We believe passionately that God has given us a mission: to draw others to know and experience in their lives the love of God in Christ. Sharing this “Good News” is at the center of our call and our life. In our chapels and retreat houses, and our online teachings, we hope to offer a still point in the midst of the chaos of contemporary life. We hope that as you explore these pages, you’ll find “Good News” that will help you live authentically, responsive to God’s call of love.
Feast of the Imagination – Br. James Koester
“Angels are not a pre-scientific, pre-rational, pre-modern way of understanding or thinking. Nor are they about whimsy, fantasy, and magic. For me, angels are about the imagination.”
On the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, Br. James Koester celebrates how imagination can make present –and real – a world unseen.
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Salt and Salt Substitutes – Br. Curtis Almquist
“We need to hear Jesus earnestly, but not always literally. Jesus has to be interpreted. Jesus said that God’s Spirit, would ‘lead us into all truth.’ We need to pay attention to the guidance of Spirit to interpret the Scriptures and to find our way in life.”
Br. Curtis Almquist digs into Jesus’ metaphor of “salt” to find messages of rich meaning for us today.
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Sacred and Life-giving Words – Br. David Vryhof
“The words of God are food for the soul; they nourish and strengthen us for the struggles we will face in life. Don’t neglect them; without food our souls weaken and die. Those who live by these words are like great trees with strong trunks, able to withstand the battering of the winds and the changing of the seasons. These words offer us truth and wisdom that satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst. They instruct and guide us; they fortify us on the way; they remind us that we are known and loved by the One who has created and redeemed us.”
On the Feast of Saint Matthew, Br. David Vryhof give thanks for the life-giving, nourishing words of his Gospel, and encourages us to plant them in the fertile soil of our hearts.
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Sin, So Tedious; Love So Enduring – Br. Curtis Almquist
“Jesus puts a face to God’s judgment, and it is a judgment of love. It is not a judgment of ridicule, or rejection, or hopelessness, or boredom, or eternal condemnation, but rather a judgment of love.”
Br. Curtis Almquist reminds us that, no matter what we might have to confess (and we always do), Jesus still loves us.
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Holy Cross Day – Br. Todd Blackham
“I was a teenager when I found it. A simple silver cross only about an inch and half tall. Plain, unadorned, simple slightly rounded arms smooth and finely wrought. I found it in a little silver shop in an old mining town in Colorado. I wore it for years, first on a little box chain, then re-strung a few times, leather cords, braided hemp, wooden beads, but always that simple silver cross around my neck. It was, beyond language, a token of great importance for me. Something that I couldn’t articulate at the time, an attraction, a reminder, an anchor … That’s perhaps one of the first times I found the power of the cross.”
On Holy Cross Day, Br. Todd Blackham invites us to consider the protection, joy, solace, wonder, refreshment, and power of the cross of Christ.
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Speaking a New Creation – Br. Jim Woodrum
“How many of us have said things in the heat of the moment or without thinking about the consequences that come with a certain choice of words. Certainly, I have. Sometimes, our brakes fail and before we know it, we have involved ourselves and others in a calamity, sometimes with devasting consequences. In my experience, words can be just as injurious as sticks and stones and equally as lethal.”
Br. Jim Woodrum considers the power of words to give – or take – life, and offers counsel for how we can use our words constructively in the world and the lives of others.
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Solid Rock – Br. Luke Ditewig
“Hear and act, dig deep to the Solid Rock.”
Br. Luke Ditewig reminds us to dig deep and find security in the one who is our sure foundation, no matter what storms come.
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Missional Muddle – Br. James Koester
“We know from the history of Christian mission, that flag and cross are often confused, and the damage done as a result of a missional muddle can be enormous. It is incumbent upon us, whose life is a life of mission, to be clear that our task is mostly to stay out of the way and allow the Spirit to do its work.”
Br. James Koester reckons with the complicated legacy of the Church, as exemplified in the life of Edmund James Peck.
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The Prayer of Jesus – Br. Curtis Almquist
“Why does Jesus pray so much? And what about us, our own prayer? There is no denying that prayer is a mystery, not a mysterious ploy, but a mysterious truth. In prayer, something is going on in us that God has initiated, enveloping us into the heart of God.”
Br. Curtis Almquist looks to Jesus’s own practice as he ponders the mystery of prayer.
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Whose Property is Always to Have Mercy – Br. James Koester
“We honour and acknowledge Jesus for many things: as teacher, preacher, healer, Messiah, Lord, Son of God. And here we see him, even if at first reluctantly, as breaker of rules. Jesus goes where he shouldn’t, and does what he mustn’t, and shows us that God can be found even where we think God isn’t, can’t, or won’t possibly be.”
Br. James Koester marvels at the offensive, redemptive power of Jesus, exemplified in the story of his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman.
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