Monastic Life
St. Bernard, the Abbot of Clairvaux, said of St. Benedict: “The most sweet name of St. Benedict ought to awaken in our hearts sentiments of gladness and respect, because it is the name of our guide, our master, and our lawgiver.”

Prayer Times with the Monks. Visitors welcome!
Monday-Friday
6:20 AM, Vigils and Morning Prayer
12:05 PM, Midday Prayer
5:15 PM, Community Eucharist
6:45 PM, Evening Prayer

Saturday
6:20 AM, Vigils and Morning Prayer
11:30 AM, Eucharist, and Midday Prayer
5:35 PM, Evening Prayer I for Sunday
6:45 PM, Vigils for Sunday
8-9 PM, Eucharistic Holy Hour

Sunday
7:00 AM, Morning Prayer
10:00 AM, Eucharist
12:05 PM, Midday Prayer
5:00 PM, Evening Prayer II for Sunday

In regions where monasteries exist, the vocation of these communities is to further the participation of the faithful in the Liturgy of the Hours and to provide necessary solitude for more intense personal prayer. -Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2691

The Benedictine monastery is above all a place of prayer, in the sense that everything in it is organized to make the monks attentive and responsive to the voice of the Spirit. -Pope John Paul II

If God Does Exist, He Doesn’t Matter

Excerpted from Luigi Giussani, The Religious Awareness of Modern Man, Communio 25, Spring 1998, pp. 114-115.

The term for this conception of life, insofar as it has through political power and public education become a social mindset, a dominant cultural influence, is “secularism.” Secularism is “the assertion that man belongs to himself and to no one else” (Cornelio Fabro); it is the presumption that man is totally autonomous.

Herein lies the cause of the terrible impasse confronting the religious awareness of human beings in our day. In fact, a God who is not relevant to our lives is at best a useless God. It follows that the more active, interested, and engaged with life a man is, the more he will feel it a waste of time to pause to think about such a God. God is reduced to a more or less private option, a pathetic psychological consolation, or a museum piece. For a man who feels keenly the brevity of his life and the many tasks to be accomplished, such a God is not only useless, but even harmful: He is the “opiate of the people.” A society informed by such a mindset may not be formally atheistic, but it is so de facto.

In truth, such a God is not only useless, not only harmful; he is not even God. A god who does not pertain to man’s activity, his constitution, his path toward destiny, is at best a waste of time; in the end, a god of this sort should be dispensed with, eliminated. The formula, “If God does exist, He doesn’t matter,” bears within itself the logical conclusion, “God does not exist.”

The real enemy of authentic religiosity, in my view, is not so much atheism as it is the secularism outlined above. If the sacred is irrelevant to the concrete domain of our daily efforts, then man’s relationship with God is conceivable only as something totally subjective. Consequently, human reality is left to itself. Our problems and concerns are then at the mercy of sheerly human criteria, which, in practice, are readily subsumed by the powers that be.

Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist

June 24 is a huge Solemnity in the Church, the Birth of St. John the Baptist.St. Benedict had a devotion to him at Montecassino. The following Litany and prayer are taken from a website promoting Mental Prayer in the Carmelite tradiiton: http://floscarmelivitisflorigera.blogspot.com/2008/06/st-john-baptist-litany-and-prayer.html

St John the Baptist Litany and Prayer
Lord, have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Queen of Prophets, Pray for us.
Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, precursor of Christ, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, glorious forerunner of the Sun of Justice, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, minister of Baptism to Jesus, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, burning and shining lamp of the world, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, angel of purity before thy birth, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, special friend and favorite of Christ, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, heavenly contemplative, whose element was prayer, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, intrepid preacher of truth, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, voice crying in the wilderness, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, miracle of mortification and penance, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, example of profound humility, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, glorious martyr of zeal for God’s holy law, Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, gloriously fulfilling thy mission, Pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
V. Pray for us, O glorious St. John the Baptist,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray: O God, Who hast honored this world by the birth of Saint John the Baptist, grant that Thy faithful people may rejoice in the way of eternal salvation, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer to St. John the Baptist
O God, You raised up St. John the Baptist to prepare a perfect people for Christ. Fill Your people with the joy of possessing His grace, and direct the minds of all the faithful in the way of peace and salvation.
Grant that as St. John was martyred for truth and justice, so we may energetically profess our Faith in You, and lead others to the Way, the Truth, and Eternal Life.
Amen.

