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God’s Hand
“May your hand be on the man you have chosen, the man you have given your strength.” (Psalm 80:17, LH)
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Finding Balance
Benedictine spirituality is well known for its delight in balance. The famous dictum, “Ora et labora,” captures in three words the search for balance between prayer and work. The traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, when adapted for oblates, become sufficiency, stability, and obedience. This balances the ideals of the religious life with the…
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Holy Ways
“Your ways, O God, are holy.” (Psalm 77:13a, LH)
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Avoiding Pride
I am basically a shy person, an introvert, so it’s always been a little puzzling to me that I made the decision almost twenty-four years ago to attend seminary and to prepare for a vocation that would place me in front of crowds and call me to speak in public. As I followed that calling,…
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Not in the Dark
“You are not in the dark, brothers, that the day should catch you off guard, like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4, LH)
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Homo orans
In recent weeks, my thoughts occasionally dwell on my vocation as a pastor. It’s been fifteen years since I served as a parish pastor, and in some ways, I am not the same person I was in 1994. But on the other hand, the man I am today is one in continuity with the man…
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Do Not Fear
“Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9b, LH)
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The Ear of My Heart
This morning I read further in Thomas Merton’s Bread in the Wilderness. He writes about the experience of encountering Christ in the praying of the Psalms. I’ve found it to be a meeting that changes me little by little, like the gentle waters of a stream slowly wearing away the rough edges of a rock…
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Nothing but Christ
“No, I determined that while I was with you I would speak of nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2, LH)
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“The Same Journey”
In his slender volume, Bread in the Wilderness, Thomas Merton works out his theology of the Psalms, explaining their power and mystery as the song- and prayer-book of God’s people, both in Israel and in the Church. His writing is compact and nuanced, not so much because of highly technical language, but because of the…