Me monk. Me meander.

The Southern California teenage girl who grew up to wear a pectoral cross

2011-10-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

[I first posted this in 2006. A new comment just came in.]

At St. Walburga Abbey in Colorado, as at all Benedictine monasteries, the nuns weave daily life in and out of the repeating Liturgy of the Hours or “Divine Office”— services of communal prayer occurring throughout the day.

It is a rhythm of daily worship that the early church created— from matins before dawn, through lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers and finally compline just before retiring.

Monks and nuns also observe some time each day in solitary prayer and reading as individuals.

After these priorities of worship and prayer, domestic chores fill out the day at St. Walburga Abbey— feeding cattle, planting crops, cleaning linens, cooking meals, tending to the guests.

Benedictines follow the regulations of St. Benedict— seeking God in worship, prayer, work and community life under a superior.

St. Walburga Abbey's current abbess, Mother Maria-Michael Newe, O.S.B., was born in Norwalk, California, and entered the monastery at age 17 in 1976.

Three nuns from Abtei Sankt Walburg, Eichstätt, Germany, founded St. Walburga Abbey, Colorado, in 1935, originally to serve as one of several possible places of refuge for the Eichstätt Benedictines who realized the threat in Hitler's rise to power.

An abbess of Eichstätt, Mother Augustina Weihermüller, O.S.B., about 1959 ... yes, with pontifical gloves, ring, pectoral cross and crozier!

Read more about the Colorado monastery through the link below.

The end of the world as the Church understands it

2011-05-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

[I first posted this several years ago. In light of those who advertised that the world was going to end today, I am re-posting this today.]

Certain Protestants in the late nineteenth century were the first to piece together the idea of a final "rapture." Though related to elements here and there in the New Testament, the notion of a "rapture" as popularized in popular fiction in the last few decades was unheard of in the history of Christianity before the late 1800's.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church presents specific understandings of how the world will come to an end.

I have posted the Catechism's three paragraphs that bear the heading "The Church's Ultimate Trial." The same post has the full texts cited in the footnotes for those three paragraphs.

Read: THE LAST TRIAL OF THE CHURCH

It's Wednesday within the Octave of Easter.

2011-04-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

In the summer last year, my monastery ordained two priests. So my turn to preach comes around less frequently. As a result I post fewer homilies. My blogging is also minimal.

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

2011-03-29T15:03:00.001-07:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Blessed Junipero Serra needs one miracle for him to proceed to canonization.

2011-03-07T19:15:00.001-08:00

Pray.
Spread the word.
He founded the Church in California, starting in San Diego.
Read about one of his supporters in San Francisco.

Asking the impossible, and making it possible

2011-02-28T12:55:00.001-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2011

2011-02-24T14:18:00.001-08:00

What's her name, you know, the daughter of Jairus?

2011-02-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

After all, she's the one who got raised from the dead.

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE -- URGENT CALL TO COURAGEOUS WOMEN

2011-01-31T19:22:00.000-08:00

[I saw this ad on Zenit.org.]

Looking for a few good women to band together as Benedictine religious
sisters to promote the pivotal teachings of Pope John Paul II's Theology of
the Body and HUMANAE VITAE.

The work will be challenging and your only reward may be Heaven! This is a
call to only the brave of heart who have a special love of the Church and a
deep passion for the Truth.

Call Benedictine Monastery 956-486-2680.

http://www.starrcountybenedictines.org/contact

The Third Ordinary Sunday of the Church Year

2011-01-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

The Sacred Spleen of Jesus

2011-01-04T13:51:00.001-08:00

Yes.

In the homily I preached at Mass today.

The homily I preached for the feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist

2010-12-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

2010-12-24T16:30:00.001-08:00

John was a priest long before he became a "baptist."

2010-12-23T15:25:00.001-08:00

The homily I preached at Mass today.

Was Saint John the Baptist really an angel?

2010-12-16T14:01:00.001-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Suitable habits for Benedictine monks and nuns

2010-12-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

[I first published this post several years ago. It's still drawing questions and comments.]

A business suit consists of several items of clothing.

In the religious orders, our uniform or suit is called a “habit”.

The Order of St. Benedict (who died in A.D. 547) is the oldest religious order in the Church. From before A.D. 840 until shortly after A.D. 1200, there was no other religious life in the Church except the monks and nuns who lived by the regulations of St. Benedict.

The Benedictine habit is the forerunner of the habits of most religious orders that have come into being.

For the most part, the traditional Benedictine habit is simpler and has fewer elements than the habits of most other religious orders, especially those of women.

Here are the parts of the Benedictine habit. (You can click on the pictures to see larger versions.)

+

TUNICThe tunic is black, loose and long, covering the wrists, ankles and the base of the neck. On top of the tunic, at the waist, goes the cincture (belt)— made of black leather or black cloth. (Benedictines do not use cinctures made of rope or cord like the Franciscans.)

+

SCAPULAROver the tunic and the cincture goes the scapular. It was originally an apron for work, but over time it began to be seen as a symbol of the work of the Cross, and was made increasingly longer and worn all the time, not just for work. The scapular is a long panel of cloth with a hole in the middle for the head. It is shoulder-wide, straight-sided, ankle-length and square-cornered. The scapular hangs nearly to the ankles both in front of the body and behind. [The small devotional scapular that many Catholics wear is a symbolic miniature of the full-size scapular that monks and nuns have as part of the habit. The miniature devotional scapular has a front panel and a back panel like the full-sized habit scapular.]

