Notes, Homilies, and News
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May 21th: Meet Us In Chama!
This Friday afternoon, May 21st, a variety of our handmade products will be for sale at the Chama Valley Farmers Market, near the village of Chama, New Mexico. Our Brothers Andre and Isidore will be at the Market from 3:00 to 5:00 pm this Friday, with our soaps,...
April 20th: From Our Weaving Workshop
We still have 2 rugs left to present for purchase from the Monastery Workshop. Each rug is made with prayer and care by one of our monks. The wool, both warp and weft, is 100% Navajo-Churro and hand-dyed. The rugs for sale are one-of-a-kind and nearly identical in...
Twenty-eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture: Book of Wisdom 7:7-11; Letter to the Hebrews 4:12-13; Gospel According to Saint Mark 10:17-31 In the Gospel passage this Sunday, an unnamed man meets Jesus and asks what he must do to possess everlasting life. Jesus replies with emphasis on the true meaning...
October 5th: Autumn Wonder
We are having a beautiful Autumn thus far. The "look" of the changing of leaves in today's photo, taken October 4th along the Rio Chama and Gallina Creek, is usually more typical of mid to late September. Apparently we are having record breaking temperatures these...
Twenty-seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Genesis 2:18-24; Letter to the Hebrews 2:9-11; Gospel According to Saint Mark 10:2-16 A sad reality of modern society is the high rate of divorce. We hear about it frequently and often it is even glamorized with fascination by how often...
Twenty-sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time
Scripture Readings: Book of Numbers 11:25-29; Letter of James 5:1-6; Gospel According to Saint Mark 9:38-48 In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus advocates a spirit of humility and gentleness in a concrete case of someone expelling demons in Jesus’ name. Though not an...
Twenty-fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Letter of Saint James 3:16-4:3; Gospel According to Saint Mark 9:30-37 A very human trait that often leads to problems is comparing oneself to others. We may wish to be more like others or maybe less like them. We may...
September 20th: Congress of Abbots Has Ended
Late morning on Thursday, September 19th, the Congress of Benedictine Abbots came to a close. Ten days of prayer and worship, listening, thinking, speaking, learning, voting, eating(!), as well as resting, were the order of the day by the two hundred twenty-five...
September 15th: New Benedictine Abbot Primate
On September 24th the assembled abbots in Rome elected Abbot Jeremias Schroder as the 11th Abbot Primate of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation. His term of office is eight years. Abbot Primate Jeremias is from the Abbey of Saint Ottilien in Germany. He is fluent...
September 20th: Two-Hundred Twenty Abbots
This week and next, two-hundred twenty Benedictine superiors, being abbots or Priors, are gathered in Rome for the Congress of Abbots, normally held every four years, and always in the Eternal City. The place of meeting is at the Abbey of Sant'Anselmo, the flagship of...
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Isaiah 50:4-9; James 2:14-18, Mark 8:27-35 A moment came in the public ministry of Jesus when he asked his disciples what others were saying about him, and who they thought he was. Jesus asked not because he did not know the answer, but to elicit a stance from his...
September 8th: A Thousand Years Young
Beginning Sunday, September 8th, the Abbey of Montserrat in Spain is celebrating one thousand years of existence. The jubilee year will include numerous events, though I'm not sure of what they all are. The multitudes of pilgrims who come here every day attest to the...
September 6th: Abbot President Ignasi Fossas
On the morning of Thursday, September 5th, Father Ignasi Fossas, OSB, a monk of Montserrat Abbey in Catalonia, was elected Abbot President of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. His time of office will be eight years. The General Chapter of our Congregation, currently...
September 4th: Montserrat Morning
The General Chapter of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation continues at the Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat in Spain. Abbot Christian and seventy other abbots and delegates continue to work on revisions of the Constitutions of our Congregation, to better reflect...
September 3rd: Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat
Abbot Christian and seventy other Benedictine abbots and elected monk-delegates from around the world are currently assembled at the Abbey of Montserrat in Spain for the General Chapter of our Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. The General Chapter began on August 30th...
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture readings: Isaiah 35:4-7; Letter of James 2:1-5; Gospel According to Saint Mark 7:31-37 In the Gospel today, Jesus cures a deaf man who also has a speech impediment. Freedom from bondage of various kinds is an important sign of the Messianic age which Jesus...
Twenty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Letter of Saint James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Gospel According to Saint Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-22 Jesus and his followers are chided today for not observing the Jewish ritual customs of cleanliness and etiquette. Jesus...
August 24th: Rose of Sharon
For many years now, several Rose of Sharon bushes have been blooming each August outside our monastery church, as today's photo shows. The technical name of the flower is Hibiscus syriacus. Despite the popular name, the flower is not a rose, but as its technical name...
August 22nd: A Matter of Choice
Mr. Squirrel outside the Abbot’s office seems to be looking toward the rising sun with some trepidation, realizing that the days are growing shorter and winter will be here before he knows it. It’s important to have a supply of food on hand for the colder months, of...
Twenty-first Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Joshua 24:1-2, 15-17, 18; Ephesians 5:21-32; Gospel of John 6:60-69 Life is filled with choices, to say the least. It’s part of life in the present, but the matter of facing choices each day stretches back over millennia. In the Gospel today,...
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