by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 24, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 18:25-28; Letter to the Philippians 2:1-11; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 21:28-32 Here at the Monastery it is definitely “harvest time.” Such is the case as well in many other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Our...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 17, 2020 | Homily
Scripture readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:6-9; Letter to the Philippians 1:20-24, 27; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 20:1-16 This Sunday’s Gospel passage is taken from a section in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew where Jesus spells out some of the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 26, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Prophet Jeremiah 20:7-9; Letter to the Romans 12:1-2; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 16:21-27 Today’s Gospel passage gives us more insight into who Jesus truly is and what He had to undergo for the salvation of all people. Important to keep in...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 11, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 56:1,6-7; Romans 11:13-15,29-32; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 15:21-28 It should be safe to say and not incorrect to conclude that Jesus was at least mildly bothered by the persistent Canaanite woman in the Gospel passage this Sunday,...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 7, 2020 | Homily
Mass Readings: First Book of Kings 19:9,11-13; Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans 9:1-5; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 14:22-33 Growing up in western Oregon, where it rains more than it shines, we often had sporting events, family picnics, Shakespeare In the Park...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 1, 2020 | Homily
Mass Readings: Isaiah 55:1-3; Romans 8:35,37-39; Matthew 14:13-21 The three readings for Mass this Sunday contain some of the most consoling words in all of the Bible. The first reading for the Prophet Isaiah, who was active about 550 years before the birth of Christ,...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jul 23, 2020 | Homily
Scripture readings: First Book of Kings 3:5, 7-12; Letter to the Romans 8:28-30; Gospel According to Matthew 13:44-52 As we can probably all attest, our contemporary culture teaches everyone to seek the good life, at whatever the cost, literally. More often than not,...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jul 17, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Book of Wisdom 12:13.16-19; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:26-27; Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:24-43 This Sunday we have more parables from Jesus about God’s good earth, dealing with weeds growing in the midst of wheat and a mustard seed planted in a...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 28, 2020 | Homily
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...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 22, 2020 | Homily
Every year on June 24th the Church remembers in a special way the birth of the great prophet, John the Baptist. This is also the day of our yearly recalling the beginning of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, on June 24th, 1964. On that day our three founders,...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 15, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33 The New Testament, including today’s Gospel text, is clear that those who obey God are capable of giving witness or testimony to Christ. The first Christian community gave testimony to Christ...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 2, 2020 | Homily
Each year on the Sunday following Pentecost, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief that God is One and yet Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in majesty and glory, One in Three and Three in One. This is something so...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 26, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23 The Solemnity of Pentecost is a splendid reminder of the universality of the love God has for us. At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, the Church celebrates the powerful presence of God...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 19, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel According to Saint Luke 24:46-53 We celebrate the Lord’s Ascension, taking place forty days after the Resurrection. We recount with joy the day Christ completed His...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 12, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; First Letter of Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21 The readings for this Sunday are taken from the final days of Jesus’ earthly sojourn as well as the first steps of the infant Church after the death, resurrection and ascension of the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 4, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Acts 6:1-7; First Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12 We are drawing near to the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension, forty days after Easter, just two weeks from now. Where does the time go? Like it or not, time tends to fly by quickly, even when we try to live...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 1, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:14a, 36-41; First Letter of Saint Peter 2:20b-25; Gospel According to Saint John 10:1-10 This Sunday is usually called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” because of the focus of the Mass readings, especially the Gospel, where Jesus...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 21, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22-28; First Letter of Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35 Perhaps the first question we want to ask after hearing this Sunday’s Gospel text is: why did the disciples not immediately recognize the risen Lord? Had they not known...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 18, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47; First Letter of Peter 1:3-9; Gospel of John 20:19-31 We are celebrating the Passover of Christ, his resurrection from the dead, and today the Gospel shows us Christ in the midst of His disciples, not bound by time or space, but...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 11, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; Gospel of Saint John 20:1-9 In the Gospel text for the Easter Day Mass, we hear of Mary Magdalene arriving “early in the morning on the first day of the week” at the tomb of Jesus and finding the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 8, 2020 | Homily
Each Holy Thursday the Church recounts the evening when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his closest disciples. At that meal Jesus inaugurated the Passover of the New Covenant, when the supreme sacrifice would be offered for the salvation of the human race, by...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 4, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1 – 15:47 Each year on the Sunday before Easter, Christians around the world celebrate and commemorate what is traditionally called Palm or Passion Sunday, when we recount the events leading up to...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 26, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:14-45 It is nearly Palm Sunday and Holy Week, but not quite yet! There is still a week until Palm Sunday. We are entering the Fifth Sunday and Week of Lent and the Gospel passage assigned for this Sunday brings us...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 19, 2020 | Homily
Readings: First Book of Samuel 16:1-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 The color of the vestments worn today is rose, a reminder for us to rejoice, for we are half way through the Lenten journey and our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The traditional...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 12, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1- 8; John 4:5-42 A precious commodity anywhere, and certainly in New Mexico, is water, something many of us perhaps take for granted. For the gift of water we are always grateful. Saint Francis of Assisi went so far as to call it...
