Monastic Tiduum Schedule (Feel free to join us)

THURSDAY, APRIL 21 (Mass of the Lord’s Supper) - 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22 (Commemoration of the Passion and Death of Our Lord) - 1:30 p.m.
Tenebrae - 8:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23 (Easter Vigil) - 8:45 p.m.

SUNDAY, APRIL 24 (Easter) - 7:30 a.m.

Monday of Holy Week

From: www.saintvincentarchabbey.org

"My heart will not fear."

We spend this whole week gazing upon the cross of Christ. We look with love upon the Faithful Servant of the LORD about whom Isaiah the Prophet sings. We look with love upon Christ the Suffering Servant of the LORD and recall every detail of his last week before his execution and resurrection. The Psalm has us singing the song of trust that the Lord Jesus sang as he prayed these words throughout his life of temple worship. Can our hearts echo this trust? "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afraid?" We remember every detail described in the gospel. We remember the evildoers who surrounded him day in and day out; they were looking for details too, for details of his behavior or teaching that they could use to devour his flesh and consume him in their hate and jealousy. The Lord Jesus could not help notice his enemies stumbling and falling all around him. His heart was not fearful even as their numbers grew. Even though they took him on in public debate waging a war of words; even then did he trust the Father. Though meager the support from his followers, the Lord Jesus found bountiful support from the Father and he looked forward to again being in the glory of that eternal love. It is his absolute and total love and trust for the Father that gives us the courage to wait, to be stouthearted and wait for the LORD to accomplish his will in our lives. Even in the midst of the cross, even when we bear our share in the sufferings of Christ, we wait; we do not turn away; we do not fear.

Isaiah lived in a world of unspeakable violence. The Servant of the LORD, Jesus, lived in a world that did not respect gentleness. Yet, into this brutal and harsh world comes a faithful servant of the LORD upon whom the very Breath of God, the Holy Spirit hovers. This is the same Breath of the LORD that moved over the chaos of the early creation and brought order and growth. This Holy Spirit gives the Servant of the LORD justice for the nations. A justice that is established first in the human heart so the Servant need not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets. All he needs to do is to tell the story of mercy and bounty. The hearts of his listeners are moved, as if on their own, to love justice and work for peace. This mighty servant of the LORD need not break a bruised and wounded soul to prove his power to influence the community. Even the smoldering wick is not quenched; rather he fans into flame the deepest hope and longing of the human heart for the justice and peace that only the LORD can provide. The wildest lands bordering on the dangerous oceans, the very coastlands have waited to hear the servant speak the truth. Above the roaring of the seas his voice is heard the very Breath of the LORD proclaims through his faithful servant the good news: "I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations." This Servant of the LORD is the Lord Jesus who has identified us with himself, with his relationship with the Father and with his mission to heal and save all the nations. As members of the Body of Christ we are to "open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." Such is the full meaning of our dying and rising with Christ the Lord. Baptized into his cross and glory we have an unspeakable dignity and no one can take away our true life in Christ, no foe, no enemy, human or spiritual. We are so confident in Christ that we need not imitate the ways of our brutal and harsh world. We need not force the truth upon anyone. The truth of the Father's love for us in Christ is so attractive and so convincing because it is still spoken by the same Breath of the Lord that hovered over the Lord Jesus during his prayer and ministry. That Holy Spirit breaths through us and the Word we speak is truly liberation for every human heart.

Four friends of the Lord Jesus are featured in today's gospel account for the sixth day before the Passover. He is surrounded by three faithful friends, who become dangerous, and one dangerous friend, who becomes deadly. Martha, Mary and Lazarus provide fellowship and food for their dear friend Jesus. In their desire to honor the Lord who had brought Lazarus back to life, their feast attracted a large crowd of Jews from the chief priests. Their public scrutiny of the Lord Jesus continued and when they saw how many Jews had turned away and believed in Jesus because of miracle of Lazarus, they plotted to kill the Lord and his friend Lazarus. These faithful friends were dangerous to the Lord Jesus because they unwittingly played into the hands of his enemies and gave them the straw that broke the camel’s back. Martha and Mary's feast for their friend Jesus only made it more obvious that the seventh sign was powerful and threatening to the chief priests and those in power. Judas was a dangerous friend of the Lord Jesus because he was a zealot, and he was convinced that the only way to hasten the arrival of the Kingdom of God was to revolt against the oppressive Roman government. These political solutions to social and spiritual evil were completely inadequate and totally rejected by the Lord Jesus. Judas leaves the Passover Supper to prepare for the betrayal of the Lord. At this meal several days earlier we catch a glimpse of his conflicted heart. The motives of Judas are questioned in the gospel when he reprimands Mary for wasting "oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair." On the surface his concern is that the money used to buy this oil could have been used for charity. However, his concern for the poor is less than pure. He seems to be using the poor to keep the disciples purse full so that as the group treasurer he could use the money for whatever he wanted. Even today, seeming concern for the poor is used to hide greed and self-seeking. Judas hides his mixed motivation behind a public display of devotion to the needy. The Lord Jesus defends Mary’s behavior without at all diminishing the need for true concern and charity toward the economically deprived. However, the irony of this table dialogue reveals a false split between costly devotion and costly service. Both love of Christ and love of his deprived brothers and sisters are necessary for any true friend and disciple. Growing closer to the Lord Jesus through our Holy Week devotions only makes greater demands of our hearts to be compassionate with others as the Lord Jesus has been compassionate with us. To buy into the false dichotomy Judas is pushing is to use Christianity to hide our own efforts to save ourselves and ignore the demands of intimacy by pouring our love out upon the Christ, the Anointed One, who pours out his blood without restraint so that we could live an abundant life.

