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””
Tag Archives: jesus
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”
The Holy Spirit
Pentecost Excerpted from A Confirmation of Faith: Chap. 8 The Holy Spirit You may have experienced the Holy Spirit. You may be singing a familiar hymn in church, and you are moved by the words that suddenly have a deeper meaning than you realized previously. You are sitting by a river in a beautiful valley and areContinue reading “The Holy Spirit”
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”
Doubting Thomas
On December 21, the Church celebrates the life of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who sometimes carries the unfortunate nickname of “Doubting Thomas.” The Gospel of John tells the story. When Jesus had just explained that he was going away to prepare a heavenly home for his followers and that one day they would join him there,Continue reading “Doubting Thomas”
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”
Atonement
Excerpted and edited from A Confirmation of Faith (Resource/Wipf & Stock) What is the meaning of Christ’s death? might be a question we ask ourselves as we approach Good Friday. On the one hand, traditional Christian teaching has been that Christ was our substitute on the cross to atone for the sins that we, God’s rebellious creatures, haveContinue reading “Atonement”
Lenten Reassurance
“Seven times in the day,” Benedict writes, quoting the psalmist, “I have rendered praise to You” (Ps. 119:164). In Chapters 17 and 18 of the Rule, Benedict goes on to specify the order of psalms to be said at the smaller offices throughout the day: Terce (mid-morning), Sext (mid-day) and None (mid-afternoon). “At Terce, SextContinue reading “Lenten Reassurance”
Improbable Benedictine 