The Outdoor Nativity Scene at the Abbey of St. Walburga

In the gospel reading at Mass on Saturday in Epiphanytide, we hear that “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven” (John 3:27).  So all of those heavenly gifts that have come upon us this Christmas, we should really think of today.  We should especially give thanks for the gift of Christ, the Bridegroom.  Further on in the gospel reading from John it says, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom” (John 3:29).  That should stop us.  That says absolutely everything.  If we just had this one sentence for the rest of our life, it would be enough—Because He has us.  Nobody can take us from Him.  Relish the fact that we belong to Him. 

On Christmas, the Bridegroom came to earth, “leaping across the hills” as the Song of Songs says, running to meet us, and peering through the lattices to make sure we’re here.  The whole imagery of the Bridegroom coming is scattered throughout the scriptures, and it makes me think that Jesus must have loved weddings so much (His first miracle was performed at a wedding in Cana!) because it reminded Him of the joy of His role as the Bridegroom for His people.  Seeing the love of a groom for his bride reminds Him of His love for His brides, and for His Bride, the Church.  No matter what, Christ never stops loving His Church as a Bride.  And we should take great joy and comfort in that.  What everybody else thinks really is so small compared to what the Bridegroom thinks and feels.  May we never despair of thinking that He loves us any less than His beloved bride.  Keep this in mind, and you can’t have a bad day: The bride has the Bridegroom.

Today we celebrate the “bar mitzvah” (in a sense!) of our Abbey—the day on which the Church elevated our monastery to an Abbey.  With this gift, we are able to make foundations, we have an Abbess, and we have the responsibility to lead within the Church.  We joyfully take on this responsibility to be faithful to the Church, to Christ.

I think of this place as a little Eden for God, and that we truly have an atmosphere of seeking God.  In Eden, God came every day to Adam and Eve in the garden.  Well He still comes every day to us in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist—You can’t get better.  

We are surrounded by beauty, and the greatest beauty is what each of you brings into the community.  That is the greatest beauty that God gives.  We truly should be a portal of heaven.  An Abbey should be a portal of heaven, a “thin place” where God pulls back the curtain between earth and heaven, so that people can come here and recognize that, and then take it home with them.  

I rejoice in seeing how the Abbey has grown, and how God is so powerful in this place.  It is not we, but He, who has done this; and what a glory that we get to be a part of it.  He has called us to be a lantern, a lighthouse, which the world needs.  We stand for Christ, and people know that when they come here.  They see us in our habits and know what where’re about.  Isn’t there a saying that the greatest sermons are not said, but walked?  Our great witness is to simply live our monastic lives with rejoicing and gratitude.  I can’t thank God enough for what He has done to make this house what it is, and for every Sister who has ever lived in it.  In your prayers, remember to thank God.  Above all, thank Him.  That is the greatest gift we can give Him, when you pray, “I recognize, God, Your goodness, and I thank You.”

The idol of body image is very common in the world today.  If people cared half as much about what their souls looked like as what their bodies looked like, we would be one holy people!  But the monastic diet is different—we receive whatever we are given, and with gratitude.  It is one of the ways in which we express monastic poverty.  Monastic poverty regarding food is to accept what you are given with thanksgiving (except if you have a serious allergy!).  According to St. Benedict, there should be balance and moderation in all things, and that means there is a time for fasting, and a time for feasting.  Haven’t you heard that the acronym BMW stands for “Benedictine Moderation Works”?  For we know from St. Gregory’s writings that the Lord sent a priest to St. Benedict on Easter Sunday with prepared delicacies, in order that His servant (St. Benedict) got a share in the feast day meal.  So it isn’t that God doesn’t want us to have feast days, but rather that He doesn’t want our bellies to be our gods.  Let us be aware of this temptation, so that we can fight the idolatry of body image in our world.  It is a great witness today that we are just grateful for everything we get, and in this way we not only feed our bodies, but our souls as well.

A feast day specialty — a berry tart in honor of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

This reading from Isaiah reminds us that we are never forgotten.  Everything is done, or allowed, for our good.  But when you think of all the sorrows of Holy Week you might say, “How in the world is this about rejoicing?”  Because Somebody has come to save us.  We could not do it on our own.  We couldn’t bear that weight.  God alone could bear the justice; and so there is rejoicing.  If Jesus were to go into a prison and say, “You are all free, because I’m going to undergo the death penalty for you,” I don’t think the prisoners would just shrug their shoulders.  There would be a real sense of freedom and gratitude.  Holy Week should bring gratitude for what He has done, and we should express that gratitude throughout each day.  I’m sure you already tell Him many times throughout the day, “I love you, Jesus,” but maybe do it a little more.  I think that’s what encouraged Him during His Passion.  I read that at one point in His agony He heard all the voices throughout time expressing gratitude.  Make sure your voice is there.  Make sure He hears how grateful you are to serve and to love Him.

The Trinity holds nothing back, but pours forth abundantly and completely.  We should marvel at that, because that is so unlike man.  The world teaches us to protect ourselves, and hold all our cards so nobody can take them—but the Trinity lays them all out.  Try to live at that supernatural level.  Be brave enough to not hold back.  Be brave enough to serve and to be the servant of all.  That takes true courage, because it is not the way of the world.  Climb.  Always climb, and you truly will rejoice.  When you die, you won’t be saying, “I wish I had…” You’ll be saying, “I’m so glad I did.”