July 18. 2021
16^th Sunday – Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB

Most of us have heard a lot lately about a condominium building in South Florida that partially collapsed, killing many people.  Rescue crews worked overtime to find survivors and then to find people who died.  The rescue efforts took a lot of time and money, but most people thought that it was a good thing to do.  It is important to seek out and help those who are lost or who are in difficulty.  Today’s readings describe Jesus as a good shepherd who takes pity on the crowd who followed him, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So, our liturgy today reminds us that Jesus is the shepherd or savior that the Jewish people were expecting and that he came to bring salvation to all people.  In addition, we realize that the Church is to continue this mission of Jesus to bring salvation to all people.

In our first reading today from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah is writing shortly before Jerusalem will be destroyed and the people of Israel will go into exile.  Jeremiah states that the political leaders or shepherds of his time have shown poor leadership and have scattered the people into exile.  Jeremiah says that the Lord will establish a good leader, “a righteous shoot to David.”  This leader will reign and govern rightly, and the people of Judah and Israel will be saved, that is, they will return to their homeland and prosper.  Other prophets had a similar message.  Our Gospel passage today from the Gospel of Mark indicates that Jesus is the good shepherd or leader that the prophets foretold.  Jesus takes pity on the crowd when they follow him to a deserted place, for they are like sheep without a shepherd.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declares that he came to seek the lost sheep of Israel.  Many of the Jewish religious leaders at the time of Jesus considered most of the ordinary people of Israel to be lost, as they were not able to observe all the rules of the Jewish law.  Jesus shows love and concern for all the people of Israel, even those who were tax collectors or sinners. 

Yet, Jesus was a different kind of shepherd or leader than the Jewish people were expecting.  Many Jewish people were expecting a leader who would lead the people to military victory and to liberation from the rule of the Roman Empire.  Jesus was not that type of leader, but he was something even better.  He came to free the people from sin and to give them spiritual freedom.  He also came to give them the gift of everlasting life.  In today’s Gospel reading in find that when Jesus took pity on the crowd, he began to teach them.  Later he would feed them with a few loaves and fish.  These actions are signs of the new kingdom that Jesus came to bring.  We know that Jesus faced great opposition from the religious leaders and that he would have to suffer and die and rise again to bring about his new kingdom.  While Jesus was concerned mainly with the lost sheep of Israel, he came to lead all people, Jews and non-Jews alike, to share in his kingdom.  The second reading today, from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, speaks of Jesus as being as our peace for both those who were near and those who were far off.  Jesus found a way to reconcile Jews and Gentiles to God and to one another.

It is the Church who would have the mission to continue the work of Jesus and to bring the Good News of salvation to all.  In today’s Gospel reading, the apostles had just returned from preaching to the people during the public ministry of Jesus.  This was to prepare them for their work after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  Jesus founded a Church to continue his work, and the apostles and other preachers were sent forth to all nations.  This is a work that continues today.  The Church has now gone beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire and has gone to all parts of the world.  This does not mean that it is an easy task.  It takes time and effort and dedication to bring the Gospel message to all people.  In the first part of the 20^th century, there was a priest from Michigan by the name of Father Francis Kelley who founded the Catholic Extension Society to help build Catholic churches in rural areas of the United States.  He and others experienced great success in doing this.  Father Kelley eventually became a bishop in Oklahoma, and the Catholic Extension Society is still going strong today, alone with other missionary efforts.  We who follow Jesus today are to show pity for the crowd and to teach them and give them spiritual food.  We can do this in various ways, but it is an important mission for all of us.

In our liturgy today, let us once again give thanks that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world and that he is the Good Shepherd who will lead us to everlasting life.  We give thanks for his pity and mercy in our regard and that he came to free us from sin and give us the hope of everlasting life.  Let us pray that we will turn to Jesus to be taught and fed by him and that we will receive the help we need to live as his disciples.  May the Lord Jesus someday bring us into his heavenly kingdom, and may he be our peace forever.
 