___________________________________________________
Human pride and egoism always create divisions, build walls of indifference, hate and violence. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, makes hearts capable of understanding the languages of all, as he re-establishes the bridge of authentic communion between earth and heaven. The Holy Spirit is Love.
Pope Benedict XVI, Pentecost Homily, 2006

Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God

January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. Mass at the Abbey on New Years day will be at 11:30 AM

With a hymn composed in the eighth or ninth century, thus for over a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as “Star of the Sea”: Ave maris stella. Human life is a journey. Towards what destination? How do we find the way? Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by—people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her “yes” she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched his tent among us (cf. Jn 1:14). Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi #49

Greetings from Iraq
Captain Brian Carr, (BC, ‘03) called this morning from Mosul, Iraq to wish the monks and people at the college a Happy New Year. I assured Brian of our prayers for himself, and all the troops in Iraq, as we celebrate a New Year.

Pope’s Message for World Day of Prayer
The first paragraph of the Pope’s message for the World Day of Prayer, January 1, 2008, carries over the theme of our celebration this past weekend of the Holy Family. He reminds us of the need to pray for and work for the strengthening of the family.

At the beginning of a New Year, I wish to send my fervent good wishes for peace, together with a heartfelt message of hope to men and women throughout the world. I do so by offering for our common reflection the theme which I have placed at the beginning of this message. It is one which I consider particularly important: the human family, a community of peace. The first form of communion between persons is that born of the love of a man and a woman who decide to enter a stable union in order to build together a new family. But the peoples of the earth, too, are called to build relationships of solidarity and cooperation among themselves, as befits members of the one human family: “All peoples”—as the Second Vatican Council declared—“are one community and have one origin, because God caused the whole human race to dwell on the face of the earth (cf. Acts 17:26); they also have one final end, God” (Nostra Aetate)

+Father Marion’s sister-in-law
Father Marion Charboneau, OSB, the Chaplain at Maur Hill Mount Academy just learned of the death of his sister-in-law, Karen Charboneau, Howell, Mi. Please remember the repose of the soul of Karen in your prayers, and the consolation of her husband, Mike Charboneau.

+Thomas Jay Doll 1957 – 2007, my first cousin
MEEKER, Colo. — Thomas Jay Doll passed away suddenly in Meeker on Dec. 23. He was born Feb. 6, 1957, in Great Bend, the son of Gerald and Rita Miller Doll, and was a longtime resident of the Claflin area.

Tom was inducted into the Fort Hays State University Hall of Fame on Oct. 24, 1992, for the following honors: Honorable mention Little All-American running back in 1975; Honorable mention National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American in 1975 and 1978. First-team All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference 1978. Second-team All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference in 1976. NAIA All-District 10 selection in 1975. He still holds seven of the nine FHSU rushing records, including marks for yards in a season (1,536 in 1978) and career (4,477, in 1975-1978).

Tom married Janet Whitfield on June 6, 1987, in Plano, Ill. Tom worked in the carpentry field until 1989, when he went to work for ANR Pipeline in Sandwich, Ill. In August 2000 Tom moved his family to Meeker, Colo., where he took a position with American Soda. He went to work for Shell Oil Company in 2004.

Survivors include his wife of 20 years, Janet; his son, Jared, and daughter, Kathryn, of Meeker; his mother, Rita Doll of Claflin; his brother, Craig, and his wife Annie Doll, and nephews Hagan and Dillon, of Norman, Okla.; a sister, Anita Taylor, and a niece, Erin Taylor, of Tucson, Ariz.; a brother, Barry Doll and wife Laurie, nieces Hannah, Maggie and Kelsey and nephew Luke, of Salina; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his beloved father, Gerald Doll, in 1981.> The funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday January 3 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Claflin, KS.

From the Catechism, #525: Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:
“The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
And the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!”
Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist.

Tuesday, 25 December, Christmas Day at the Abbey

7:00 AM
Morning Prayer
10:00 AM
Mass of Christmas Day
12:05 PM
Midday Prayer
5:00 PM
Second Vespers of Christmas

In the stable at Bethlehem, Heaven and Earth meet. Heaven has come down to Earth. For this reason, a light shines from the stable for all times; for this reason joy is enkindled there; for this reason song is born there. At the end of our Christmas meditation I should like to quote a remarkable passage from Saint Augustine. Interpreting the invocation in the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father who art in Heaven", he asks: what is this - Heaven? And where is Heaven? Then comes a surprising response: "... who art in Heaven - that means: in the saints and in the just.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Midnight Mass, 2007

Recent Deaths

+Tommy Doll

My first cousin, Tommy Doll, 50, died of a heart attack yesterday (Sunday). He was living in Meeker, Co. IN the 1970s Tommy played football for Ft. Hays State and is one of three players in the history of that school to rush for over 3000 yards (One of the others is my second cousin Jordan Hickel)

Tommy’s father Gerald died of a heart attack a number of years ago. His mother Rita (my dad’s sister) is a devout Catholic, and often came to visit the Abbey with my parents. His cousin Kirk Doll had been a linebackers coach for Notre Dame under Lou Holtz, then at LSU, and finally for the Denver Broncos.

