Abbot's Notebook

The Abbot’s Notebook for November 21, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  This past week we finished our annual retreat.  Father John Murphy, S.J., conducted the retreat for us and it was, at least for me, a very wonderful retreat.  Thanks be to...

The Abbot’s Notebook for November 14, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  This past week I have received a bad cold and sore throat as a gift from others.  I presided at the temporary vows of our Brother Emmanuel Dao Van Rinh, barely able to...

The Abbot’s Notebook for November 7, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I am sitting at my own desk in my own office once again.  That will change pretty soon.  Tomorrow I begin to move into a normal monk’s cell so that the rooms of the abbot...

The Abbot’s Notebook for October 31, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I am home once again at Christ in the Desert.  Sometimes I remember how I used to be able to travel and never feel any tiredness at all.  Those days are gone.  I can still...

The Abbot’s Notebook for October 24, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I am writing to you from the State of Virginia this time.  Prior Benedict and I are here looking at a property that might work for a monastic community.  It has been a...

The Abbot’s Notebook for October 17, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  It has been a relatively quiet week, although some fairly important things have happened.  Brother Charles went to have his fingerprints checked by the FBI.  This is one of...

The Abbot’s Notebook for October 10, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Last Friday night, October 5th, we had four more men enter the novitiate here at Christ in the Desert.  First was Brother Seraphim who is 33 years old and comes from Kerala...

The Abbot’s Notebook for October 3, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Last Saturday, September 29th, our Brother Michael Mugambi made his first vows in our community.  He is our sixth professed monk from Kenya.  Sister Josephine of the...

The Abbot’s Notebook for September 26, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  It has been an interesting week because the Weimaraner Benny always gets into trouble.  Sometime he seems more accident prone than any dog that we have ever had.  He just...

The Abbot’s Notebook for September 19, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I am back home at Christ in the Desert after almost two weeks in Mexico.  During that time I visited the Monastery of San Benito in Mexico City, the Monastery of Nuestra...

The Abbot’s Notebook for September 12, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I am writing to you from Mexico and ask your prayers for all of our communities here.  The travel to Mexico was without problems and as soon as I got here, I began...

The Abbot’s Notebook for September 5, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Another week at home and everything here is relatively quiet and peaceful.  Our Father Andrew, who is 55 years old, had a mild heart attack on September 1st, so please...

The Abbot’s Notebook for August 29, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Reading the news is sometimes like watching a storm beginning and then waiting to see if anything will happen.  The storms of politics and the storms of the Church right now...

The Abbot’s Notebook for August 22, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Last Wednesday we had the solemn vows of three of our brothers and we are blessed to have them now as permanent members of our community.  We now have 25 permanent members...

The Abbot’s Notebook for August 15, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I am home in the Monastery but I spent three days away in a crazy trip to Mexico to be present for the priestly ordination of Brother Antonio Abad and the diaconal...

The Abbot’s Notebook for August 8, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  There are times when things hit me so strongly and I know that I should not write about them until I calm down.  There is such a situation in my heart right now.  So please...

The Abbot’s Notebook for August 1, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  This was not a quiet a week as the last!  But always life is changing and we are always challenged to seek God in the midst of that.  Last Sunday, July 29th, our Archbishop...

The Abbot’s Notebook for July 25, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Another quiet week at home is always a gift for me.  Some monks have returned from their family visits and others have gone.  Another postulant has joined the community. ...

The Abbot’s Notebook for July 18, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  Another week has gone by.  One of the decisions that I have been praying about is whether to continue to write or not once I am retired.  My resignation as abbot will take...

The Abbot’s Notebook for July 11, 2018 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you!  I got home just last night, July 10th, and today is the Solemnity of Saint Benedict, the author of the monastic rule that we follow and the Patriarch of Monasticism in the...