god – Improbable Benedictine

A “Parable of Communion”

Mike and I just spent three weeks in France. On the last Sunday of our vacation in France, my Cornerstone sister Judy took us to Taizé, an ecumenical monastic community in rural Burgundy, currently comprised of about 80 brothers: Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox men from about thirty countries around the world. The community wasContinue reading “A “Parable of Communion””

Preparing Our Hearts and Bodies

From the Rule So, brethren, we have asked the Lord who is to dwell in His tent, and we have heard His commands to anyone who would dwell there; . . . Therefore we must prepare our hearts and our bodies to do battle under the holy obedience of His commands. (RSB Prologue, Part 6)Continue reading “Preparing Our Hearts and Bodies”

Saint James the Apostle

Saint James, also known as the Apostle James or James the Greater, was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He was the brother of John the Evangelist. As the two worked with their father mending their nets in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called them to become “fishers of men.” The nickname JesusContinue reading “Saint James the Apostle”

Vows

From the Rule: “Those who are to be received shall make a promise before all in the oratory of their stability, their reformation of life, and their obedience . . .” (RSB 58). Reflection from Praying with Saint Benedict: Three promises are made when novices take their vows: stability, obedience, and reformation of life. (Other translationsContinue reading “Vows”

Conversion

On January 25, the church celebrates the conversion of Paul. His name at the time was Saul of Tarsus, and he was on his way to Damascus to find and arrest in the synagogue the followers of the Way and bring them back to Jerusalem. Acts 9 tells the story. He was blinded by aContinue reading “Conversion”

Seeds of Contemplation

From Thomas Merton (1961) Every expression of the will of God is in some sense a “word” of God, and therefore a “seed” of new life. . . In all the situations of life the will of God comes to us not merely as an external dictate of impersonal law but above all as anContinue reading “Seeds of Contemplation”