“Looking to the heavens, I imagine that these sparkling nebulae, which we can barely see, are asking for attention. Seeking our attention. I imagine these celestial creations want to be noticed, they as much as the star of Bethlehem. These mysterious galaxies surrounding us are fellow creatures of God, and they may help give focus for us in this season of Advent.” Br. Curtis Almquist invites us to open our hearts for more room for this world, the vast configuration of God's creation.

“Wake up! The effect of Advent on us should be like the blast of a cold shower after we have gotten out of bed, sleepy and bleary eyed. Wake up, sleepy head.  In Advent God is trying to wake us up. I don’t want you to sleepwalk through life, drift aimlessly through life. I want you to wake up and be fully alive. Wake up!”

As Advent begins, Br. Geoffrey Tristram urges us to wake up, to look for signs, and to be ready for Jesus to come among us again.

“Even when it seems too late, God still hears our cries and comes. This parable gives warning but not to fear. It urges to live for the party, not just to plan to attend later, but to live now alert and generous. God’s kingdom, the new way of living, is not a ticket to exit later, but a life of celebrating through sharing now.” In a parable that might be cause for fear, Br. Luke Ditewig finds a cause for rejoicing and an invitation to be wildly generous with life.

“Like so much else in Scripture, food exists, not simply to fill our bellies, although it does. Scripture speaks of food as a sign, a symbol, a sacrament, of something much larger.” Br. James Koester urges us to accept God's invitation to the feast.

“Of all the young women God could have chosen, God chose Mary. And what is the first thing we find out about her? That she hears the angel’s news, is perplexed, ponders over his words, and questions him. The first thing we find out about Mary is that she responds to God by using her own God-given faculties of reason and intelligence.” Br. Lain Wilson celebrates how, like Mary, what we offer back to the Lord is our unique response to God, our unique way of bearing God into the world.

“We are people in need, all of us and all of our lives. Remembering that, practicing that will invite the gift of humility to grow. Along the way and in the end, humility is giving up.” Br. Curtis Almquist invites us to fall into humility, which is our true human condition.

“Jesus doesn’t quantify or set thresholds. Blessed are those who mourn great and small losses. Blessed are those who broker peace on the global stage and around the dinner table. Jesus calls us to respond to whatever life gives, whether it seems earth-shattering or insignificant, with the quiet, confident, persistent faith that what we do in this life and how we do it matter—that there is a connection between this life and the next.” On the Feast of All Saints, Br. Lain Wilson urges quiet confidence that we are reaching toward the saints in imitating their lives (even on the tough days), and that they are reaching back toward us in prayer.

“In the face of everything that is going on: the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East; yet another mass killing, this time in Maine; the inability of Washington to function; and the very deep divisions in this country, never mind what may, or may not be going on in your individual life, it is no wonder we may feel hopeless.” Br. James Koester remembers that no matter how hopeless we may feel, there is hope in the promise that God seeks us even in the very worst places of our brokenness and decay.

“So how are you doing? Would you characterize your love of God as ‘wholehearted’? ‘all-encompassing’?  ‘unconditional and sacrificial’? If not, what’s holding you back?” Br. David Vryhof takes us back to basics and the heart of our faith, rooted in love.

“We wake up each morning on a mission to bear the beams of God’s light, and life, and love as only we, uniquely, can do. It’s why we are still alive. Which turns life into such an amazing adventure. This is the core meaning of “sanctification”: living our lives according to God’s unique design and purpose for our life.” Br. Curtis Almquist marvels at the true meaning of our life-process of sanctification.