From Season to Season

Happy to share this reflection, which was published for today in Give Us This Day from Liturgical Press. To read today's Mass Readings, click here . In his Rule , St. Benedict is very clear that monks are to avoid any semblance of private ownership: “without an order from the abbot, no one may presume to give, receive, or retain anything as his own, nothing at all” (ch. 33). This challenging teaching gave rise to a number of practices in monasteries, including monks or nuns of times past referring to “our habit,” “our cell,” or “our book,” as a reminder that all the goods of the community were shared among the members.    St. Benedict went so far as to call private ownership an “evil practice” because he recognized how easy it is for us to focus our attention on things and lose sight of life-giving relationships. This is why he was so insistent that the monks should “look to the father of the monastery” for the necessities of day to day living and ministry. ...

There are few images of sacred art more widely known and treasured than the “Hospitality of Abraham” by Andrei Rublev . The icon depicts the three heavenly visitors described in today’s first reading . The icon and the story that inspired it celebrate the unique and transformative relationship with God enjoyed by Abraham and Sarah. This very human story—with its elements of hospitality, a shared meal, laughter, and promise—reminds us that in those graced moments when the Divine breaks into our daily life, everything changes. This same truth is explored in the Gospel, as we hear about those whose lives were transformed by their encounters with Jesus.     It can be easy to lose sight of the humanity and intimacy in these stories if we spend too much time analyzing and theologizing them. Doctrines such as the Trinity and the Incarnation can seem remote and abstract when weighed against the demands of daily life. After all, as St. Augustine said, the Kingdom of Heaven is “not...

During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once, Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I. do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” — Matthew 14:25-31   In one of my earliest (and most memorable) experiences of lectio divina (“holy reading”), I read Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on the water that we hear in this Sunday’s liturgy . This was nearly twelve years ago, shortly after I had entered monastic life. As I read...