A Monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey

We have a new lineup of Presentations and talks for 2013

Nearly 70 people, Oblates and family members and other guests, came to the Archabbey for our 25th annual Oblate Day. Fr. Prior Earl Henry celebrated Mass at 10:30 A.M. for the group and preached about the disciples’ slowness to understand the message of the Cross. Oblate novice Brian Myers, a senior at St. Vincent College, graciously played the organ for the Mass and also led a student choir to enhance the singing and to render some chanted parts.

The retreats at St. Vincent for summer, 2013, have been scheduled. The retreats on Benedictine spirituality are to be held on May 18-20, 2013, and June 8-10, 2013. The first, to be directed by Fr. Donald, will probably include a Mass for priestly ordination. The second, also to be directed by Fr. Donald, will be a silent retreat.

Over the past few years a number of Oblates who live at some distance from the Archabbey and from locations of deanery meetings have expressed interest of having some sort of deanery over the Internet. Oblate David Hicks of Decatur, GA, has agreed to initiate this project. Any Oblate or Oblate novice who is interested may contact David by e-mail at  revdavid53 @ yahoo.com

The 2013 version of the Directory is being put together by Oblate Mary Ann Kaufman, with hopes that it will be ready by July, 2013. It assumed that those in the 2011-2012 Directory wish to be included again. If you are not in this version and if you would like to have an entry in the 2013 Directory, please use the form on the flier, and send it to Mary Ann Kaufman by U.S. mail or e-mail.

Some 43 people, mostly Oblates, attended this annual event, with conferences in St. Gregory Chapel. Fr. Thomas Acklin, O.S.B., the retreat master, delivered conferences about the immense love of God for all of us, His seeking of us, and the ways in which we resist His love.

At St. Vincent, we just welcomed the new Rector of the seminary, Fr. Timothy Whalen of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He is the first Rector of St. Vincent Seminary who has not come from the 'monastic ranks.' He met with we seminarians last Wednesday and gave a brief talk and I wanted to share his message. It was not complicated; love Jesus with all of your heart and direct everything you do to Him. Everything else, from minor annoyances to the greater challenges of life look far different if Christ is the focus on one's life. I have spoken of struggles with pride and ego and the frustrated desire to be authentically genuine and humble; well, once again the answer comes pretty directly. Maybe we could collapse all Benedictine spirituality into that radical love for Christ that knows no limits and will suffer no obstacles. Pray for me as I shall pray for you!

   This morning we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, Jesus Christ and I still find myself drawn back to the absolute humility of God, particularly in the face of our egocentricity. Christ in His baptism entered into our world of sin and despair, not because He had to, but rather because He has come to lift us from that darkness, or to quote St. Gregory of Nyssa, we may receive "release from bondage, close relation to God, free boldness of speech, and in place of servile subjection equality with the angels."

    It is relatively quiet at St. Vincent Archabbey at this particular time of year. Many of the monks are off on their home visits and of course at Christmas break the College is virtually deserted. From a monastic point of view it is one of the best times of the year and to top it off we have not had any snow, which I happen to find delightful. Anyway, with my sporadic entries on this Blog I was tempted to discontinue it but had a change of heart after speaking with Fr. Donald and a few other interested parties. I had two concerns, first of all just what would I write that Oblates might find interesting and secondly, would I be able to make regular entries. There is an additional concern, when the site is open for comments it was deluged with spam so at present there is no option to comment. We need to look into some means of 'vetting' to allow individuals to make comments. Whenever we do get that arranged, I really look for Oblates to respond, not necessarily what I have written specifically, but to be able to dialogue with one another on a particular point I may have raised in the note. Capicit?

    Today is Labor Day so I suppose it would be appropriate to say something about labor. As you probably know the Benedictine Order is known for "Ora et Labora,"--Pray and Word. While that is an integral part of the monk's life it is not less so for Benedictine Oblates. As I tend to keep repeating whenever I given an Oblate talk, Oblates are in a unique position to carry the Gospel and Benedictine spirituality into an infintely wider range of sites, most particularly in the workplace. So to all of our Oblates, thank you for your labors and your witness, it is certainly exemplary of the Benedictine charism.