+

WIMPLEBenedictine nuns wear a white, cloth wimple— a covering that drapes around the throat, chin, cheeks and head. An extra band of cloth covers the forehead.

+

VEILA “novice” is a new Benedictine-in-training who has not yet made vows. Over the wimple, a novice-nun wears a white veil. A nun receives a black veil when she makes vows.

A Benedictine monk has a black hood, instead of a wimple and veil.The modern Benedictine monk’s hood is streamlined, but in past centuries it was much larger.

+

CUCULLA At Mass and at Community Prayer, Benedictines add a formal, black gown, the cuculla over the habit. It has wide, deep, long sleeves, and also usually has broad vertical pleats or folds that hang the full length from the shoulders to the ankles. The cuculla is the ancestor of academic gowns, judicial chamber robes and choir robes.

+

Benedictines do not attach or wear a rosary as part of their habit. They also do not normally wear any visible medal, pin, emblem or crucifix. However the superior of a Benedictine monastery (an abbot for monks, an abbess for nuns) wears a pectoral cross on a chain like a bishop.

The abbot, Blessed Columba Marmion;
and St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict.

The saint with lots of violence and blood on his hands

2010-12-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Son of David, have pity on us!

2010-12-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

The homily I preached at Mass today, Friday of the first week of Advent.

Five days after the fact

2010-12-03T18:55:00.003-08:00

I have posted the homily I preached at last Sunday's Mass.

Following the Lamb to the Cross and into the Resurrection

2010-11-22T16:43:00.000-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

“No Church” = “No Bible”

2010-11-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

[First posted in May of 2006, with a new comment today.]

“Know the Church” = “Know the Bible”

In the Middle Ages, people rarely owned a Bible because all books were exorbitantly expensive and few persons could even read. A monk needed approximately ten months to copy a Bible by hand. The cost would have been about $5,000 then— $200,000 today"

The printing press was not invented until A.D. 1440.

In the first four centuries after the birth of Christ, there was no “Bible”. Not until after A.D. 390 did the Church decide to discern what writings deserved to be called “The Revealed Word of God” and to list officially those writings as “The Bible”. Jesus himself told the apostle Peter, “What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” Thus the apostolic Church has that binding authority to determine what the Word of God is.

However, years before the Church defined what was in "The Bible" and what was not, the Church first officially defined its faith by way of the “Creed” formula of Nicea, A.D. 325, and refined it at Constantinople, A.D. 381. Without the faith of the Church as the rule and guide, the Bible did not come into being.

As that Creed puts it: Credo … et Unam, Sanctam, Catholicam et Apostolicam Ecclesiam— “and I believe the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”

Without the Church’s faith as the rule and guide, one cannot have an authentic Christian understanding of the Bible.

Therefore: the Catechism of the Catholic Church! It expresses the faith and teaching of the Church, and forms us to have an authentic Christian understanding of the Bible.

What has happened to Christianity ever since the printing press and the common availability of the Bible? Protestantism splintering, splintering, splintering and still splintering! Splintering over how to understand the Bible APART FROM the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church!

Then you eventually end up with rejection of the Bible itself.

Examples:
- Episcopalianism's OFFICIAL rejection of Biblical sexual morality (e.g., gay "bishop" Gene Robinson);
- Episcopalian "bishops" (e.g., Spong) rejecting the Biblical affirmation of Christ's death as atonement for sin and rejecting his bodily resurrection.

If you do without the teaching (i.e., catechizing) Church, you will eventually do without the Bible itself.

The "Bible Only" approach opens the way to a "Dump the Bible" approach.

- - -

There is an online article entitled “To Tell You the Whole Truth about the Church and the Holy Bible: How the Bible Was Written”.

Why dance when you refuse to bow ... to bow for HEAVEN'S sake?

2010-11-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

[First posted in April of 2006, but having a new comment today]

I wonder if those who wish to import dance into the Mass actually respect and carry out all the physical movements the Church already requires at Mass.

- - -
GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL

275. A bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them. There are two kinds of bows: a bow of the head and a bow of the body.

(a) A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.

(b) A bow of the body, that is to say a profound bow, is made … in the Creed at the words Et incarnatus est (by the power of the Holy Spirit ... made man)….
- - -

When we begin the Mass, we are to make the Sign of the Cross as the priest says, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Here, “the three Divine Persons are named together”, so we are to bow our heads. At the end of Mass, the priest blesses the people by making the Sign of the Cross and again names the three Divine Persons together, so we are to bow our heads for that also.

We are to bow our heads at the name of Jesus. In observing this myself, I have come to notice that in some passages of the Gospel of John the name of Jesus is present in practically every sentence. Before my priestly ordination, instead of bobbing my head up and down repeatedly as I listened to the Gospel of John, I would simply bow my head the first time I heard the name of Jesus and keep my head bowed until the Gospel reading was over. Now that I am a priest, whenever I read the Gospel of John aloud during Mass I simply look down at the page (thus bowing my head) each time the name of Jesus occurs. Paying attention to bowing makes me pay closer attention to the text.

