Living the Rule 
Stories and examples of how monastics and oblates live out the Rule in their daily lives.
A Still Small Voice
What is in a whisper? When someone whispers, we quiet down, sharpen our ears and pay attention. A whisper conveys often the most important information–whether intimate words of love or secret words that tell of hidden matters. Whispers are usually more significant than shouts, but they also require more of us. If we fail to pay… Read More ›
Crowded lobby
Emergency rooms are places of waiting, of hurrying to get there and then just sitting, often in a crowded lobby, witnessing the human drama of our fragility played out in living color; pain, worry, suffering lived out in full view, though most so preoccupied with their own drama it can mostly be fazed out. I… Read More ›
At times
There are some situations in which the human conditions is experienced in all of its angst and pain. At times communication just cannot be achieved; an impasse is reached, even if both sides have good will. Some times it is simply too much emotion, at others it could be cultural, and then, well, it just… Read More ›
Prejudice
I can remember an incident that happened with my mother when I was 16 years of age. This of course happened in Panama, where I spent my high school years. Before I go into my little altercation I had with my mother, I would like to say something about her. Like my father, I would… Read More ›
Reach back
At times in all our lives for reasons perhaps not known, someone will approach us afraid, vulnerable, their guard let down perhaps for the first time, or after many tries but courage lacking, reaches out seeking something, when that happens, reach back for it allowing ourselves to be loved and simply being present we become… Read More ›
Ordinary in and Extraordinary Way
On one occasion the great English writer, scholar and saint, Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was asked on how one could become a saint. This holy but very practical man gave a short but clear recipe for holiness— here we have it for your own motivation to pursue holiness! First, he said: “Get to… Read More ›
Swallowed
Its all me, that is the hard learned lesson slowly coming to light, my reactions and sufferings are my own, the world I live in flows from my deep subjectivity making my desire to be objective impossible though it is not a fool’s errand to try. I am often swallowed, devoured like Jonah, the belly… Read More ›
Mercy beyond all telling
Upon the cross as he hung in pain, between two thieves, one who mocked the other more humble, his body racked with pain unimaginable, betrayed by his apostles, who like cowards fled. One betraying, another denying, the others hidden in fear, something really not so hard to understand, for the heart of man is divided,… Read More ›
Solitude
Solitude is experienced differently than simply being alone, or feeling lonely, or of course isolation, which is I suppose the opposite of solitude. The ability to be alone before God, to simply be in the Eternals presence has to be grown into, a slow movement into the depths of the mystery of existence. Boredom often… Read More ›
Holy Thursday: The meal
So simple bread and wine the common food of common people, so everyday, yet a staple needed for life. He took the bread, broke it, the wine also in its simple cup, saying, this is my body, broken for you for the remission of sin and blood, eat in remembrance of what I am about… Read More ›