Assumption Abbey

-The paradox in today’s Gospel is that the Lord Jesus both armed and disarmed His disciples for their missionary journey. He armed them with power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, but He disarmed them even of the necessary things for the journey such as a walking stick. -Christ’s instructions for the mission are still important even if few would be tempted to carry a walking stick. First, commitment to the redemptive mission is inseparable from the commitme

Lk 6:43-49 *A certain foreign building contractor wanted to give a government official a sports car, in order to help him get a big government project. -The official objected saying, “Sir, common decency, my Christian upbringing, the leadership code, and my basic sense of personal honor – all these would never permit me to accept a valuable gift like that. It would amount to bribery and corruption.” -The contractor pauses for a while & said, “I quite understand. But suppose

Lk 6:27–38 -In today’s Gospel, Our Lord sets before us an ideal so high that it seems almost to disappear beyond the horizon of human possibility: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.” There is something both glorious and terrifying in such a command. It draws us upward toward the very height of divine love, while at the same time bringing us down into the dust with the painful realization of how lit

1Cor. 4:1-5 Lk 5:33-39 -In answer to the accusation that His disciples were eating and drinking while the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted frequently, Christ gives an answer that reaches far beyond the question of fasting itself: “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” -There is something marvelous in the way Christ proportioned the

My Dear Friends, I had no idea what weather to expect as we began our pilgrimage south toward Assumption Abbey. This week already we had summer temperatures in the 80’s and winter plunges into freezing, accompanied by weeks of draught followed by two days of rain. But, to my delight, everything was adorned with shades of green. The pastures, especially, were vivid. Leaving Ava, as we began climbing into the Ozarks, a feast awaited. While an occasional Red Bud dotted the lan

Good Friday Today, we stand at the foot of the Cross. Good Friday is not a day of easy words or quick comfort. It is a day that invites us into silence, into sorrow, and into something deeper than we often allow ourselves to go. We gather not to celebrate, but to remember—to witness love poured out completely. On this day, we see Jesus betrayed, abandoned, mocked, and crucified. We hear His cry: “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? ” These are not distant words. They e

Thursday of the Lord’s Supper (Year C) Ex. 12:1-8, 11-14; 1Cor 11:23-26; John 13:1-15 Eucharist and Washing of Feet Life in Palestine...

Fr. Basil, Superior, has asked that I make clear that these reports represent my perceptions and not necessarily that of the monastery as...

Dear Friends, I fully intended to leave the Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center on Monday the 10th. But at the end of the previous week a...

Dear Friends, We had a harsh storm at the Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center just before time to come to the monastery for my May week. ...

Dear Friends, All along the Saturday road to the monastery, Nature was practicing for Palm Sunday. While the trees showed little signs...

Dear Friends Ash Wednesday Week The few days before coming to...

Dear Friends The drive to the monastery was appropriate for the season. It was grey, dreary, and worn, the fields barren and the...

Fr. Basil, Superior, has asked that I make clear that these reports represent my perceptions and not necessarily that of the monastery as...

Fr. Basil, Superior, has asked that I make clear that these reports represent my perceptions and not necessarily that of the monastery as...

Fr. Basil, Superior, has asked that I make clear that these reports represent my perceptions and not necessarily that of the monastery as...

Christ Jesus could have regarded equality with God as something to be grasped or exploited, but He chose instead to be a human slave,...

Is. 9:1-3,5-7 Lk. 1:26-38 -The annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary in today’s Gospel inaugurates “the fullness of time,” the time of...

Dear Friends, I was ready for my time at the monastery after several busy weeks -- one with 16 of my extended family at our cabin in the...

Brothers, it is clear in today’s first reading that the radiance emanating from the skin of Moses’ face arose from his experience of a...