Notice that we are to bow at the name “of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.” I wonder how many so-called “liturgical dancers” and “liturgical dance promoters” do this. Do they prefer to do their own thing— that is, import something foreign to the Mass rather than do what the Mass already requires?

I find the greatest irony in comparing the number of people who hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer (a gesture not even mentioned in the guidelines for Mass) versus the number of people who make the required profound bow “in the Creed at the words Et incarnatus est (by the power of the Holy Spirit ... made man)”. It seems the majority holds hands. Almost no one makes the profound bow or any other bow.

Liturgy as a prescription to treat leprosy

2010-11-10T19:52:00.001-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Monks and Beer

2010-11-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

The Benedictine monastery, Christ-in-the-Desert Abbey, in New Mexico, plus Taos Pueblo, Canyon de Chelly, and old Santa Fe are four excellent reasons to go on a car trip in New Mexico.

The monks of Christ-in-the-Desert Abbey, New Mexico, are brewing. Read the article.

Sheep, Children of the Light, Citizenship in Heaven

2010-11-05T14:41:00.003-07:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

A powerful, infallible, pure prayer

2010-10-24T14:22:00.001-07:00

"O God, be merciful to me a sinner."

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

The Cross of St. Benedict

2010-10-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

[First posted some years ago, but a new comment has arrived today]

Contrary to what you may have read or heard, the real front of this medal is the side with the Cross bearing the initials of several prayers. The real back of the medal bears the image of St. Benedict. Christ’s Cross on the front, St. Benedict on the back!

The prayers whose initials mark the Cross invoke the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross as the force that vanquishes evil.

The vertical beam of the Cross has five letters,
C.S.S.M.L.,
standing for Crux Sancta Sit Mihi Lux (“May the holy Cross be a Light for me”).

The horizontal beam of the Cross also has five letters,
N.D.S.M.D.,
standing for Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux (“Let not the dragon be my guide").

The four large letters at the angles of the Cross,
C, S, P, B,
stand for Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti (“The Cross of Holy Father Benedict”— a reference to St. Benedict, not to the present pope).

Above the Cross is the word PAX (“Peace”). This is the first word the Risen Christ spoke to his Apostolic Church after he died on the Cross and rose from the dead in triumph over sin, death and evil.

Going clockwise from the word PAX are the letters
V.R.S.N.S.M.V.,
and then,
S.M.Q.L.I.V.B.,
standing for:
Vade retro, Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas! “Go away, Satan! Never sway me with vanities!
The offerings you pour are evil. Drink the poisons yourself!”

The back of the medal shows St. Benedict holding a cross in one hand and the book of his “Rule” (monastery regulations) in the other.

On either side of him are the words: Crux S. Patris Benedicti (“The Cross of Holy Father Benedict”— again, a reference to St. Benedict, not to the present pope). Below St. Benedict’s feet are these words: Ex S M Casino MDCCCLXXX (“From the Holy Mount of Cassino, 1880”). On that date, the Archabbey of Monte Cassino first issued this medal. Inscribed in the circle surrounding St. Benedict are the words: Ejus in obitu nostro presentia muniamur (“May his presence protect us at our death”).

Approved Blessing of
the Cross of St. Benedict

The Cross of Saint Benedict is a sacramental that may be blessed legitimately by any priest or deacon— not necessarily a Benedictine. The following English form may be used.

[V.] Our help is in the name of the Lord.
[R.] Who made heaven and earth.

In the name of God the Father + almighty,
who made heaven, earth, the seas and all that is in them,
I exorcise this medal against the power and attacks of the evil one.
May all who devoutly use this medal
be blessed with health of soul and body.
In the name of the Father + almighty,
of the Son + Jesus Christ our Lord
and of the Holy + Spirit the Paraclete,
and in the love of the same Lord Jesus Christ
who will come on the last day to judge the living, the dead and the world by fire.
Amen.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, the boundless source of all good things,
we humbly ask that you pour out your blessings + upon this medal
through the intercession of Saint Benedict.
May those who devoutly use it
and earnestly strive to perform good works
be blessed by you with health of soul and body,
the grace of a holy life
and remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.
With the help of your merciful love,
may they also resist the temptation of the evil one,
and strive to exercise true charity and justice toward all,
so that one day they may appear sinless and holy in your sight.
We ask this though Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The medal is then sprinkled with holy water.
- - - -
The medal is available online.

I am accompanying my mother in the Holy Land October 4 to 17.

2010-10-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 4
Arrive in Tel Aviv, and take bus to hotel in Ginosar (Biblical Gennesaret) on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Tuesday, October 5
Mount of Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount, ten minutes away from Ginosar, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum (in whose hills Jesus prayed. House of Peter. Bethsaida, the ancestral home of Peter and his brother Andrew

Wednesday, October 6
Upper Galilee. Northern border of Israel. Dan River, one of the headwaters of the River Jordan. Dan, ancient site with the remains of King Jeroboam’s tenth century B.C. altar for the golden calf, when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah split. Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” View Mount Hermon, one candidate for the site of the Transfiguration.

Thursday, October 7
Sailing on the Sea of Galilee which Jesus calmed and upon which he walked.

