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...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 20, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; First Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5: 38-48 When preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation as a seventh-grader in a Catholic school many moons ago, we adolescents were reminded by the nuns teaching that we were temples of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jan 24, 2020 | Homily
Mass Readings: Isaiah 8:23 – 9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23 The beginning of our Lord’s public ministry, after His Baptism in the River Jordan, is still on our minds. Just two weeks ago we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord. We hear today about the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jan 15, 2020 | Homily
Readings: Isaiah 49: 3,5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34 Probably many or maybe even most of us like to have someone travel with us when we make a long journey. It helps to lighten the burden of all the time, energy and stress entailed in getting from...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jan 9, 2020 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17 With today’s liturgical celebration of the Baptism of the Lord the beautiful Christmas season draws to a close. Yes, we monks keep the Manger Scene in church and Christmas...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Dec 30, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21 The shepherds who “went in haste to Bethlehem,” as directed by the angel, can be understood as the whole human race seeking Jesus. The quick response of the shepherds to seek the new-born Lord is the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Dec 27, 2019 | Homily
Readings: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21; Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 In our Catholic Liturgical Calendar the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas is always dedicated to the mystery of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This year “on the fifth...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Dec 20, 2019 | Homily
Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, That we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ thy Son Was made known by the message of an Angel, May by his Passion and Cross Be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. These words form the prayer...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Dec 11, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 35:1-6, 10; Letter of James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 We are now very close to celebrating the Solemnity of the Lord’s Nativity, Christmas Day, on December 25th. The Lord is very near and is coming quickly, as the Liturgy of the Church keeps...
