October 2025 Monastic Experience Weekend From October 3– 5, we joyfully welcomed three women from the Tucson and Phoenix areas to Santa Rita Abbey for our Autumn Monastic Experience Weekend. Each of the sisters participated in some way, and our guests expressed heartfelt gratitude for the program and the spirit in which it was offered. Bathed in glorious weather, the
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Oct 12, 2025) Luke 17:11-19 Hear me, therefore, here me, O Lord my God, and let Thine eyes be open on them day and night. Spread Thou Thy wings, most loving Lord, and shield them; stretch forth Thy holy right hand, Lord, and bless them; and pour into their hearts Thy Holy Spirit,
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Oct 5, 2025) Luke 17:5-10 “I will not serve,” man says to his Creator. “Then I will serve you,” his Creator says to man. “You sit down, I will minister, I will wash your feet. “You rest; I will bear your weariness, your infirmities. “Use me as you like in all your
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Sep 28, 2025) Luke 16:19-31 ‘I wish you to be a friend of the poor, but I would rather you were poor yourself. The former is the stage of the proficient, the latter of the perfect. By friendship with the poor we consort with kings, but by love of poverty we become
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Sep 21, 2025) Luke 16:1-13 Therefore, my advice to you, friends, is to turn aside from troubled and anxious reflection on your own progress, and escape to the easier paths of remembering the good things God has done. In this way, instead of becoming upset by thinking about yourself, you will
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Year C, Sept 14, 2025) John 3:13-17 “He is beautiful in heaven, beautiful on earth; beautiful in the womb, beautiful in His parents’ arms; beautiful in His miracles, beautiful in His sufferings; beautiful in inviting to life, beautiful in not shrinking from death; beautiful in laying down His life, beautiful in
We had a wonderful annual retreat from Aug 17 to 23. Sr. Mary-Ellen from our Motherhouse, Mount St. Mary’s Abbey, led us into the deep, tranquil spirit of Cistercian life. Here is her introduction: Along the short journey of this retreat, we are going to encounter “seven” Treasures which all Cistercians hold dear and try to embrace in our daily
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Aug 17, 2025) Luke 12:49-53 In today’s gospel, we have just heard the words of Jesus to his disciples:“I have come to set the earth on fire,and how I wish it were already blazing! Perhaps Jesus knew we were starting our retreat today and is saying to us, “I have come to
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Aug 3, 2025) Luke 12:13-21 “Thus will it be for those who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:21) Each of us has been given a precious treasure. It is a unique and completely exquisite treasure that God has fashioned as God’s handiwork and