Friday, October 8
Nazareth, visiting the Church of the Annunciation. The “the brow of the hill” where a mob threatened to throw Jesus down the cliff (Luke 4:14-30). Look out towards Mount Tabor (more traditional site for the Transfiguration) and also the Jezreel Valley where Deborah and her general, Barak, defeated the Canaanites. Megiddo, seeing a layer cake of archeology— the evidence of civilization on top of civilization (MeGiDDO is also “arMaGeDDOn”). Caesarea, the deep-water port built by Herod the Great. Caesarea was the home of the Roman garrison and of Pontius Pilate. Drive to hotel in Jerusalem.

Saturday, October 9
Mount of Olives. Walk the Palm Sunday route of Jesus. Halfway down the hill we reach the Garden of Gethsemane. Enter the Old City through the Damascus Gate and follow the Way of the Cross to Golgotha (Calvary) at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Burial and Resurrection)

Sunday, October 10
Western Wall or the “Wailing Wall” (remnant of temple complex built by King Herod) in Jerusalem. Town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, where we visit the Church of the Nativity. Herodion, a fortress built by Herod the Great on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

Monday, October 11
Ein Gedi, a lush oasis which served as David’s hideout when he was on the run from King Saul. Masada, the fortress built by Herod, where the Jews made their last stand against the Romans after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Drive to hotel on shore of the Dead Sea.

Tuesday October 12
Swim in the Dead Sea (whose high salt content makes you float more buoyantly than in ocean water. Visit the possible site of Sodom and Gomorrah. Visit the Negev wilderness as guest of nomadic Bedouins.

Wednesday, October 13
We visit Qumran, a retreat center of the Essenes who were copying the Dead Sea Scrolls—also possible area of desert residence of John the Baptist. Drive back to Jerusalem, check into hotel. Visit the southern wall excavations of the Old City.

Thursday, October 14
Drive to Beit Zaman Hotel (built into the stone buildings of an old village) in Wadi Musa in the Kingdom of Jordan.

Friday, October 15
Spend the day at the archaeological site of Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This spectacular city, carved out of solid rock, was the target of a dreadful prophecy in the book of Obadiah, and it served as the capital of the ancient Nabatean kingdom. In biblical times, Petra was part of the Edomite Kingdom, founded by Jacob’s brother, Esau. We enter Petra through a magnificent gorge, with towering red-rock cliffs on either side. In Petra: the “Treasury” building, made famous as the “temple” in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

Saturday, October 16
Mount Nebo, where Moses died, with a view of the Promised Land as Moses saw it. Drive to Amman, Jordan, to check into hotel.

Sunday, October 17
Fly home. “California, here I come.”

Fire from heaven-- but not from the preacher.

2010-09-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

I've posted the homily I preached today.

I just posted today's and last Friday's homilies.

2010-09-22T19:48:00.001-07:00

Again: I thank those who have helped my monastery.

2010-09-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

Besides helping us simply to be a monastery, donations also help us serve the needs of others.

We maintain a retreathouse for guests who wish to spend some days of prayer here at the monastery.

Volunteers who work at our monastery collect and provide food for distribution to the poor.

We also assist financially and administratively a multifaceted organization, "The Brother Benno Center" (named for one of our monks who helped the poor for most of his life). The Center provides daily cooked meals, emergency shelter, and other forms of help to the poor and homeless.

We send funds to assist monasteries in less well-off parts of the world.

We also support financially the international Benedictine university in Rome.

We would be grateful for any donation you make. If you click on the "DONATE" button below, it will allow you to use either your credit card or PayPal.

When Paradise was purgatory

2010-09-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

[I posted this in 2006. A new comment has arrived today.]

Hawaiian monarchs once violently persecuted Native Hawaiian Catholics

St. Peter Catholic Church at Kahaluu, Hawaii

In 1820, Congregationalist Protestants from New England were the first Christian missionaries to arrive in Hawaii.

In April 1824, the queen regent Kaahumanu publicly acknowledged her embrace of Congregationalist Protestant Christianity. She received baptism on 5 December 1825.

The first Catholic priests arrived in Honolulu in July of 1827, celebrating the first Mass on Hawaiian soil on July 14, 1827.

The Catholic priests were quick to immerse themselves in Hawaiian society, learning the Hawaiian language, preaching and distributing Hawaiian-language Bibles. The first Catholic baptism took place on 30 November 1827. Among the earliest converts were Chief Boki and his wife, Kuini Liliha, the royally-appointed governors of the island of Oahu. Native Hawaiian converts enthusiastically embraced the faith, spirituality, rites of worship and prayer practices of the Catholic Church.

However, the Congregationalist missionaries persuaded Kaahumanu that Catholicism should be banned from Hawaii. In 1830, Kaahumanu signed legislation that forbade Catholic teachings and threatened to deport any foreigners who taught Catholic doctrine. She had the Catholic priests deported. Some Native Hawaiian Catholics managed to conceal their faith. Others were arrested, beaten, imprisoned, forced into hard labor and deprived of all food; some survived on food that relatives were able to deliver secretly.

Kaahumanu died in 1832. King Kamehameha III succeeded her.

Later that year Commodore John Downes, of the American frigate Potomac, made a plea for freedom of religion, telling the Hawaiian court that civilized nations no longer persecuted people for their religion. His intervention brought about only a brief let-up in the physical persecution of Native Hawaiian Catholics.