July 11, 2021
St. Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism - Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB

Today at Assumption Abbey we are celebrating the feast of St. Benedict rather than the usual Sunday liturgy.  In our current Benedictine calendar, we have two feasts of St. Benedict, one on March 21 and one on July 11.  The feast on March celebrates the death or transition of St. Benedict from this life to the next, while today’s feast celebrates the legacy or St. Benedict.  The legacy of St. Benedict is mostly connected with the Rule of St. Benedict, a rule for monasteries that was adopted by thousands of monasteries in Europe and around the world.  Bt. Benedict was born in 480 and died in 547, but his influence continues through the centuries.  Today his Rule for Monasteries is followed by hundreds of monasteries, and it has an influence on many lay people as well.   We might wonder why St. Benedict and his rule have such a big influence.  There seem to be at least three reasons for the influence of St. Benedict and his rule: (1) the practical spiritual wisdom it contains, (2) the emphasis on the value of community life, and (3) the emphasis on moderation in the conduct of our lives.

The Catholic author, G. K. Chesterton once said that he was in a discussion about what book one would choose if one were shipwrecked all alone on an island in the middle of the ocean.  One man said he would prefer to have a book with the writings of Shakespeare in it, a second man said that he would choose to have a Bible.  Chesterton said that he would like to have a book on ship building.   Practical wisdom is needed to help deal with the problems of life, and spiritual wisdom is needed as a guide for our spiritual life.  St. Benedict is a master in the area of our spiritual life.  Some aspects of St. Benedict’s rule no longer apply or need to be adapted to our time in history, but other aspects of his rule are still very helpful.  The first reading today is from the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 2, verses 1 to 9.  This passage calls us to turn our ear and heart to wisdom and to seek wisdom like silver, making the effort needed.  I talked recently with a man whose company makes pumps that can be used to get oil out of the ground.  He is currently concerned with oil wells here in North Dakota.  There is a lot of oil here in North Dakota.  This man said that this has been known for many years, but the problem was to find a way to get it out of the ground.  Much of it is over 10,000 feet below the surface.  Eventually, oil companies found a way to get the oil in a way that is profitable to them by using various technologies.  If something is worth doing, then often much time and effort is needed in order to be successful.  St. Benedict in his rule says that he is founding a school of the Lord’s service.  The first word in his rule is “Listen.”   To gain spiritual wisdom we must listen carefully to the words of Sacred Scripture and to the teaching of sound spiritual writers.  Obedience to God and to spiritual superiors such as an abbot is needed in order to know and to do God’s will.  The Gospel reading today from the Gospel of Matthew 19:27-29 tells us that we have to leave everything behind in order to follow Christ.  Jesus says that we will gain a hundredfold and gain everlasting life if we are able to leave everything behind to follow him.  Seeking spiritual wisdom is a lifelong task that requires sacrifice and much time and effort.

St. Benedict also stresses the importance of community life in our search for spiritual wisdom.  In his early years, St. Benedict lived as a hermit, but after a few years he realized that something was missing.  He even missed the celebration of Easter one year.  He saw the value of community for celebrating the liturgical year and for developing various virtues.  He established monasteries in Subiaco and Monte Casino in southern Italy and wrote a rule for monks who lived a community life.  His rule was soon followed by several communities of men and communities of women religious.  We need the help and example of others in many ways in order to seek the will of God and to practice love of God and neighbor in our daily life.

There have been many rules written for monasteries and for Christian communities.  One reason why the rule of St. Benedict became used by many communities is its stress on moderation.  Moderation involves having the proper balance in our life.  The Greek philosopher Aristotle stressed that virtue involves finding a mean between two extremes.  If a rule for life is too extreme, most people will not be able to follow it.  St. Benedict allows for sufficient food and drink and for the monks to have the needed clothing and other items of daily living.  Unlike some of the early monks, St. Benedict provides for adequate sleeping quarters and for enough time for rest and leisure.  He puts primary stress on the Work of God, that is, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist.  Part of moderation and balance in our own time is providing enough time for prayer and other aspects of the spiritual life, especially on Sundays.  We know of people who claim that they are too busy to pray or to attend Mass on Sunday, but their life suffers as a result.  We also need to take time for family and friends and for community life.  It is necessary to have the right priorities and to live accordingly.

So, today we here at Assumption Abbey and other followers of St/ Benedict take time to celebrate the life and legacy of St. Benedict, especially his rule for monasteries.  May the example and intercession of St. Benedict help us to make a strong effort to seek spiritual wisdom, to benefit from the help of others, and to practice moderation in our daily life.  May St. Benedict inspire us to live as disciples of Jesus Christ so that someday we will be able to enter Christ’s kingdom forever.          
 

