March 29, 2020: A Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Year A John 11:1-45 Jesus, there is so much in this Gospel that my mind swims. Lazarus your friend has died and when given word that he was ill, you wait two days before you begin the journey to Bethany. By the time you get there, Lazarus has been
At our community chapter on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, we had the joy of clothing our postulant Sharon in the novice’s habit. The simple ceremony took place between the 7:00 a.m. Office of Lauds and our 8:00 a.m. Scripture and Communion Service. (Yes, like the rest of the world, we cannot attend Mass right
March 25, 2020: A Reflection for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Luke 1:26-38 Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. One simple word: Yes. Let it be done to me according to your word. And God enters our world in
“I will lead her into the desert and there I will speak to her heart.” Here we are, dear Sharon, one year into Cistercian life in the magnificent high desert of the Southwest and this place of Santa Rita Abbey. God has led you here and you have heard his voice and responded with love. He has been leading you
March 22, 2020: A Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A John 9:1-41 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made
March 3, 2020: A Reflection for Tuesday of the First Week of Lent Matthew 6:7-15 In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. A babbling brook… If you’ve ever sat beside a brook
You know that old saying, “Count your blessings”? That is exactly what we are doing in this first journal entry of 2020! Grasshopper mower First of all we wish to thank all those who so generously responded to the fundraising appeal in our Christmas newsletter. Our grounds workers, Felipe and Zach, love the rugged new Grasshopper mower which enables them
February 11, 2020: A Reflection for Tuesday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 7:1-13 This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Inside out. That’s how you lived, isn’t it, Jesus? Inside out. You lived from the heart, from the center of your being. You knew that it was a way of
January 10, 2020: A Reflection for the Friday after Epiphany 1 John 5:5-13 Luke 5:12-16 … great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray What was it about Jesus that drew so many to him? It wasn’t just that those with ailments, or loved ones