The king continued to forbid the presence of Catholic priests.

Finally, on September 30, 1836, the captain of the French Navy ship La Bonté persuaded the king to allow a Catholic priest to disembark in Honolulu. The king restricted the priest’s ministry to foreign Catholics, forbidding him to work with Native Hawaiians.

In 1837, Native Hawaiian Catholics of Honolulu fled across the island (Oahu) to Waianae, where Chief Boki, a fellow Catholic, resided.

On 17 April 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship on 30 April. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

In 1838, sixty-seven Native Hawaiian Catholics were forcibly marched back to Honolulu from Waianae. One of them, 37-year-old John Kalauhewa, collapsed on the way and was left to die.

France, historically a Catholic nation, used its government representatives in Hawaii to protest the mistreatment of Catholic Native Hawaiians. Captain Cyrille-Pierre Théodore Laplace, of the French Navy frigate “Artémise”, sailed into Honolulu Harbor in 1839 to carry out the following order from his government.

Destroy the malevolent impression which you find established to the detriment of the French name; to rectify the erroneous opinion which has been created as to the power of France; and to make it well understood that it would be to the advantage of the chiefs of those islands of the Ocean to conduct themselves in such a manner as not to incur the wrath of France. You will exact, if necessary with all the force that is yours to use, complete reparation for the wrongs which have been committed, and you will not quit those places until you have left in all minds a solid and lasting impression.

Fearing an assault on his kingdom for its persecution of Catholics, Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration on 17 June 1839. The document contained the following proclamation.

That the Catholic worship be declared free, throughout all the dominions subject to the king of the Sandwich Islands; the members of this religious faith shall enjoy in them the privileges granted to Protestants.

As an act of reconciliation, Kamehameha III donated land in Hawaii to the Catholic Church for the construction of their first permanent church.

Delaying our earthly advantages for the sake of gaining everlasting advantages

2010-08-29T15:52:00.001-07:00

God will repay our humility and mercy.

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Sons of hell?

2010-08-23T14:35:00.001-07:00

In the homily I preached at Mass today.

Do the math, or do the time!

2010-08-12T13:52:00.003-07:00

Forgive, or else!

The homily I preached at Mass today.

I've posted the homily I preached at today's Mass for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

2010-08-06T17:40:00.001-07:00

Allowing the Lord to break our hopes

2010-08-02T14:18:00.001-07:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Wanted: the Kingdom

2010-07-29T16:52:00.001-07:00

YESTERDAY'S homily

To persist in prayer is to persist in a life of justice

2010-07-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

The natural, human virtues

2010-07-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Justice towards God

2010-07-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

The homily I preached at Mass today.

I was out of town last Sunday.

2010-07-14T15:55:00.001-07:00

I celebrated Mass in a parish church, and have posted the homily I preached there.

Our Lady of Refuge

2010-07-05T19:26:00.001-07:00

Refuge of Sinners
Patroness of our diocese with St. Diego

I've posted the homily I preached at our Mass today.

My homily at Mass today, the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

2010-06-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Another "Our Father" homily....

2010-06-17T14:25:00.001-07:00

... since that's what's in the Gospel for today's Mass.

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today, the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time.

2010-06-13T16:13:00.001-07:00

Salt of the Earth and Light of the World

2010-06-08T19:14:00.001-07:00

My homily at Mass today.

New Priests of My Monastery

2010-06-08T19:13:00.001-07:00

Two of my fellow monks, Father Michel Pham, O.S.B., and Father Paul Farrelly, O.S.B., received priestly ordination here at our monastery from Bishop Robert Brom of San Diego last Saturday, June 5.

Posted a day later: my homily for yesterday.

2010-05-13T14:23:00.003-07:00

I've posted homily I preached at Mass today, Thursday of the fifth week of Easter.

2010-05-06T13:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the feast of Saints Philip and James, apostles.

2010-05-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

I've posted the homily I preached yesterday at Mass.

My homily at Mass today, the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker

2010-05-01T14:04:00.001-07:00

I renew my thanks.

2010-05-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

I thank again those visitors to my blog who have made online donations to my monastery.

I know the money comes from your own earnings. So, may St. Joseph the Worker pray for you, and may God bless you!

The SHOUTING of the Lord Jesus!

2010-04-28T17:52:00.001-07:00

My homily at Mass today.

Into your hands, O Lord, I "CONSECRATE" my spirit

2010-04-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

The homily I preached at Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter, but also the Memorial of Saint Anselm of Canterbury

2010-04-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

It was my turn to preside at Mass today in the monastery. I've posted my homily.

Freedom in the One in whom we live and move and have our being

2010-04-16T15:31:00.001-07:00

My homily at Mass today.

Watery flesh . . .

2010-04-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

. . . in the homily I preached at Mass today.

Easter Friday

2010-04-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

I was assigned to preside at Mass in the monastery today. I have posted the homily I preached.

My homily at Mass today, Easter Tuesday

2010-04-06T18:47:00.001-07:00

My homily at Mass today, Monday of Holy Week

2010-03-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

The homily I preached for today's Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

2010-03-25T13:38:00.001-07:00

In worshiping God we receive from him our true identities.