July 4, 2021
14^th Sunday – Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB

We have a lot of visitors coming here, especially during the summer months.  Sometimes I give visitors a short tour of the abbey church.  One day there were two women who came, a mother and daughter combination, but both were adults.  I was surprised to learn that neither one had ever been baptized, since they had a North Dakota background.  There are some things that we tend to take for granted or assume, but perhaps we should not always do this.  On this 4^th of July, we might take our political and religious freedom for granted, but many countries around the world do not have these freedoms.  In a similar way, we cannot assume that everyone has faith in Jesus Christ.  Faith is a gift, whether we are speaking of the type of faith that enables us to believe what God has revealed to us, especially through Jesus, the Son of God, or the type of faith that enables us to put our trust in God and in his Son, Jesus.

In today’s Gospel we hear about Jesus returning to his home town of Nazareth.  Jesus spoke in the synagogue, but people from Nazareth wondered about him, saying that they knew his family and his background as a carpenter.  Apparently, Jesus seemed to be very ordinary to the local people.  We are told that Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith he found in Nazareth, and, as a result, he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few people by laying his hands on them.   Jesus quotes a proverb that says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.”  Jesus was a prophet, like the Old Testament prophets, in that he proclaimed God’s word to the people.  As the Son of God, Jesus could proclaim God’s word in a very special way, and he could do mighty deeds.  But not everyone believed in him.  The Gospels tells us that the religious leaders of the Jewish people, at least for the most part, did not believe in him.  The Gospel of Mark emphasizes that even the disciples of Jesus had a very imperfect faith in Jesus until the resurrection of Jesus took place.  As we look around the world today, we find a lack of faith in Jesus among many people, including here in the United States.  People who are raised in the Catholic faith or in some other Christian faith often lose that faith early on.  Certain surveys show that people aged 17 to 35 often do not have any active Christian faith, even though many of these people had been baptized.  What is our reaction to all this?  First of all, we should be grateful for the gift of faith in our own lives.  Secondly, we should have hope in that many people are converted or will be converted to the Christian faith.  Lastly, we should realize that we will face obstacles and opposition in living our faith and so we should be prepared for this.

So, first of all, we should be grateful for the gift of faith.  There are various factors that contribute to our faith.  Most of us were raised in the Catholic or Christian faith through our family and local community.  We usually had the advantage of religious instruction, and we had received various Sacraments, such as First Communion and Confirmation.  Yet, faith is a gift from God that some people do not have.  Of course, there is a need to grow in faith, and certain events in our life and the influence of some people help us along.  We might take our faith for granted and assume that everyone has faith, but experience shows that this is not the case.  We need to thank God for the gift of faith each day and view life through the prism of faith.  God is working wonders each day, but we need to pay attention to them.  We often hear about people who get a new lease on life through recovery from illness or from some special blessing.
Secondly, we should keep in mind that many people are converted to the Christian faith.  Even members of Jesus’ family were converted and became his disciples.  The Acts of the Apostles in Chapter one tells us that after the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, the apostles remained in the upper room, along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and other women, and with the brothers of Jesus.  The exact relationship of these “brothers of Jesus” is not clear.  Some places in the New Testament tells us that James, the brother of Jesus, was the leader in the Jerusalem Jewish Christian community, but he was probably not one of the 12 apostles.  While the early Church started out with 120 members, soon thousands of converts from a Jewish background were made.  A little later on, there were Gentile converts as well.  Even though there was persecution from the pagan Roman Empire, a number of converts were made in different parts of the Roman Empire, including in Rome itself.  By the year 300, it is estimated that there were from four to seven million Christians.  Shortly afterwards, The Edict of Milan made Christianity a legal religion in the Roman Empire, and there were many more million converts to the Christian faith.  We know that in later centuries Christianity spread throughout Europe and eventually to other parts of the world.  Today, it is estimated there are 2.3 billion Christians around the world.  So, we are to have hope for the future.  We know that here in the United States there are many people converting or returning to the Catholic faith, especially at Easter time.  The grace of God is still at work.

Lastly, Jesus has warned us that we will face obstacles and opposition as we try to live the Christian faith.  Just as Jesus faced opposition and persecution, we can expect the same for us and for other Christians.  We sometimes have personal obstacles to our faith as well.  It is important for us to be prepared for all this by having a good knowledge of our faith and by being willing to make sacrifices for our faith.  The First Letter of Peter, Chapter 3, verses 15 and 16, tells us that we should always be ready to give an explanation of our faith to anyone who asks about the reason for our hope, but we should do so with gentleness and reverence.  Prayer and the reception of the Sacraments can help us grow in faith as well as the study of our faith.

