I was on Route 1 nearing the turn for Mt. Irenaeus when suddenly I spotted three deer entering the roadway about a tenth mile ahead. One looked normal and the other two looked different. From a distance they almost looked like fawns, but then as I got closer I realized that two of the deer were albino. I have never seen anything like that, but here on Sunday morning as I neared Mt. Irenaeus I saw three deer.
contemplative
Power of Kindness
Friday morning I left my sister’s home in Tempe, AZ bound for Changing Hands bookstore to purchase some gifts for my children. It is my habit when out of town to remember those closest to me with a small gift. I also frequently remember my two co-workers in the same fashion. Examining the shelves of … Read more
Thoughts on prayer
Yesterday, I wrote about what makes a monk. It was a popular post and even invited a response. I am a contemplative and maybe could even claim to be a mystic or at the very least attracted to mysticism. I love to sit in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Holy Thursday is approaching quickly. … Read more
What is a monk?
A couple of nights ago over dinner my brother-in-law asked exactly that, “what is a monk?” I had to stop and think. I could get out, “a group of people who live apart.” Monk comes from “monos” a Greek word which means “alone.” Wikipedia also defines a monk as a person who practices “religious asceticism.” Either of those definitionns could apply to a number of people and not be limited to a group of men or women living in a monastic community.
Minus 5
It’s minus 5 outside tonight and as I looked outside I spotted two deer moving through the snow. They crossed the road in front of our home. I could see their silhouettes in the street light. It must be cold even for deer. They move with such stealth. They could be angels and perhaps they … Read more
True Sanctity
True sanctity does not consist in trying to live without creatures. It consists in using the goods of life in order to do the will of God. It consists in using God’s creation in such a way that everything we touch and see and use and love gives new glory to God. To be a … Read more
Silence is the only voice of God
It’s 7 degrees Fahrenheit here right now and it’s been very wintry all day. I didn’t try to make it to Mt. Irenaeus this morning. I figured the weather might make it impossible to drive up Roberts Road. I opted instead for a challenging winter drive to Piffard, New York and the Abbey of the … Read more
Guns not butter
Tonight’s Olean Times Herald had a front page item that proclaimed that our new federal budget will break Medicare. The Times Herald is a pretty conservative paper. They have been unabashed apologists for much of the Bush agenda. Earlier today I read that for the first time in American history the defense budget has 12 zeros in it. That’s a one-trillion dollar budget for war. We’re not really defending anything except the status quo. The status quo in the United States is the military-industrial complex. We’re not fighting conventional forces yet we continue to fund battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines as if we were still locked head to head with the former Soviet Union.
Ash Wednesday
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent this year. Today many will return from Lenten services with ashes on their heads. I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do for Lent this year. I’m going to spend more time in contemplative prayer. I’m being drawn more and more to silence and solitude. … Read more
An expanding universe
Thomas Merton gives voice to a recurring thought of my own and that is the Word in a world where we understand more than when the words were first recorded. I must get to know something of modern physics. Even though I am a monk, that is no reason for living in a Newtonian universe … Read more