“ With a heart firmly fixed on God’s love, Mary cooperates with God’s call—a call for which she does not presume to ask and from which she does not shrink back in a spirit of unworthiness. She does not allow the weight of her finitude to keep her from trusting God’s power to call, to justify, and to glorify. She trusts that the lightness of her finitude will not be crushed by the weight of the infinity that lovingly presses upon her.” Br. Sean Glenn unpacks the beautiful ‘sermon in stone’ of the Monastery’s statue of Mary with Jesus, to find a lesson in grace for us all.

Wisdom 3: 1 – 5, 9; Romans 8: 14 – 19, 34 – 35, 37 – 39; John 6: 37 – 40  One of my first experiences as a member of the Society was the death and funeral of a Brother. Even though, as a parish priest, I had been involved in several deaths, and…

“It’s a lot to try to keep in balance and when things seem to go sideways all the effort seems for naught. When we look around and wonder, is it making any difference?  Am I running blind?  Am I running in place?  Are you running with me Jesus?”

Achingly honest questions from Br. Todd Blackham, with an encouraging promise: Jesus leads us on.

“God’s right extends not only to us as individuals, but to communities and even nations.  God has in mind what he wants us to be and to become, and like the potter, God exerts pressure through the circumstances of our lives, to shape and mold us into the vessels he has envisioned.” Br. David Vryhof invites us to discern how God is shaping us, individually and concretely.

“During this time, when many of us are confined, maybe bored, and are missing church, perhaps today’s Gospel is challenging us to ask, So where are the signs of God’s Kingdom, right here in my home, in my kitchen? Where is the Spirit at work, here, now, in the midst of dull routine? Where is God in the ordinary, in the person we are so familiar with, whom we perhaps tend to overlook or ignore, in activities that we are bored with, and take for granted. But these might be the very people and places where God’s treasure is waiting to be discovered, waiting to transform our lives.” Br. Geoffrey Tristram urges us not to miss the treasure of God's Kingdom – God's presence – in our midst.

“ It seems to me that the invitation today is simply to pay attention, as I did to that carrot patch, noticing where things were rotting from too much damp, and not enough air; where things are struggling because the soil was too impacted and hard; where things are flourishing, because the conditions were just right.” Picking up on Jesus' parable of the sower, Br. James Koester encourages us to consider the growing conditions in our hearts.

“Mary was chosen to accompany Jesus in active ministry as an adept disciple. She has herself chose the way of vulnerable, radical availability and self-giving love which Jesus models as being truly human, reflecting the nature of God.” Br. Jonathan Maury celebrates the importance and witness of Mary Magdalene.

“I often feel that trees, rocks, and flowers all make wonderful role models. It’s hard to imagine being adopted into a family with more practice in surrendering to God’s will and resting peaceably in God’s Kingdom.”

“This story isn’t really about agriculture; it’s about theology.  Jesus’ stories aren’t lifted from some journal of farming; they’re told to illustrate truths that are essential to understanding what the kingdom of God is all about.” Br. David Vryhof digs into Jesus' parable about the weeds among the wheat for insight into how we are called to live in community, even with our more nettlesome neighbors.

“To confess Jesus Christ as Lord carries within it the spark of a radical and mysterious reordering of the world deeply at odds with powers of coercion and violence. To confess Jesus Christ as Lord is to reject the lordship of the Emperor and his violent trappings. To confess Jesus Christ as Lord is to seek out God’s scandalous refashioning of the whole creation from the bottom up.” Br. Sean Glenn interprets Paul's teaching on authority and urges us to follow the true Lord of History.