Abbot's Notebook

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...

I have been remiss in posting a new Notebook page. I confess I have been more interested of late with my “Quote for the Day” and accompanying photograph on our News Page. I hope you are enjoying those daily postings. As a photographer and avid reader, I have been...

Friends have asked how we are doing at the Monastery. Happily, I can report that we are well, thanks be to God, and carrying on with our regular life and duties in this beautiful Chama canyon setting. We monks range in age from 23 to 93 (I am 67!), so we have to be...

When I was growing up in the middle of the last century, attending Catholic Grade school in Portland, Oregon, I recall thinking that a “vocation,” was something one “got” or “had,” and specifically to the priesthood or religious life, to be a Catholic priest, brother...

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

These days our hearts and minds likely focus on many practical questions, such as: will I contract the novel coronavirus? What about my family and friends, will they be spared? How long will this pandemic last?  Will it decrease and then rise up again some months...

Almost every day brothers in the community or those writing from outside the monastery ask about an adequate spiritual response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have read various and sundry approaches to the question and one of the best I have found comes from Abbot...

Silence is considered an important monastic practice. Much ink has been spilled on the topic, including entire books, but is silence something just for monks to value? By no means! Into every life some silence should fall. Why? Because we are rational creatures, who...

The monastic life requires a spirit of sacrifice at the beginning, but really throughout the entire journey to God. What is sacrifice? At its root are the words: “to make holy.” In ancient pagan practice, sacrifice meant offering incense, food, possessions, animals,...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Joel 2:12-18; Second Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Gospel According to Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. The readings for Mass today set the tone for the entire season of Lent which we now begin. Keep in mind the word “Lent” comes from the same...

At Christ in the Desert we live our monastic life in community. There are times and places for solitude and privacy during each day, but much of what we do, be it prayer in church, our work, indoors or outdoors, meals in the refectory and recreation some days, we do...

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42 Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The familiar and famous words of Jesus to Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany, deserve special attention on this day, the Feast of Saint Scholastica, sister of Saint Benedict, and the day on which our...

Here I would like to write something about what Thomas Merton calls “monastic renunciation.” This theme is presented in Merton’s 1964 monastic brochure written for the Trappist monks of Snowmass, Colorado. The brochure is called “Come to the Mountain,” and is...

I have been rereading a publication from 1964, the year that the Monastery of Christ in the Desert was founded. The booklet, or really an expanded vocational brochure, is called, “Come to the Mountain.” The text is by the famous Trappist monk and author, Thomas Merton...

Christmas has come! Our hearts greatly rejoice! Our Redeemer is born! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will. An otherwise whimsical Charlie Brown Christmas card I received this year contains a splendid message that reads: “If there ever...

We began the holy season of Advent this past Sunday and a new Liturgical Year has begun. The message we will be hearing throughout Advent is this: prepare your hearts, for our God is sending a Savior, Emmanuel, a name which means, God-with-us. The firm conviction that...

Why Navajo-Churro sheep? Let me begin by saying we consciously chose to have this breed of sheep on our property, to raise and care for, to shear for wool to spin for us to use in weaving, as well as to sell. Our founding monks had the same breed for some years in the...

This pilgrimage report needs to end! The Athos sojourn itself was completed right around this time of year, forty years ago, so it is high time to complete my recounting of the adventure. Thank you for your patience for the final installment of the pilgrimage. A very...

On Mount Athos the Julian Calendar is followed, rather than the Gregorian Calendar, which most of the world uses. What does the difference in calendars mean in practice? First a little history. The familiar Gregorian calendar was promulgated in October of 1582, by the...