Palm Sunday 2011

Palm Sunday at St. Vincent College (Click Here)

Oblates

For those of you who may be interested in growing closer to Christ via the Benedictine way of life you may want to explore our Oblate program. Check out the following link to learn more. Click here

Monday of the Fifth Week in Lent

"Even though I walk through the valley of darkness"

In today's readings there are many who walk through the valley of darkness. Some are very comfortable there in the darkness. Others are comforted by the presence of the Good Shepherd. Sooner or later everyone walks through this valley. Those who walk by faith know that the Lord is at their side; they do not fear. Not only are they fearless, they want for nothing. Indeed the valley of darkness is not endless; eventually the LORD guides them to restful waters that refresh the soul. Just hearing those bubbling brooks and feeling those splashing waters flowing over the stones brings refreshment to the heart. This refreshment is completed only in the taste of living waters; all thirst is quenched. It is for his name's sake that the LORD guides and directs us all along the way for his we are his people and the sheep of his pastures. We are strengthen by his power to save us; his rod and staff give us courage to continue the arduous journey all the way to Calvary. All through Lent he has spread the table of his body and blood before us in the sight of our foes. With all who hate us looking on he anoints our heads with oil, the oil of gladness above other kings. Our cup of suffering overflows and so does our cup of rejoicing. Only goodness and kindness follow us all the days of our lives. Indeed, only in the house of the LORD are we at rest, at home forever. Our ancestor, Susanna, was trapped under a tree by her accusers. Their lies were exposed because of that same tree. It was because of the mercy of Christ, who died upon the tree of the Cross, that the woman caught in adultery was set free to go and sin no more.

Susanna was not afraid of death or lies and "through tears she looked up to heaven, for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly." Such trust had grown in her heart over the years of her virtuous living. The fruit of a life of wickedness comes to term in the false accusations of the judges. These lusty old men represent the crowds gathered around the Lord Jesus in today's gospel account. They had become blinded by the lust in their hearts. They could not see Susanna's true beauty. All they could see was their desire imposed upon her body. The fulfillment of their lust drove them to assume that Susanna would fall victim to their trap. Consumed by such desire we so easily assume that those we want, want us. This self-deception made them victims of their own lies. After years of living a lie, they were easily tripped up by their lies about the tree under which they had caught Susanna. The Holy Spirit moved Daniel to have the courage to establish Susanna's innocence. It is the same Holy Spirit who works in all of us who follow the New Daniel, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can never stand by and watch one of God’s beloved children die because of a lie. We who have come to know the Lord Jesus, who is the way the truth and the life, have no fear as we confront the lies that abound in our hearts and in our communities. The innocent ones in our world have no need to fear because we stand up for them and defend them with the truth that the Holy Spirit inspires us to know and to proclaim. Indeed, innocent blood is spared in our day because of the Innocent Lamb of God who shed his blood so that we might be cleansed, purified, made new.

Susanna was innocent; the woman caught in adultery was not innocent. Both women are treated with great mercy. The Lord Jesus is the New Daniel upon whom the Holy Spirit rests from all eternity. From the eternal moment in which the Son was begotten, the Holy Spirit hovered over him. During his conception within the womb of the Immaculate Theotokos the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and rested upon him. This same Holy Spirit moves within the Lord Jesus and over him as he writes on the ground with his finger. Perhaps he is pausing in prayer to hear the voice of his Father, so that he would speak the word that forgives and challenges at the same time. He is that Word, spoken from all eternity and made flesh within the womb of the Blessed Mother, so that he can speak in time. Unlike the first Daniel, who had only the power and wisdom to expose the innocence of the woman falsely accused of adultery, the Lord Jesus has the power to forgive the sins of the woman caught in adultery. Perhaps such a word needs a seemingly distracted pause, so that it can be proclaimed. "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again the Lord Jesus writes on the ground; perhaps this pause is for our sake. Perhaps, we who have heard this story so many times need to pay close attention. Perhaps we are both the crowd and the woman. In these words of the Incarnate Word, we are liberated from sin and from the impossible role of throwing the first stone. The only innocence that we can claim is that which comes from the blood of the Innocent Lamb who was slain by our guilt. Perhaps, now as if for the first time, we can go now and sin no more.