Homilies of Father Abbot

At that time, Peter said to Jesus: Behold we have left all things and have followed Thee; what therefore shall we have? (Mt. 19:27)

Dear Brothers and Sisters
My Very Dear Sons,

The Gospel sometimes speaks to us of economic matters. There is, for example, the parable about the servants, who receive money (talents) from their master. The foolish one hides away the entire sum, fearing to lose it. The wiser ones invest and earn a double profit for the one they serve. More often the lesson of Christ’s teaching in this domain has to do with what a man does with his own earthly goods. The Lord tends to be rather uncompromising in this area: what is basically asked of us is to lose it, all of it-to the very last dime. […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia. This little phrase, taken from Saint Ambrose, the mentor and friend of Saint Augustine, has stood for centuries as the expression of something of immense importance. Here is the complete saying translated into English: “Where therefore Peter is, there is the Church; where the Church is, there is no death, but life eternal” (Saint Ambrose, Commentary on the Psalms: Ubi ergo Petrus, ibi Ecclesia; ubi Ecclesia, ibi nulla mors, sed vita aeterna,). How vital this is to every Catholic, in every time! It is also of particular interest for us these days.

Today is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, those two pillars upon whom, after Christ Himself, the Church rests. They are much like the two witnesses we read […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

In her spiritual Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, the apostle of Divine Mercy, writes of a vision she was granted, one centered on the Last Supper and the Institution of the Most Holy Eucharist. On today’s great feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, it is enriching to share in this splendid revelation that God made to Sister Faustina about the Sacrament of the altar. Allow me to read a passage from the Diary of the Saint.

During this hour of prayer, Jesus allowed me to enter the Cenacle, and I was a witness to what happened there. However, I was most deeply moved when, before the Consecration, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and entered into a mysterious conversation […]

Emitte spiritum tuum et creabuntur, et renovabis faciem terrae. Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth (Ps. 103: 30 [Douay –Reims]).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very Dear Sons,

On this glorious feast of Pentecost the Holy Church makes repeated use of a verse from Psalm 103, one that is full of mystery. We find it in the Alleluia verse and throughout the Divine office: “Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.” In the Latin version we use habitually the meaning is rather more dynamic: “Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created.” It is an appeal.

As we know from the book of […]

Ye men of Galilee, why wonder you, looking up to heaven? Alleluia.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

When angels ask questions—especially of human beings—they do not engage in idle chatter, but open their ‘lips,” so to speak, only in order to communicate something of great importance on behalf of the divine majesty. As we read in the Book of Judges, when an angel had announced to Manue and his wife that the latter would give birth to a son, which is to say to Samson, Manue asked him his name. “Why askest thou my name,” replied the angelic messenger, “which is wonderful?” (Judges 13:18, Douay-Reims). On Easter morning, to take another example, when the holy women encountered two angels at the empty tomb, they were asked quite directly, “Why seek […]

Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum…I arose, and am still with thee, Alleluia (Introit).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Some thoughts are too rich be contained within the narrow confines of human words. Some events too are beyond our telling, exceeding even the language of angels. The happenings of Easter morning belong to this category. Gone now are the great discourses that gripped the Apostles’ attention during the Last Supper—especially Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer; ended are the impassioned speeches that our Lord’s enemies multiplied like so many dark clouds before Pilate and Herod on Good Friday. All here, on this morning of Christ’s rising from the dead, is brief and pointing to things outside the realm of normal human existence. The Lord has truly passed “to the other side of […]

Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end (Jn 13:1)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Spiritually gathered together with the Lord and His Apostles in the Upper Room of Jerusalem, we begin this evening the celebration of the Passion of Christ. There could not be a more solemn moment: Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday, opens the Sacrum Triduum, the threeday liturgical reenactment of the saving Sacrifice Christ accomplished upon earth in order to redeem us from the power of the Prince of this world. We must be attentive to every gesture, to every word, for this sacred drama speaks of […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

It seems that despite of—or perhaps because of—His Divine majesty and absolute transcendence over all created realities, in relationship precisely to that work of His we call Creation, God retains a sort of child-like attitude, which for lack of a better word we might call “playfulness”. “I was with Him,” says Divine Wisdom, “forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before Him at all times; playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men” (Prov. 8: 30-31). Despite the tragedy that marks, first the angelic world in Satan’s rebellion, and then this lower world, beginning with the sin of Adam and Eve, throughout the dramatic story we call the History, characterized by so many ups and downs, […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

As we have two feasts of Our Blessed Father Saint Benedict every year, there is no need today to multiply words and to produce a long homily. Saint Benedict was a man of few but extremely well chosen words. His silence speaks as eloquently as the words he wrote and uttered. We will do well to imitate on this feast that falls during Lent.

At Easter we will celebrate the passing of Our Lord, the Savior of the World, the Messiah, who passes out of the earthly phase of His existence. This will be Christ’s transitus or excessus (in Greek: exodus) as is said in the Gospel relative to His transfiguration.

And behold two men were talking with him. And they were […]

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very Dear Sons,

Earlier today in Rome, the Holy Father closed the Holy Door, ending the Jubilee Year… Tomorrow a different door will open, that of the extraordinary consistory of Cardinals, during with our new Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, will lay out his plans for his pontificate. We must pray for the success of this great meeting and for the direction Pope Leo will give to Holy Church going forward.

As it moved toward the fullness of time, human history was driven by three major currents: that of the Romans with […]