Please remember the repose of Tommy in your prayers.

+Father Joseph Bahr’s Death

Father Joseph Bahr, 73, a priest of the Diocese of Dodge City, and Pastor of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, Garden City, and St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Ingalls, Ks, died yesterday, December 19, of an apparent heart attack. He had been a priest for 47 years, and pastor of St. Dominic’s since 1999.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Olmitz, Ks, at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, December 26.

From the Catechism, #525: Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:

“The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
And the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!”
Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist.

_

Bella: Opens today!!!
How the founder of our Abbey Encountered Christ
See Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Live!

Finally a Movie that gets it right!
(CNA).- “Bella,” to be released today, October 26, has captured the hearts of audiences all over the country. Hollywood Reporter describes the movie as a “romantic drama [that] stars Emmy winner Tammy Blanchard as a young single waitress fired from her job right after discovering that she is pregnant. The restaurant's empathetic chef (Mexican star Eduardo Verastegui) follows her around New York for a day, developing a bond that helps each discover truths about themselves and each other.”

"The film is a crowd-pleaser about humanity, family, friendship and the unique magic of New York City," Roadside co-president Eric d'Arbeloff said. " 'Bella' will win the hearts and minds of Latino and mainstream audiences alike, and we hope it finds the same success as previous Toronto People's Choice Award winners 'Life Is Beautiful,' 'Whale Rider,' 'Hotel Rwanda,' 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'American Beauty.' "

Roadside co-president Howard Cohen added, "Eduardo Verastegui gives a star-making turn that has gotten the attention of a whole new audience."

Verastegui is one of the most successful Mexican actors in Hollywood today, has become one of the strongest voices against the legalization of abortion in Mexico City.

Since rediscovering the faith of his parents, he has no fear of public rejection for denouncing the holocaust of abortion. Verastegui has revealed his pro-life convictions to various Mexican media outlets and has created an organization in California to help those in need, especially women who are seeking abortions.

How the Founder of our Abbey Encountered Christ
The following is an account from the diary Father Henry Lemcke, OSB. It recounts how, as a Lutheran Seminarian, in Germany he became unsatisfied with the rationalism of his day. He would eventually go to Regensberg to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest under the famed Bishop Johann Michael Sailer on April 11, 1826.
The more I imbedded myself in the writing of Stolberg, the more clear it became to me that it was most certainly not a foolish idea to have Christ as the focal point of the world’s history -- for everything that happened before Him, and everything that took place after Him shows this relationship to Christ. Thus I was able to see how our so-called “Learned Professors” with their “practical history of the church” were operating entirely from the wrong standpoint when they suggested that Christ was merely the founder of a new religion.
Father Henry Lemcke, OSB, Founder of St. Benedict’s Abbey

Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Live!
This coming Monday, October 29, 2007 Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, will be speaking at Benedictine College.

4:00 PM, O’Malley McAllister Auditorium. Springtime of Faith. The regular price for tickets at the door is $15. Please register by calling Dona Domann at 913-360-7699, e-mail Donna at ddomann@benedictine.edu , or show up at the door.

5:15 PM, Mass Abbey Church. This is the usual Abbey weekday Mass. Visitors are welcome!

6:30 PM, O’Malley McAllister Auditorium, Free talk open to the public, New Directions in Psychology, the Positive Psychology of Dr. Martin Seligman. (Dr. Seligman works on positive psychology, learned helplessness, depression, and on optimism and pessimism. He is currently Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is well known in academic and clinical circles and is a best-selling author.)

8:00 PM, Mass, Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, Abbey Church: Father Brendan, celebrant; Father Benedict, Homilist.

Following Mass: Book signing with Father Benedict.