2010-03-18T15:10:00.001-07:00

My homily at today's Mass.

The homily I preached at Mass today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent

2010-03-14T13:13:00.001-07:00

Jesus leaves no room for agnosticism

2010-03-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

My homily at today's Mass.

A backlog of three homilies since February 26, but not posted until today.

2010-03-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

On my homily blog.

My homily for the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter

2010-02-22T16:29:00.001-08:00

The season of Lent-- everyday for the rest of your life

2010-02-18T12:57:00.001-08:00

My homily for today.

The Trinity. Christ's apostles and disciples. Jews. Pagans. Everyone is there.

2010-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

My homily on the Gospel for today's Mass.

My homily for Tuesday of the Fifth Ordinary Week of the Church Year

2010-02-09T13:49:00.001-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today, Friday of the Fourth Ordinary Week of the Church Year.

2010-02-05T14:11:00.001-08:00

Today's feast of Saint Meinrad, Benedictine martyr

2010-01-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

A Benedictine monk of the monastery of Reichenau Island on Lake Constance, later in life he gained permission to live as a hermit in a high valley above Lake Zurich. He died in A.D. 863. The place of his hermitage became the site of Einsiedeln Abbey in the 900's. Monks of Einsiedeln founded St. Meinrad Archabbey, Indiana, U.S.A., in 1854. Monks of St. Meinrad Archabbey found my own monastery, Prince of Peace Abbey, in 1954.

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

The Wedding at Cana

2010-01-17T15:55:00.001-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at today's Mass.

A dance and a war!

2010-01-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

I've posted the homily I preached at Mass today.

Jesus at Bethlehem: first in a manger, then in a HOUSE

2010-01-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Mary gave birth to him in Bethlehem, “and laid him in a MANGER, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7.

The manger appears also in Luke 2:12 and Luke 2:16.

When the magi arrived in Bethlehem, they visited him in a HOUSE. Matthew 2:11.

= = = =

Update-- for the sake of being less "subtle".
A manger is a bin, box, trough, or rack holding food for animals in a stable or barn.
A house would not have a manger in it.
Most Nativity sets show the magi visiting Jesus at a manger in a stable, rather than in a house as the Gospel reports.
I didn't notice the subtle Gospel detail (magi at a house, not a manger) until this year.

I've posted my homily for the Seventh Day of the Octave of Christmas.

2009-12-31T19:09:00.000-08:00

Two pictures of the Lord Jesus that I found most striking.

2009-12-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

Quite different from each other, but both striking nonetheless, each in its own way.

= = = =

This first one is a painting by Carl Bloch. When I came across it yesterday for the first time I actually gasped. Christ is shown turned towards the viewer's left, and Christ's right eye is in the shadows-- putting his left eye in the light, but also in the central vertical axis of the painting.

= = = =

Now.... The following image is corny, but striking.

It reminds me that Jesus in the Gospels is preoccupied with speaking constantly about the Father. I am particularly reminded of the following verse.

I do as the Father has commanded me,
so that the world may know that
I LOVE THE FATHER.
Rise, let us go hence.
John 14:31

To "man up" with Jesus.

2009-12-27T15:39:00.001-08:00

My homily for today's Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

The Feast of Saint Stephanos and the First Christian Prayer

2009-12-26T14:39:00.001-08:00

My homily today

The Holy Gospel according to a screaming old lady.

2009-12-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

St. Elizabeth!

My homily today.

John the Baptist was a priest

2009-12-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

My homily for December 19 in Advent II.

The meaning of the Latin initials on the Medal of Saint Benedict

2009-12-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

More about the medal....

My homily for today

2009-12-15T17:49:00.000-08:00

A Jew says Pope Pius XII was “borderline fanatical” to save Jews from the Nazis

2009-12-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

Vatican says Nobel Peace Prize “mired in being politically correct”

2009-12-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

The Vatican paper also calls the Nobel Peace Prize for Obama "premature," and calls attention to his stance on abortion.

Read more.

The Eucharist is the sacrament of our ONGOING Christian initiation.

2009-12-09T16:18:00.001-08:00

Today's Advent Homily.

The immaculate creations and the immaculate conceptions

2009-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

[I originally posted this in 2006.]

The Church acknowledges that the Blessed Virgin Mary is "The Immaculate Conception." Today, December 8, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

The first man and the first woman were created immaculate-- that is, unspotted by sin.

The Church testifies that God created Mary's soul immaculate-- that is, Mary was immaculate from the moment her mother conceived her.

Although we use the title "Immaculate Conception" for the person of Mary, we do not normally use the title to refer to Jesus, even though he also was immaculate from the moment Mary conceived him.

Non-catholic Christians readily agree that Jesus was immaculate. However, it seems to them that calling Mary herself the Immaculate Conception has no foundation in Scripture.

Nonetheless, the reality affirmed by the Marian title "Immaculate Conception" is grounded in Scriptural realities and affirmations.

The Book of Genesis begins with the words, "In the beginning". In that book, the first woman has no name until after sin. She, like the first man, was created Immaculate.

