headed? The replies to the question are not always positive or encouraging. There may be many reasons to agree...June 23: Quote For the Day From Abbot Christian
“Maybe it will only be at the end of our life that we will begin to appreciate that searching for happiness and pleasure apart from God leads only to misery.” Trappist monk Father Michael Casey
"Let everyone that comes be received as Christ."
— The Rule of St. Benedict
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