Kevin Hackett
Cowley: Winter 2013
The Winter 2013 issue of Cowley takes up the theme of the Psalms. There are many ways to read and share this Cowley magazine:
- Open an online version of the magazine.
- Download a PDF copy of the magazine
- Click on the links below to read selected articles:
- Need a little prayer “shock therapy”? Br. Robert L’Esperance points us toward the psalms for inspiration.
- Four Brothers offer meditations on a favorite psalm:
- Br. David Vryhof suggests what the psalms reveal about God and ourselves.
- Hymn writer and longtime friend of SSJE, Carl P. Daw, Jr. talks about his experiences of paraphrasing the psalms to set them to music.
- Br. James Koester shares his experience of being called to SSJE.
Do you know someone who might like to receive a FREE subscription to the print magazine? Let us know here.
Tell us what you think of this Cowley Magazine in the comments below.
We welcome your comments, letters, or ideas for future articles.
The Holiness of Beauty: Paraphrasing the Psalms – An Interview with the Rev. Dr. Carl P. Daw, Jr.
How did you begin writing hymns and psalm paraphrases?
When I was a seminarian at Sewanee, my liturgics professor, Marion J. Hatchett, was the chair of the text committee for The Hymnal 1982, and since I didn’t know that this was the sort of committee to which one was appointed – in all my experiences of committees to that point volunteers were welcome – I approached him and said, “I hear that you’re on the text committee; I’d like to work on that.” Fortunately, he did not tell me that I was an upstart (he likely assumed that, as a PhD in English, I would at the very least know how to punctuate). Instead he said to me, “Well, actually, we’re having a meeting in Nashville in a few weeks. Why don’t you come along and see what you think.” Of course, what was really happening was that they were seeing what they thought of me. Apparently, I was not completely useless, since they invited me to keep coming. Bit by bit, I’d help out with the revision of a few lines, then a stanza here, a paraphrase there. The first time I wrote a hymn on my own was because we had the tune Bridegroom by Peter Cutts, but found that the old words were just not salvageable. So I was asked to write a hymn text to fit that tune. The resulting hymn was “Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song” – my first hymn. That’s how it transpired that I worked my way up from revisions to paraphrases to hymns of my own. Read More
Cowley: Spring 2012
This issue of Cowley takes up the theme of baptism and includes a Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Living insert by Br. James Koester on how baptism enables us to share in the divine life.
Selected articles from the Spring 2012 Cowley Magazine
- Br. Mark Brown suggests a new promise to add to the Baptismal Covenant.
- Poetry for Holy Week:
Br. Geoffrey Tristram unlocks the beauty of
George Herbert’s “Easter Wings,” and
Br. Jonathan Maury illuminates the Easter “Exsultet.” - Br. Curtis Almquist tells the inspiring story of the Ecclesia walking pilgrimage to Emery House.
- What does vocation feel like? In an interview, Br. Tom Shaw speaks of his own experience of call to SSJE.
- Br. Kevin Hackett treads into the depths of our lives as baptized Christians.
Ways to read and share this Cowley magazine
- Open an online version of the magazine.
- Download a PDF copy of the magazine and the Monastic Wisdom insert.
- Visit our online store to order reprints of either the the magazine or the Monastic Wisdom insert. You can order small or large quantities suitable for parish and prayer group use.
- Do you know someone who might like to receive a FREE subscription to the print magazine? Let us know here.
Tell us what you think of this Cowley Magazine in the comments below.
Comments, letters, or ideas for future articles welcome.
Cowley Magazine – Winter 2007
Marked as Christ’s Own Forever: A Coptic Practice – Br. Kevin Hackett
What In The World Are We Doing? – Br. David Vryhof
In Our Hands – Br. Mark Brown
25th Anniversary of the Boston Chinese Ministry – Br. David Allen
Cowley Magazine – Spring 2007
Gospel Goals: Millenium Development Goals as Mission Goals – Br. Kevin Hackett
T.S. Eliot, Cambridge, and the Society of St. John the Evangelist – Br. Eldridge Pendleton
Cowley Magazine – Fall 2007
Vocation: A Three-part Process of Discernment – Br. Kevin Hackett
Choosing to Become Who We Are: The Life Profession of Robert L’Esperance, SSJE
The Grace of Tradition: Handing On What We Have Received – Br. Eldridge Pendleton
Cowley Magazine – Winter 2010
Engaging in Ministry with Young Adults: The Ongoing Legacy of Br. Paul Wessinger, SSJE – Br. Mark Brown
A Sending God: SSJE and Mission in the 21st Century – Br. Kevin Hackett
Cowley Magazine – Winter 2006
Cowley Magazine – Spring 2009
Building Hope: Constructing the Monastery during the Great Depression – Br. Eldridge Pendleton
The Art of Living Simply: Making more of less – Br. Robert L’Esperance
Gospel Goals: Millennium Development Goals as Mission Goals – Br. Kevin Hackett
Jesus was abundantly clear about his mission. He was clear that it had practical implications for life and love in the here-and-now. In the Gospel according to Luke (4:14-21), just after he has entered the synagogue at Nazareth, he is given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. There he reads what we now know as Isaiah 61:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus then claims this as mission and sets about doing those very practical here-and-now things.