The Gospel of John also begins with the words, "In the beginning"-- thus telling us that a new "Genesis" has come. In the Gospel of John, the personal name of the mother of Jesus never appears. Jesus simply calls her "Woman" pure and simple. The Gospel refers to her as "the mother of Jesus," never as "Mary." No sin, no name.

The first time Jesus calls her "Woman" is "in the beginning" of his public ministry, his first miracle. It happens at a wedding. The mother of Jesus tells those who would serve to do whatever her Son tells them. This reverses what happenen in Eden: the first woman tells the first man, the first servant of God, to do what the Serpent says, rather than what God says.

The other time that Jesus calls his mother "Woman" is at the cross. It is the sixth day of the week, the same day that the first man was created. In Genesis, the first woman meets and obeys the deceiver, the serpent, at the Tree. Her obedience to the serpent brings her death. In the Gospel of John, the Woman meets and obeys the Son of God at his "tree", the Cross. Her obedience to him brings new life-- a renewal of motherhood and of childhood: "Woman, there is your son."

Just as the first man in the first garden was cast into a deep sleep and his side was opened for the birth of the first woman, so the new Man, Christ, falls asleep in death next to a garden, and his side is open, and out comes a flow of blood and water-- a sign of birth. In the Book of Genesis, after the Lord makes the first man, the Lord then makes a garden and puts the living man in the garden. In the Gospel of John, the dead body of Jesus is taken to the garden that is right there by the cross and is laid in a tomb in that garden.

In short (and cutting this short) the Gospel of John presents itself as the New Genesis, Mary as the new and sinless Woman, and Jesus as the New Man. The human race no longer descends from Adam and Eve. Instead, it receives new birth from Jesus by Marian-style obedience-- as the Gospel puts it, Jesus looks at his disciple and tells the disciple to be "born" from being like Mary: "There is your mother." "From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home." Into his life. Into his own way of life. He took into his life that Woman and her holy obedience, that Woman whose only two utterances in the Gospel of John are:

(1) an intercession voiced to her Son at Cana in recognition of the poverty and misery of man and woman "In the Beginning" of their marriage, "They have no wine";

(2) an exhortation voiced to the servants of her Son at Cana so that the wedding of man and woman can have a different, new, joyous, abundant and good "In the Beginning"-- "Do whatever he tells you."

The Gospel of Luke also affirms realities about Mary that point to her already sharing beforehand in the salvation that would come in the eventual death and resurrection of Jesus.

First of all, in the Gospel of Luke (1:28) the messenger ("angel") of God addresses Mary in Nazareth as already kecharitomene, already "filled through with grace" ... already "filled up with grace" ... already "graced thorougly"-- even though Jesus has not yet so much as been conceived and born, not yet died for sin and not yet risen in glory. Only God is actively "Full of Grace"-- he is the one who "thoroughly graced" Mary, making her kecharitomene.

The Gospel of Luke goes on a short while later (1:46-55) to have Mary speak as having ALREADY experienced the FULLNESS and FULFILLMENT of salvation-- decades BEFORE Jesus would die and rise to save humanity from sin and give humanity holiness.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he HAS REGARDED the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty HAS DONE great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.
He HAS SHOWN strength with his arm,
he HAS SCATTERED the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
he HAS PUT DOWN the mighty from their thrones,
and EXALTED those of low degree;
he HAS FILLED the hungry with good things,
and the rich he HAS SENT empty away.
He HAS HELPED his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.

Notice there the past tense!

Also, there is a good bit more in the comments boxes.

I have posted a homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

The End of the World in the Catholic Church's Teaching

2009-11-29T15:18:00.001-08:00

Is today "Black Sunday"?

2009-11-29T11:49:00.001-08:00

A homily.

Santa Sede . . .

2009-11-29T11:46:00.000-08:00

. . . not "Claus"

That's Italian for "Holy See."

The term refers to the Pope’s jurisdiction as the Bishop of Rome.

Like the picture?

Siding with the bishop, the Rhode Island governor says Kennedy’s remarks "outrageous"

2009-11-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today's homily and that of the day before yesterday...

2009-11-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

... on my homily blog.

Non-Catholic political expert defends Bishop Tobin

2009-11-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

Excerpted from Catholic News Agency, Washington, D.C., November 25, 2009.

Though not a Catholic, Peter Roff, a senior fellow at the Institute for Liberty and a former senior political writer for United Press International, says:
Bishop Thomas Tobin’s request that U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy refrain from receiving Holy Communion is “eminently reasonable” and an “appropriate” encouragement of the Congressman to examine his commitment to his faith.

Rep. Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat and son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, was criticized by Bishop Tobin of Providence for his attacks on the Catholic bishops’ opposition to abortion funding in health care legislation. Recently, Kennedy revealed that Bishop Tobin had asked him to refrain from receiving communion because of his public contradiction of Catholic teaching.

Peter Roff wrote at FoxNews.com:
that Americans look to “our institutions of faith” to define moral issues like abortion. Though not a Catholic, he said he understands the hierarchical nature of the Church and the role doctrine plays within it.

Writing with “the greatest respect,” he said:
the Catholic Church is not a place where “free thinking” about doctrinal issues is encouraged.

“There is such thing as absolute truth and not all things are relative or left to the discretion of the believer,” Roff continued. If Rep. Kennedy wishes to consider himself Catholic, he should “show appropriate deference to church teachings” about life beginning at conception and about abortion being a sin.

