Tag: community
Feast of the Holy Trinity
Community life and my own inner life I have often wondered what it would be like to simply live by myself. Go to work, then after work spend time by myself reading and thinking and maybe writing. What would it be like if I had no one to challenge me in my thoughts? I guess… Read More ›
About choice
People have different understandings about faith, what it is, why some have it and others don’t and also as one matures, the above understandings change, it seems to be a life long process. A slow maturing that never ends, an ever deepening adventure for those who are on the path….. pilgrims who learn to deal… Read More ›
Counterbalance
“Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second with your foot on first.” Mary R. It is so easy to cling to what is known, even if it is a situation that is painful and self destructive. In relationships, there is a very peculiar situation that can develop, that is in reality very common. This… Read More ›
Ancient Christian monastery site in Persian Gulf opened to public
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Dec 16, 2010 / 01:47 am (CNA).- The remains of an ancient Nestorian Christian monastery and church on Sri Bani Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates have been opened for public viewing, providing an important glimpse into the pre-Islamic history of the region. The site was unearthed in the… Read More ›
On Not Running with the Crowd
In the Gospels the word “crowd” is nearly always used pejoratively, so much so that nearly every time the word is used you could preface it with the adjective “mindless”. Crowds don’t have a mind. They are fired and driven by whatever energy, hype, fad, ideology, or hysteria is current. In the Gospels this energy… Read More ›
Can you Live on $2 a day?
Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty. They attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day. Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day. That’s half the world struggling to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of… Read More ›
How Halloween Can Be Redeemed
Halloween has grown into a major secular holiday in American culture. But for those who don’t value devotion to the saints, the Eve has become “hollow” instead of “hallow.” The purpose behind it has been lost—like celebrating New Year’s Eve without a New Year’s Day. Take away the saints and our beliefs about the dignity… 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 ›
Without monasticism, Protestants miss out on community
CLYDE, Mo. NCR — Sr. Dawn, who met us when we arrived at the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration monastery here, used to be what I still am — a Presbyterian. Same story with Sr. Sean, the prioress. Same with two old friends whom my wife and I accompanied on a recent Sunday visit to… Read More ›
The Artist and Monk Are One
If, indeed, truth is beauty and beauty truth, then the monastic and the artist are one. Monasticism, in fact, cultivates the artistic spirit. Basic to monasticism are the very qualities art demands of the artist: silence, contemplation, discernment of spirits, community and humility. Basic to art are the very qualities demanded of the monastic: single-mindedness,… Read More ›