So, today we are reminded that we may face a lack of faith in the world around us.  Let us pray that we will be thankful for the gift of faith and that we will have the hope that many will be led to the practice of the Christian faith.  We ask the Lord to strengthen our faith and to help us overcome the obstacles to faith and the opposition we may encounter.  We pray that the Lord Jesus will help us to be faithful disciples so that someday we may experience the fullness of his kingdom.
 

June 27, 2021
13^th Sunday – Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB

Some numbers may have a special meaning for us.  For many people in the United States, the number “911” is significant.   First of all, 911 is a number to call when there is a medical emergency due to a serious illness or an accident.  Usually, an ambulance arrives after the number is called, and the person in need of help can be taken to a hospital.  Often, the person is able to recover, at least to some degree.  The number 911 sometimes refers to the date September 11, 2001, when terrorists seized four airplanes and crashed two of them in New York City, one of them at the Pentagon in Virginia, and one in a field in Pennsylvania.  Almost 3000 people died as a result.  In our Gospel reading today, the number “12” is an important number.  Jesus is called upon to heal two people: a girl of 12 who is near death and a woman who has been suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years.  The two women are healed through the compassion of Jesus.  The Gospel story reminds us that (1) we are in need of healing, (2) Jesus is the one who can heal us, and (3) faith is important for us to be able to benefit from the healing power of Jesus.

As human beings, we are often in need of healing, whether we realize it or not.  Sometimes when we have certain tests done at a medical clinic we find we have a medical condition that we were not aware of, such as high blood pressure, a heart condition, or cancer.  Sometimes, we are able to find healing through surgery or some medical procedure.  We are in need of healing, not only in a physical sense, but also in a spiritual one.  Our first reading today from the Book of Wisdom, a book probably written in the first century before Christ, reminds us that through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world.  This seems to refer to both physical and spiritual death in that Adam and Eve disobeyed the command of God and lost some of their special privileges.  The effects of this original sin were passed on to all human beings.  Thus, we are born separated from God and with the tendency to commit sin when tempted.  Through Baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are able to have the right relationship with God and with other human beings, although we are still tempted in some ways to commit sins.  However, we may be unaware of our spiritual situation and neglect to turn to God for help.

Jesus came to save us from our sinful condition and to restore us to a right relationship with God and others.  The second reading today from St. Paul’s second Letter to the Corinthians tells us that Jesus, though he was rich, became poor for our sake, so that by his poverty we might become rich.  This seems to refer to the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, took on our lowly human nature so that we could share in his divine life, the life of the Blessed Trinity, and thus experience healing.  Through Jesus we can have a personal relationship with God and live in peace and harmony with other human beings.  Jesus is the Savior who can bring both physical and spiritual healing to us.  We in turn are called to share our material and spiritual riches with others.  St. Paul asked the Corinthians to give money to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem.  There are many people in the world today, including many Christians, who can benefit from our generosity.  We sometimes benefit from the generosity of others in various ways, and we should show our gratitude by being generous with our material and spiritual resources.

But the key to receiving this divine help is to put our faith in Jesus.  The parents of the girl of 12 who was close to death, a synagogue official and his wife, turned to Jesus in their need and put their faith in him.  Later in the story we hear that the girl had died, but Jesus told the girl’s parents that they should not be afraid.  Rather, they should have faith.  Jesus went on to say that the girl had not died but rather was asleep.  So, the parents continued to have faith, and Jesus was able to restore the girl to life.  He said to her, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”  She got up and walked around.  This seems to remind us that we can raised to new spiritual life as well as to physical health.  The woman who suffered from hemorrhages for 12 years had received no help or relief from doctors, but she put her faith in Jesus.  She said to herself that if she just touched his clothes, she would be healed.  This indeed happened.  Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.  Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”  I recently was at a prayer service and a Protestant pastor said that our life on earth is filled with tribulation.  We do seem to have troubles of various kinds.  It is important to maintain our faith in every situation.

Today we once give thanks for the divine plan of salvation.  We give thanks that Jesus took on our lowly human nature to give us healing and new life.  We give thanks for the gift of faith and our sharing in the life of Jesus and blessed Trinity.  We pray that we will pray to the Lord Jesus in our need and that he will heal and restore us.  We pray that we will continue to have faith in Jesus in the trials of life and that we will someday experience the fullness of healing in the kingdom of heaven.