ABBEY NEWS
Retreat(s)
Last Sunday we had our last annual retreat conference by Fr. Mark Butlin, OSB, monk of Ampleforth Abbey in England, concluding a week of retreat with a daily conference by Fr. Mark. It was a week of hermit days given over to a bit more silence and solitude. An excellent retreat it was, one that provided us all with the refreshment and renewal Fr. Mark hoped it would.
Mini-Retreat
It is our practice to spend Holy Week as a time of given over to extra silence and a retreat from regular work and as many other activities as possible. There are no formal conferences but the rich liturgy provides ample material for lectio and prayer. Speaking of Holy Week our schedule for the celebration of the liturgy for the last three days will be found at HOLY WEEK 2018. For those joining us in the past be sure to note the minor changes in some of the time in keeping with our updated schedule.
Moving Ahead
This past week we received the bids for the first phase of our renovation project, which includes our bread store and Merton Hall, from several contractors interested in undertaking the project. These will be reviewed by our architect and building committee and one of the bids selected. Hopefully the work can begin sometime next month.
There are two phases to the renovation project: Merton Hall and bread store is phase 1 and the welcome center, now known as the reception room, is phase 2. You will find detailed drawings and digital 3D photos on our RENOVATION PROJECTS page. We’re hoping phase 1 will be completed by the end of the summer with a minimum of disruption. The entrance to the Church and bread store will remain open while the work is in progress.
Lectio Notebook
You, then, beloved, if you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Then, as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, so you too may walk in newness of life. Then you may rejoice to pass from the secular pleasures and the consolations of the world, through the compunction and sadness that are of God to holy devotion and spiritual exultation, by the gift of the one who passed from this world to the Father and who deigns to draw us after himself, and to call us into Galilee, that he may show us himself, who is God over all, Blessed forever.
Sermons for Lent and the Easter Season
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux