“Before all else, dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor, because these are the chief commandments given to us”

Rule of St. Augustine

March Message

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Here we are in Lent, which pertains to all of this month considering that Easter is on the 31st.  If you consider it, Lent itself is not very long, for when there is a full four week Advent, Lent is only two weeks longer, which is including Holy Week.  Therefore it is a good time for us to ask, how am I doing with my resolutions?  If you have to scratch your head to remember them, or would prefer to have forgotten them considering it has not yet taken place in act, be ready to begin again!  Place your trust in God and persevere in asking for His grace, for if we truly rely upon Him and not ourselves, we will slowly but surely experience the change: our coming to love Him more.

 

Pray especially to Saint Joseph, as we celebrate his solemnity on the 19th.  He is the perfect saint to consider, for he lived a life of great faith without experiencing “lofty experiences” on a lower level (with his senses).  Consider how he had to take care of the holy family on a natural level, without there being miracles to supply him with food and money. This is evident just from the Angel’s warning him that he had to lead Mary and Jesus in flight to Egypt, without providing him with any further assistance.  

 

So often in our lives we can have difficulties, some quite trying, and as a result think “Why is God allowing this to happen to me?” “Why is He not helping me?”  This is because we are not like Joseph and Mary who desired only that God’s will be done, while simply doing all that they could to help carry it out (which includes accepting what happens).  Surely Joseph had concerns about where his wife and child were to rest at night, how he was going to get food for the next day, and the like.  But he had peace of soul deep within, as did Mary, for he knew that he only had to do his best (which he never neglected) while trusting in God first and foremost.

         

This does not mean that everything may “work out” as we picture it should, while we may indeed undergo much suffering, but we must have firm deep within us the conviction that God loves us and permits an evil only to bring about a greater good – even if we do not experience it ourselves in this life.  Consider how Joseph died knowing of the prophetic suffering Savior, and that he would not be there to share the sufferings with his family, or to assist Mary. And yet this was accepted by him, as he knew it to be the will of God that he die at that time.  But as Joseph was consoled greatly in the next life, so will it be for all of us who abandon ourselves to God’s will, placing all of our trust in His power and love.

May God bless you.

Br Mark
charlesworth.mark@gmail.com

Upcoming Event

sunday, may 21
Monthly Meeting

sunday, april 16, 2023

12:30 PM
Potluck lunch honoring priests leaving for the Midwest
1:30 PM
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed by Rosary
2:00 PM
Affiliate Meeting – “True Devotion II”
3:00 PM
Novitiate Meeting – “Rule of Life”
3:00 PM
Professed Meeting

The
Abbot’s Circle

Is a first-of-its-kind virtual monastery—an evolving, curated library that offers an inside look at the artistic, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual work that the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey carry out each day for the praise and honor of Jesus Christ.

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