WE

LOVE - PRAY - HOPE

Welcome to SSJE

We are a community of men giving our whole selves over to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rooted in the ancient monastic traditions of prayer and community life, and critically engaged with contemporary culture, we seek to know and share an authentic experience of God’s love and mercy. We live a common life shaped by worship, prayer, and our Rule of Life.

We invite you to explore these pages to learn more about how we live and pray, the tradition that grounds us, and the call that draws us onward day by day.

Worship Schedule | Rule of Life | Meeting Jesus | Catch the Life

News from the Monastery & Emery House

Summer Seminarians

Clothing of a Novice

Chapel Closure

Signs of Life: Why Church Matters

Br. Keith’s Life Profession

Profession in Initial Vows

Our Formation and Renewal

SSJE Announces re-election of Br. James Koester as Superior

Guest Preacher

Intern Reunion

CAROA / NAECC

Monastic Wisdom: Humility

Brother, Give Us A Word

A daily meditation to start your day. Subscribe here >

Healing

Everywhere we look, we can see the ills of injustice: violence, war, addiction, abuse, racism, neglect, indifference. Many of us bear the oozing wounds from these ills, carrying around burdens that have been unfairly placed on us with no help in sight. In God’s economy, healing is on the way. When we put our trust in Jesus, holding out our hands and giving our burdens to Him, we will in turn be fed, salved, and nurtured back to the fullness that God has always intended for us.

-Br. Jim Woodrum, SSJE

Monastery Chapel

Silence. Flickering candlelight. Sunlight streaming through stained glass. Soak in the beauty of our sanctuary, open morning to night. Pray, ponder, or participate in the Brothers’ daily office. Service Schedule >

Guesthouse

Sleep in. Pray. Savor wholesome food. Nap. Read. How might a stay in our Monastery Guesthouse recharge you and open you to God’s call? Workshops & Retreats >

Emery House

Birdsong. Meadow grasses waving in the breeze. Stars overhead. At our rural retreat house, we invite you to pray as you hike, light a fire, weed the garden, and bask in the beauty of Creation. Retreat information>

Recent Sermons from the Chapel

Sermons Resume August 31

By Curator | August 1, 2019 | 0 Comments

There will be a pause in the posting of new sermons while the Chapel is closed and Brothers are away in August for our Annual Community Retreat, time for Community Discussions and Chapter, as well as Vacations and Family Visits. For a daily dose of monastic wisdom, subscribe to “Brother, Give Us a Word.” Sermons will resume once the Chapel opens on Aug. 31.

Temporal and Eternal – Br. Jim Woodrum

By Br. Jim Woodrum | July 28, 2019 | 2 Comments

“We lift up our hearts and minds and all that we are in offering to God and here God becomes present to us in these gifts of bread and wine: the bread broken for us, the wine poured out for us. It is the re-membering of the ultimate sacrifice of love given by Jesus on the cross, forever joining the eternal to the temporal, and by grace the temporal to the eternal.”

Br. Jim Woodrum ponders how we – temporal beings that we are – can be containers of eternal love.

First Fervor – Br. Keith Nelson

By Br. Keith Nelson | July 25, 2019 | 1 Comment

“James and John don’t know it yet, but ‘We are able’ may well be the shortest, simplest, most direct, most honest prayer of their lives. It is a prayer that expresses the truest, noblest, and holiest intention of their lives, a prayer that will never be fully translatable on this side of heaven; a prayer that fulfills their vocation in God.”

Br. Keith Nelson finds in James and John an example of how Jesus takes our willingness – which is not to say our readiness – and makes us worthy.

Saint Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles – Br. Curtis Almquist

By Br. Curtis Almquist | July 23, 2019 | 3 Comments

“God’s love for us is channeled through Jesus, who has come to love us, and who is able to love us, and who does love us quite personally, all of what has made us who we are. This is not unconditional love; this is conditional love: our personally experiencing love given the conditions that have formed and deformed our lives.”

Br. Curtis Almquist pulls back some of the legend surrounding Mary of Magdala to find lessons for us all in healing and love.

Work and Prayer – Br. Lucas Hall

By Br. Lucas Hall | July 21, 2019 | 3 Comments

“Work serves an end. Even the holiest work of your life is not your purpose. It facilitates your purpose. If a person steeped in a Jewish culture that mandated sabbath and jubilee needed this reminder, people steeped in an American culture of bootstrap-pulling and 24/7 work emails need it all the more.”

Br. Lucas Hall returns to the familiar story of Mary and Martha as he struggles – like so many of us – to balance the demands of work and prayer.

Faith Formation to save the (every) day!

Deepen your relationship with God, through prayer and reflection on The Gospel According to John.

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We share in the Divine Life from our Baptism. Learn how this Life expresses itself in and through us.

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Explore a monastic framework to cultivate your relationships with God, Self, Others, and Creation.

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Recapture time as a gift. Discover how to experience the joy of the present moment.

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