Abbey News

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Company This Week
As mentioned last week we had an interesting time of it this week. For starters, our good friend of many years, Br. Bob Herrick, ofm, Cap. arrived Monday to make his annual retreat with us.

Then on Tuesday, Jeff Adair, our contact person with Bimbo Bakeries, USA, our bread distributor, met with the community to give a report on the ups and downs of our bread distribution. Some hard questions were asked and straight answers given assuring everyone that on the whole our bread business is in pretty good shape. One of the secrets of staying in the market these days, Jeff told us, is product innovation. To that end we have already developed two multi-grain breads, one with raisins the other without, and are now developing another variety which we hope to have perfected soon.

Thursday afternoon saw the arrival of our new Abbot General, Dom Eamon, and his secretary, Fr. William. As he told the community in chapter that evening the visit was not an official, canonical visitation but rather a friendly visit to become acquainted with the communities of the Order. During the course of his stay he gave us a couple of talks on the role of the Abbot General and a brief account of the state of the Order. He also met privately with several members of the community and had a grand tour of the monastery including the bakery.

Here we see Br. Paul (on the right) giving Dom Eamon (left) and Fr. William (center) a grand tour of the bakery beginning here in the warehouse.

In chapter this morning Dom Eamon gave us a birds eye view of the various monasteries he recently visited and concluded by giving his impressions of Genesee. It is interesting to note that, for the most part, the nun's communities are doing better vocation wise than the monks. His impressions of Genesee were positive and upbeat though he noticed that our baking industry is a large operation and well organized, though a bit work-intensive and that some of the brethren seem to be over worked. Hopefully an influx of persevering vocations will soon remedy that.

September 14th
Tomorrow, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we mark the beginning of our monastic fast, sort of a "little lent", as it has come to be known. In our long standing monastic tradition the feast marks the end of our summer season when we don the cowls and cloaks once again for the cooler weather ahead. And with the longer nights and quieter days of autumn and winter more of a contemplative atmosphere reigns in the community.

In one respect the cross does have a terrible aspect that we ought not to remove. To see that the purest of men, who was more than a man, was executed in such a grisly way can make us frightened of ourselves. But we also need to be frightened of ourselves and out of our self-complacency.

Here, I think, Luther was right when he said that man must first be frightened of himself so that he can then find the right way. However, the cross doesn't stop at being a horror; it is not merely a horror, because the one who looks down at us from the cross is not a failure, a desperate man, not one of the horrible victims of humanity.

For this crucified man says something different from Spartacus and his failed adherents, because, after all, what looks down at us from the cross is a goodness that enables a new beginning in the midst of life's horror. The goodness of God himself looks on us, God who surrenders himself into our hands, delivers himself to us, and bears the whole horror of history with us.

Looked at more deeply this sign, which forces us to look at the dangerousness of man and all his heinous deeds, at the same time makes us look upon God, who is stronger, stronger in his weakness, and upon the fact that we are loved by God.

It is in this sense a sign of forgiveness that also brings hope into the abysses of history. God is crucified and says to us that this God who is apparently so weak is the God who incomprehensibly forgives us and who in his seeming absence is stronger.

Benedictus
Pope Benedict XVI