Mystical and Apostolic – Br. Mark Brown
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a phrase from our Rule of Life that refers to the “mystical and apostolic aspects of our vocation”. The “mystical and apostolic”: it’s a way of encapsulating one...
View ArticlePachomius – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Christian monasticism began when, in 270 AD, Anthony, a wealthy young man, heard the Gospel story read in church of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.(MT...
View ArticleLove’s Concern – Br. David Vryhof
Imagine the range of emotions parents might feel when sending their daughter off to college for the first time, or saying good-bye to a son who is moving across the country to begin a new job. They...
View ArticleJesus’ Words of Encouragement – Br. David Allen
Jn 16:20-23a This day in the Christian Year marks the day after Jesus’ Ascension into heaven when the Disciples knew that Jesus was no longer with them in the way that he had been. Today’s Gospel is a...
View ArticleThe Love of the Father – Br. Jim Woodrum
In my reflection and prayer on today’s gospel, one phrase jumped out at me and grabbed my attention. Jesus says, “I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself...
View ArticlePriests Forever – Br. Mark Brown
“I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” The last words at the Last Supper. John’s Gospel likes to be...
View ArticleEmpowered – Br. David Vryhof
If you are hungry for good news this morning, you’ve come to the right place! Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, recalling the coming of the Holy Spirit in power upon the early Church and...
View ArticleNow What Do I Do (With All This Religion) – Br. Mark Brown
The Book of Ecclesiasticus, also known as Sirach, has the distinction of being the only book in the Bible that counsels against putting your elbows on the table at dinner (41:19). Ecclesiasticus covers...
View ArticleSeeing as Jesus Sees – Br. Ruben Alexis
Jesus never ceases to amaze me. We read in this passage how he lived his mission. He taught wherever he travelled. He told the people how transformative love can truly be. And he manifested that love...
View ArticleTrinity Sunday – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
In my twenties I used to travel a lot. I especially loved the Middle East and North Africa. I travelled through Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. Whenever I stopped in a village, locals...
View ArticleFor God Alone – Br. David Vryhof
“In April, 1536, at the end of the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Henry VIII, there were, scattered throughout England and Wales, more than eight hundredreligious houses, monasteries,...
View ArticleThe First Book of Comon Prayer – Br. David Allen
I don’t know if today’s readings from Acts and the Fourth Gospel were in the minds of Thomas Cranmer and the other compilers of the First Prayer Book in 1549; but the sentiments expressed in those...
View ArticleHonor and Service – Br. David Allen
Mark 10:32-45 If we look back two or three chapters in the Gospel of Mark, we can find readings similar to the themes in today’s Gospel lesson. Twice earlier in Mark’s Gospel Jesus had foretold his...
View ArticlePoor Slaves – Br. Mark Brown
I was reminded recently of the enormous cultural shifts that have taken place in American life since the 1950’s. I was watching a DVD of a 1958 episode of the Leonard Bernstein Young People’s Concerts...
View ArticleThe Old Patch and the New Wineskin – Br. Curtis Almquist
The disciples of John came to [Jesus], saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”15And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the...
View ArticleOn a Mission from God – Br. David Vryhof
In his Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius of Loyola asks us to imagine a charismatic leader whom we admire and whose life and mission have been an inspiration to us. Think for a moment of who this person...
View ArticleFresh Beginnings – Br. Mark Brown
“So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said ‘Jacob.’ Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed....
View ArticleFormed by Community – Br. Jonathan Maury
Today’s scriptures parallel one another in presenting us with images of brothers in community. Genesis portrays the sons of Jacob who are blood brothers, though born of different mothers. In Matthew,...
View ArticleWise As Serpents to Preach – Br. John Braught
See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16 Jesus’ words to his disciples as he prepares to send them out into a hostile...
View ArticleDo Not Be Afraid – Br. David Vryhof
When we listen to these words from Matthew’s gospel, we are listening in on Jesus’ counsel to his twelve disciples as he prepares to send them out to proclaim the kingdom news. And we are listening in...
View Article
