mystery of Christ

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, 14 December 2025, Advent IIIA: Matthew 11:2-11; Is 35:1-6,10

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

This question of St. John the Baptist is a very good one for us to pose as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. If Jesus is not the one - if he is not the promised Messiah of Israel - indeed if he is less than God Incarnate - then we should cancel Christmas, close the monastery, and give up coming to Mass.

Homily for Sunday 16B, 21 July 2024, Ephesians 2:13-18

When St. Paul fell off his horse on the road to Damascus, blinded by light from heaven, his life, his outlook, his mission was turned upside down. What Paul saw, or encountered then was Jesus Christ. And in that moment he understood, with unbreakable conviction, that he had been wrong, wrong, wrong. Jesus was not an enemy, a blasphemer, a false prophet, a corrupter of Israel, as Paul had previously thought.