Oblate Formation 
Posts concerning Oblate and Novice formation. These include articles which are also applicable to most Christians, whether Oblate or not. Additional articles on instruction of various parts of the Rule can be found under that category.
Failure
Failure is not usually a once in a lifetime experience. It is a weight that has to be carried, unpleasant as that may feel. Faces presented to the world often hide an inner world that is filled with chaos, fear and pain. It is not the complete picture of course for any human, for along… Read More ›
Be Grateful for Doubt
The fact is that all the great spiritual models of the ages before us found themselves, at one point or another, plunged into doubt, into darkness, into the certainty of uncertainty: Augustine, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, John the Baptist, Thomas, Peter, one after another of them all wondered, and wavered,… Read More ›
A wonder
I find it a wonder how we as a species seem to live out the same pattern over and over again, generation after generation without seeming to be able to change or learn. Well perhaps we are learning but it seems at such a pace that it may be too late to save us. I… Read More ›
The Risen Christ: The Prayer of the Body
Our bodies play an enormously important part in our life in the Risen Christ. The Incarnation has given a sacramental quality to our flesh and blood, so that we can offer an unceasing prayer of the body, which can begin here and never end, sanctifying not only the suffering of the body but its joys… Read More ›
Prayer makes the Son of God present among us
I wish to speak not to families “in the abstract” but to every particular family in every part of the world, wherever it is located and whatever the diversity and complexity of its culture and history. The love with which God “loved the world” (Jn 3:16), the love with which Christ loved each and every… Read More ›
The Judge
There are different types of judgment. The one most often thought of, is when someone stands before an actual magistrate with some kind of sentence being handed out. This is a form of justice and in the United States, one is considered innocent until proven guilty. It is not actually about truth, but about swaying… Read More ›
I Honor the Place within You
“Hospitality is one form of worship,” the rabbis wrote. Hospitality in a culture of violence and strangers and anonymity has become the art of making good connections at good cocktail parties. We don’t talk in elevators, we don’t know the security guard’s name, we don’t invite even the neighbors in to the sanctuary of our… Read More ›
Christian and Muslims
In the news over the past week we are struck with the very poignant scenes of Christian cursing Muslim and Muslim cursing Christian at a time when the nation remembers the extraordinary events of 9-11. But have we forgotten we are all brothers and sisters in faith? Abraham’s God is the God of Christian, Jew,… Read More ›
Our Choices in Life Point to Where We Spend Eternity
Our capacity to choose changes constantly with our practice of life. The longer we continue to make the wrong decisions, the more our heart hardens; the more often we make the right decision, the more our heart softens – or better perhaps, comes alive. …Each step in life which increases my self-confidence, my integrity, my… Read More ›
Triumph of Christ and the Cross
Moses prayed and received the following order from the Lord: “Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live” (Ibid. 21, 8). Moses obeyed the order. The bronze serpent set upon the standard became salvation from death for anyone who was bitten by… Read More ›