“By asking Kennedy to act of his own volition, rather than threaten to deny him the sacraments or ordering those subservient to him in the church to refuse to offer them, Bishop Tobin is encouraging the Congressman to consider his commitment to his faith— something one should argue is the appropriate role for a member of the clergy”....

Roff wrote that:
the issue is being “spun” as a case of a church trying to impose its will on politicians who represent a “cross-section of the world’s religions.”

While some critics of Bishop Tobin invoke Thomas Jefferson’s phrase about the “wall of separation between Church and State,” Roff said this line appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson was out of the country when the Constitution was written and the phrase is his own opinion as president in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut.

Nowhere does Jefferson suggest that the church should be “prohibited from enforcing its own disciplines within its own walls among its own members, even where matters of public policy are concerned.”

The purpose of the First Amendment, in Roff’s view, was to “protect the faithful from coercion by the state,” not to protect the state from “interference from the church.”

However, he said, it is hard to see how Bishop Tobin’s request is interference.

Roff concluded in his FoxNews.com essay that:
“If Congressman Kennedy wishes his church to consider him a Catholic in good standing, then he best pay attention to its concerns and act accordingly.”

Send a CHRISTMAS card to the A.C.L.U.

2009-11-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

They are working so hard to get rid of public mention and symbols of CHRISTMAS. A nice Christmas card would brighten up their dark, sad, little world.

Make sure it has the word CHRISTMAS!

Whatever you write on the card, don't be rude or crude.

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

Their operations would freeze if they received tons of Christmas mail. They’d have to go through all of it piece by piece, in case any of it contained donations from their sympathizers.

Why don’t you spend a little on a card and a stamp, and tell the ACLU to have a merry CHRISTMAS and let us have one too?

BENEDICTINES OF MARY, QUEEN OF APOSTLES

2009-11-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

My Monastery's Artwork

2009-11-24T09:50:00.002-08:00

We are again offering artwork by Fr. Gabriel Chavez de la Mora, O.S.B., of Tepeyac Abbey, Mexico, who designed our church and its artwork. Here are images of some of the pieces we are offering in the giftshop at our monastery. [Clicking on the images will allow you to see larger versions of them. However, these versions do not have the full quality of the images that are available for purchase.]

The Last Supper

The Prince of Peace

Detail from The Prince of Peace

Our Lady of Fatima

Our Crucified Lord

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Lord Jesus and St. Joseph

The images are available as prints on canvas stretched and mounted in the same manner as fine oil paintings.

The shop at our monastery makes them available for purchase.

They are also available for purchase online in various sizes and formats: unmounted and unframed canvas prints, framed canvas prints, stretched canvas prints, prints on various types of fine art paper, greetings cards. Click "princeofpeaceabbey.imagekind.com" to see our online sales gallery.

The Kingdom of God is like Donald Trump.

2009-11-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

A homily.

NATIONWIDE BULLETIN

2009-11-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
November 13, 2009

U.S. House Keeps Abortion Funding Out of Health Care Reform

Tell Senators:
+ Follow the House’s Lead on Removing Abortion Funding
+ Protect Conscience Rights
+ Ensure Affordable Health Coverage
+ Allow Immigrants to Purchase Private Health Insurance
As long-time advocates of health care reform, the U.S. Catholic bishops continue to make the moral case for genuine health care reform that will protect the life, dignity, consciences and health of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

+ On November 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed major health care reform that reaffirms the essential, longstanding and widely supported policy against using federal funds for elective abortion coverage.
+ It is critical that the Senate adopt the House-approved Stupak Amendment language on this issue. This Amendment ensures that Americans are not forced to pay for the destruction of unborn children as part of needed health care reform.
+ The Senate must address other essential moral priorities: protecting conscience rights; making health coverage more affordable and accessible for those in need; and ensuring that immigrants do not lose or will not be denied health care coverage needed for the good of their families and the health of society.

ACTION: Contact Senate and House Members through e-mail, phone calls or FAX letters.

+ To send a pre-written, instant e-mail to Congress go to www.usccb.org/action.
+ Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices. Full contact info can be found on Members’ web sites at www.house.gov & www.senate.gov.
MESSAGE— SENATE:
“Please adopt the House-approved Stupak Amendment that upholds longstanding policies against abortion funding, and please protect conscience rights in health care reform. Health care must be made more affordable and accessible to those in need, and immigrants must not lose or be denied health care coverage.”

MESSAGE— HOUSE:
“I am pleased that the House-passed health care reform bill maintains the longstanding policy against federal funding of abortion. Please work to ensure that this essential provision is included in any final bill sent to the President.”
WHEN: The Senate schedule is uncertain. Act today! Thank you!

For more information on proposed legislation and the bishops’ position on authentic health care reform, visit: www.usccb.org/healthcare.

The movie Blood Money is an exposé of Planned Parenthood’s corruption.

2009-11-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

In order to get the movie into theaters,
the producers need to show that millions of interested people have visited the website.

You need only visit the site.
there is no need to sign-up as a supporter
unless you feel compelled to do so.

The website contains a trailer for the movie.

Please visit the website,
and forward this information to others.

A Hindu's dream of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2009-11-16T13:31:00.000-08:00