The Celtic Monk

I'm within hours of beginning my journey to Ireland but in many ways it began long ago. I don't really remember the first time I recognized a desire to travel there, but it was as a child. In my teen years, my aunt and uncle traveled there with my grandmother, taking her back to County Mayo where she was reared and I remember thinking: "I'll go there one day." As recently as 2006, I flew over the country on my way to Tel Aviv. The pilot interrupted the darkness of that flight by pointing out the Emerald Isle to those of us on the left side of the plane. I woke up for only a few minutes but remember thinking "I'll be back." So here it is. My first four days will be spent in Northern Ireland (NI) in County Down and the small town of Rostrevor. There, five Benedictine monks established a monastery as an ecumenical witness in 1998. They have welcomed me for these first days of my trip. I learned this week that the monks website has a webcam of t...

Right now I’m reading several books at one time. One is a book on discernment –a very good book I may add; another on Ireland and the Celts; the third on meditation and contemplative prayer. The conflagration of the three has brought me to broach the subject of how to use a discerning heart (or even the spiritual gift of discernment) as I pray for others. It names a struggle I face in my own prayer life: Do I pray for someone in a specific way because they asked me to… or do I take that person, their needs, wants, desires to God and seek God’s best for them? Do I pray that their will be done… or that God’s will be done in their lives. Sometimes as I pray for something specific that someone has asked, I’m led away from their request and find myself asking God to use their circumstances, need, situation, longing, even illness or grief to bring them closer to Him and His desire for their lives – even if it means they don’t receive what they want right now. At those time...

In Kilbroney Valley in Northern Ireland are ruins of a church, a holy well, a shrine and a graveyard which legend and lore relate to Saint Bronagh. As the story goes, Bronagh and her brother each founded a religious community in that region. Her brother becoming a bishop, Bronagh's ministry was taking care of the sailors whose shipwrecks caused them to wash ashore. When her brother was near death, he gave his sister his crozier (a bishops or abbots staff-and symbol of their office). She is one of very few women saints to be pictured with this symbol.[Look closely at her window to the left.] In the 9th century after a violent storm caused a tree to crash through a building in Kilbroney, a bell was found on the ground. [See the bell in Bronagh's other hand]. It's believed that during penal days, this relic of the life of Bronagh was sealed in the buildings wall to preserve it from destruction. Today, the restored bell is displayed in the Catholic Church is Rostrevor. Kilbr...

Last evening at the Service of Saturday Vigils I spoke my final vows as an Oblate of Saint John's Abbey, in Collegeville, Minnesota. After my fellow candidates and I answered the appropriate I do's the Abbot's turned to the monks and asked them if they intend to welcome us into their community. With their affirmation, the Abbot handed each of us a copy of our vows and invited us to the altar individually, where the director of the Oblates Fr. Michael Kwatera stood with a pen at ready. We signed our vows as an act of worship. After the service, we gathered for a banquet of celebration. My thoughts this weekend have been about divine serendipity. The choices that led to this night did not have this moment as a goal-rather I feel I was being drawn to it by an invisible hand. Surely I listened and was open, but the events were like crossing a swiftly running stream by jumping from one rock to another. I wasn't looking to the other side as much as just looking for the sures...

Greetings and peace to you from St. John's Abbey, and the annual Oblate Retreat in Collegeville, Minnesota. As you know, I'm here for an ending and beginning. Late this afternoon 50 or so monks, 70 oblates and numerous family and friends will gather in the Abbey Church, for the Vigil of Sunday with the Rite of Final Oblation. At that worship service, I will end my time as an oblate candidate which began in September of 2009 and be received by this community as one of their own. In the opening conference last evening, the short list of folks making their final oblation was read and we were greeted by the gathered community. While oblates have traditionally been lay people who desire to affiliate with a particular monastery the list read told a different story for the 21st century oblate. Rev. Dr. Teresa Roberts, Rev. Dr. Kathleen Weller, Rev. Dr. Steve Arnold. Hmmmm. When the social time began, those of us who will make our vows today sought out one another where we learned th...