Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: way of life

Too soon

When young and healthy the world is ours, our bodies sleek, or if not at least strong, if not that, we still have years to look forward to, death something far off not to be thought off. Yet the years speed by and soon, too soon, we find ourselves among the middle aged or the… Read More ›

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Not Two but Three Comings of the Lord

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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When Nuns, Prayer, and Cheese Meet

CROZET, Va. — It’s a business model you won’t see anywhere else: thirteen women who make artisanal Gouda cheese that sells out every year. Their secret ingredient? Prayer. Prayer is also the reason they say they won’t expand. The Gouda Life The women are nuns living in a cloistered Trappist community at Our Lady of the… Read More ›

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St. Dominic: He spoke with God or about God

Dominic possessed such great integrity and was so’strongly motivated by divine love, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honour and grace. He was a man of great equanimity, except when moved to compassion and mercy. And since a joyful heart animates the face, he displayed the peaceful composure of a… Read More ›

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Loss of soul: What we love the most, truly desire; is where our hearts are

A man came up to one day and asked me this question:  “What does it mean to lose your soul?”  I don’t like questions like this, when they are asked, there is more often than not, some kind of underlying agenda, which over the years I have tried to avoid.  I really can’t help others… 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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Finding God’s will

(notes for a talk I’m giving) At times it can seem like finding God’s will for some people is like going to an Easter egg hunt. Looking under bushes and rocks, seeking to find the God’s will written out in bold letters:  “This is it, my will”….”you win”. Of course it is noting like that,… Read More ›

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Life’s problems

No matter who you talk to, there will be problems, big ones, painful issues that have to be faced and hopefully dealt with. Yet we live in a world wherein that is often impossible, the knot is simply too tight and intricate. Then there are health issues of loved ones, personal problems that won’t go… Read More ›

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Belief in the True Presence

This is what Abba Daniel, the Pharanite, said, ‘Our Father Abba Arsenius told us of an inhabitant of Scetis, of notable life and of simple faith; through his naïveté he was deceived and said, “The bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol. Two old men having learnt that he had uttered this… Read More ›

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Conversion is never ending

For (St. John) Newman, conversion, as he understands it, is not a momentary event, that is, a once-in-a-lifetime, Paul-on- the-road-to-Damascus revelation. It is rather a way of life, and it affects us throughout our lives. Any attempt on the believer’s part to delineate a solitary event of conversion was contrived. Indeed, it contradicted the known… Read More ›

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