Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: Christ

See Christ in your neighbor

There was in the Cells an old man called Apollo. If someone came to find him about doing a piece of work, he would set out joyfully, saying, ‘I am going to work with Christ today, for the salvation of my soul, for that is the reward he gives.’ With regard to receiving the brethren,… Read More ›

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Become the brother of God

I hear You saying to me: “I will give you what you desire. I will lead you into solitude. I will lead you by the way that you cannot possibly understand, because I want it to be the quickest way. “Therefore all the things around you will be armed against you, to deny you, to… Read More ›

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The faithful is reborn in Christ

For the birth of Christ is the origin of the people of Christ, and the birthday of the head is the birthday of the body. It is true that each of those who are called is allotted a particular place, and that all the sons of the Church are separated from each other by intervals… Read More ›

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Three Comings of Christ

We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will… Read More ›

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In whose image?

People often make ‘God’ into a very big person living in the sky, apart and scary…. because being a very big person; you can imagine if such a personality ever gets real angry. For some God even seems to be bi-polar and very difficult to placate. I guess all of our ideas about ‘Ultimate Reality’… Read More ›

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Have before you the Image of Christ

The soul at prayer should have before her a sacred image of the God-man, in his birth or infancy or as he was teaching, or dying, or rising, or ascending. Whatever form it takes this image must bind the soul with the love of virtue and expel carnal vices, eliminate temptations and quiet desires. Bernard… Read More ›

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Instruction of the Psalter

. . .David with all his weaknesses was a king “after the heart of God” (cf. 1 Sam 13:14), that is, a passionate man of prayer, a man who knew what it meant to implore and to praise. The connection of the Psalms with this outstanding King of Israel is therefore important because he is… Read More ›

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Christ being lifted up above all things

4. To the event of John’s Gospel the Liturgy of today’s feast adds the presentation made by Paul in his Letter to the Philippians. The Apostle speaks of an emptying of Christ through the Cross; and at the same time of Christ’s being lifted up above all things – and this too had its beginning… Read More ›

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The discipline of silence

The silence of the Word in the womb of the virgin speaks to you, cries out to you, recommends the discipline of silence. For ‘in silence and in hope shall be your strength’ as Isaiah promises, who defined the pursuit of justice as silence. As the Christ-child in the womb advanced towards birth in a… Read More ›

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Open yourself to the Light of Christ

The Lord always respects the freedom of those he calls. There are cases where people, in encountering Jesus, close their hearts to the change of life to which the Lord is calling them. Many people in Jesus's own time saw and heard him, and yet did not open their hearts to his word. Saint John's… Read More ›

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