Continued…
Living With Values
The Rule of St Benedict and the way of life which grows within and out of the Benedictine-Cistercian way is a rich font of wisdom, not only for monks and nuns of that tradition but for anyone who seriously seeks God and a life lived in service of others…
Mark 2:1-12 – Paralysis
For most of us paralysis is not an experience with which we can readily identify. Perhaps we have occasions – or it is the service we render – when we have to care for someone who lives with a paralysis which is bodily, which inhibits, which is partial or almost complete…
The Third Afflictive Thought – Things
We live in a society and at a time when we are obsessed with acquiring things, and the constant acquisition of things has become ridiculously easy. Our lives very often become a cluttered reality, and when the clutter becomes too much, it suffocates us and replaces those things that we should really be seeking…
Ceaseless Prayer
Is it possible to pray without ceasing, as St Paul tells the believers in Thessalonica in his first letter to them (IThess. 5:17)? Christ himself teaches that it is possible and commends it to his followers (Luke 18:1). Certainly, to grow so that we are always turned towards God….
Mark 1:35-45 – Willed Solitude and Forced Isolation
St Anselm of Bec wrote: Lord, let me seek you in desiring you; let me desire you in seeking you; let me find you in loving you; let me love you in finding you. Solitude and isolation; searching for Jesus and finding him; prayer as the beginning of all that we do and say…
Tools For Tackling Thoughts (Part I)
Tackling the afflictive thought of sex, and any of the afflictive thoughts, takes time, prayer and humility. Now we offer some teaching on three important spiritual tools which help us in this combat. Since we are now in the season of Lent, perhaps these tools can in a special way become part of our spiritual…
Lectio Divina: Mark’s Gospel (1:21-34)
This passage confronts us with Jesus the healer; Jesus the one who makes whole again; Jesus who exercises a power which the world has not seen nor experienced; Jesus who prays in community and in solitude; Jesus who is a man inserted into his own religious tradition and practice entirely…
The Second Afflictive Thought – Sex
Should it surprise us that the afflictive thought of sex has always, in some way, weighed down our hearts? It is certainly not merely a modern day struggle! And we should begin by reminding ourselves of the desert fathers and mothers and how they were aware of the…
The Practice of Keeping Vigil
To keep vigil is simply to keep watch. In the Christian tradition it finds its most intense expression in Sacred Scripture as Christ prepares, in prayer to the Father, to face the events of his Passion. Having celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples, he goes into the garden at Gethsemane and…
Lectio Divina: Mark’s Gospel (1:9-20)
As with everything that Jesus says and does, sign is never far away. And the signs that he gives don’t merely point us in a certain direction – if we are attentive enough – they also contain the reality to which they point. So it is with this moment of baptism…
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Bethlehem Abbey Cistercian Family 