Tag: community
Living the Liturgy: Clear Creek Monastery
By Michelle Laque Johnson U.S. Catholics no longer have to travel to Europe to discover what life is like behind the turreted walls of the medieval French abbey, Notre Dame de Fontgombault, and other Benedictine monasteries. In 1999, an almost unbelievable chain of events brought a group of Benedictines from France to Oklahoma! There, they… Read More ›
“Keeping Friends” and Social Isolation
This is part two of a selection from Finding Happiness, Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life by Abbot Christopher Jamison. Click here to read part one. There is one disturbing fact that goes against the flow of this youthful view of happiness: in Britain and America, suicide rates among adults have been falling in recent… Read More ›
That one ought not judge any man
It happened that temptation fell upon a brother in the monastery of abbot Elias, and they cast him out: and he came to the mountain, to abbot Antony. After he had been with him for some time, Antony sent him back to the community whence he had come out. But when they saw him, they… Read More ›
Remembering we are the servant to each other
It is almost taken for granted in our society that, if one possesses some measure of authority or power, it is legitimate to let the petitioner know, in subtle but unmistakable ways, that a favor is being bestowed. This thinly disguised punishment for being needy has no place in community… Demetrius Dumm, OSB Cherish Christ… Read More ›
Patience and Anger
A certain brother while he was in the community was restless and frequently moved to wrath. And he said within himself, “I shall go and live in some place in solitude: and when I have no one to speak to or to hear, I shall be at peace and this passion of anger will be… Read More ›
We are like Exiles
Amma Syncletica said, “We ought to govern our souls with discretion and to remain in the community, neither following our own will nor seeking our own good. We are like exiles: we have been separated from the things of this world and have given ourselves in one faith to the one Father. We need nothing… Read More ›
We have to Work, Sacrifice, and Cooperate
An ethic of barely disguised selfishness is no longer a Christian ethic. Nor can we afford to raise this to the national level and assume that the world will adjust itself if every nation seeks its own advantage before everything else. On the contrary, we are obliged to widen our horizons and to recognize our… Read More ›
“Religion” Cannot be a Substitute for Humanity or Community
We may often find that the text of the Bible comes alive in an atmosphere of love, community, and service. Conversely, its meaning is obscured when we allow ourselves to become isolated and concerned only with ourselves. “Religion” cannot, in God’s plan, become a substitute for humanity or community. Our familiarity with the Bible can… Read More ›
Community is Built by God Alone
…community is not built by man, it is built by God. It is God’s work and the basis of community is not just sociability but faith. This is what we need to see very clearly, because it is very important. … what really starts fighting is possessions. And people get into fights by preferring things… Read More ›
It is what we do that matters
Nazareth was an obscure and despised village; its people were regarded as inferiors. Yet such holiness was found in that small community that it became the place the Incarnation of the Son of God. Obviously, then, it not so much where we live or what we do, but rather what we are that matters; especially… Read More ›