Beauty and fragility
(Written September 2016)
Insects are a problem for us. I guess you could say we are at war with them, a war we can’t win, but can only hold them back. We have ‘people’ come in and spray around certain areas of the retreat house in order to keep insects out. Or if they come...
Photo of Br. Justin OCSO
September Retreat House Newsletter
Hello Friends,
I wanted to share with you the latest news from the monastery. As you all know we were hoping to reopen in September, now with the virus surging we find we will have to wait once again. It is with a heavy heart, I had...
A woman on Meth
(Written Sept 2017)
On Tuesday of this week, one of the brothers mentioned to me that there was a woman out front who seemed to be in distress. He told me that she was sitting in one of the red chairs at the end of the walkway in front of the retreat house. I looked out the...
To See Things in a Calmer Vein
You can pretty much find anything you want on the internet, on YouTube especially, that one can find all kinds of ‘experts’ giving their take on just about any subject. With Covid it is no different. Way too much information, it is becoming a true tower of...
LOL, yes when there is contact it can be hard to do what must be done. Small spiders that live near the windows are good, the big ones, well I would not want to wake up at night and find one crawling over me ;-).
peace
mark
Eye to Eye with a Spider
(Remembering some other critters )
I was on duty in our Infirmary from the 3:30-7:00 AM shift. It has its busy moments but there are stretches where I can sit down and do some reading. It was about 6 AM when I got my book and started to read. I was going along happily...
Remembrance of the dead
(and other things…of course)
There are many things about the Catholic faith that trouble many Protestants. We have devotion to the saints, and especially towards the Blessed Mother. We ask them to accompany us in our lives to pray for us and with us to bring us into...
The agitated retreatant who was ready to ‘SNAP!
(Written August 2015)
It was about a year and a half ago that a woman about my age wanted to talk with me. One important lesson I have learned when dealing with the public is that while there is a solidarity that links us, there are also unique...
Praying our Raw Humanity
When you come into My presence, pour out your heart before Me: all that you suffer, all that you question, all that you fear, give all to Me. This you do already when you pray the psalms. It was through the psalms that I poured out My own Heart to My Father, and in the...
I See All Circumstances
I do not judge you harshly, any more than the shepherd judges harshly the sheep that, in its stupidity, separated itself from the flock and lost its way. I see all the circumstances that come between Me and your desire to be with Me. I harbour no resentment in My...
Memories of one of our Monastery founders
Fr. Francis Xavier (Written in 2016)
When I read the part of scripture where Jesus talks about the importance of being childlike as opposed to childish; I always think of Fr. Francis Xavier. When I first met him in 1968 I was taken by his child-like...
What is God Like?
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matt 5: 44-45
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Most people are aware...
Spur Us Onward
Within the finite heart O Lord
dwells the infinite,
often hidden behind walls of fear
and mistrust.
As we stand,
or kneel,
or prostrate ourselves,
trusting in your benevolence,
our hearts expand,
slowly becoming true
to the image you have made us.
We are backed Lord into many...
Mary's Glorius Assumption
My Mother is present to My Church in this world. Her glorious Assumption has not set her at a distance from My Church; it has, on the contrary, made it possible for her to be wherever the suffering members of My Mystical Body are most in need of her ministrations and...
The Assumption of Mary
(Written in 2016 for our Abbatial Blessing)
Since our Order is dedicated to the Blessed Mother and our Monastery has her in our name, it is fitting to have the abbatial blessing on this day. The full title of our Monastery is “Our Lady of the Monastery of the Holy...
The Cosmic Battle Played out in our Mind's and Heart's
Abba Ammonas was asked, 'What is the "narrow and hard way?" (Mt. 7.14) He replied, 'The "narrow and hard way" is this, to control your thoughts, and to strip yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This is also the meaning of the...