“Call upon him in times of trouble and in times of rejoicing.  Speak his Name with focus and attention, with love and devotion, with desire and longing, and with an open heart.  You will find yourself being drawn increasingly into his heart of love.  In the power of this Name, you will be able to overcome any trouble.” On Holy Name day, Br. David Vryhof encourages us to speak the name of Jesus in desire and trust.

“Christmas, for Christians in the West, is the foremost opportunity to re-embrace the impulse to look and to touch; to show things of great meaning first, then to tell as commentary on the showing. So for the next hour, and the next eleven days of Christmas after that: Look! Touch! Taste! Smell! Clap and point and jump up and down at every shiny, lovely thing. We need to engage these impulses in acts of worship. It is easy in this world to forget the path to this holy ecstasy, this self-spending in the pursuit of meaning rather than luxury and waste.” On Christmas, Br. Keith Nelson urges us to embrace the sacramental gift of all our senses as a way to let Christ be born anew in us.

“Christmas is about many things for many people. It is about Santa and gifts, about families and feasts. It is about cards and cakes, about songs and shopping. But the truth underlying all of this is that at Christmas we remember that God chose to intervene in the lives of one couple, and in so doing intervened in the lives of all people, in the form of a tiny baby, born in an obscure village, in the middle of an occupied nation. This is our memory of God, and it lives on in the hearts and minds of people today because if God could act in that way once, then God can certainly act once again, in our lives today. ” Br. James Koester reminds us that Christmas is not about the birth of a baby, but about all the myriad ways that God makes a home in our hearts, our lives, and our world.

“Keith, in a few moments you will be ordained to the work of a pastor, priest, and teacher. You are being invited to share in the work of shepherding, not only with your fellow members in the body of Christ, but also in a particular and sacramental way with your fellow presbyters, and with your bishops. In particular you are being asked, and empowered by the Spirit, to model your life and ministry after Jesus, the Good Shepherd.” Br. James Koester joins with the community in celebrating the ordination to the priesthood of Br. Keith Nelson.

“This year it felt like it got dark especially early. We know wars are raging all across the world and even close to where Jesus himself walked. We know that this planet is in danger. We know 2024 will be dominated by yet another divisive election. Yet, here we are, gathered, together, celebrating joy.” Br. Jack Crowley marvels at how we can celebrate joy, even when everything around us feels so dark.

“What about you and me? Do we always recognize Jesus when he comes to us? During this Advent season I am sure many of us are hoping, expecting, longing, to come to know Jesus in a new and wonderful way. What may be getting in the way of recognizing his presence in our lives?” This Advent, Br. Geoffrey Tristram invites us to know Jesus in a new and wonderful way. What if Jesus is just waiting to be welcomed in?

“If we desire to know God as we are known by God, we must learn to recognize and focus on the good shepherd, trusting that he will lead us back into union with God as God’s beloved children—created in God’s image and likeness. Through this understanding, we realize our capacity to love, nurture, and guide others to the sheepfold where all may be fed, loved, and protected. Just as God called Jesus from a shepherd to sheep, Jesus is calling us from being sheep to becoming shepherds—an embodiment of God’s love and provision for all.” Br. Jim Woodrum considers how we are called to be both the sheep of the Good Shepherd and shepherds to others we meet on our path.

“I ask you: What labor of love has God asked of you, only to bear fruit far different than expected or imagined? How has your desire been distilled in response? Trust, allow, distill. This is how God prepares and purifies our desire, beginning with our most modest hopes and needs and gradually enlarging our hearts to encompass more and more of the world’s suffering and joy. Until one day, we awake to find we desire nothing less than the Day of the Lord.” Br. Keith Nelson weighs – against his own recent and upcoming experience – the sometimes conflicting Advent exhortations toward waiting and hard work, in preparation to meet the coming Christ.

“We find ourselves this Advent in a world that seems to be breaking down. A litany could encompass all ills and lands and peoples, and still feel incomplete. We find ourselves, this Advent, hurting, injured, crying out. Crying out for hope. Crying out for hope in God’s promise of healing.” Br. Lain Wilson reminds us that, even in the midst of a challenging Advent, we don't have to wait for the healing God has promised.

“Will we choose the narrow and hard way or the wide and easy way?  Will we heed the good prophets or the false ones?  Will we be trees that bear good fruit or bad fruit?  Will we do God’s will or won’t we? Will we act on what we have heard, or will we dismiss and ignore it?” Br. David Vryhof studies the signposts on the way that leads to life.