The 8 PM Mass in the Abbey Church, Guadalupe Chapel, will take the place of the 9:30 PM student Mass on Monday.
The New York Times had a good story about Father Benedict last March 25, 2007.
(which was 11 years to the day since Father Benedict’s first visit to Benedictine College on March 25, 1996, the Feast of the Annunciation.) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/25WEpeople.html

___________________________________________________
"Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should ... have eternal life” (3:16)."
-Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, #1

Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, at BC
Mission week at BC
Pope Benedict XVI on Monks
Responsorial Psalms
What Vocation Crisis?
Pope Pius VII, Last of the Benedictine Popes

Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR at BC
Please promote this event among your friends, with family members, in your parish, and with any Catholic groups you know. Even students who are admitted free should register as soon as possible so we have an accurate count. See the information below on how to do that.

Fr. Groeschel Live! Meet the famous priest, Father Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR, seen by millions of viewers each week on “Sunday Night: Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel,” as he leads an evening spiritual conference at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, October 29, 4 p.m. The conference, ""Springtime of Faith,"" features an early bird ticket price of $10 if purchased before October 10. The regular price for tickets at the door is $15.00. BC students are free with ID. Register by calling Dona Domann at 913-360-7699, or e-mail her at ddomann@benedictine.edu

Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR, is the Director of the Office for Spiritual Development of the Archdiocese of New York. He founded and is on the staff of Trinity Retreat, a center for prayer and study for the clergy. John Cardinal O’Connor appointed him promoter of the cause of Canonization of the Servant of God Terence Cardinal Cooke in 1984.

His most recent books are: The Virtue Driven Life (Our Sunday Visitor, 2007) A Drama of Reform (Ignatius Press, 2005) Why Do We Believe (Our Sunday Visitor, 2005) When Did We See You Lord (Our Sunday Visitor, 2005).

Mission Week at BC
Sharing in Christ’s Passion so as to share in His Glory!!!
Sunday, Sept. 16
5:30pm Sunday Kick-off Mass* Abbey Church
7:30pm Sunday Kick-off Mass* Abbey Church
*Introduction of the Apostles of the Interior Life & Spiritual Direction Sign-Ups

Monday, Sept. 17
All Day Personal Spiritual Direction (Emmaus Walks), Sign-ups at O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium 8:15pm Mission Meditation & Small Groups, O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium Evening "Can Do"- Non perishable food drive.
Call Emily: 309-532-0809

Tuesday, Sept. 18
All Day Personal Spiritual Direction (Emmaus Walks), Sign-ups at O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium 8:15pm Mission Meditation & Small Groups, O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium

Wednesday, Sept. 19
All Day Personal Spiritual Direction (Emmaus Walks), Sign-ups at O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium 8:15pm Mission Meditation & "Rag Man" Skit, O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium

Thursday, Sept. 20
All Day Personal Spiritual Direction (Emmaus Walks), Sign-ups at O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium 8:15pm Final Mission Meditation & Small Groups, O'Malley-McAlister Auditorium

Friday, Sept. 21
All Day "Solidarity with the Hungry," Rice meals and sleep outside tonight.
Guys Call Jaeger: 913-484-4244
Gals Call Claire: 314-520-7745
8pm Rave N Worship and "Invisible Children" documentary, Abbey Crypt

Saturday, Sept. 22
7:45am Commissioning Mass for Volunteers, Guadalupe Chapel
All Day Fall Service Day, More than 8 service projects to choose from! Call Kelly: 402-598-6457
Sign-Ups in the Cafe, Ministry Office, or with your RA
All Day Holy Hours, Pray for volunteers and those being served, St. Martin's Chapel
Evening BBQ sponsored by Res LIfe followed by concert at Holy Grounds

All Week
"Quarter Drive"- Raise money to buy food for the poor. Call Joey: 720-289-1147
"Supply Drive"- Donate supplies for local kids and moms. Call Danielle: 913-360-0399
"Luggage for Belize"- Give office supplies to mission school. Call Amber: 507-360-8719
"Milk Money"- Tips at Holy Grounds buy elementary kids milk. Call Sarah: 913-548-9768

BC Ministry Office, SU, 913-360-7568
Service Info: ravenservice@gmail.com
Spiritual Direction Info: bcministry@benedictine.edu
U.I.O.G.D.
Ut in Omnibus Glorificetur Deus
That in all things God may be glorified.

Pope Benedict XVI on Monastic Prayer
In the life of monks, however, prayer takes on a particular importance: it is the heart of their calling. Their vocation is to be men of prayer. In the patristic period the monastic life was likened to the life of the angels. It was considered the essential mark of the angels that they are worshippers. Their very life is worship. This should hold true also for monks. Monks pray first and foremost not for any specific intention, but simply because God is worthy of being praised. "Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus! -- Praise the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is eternal!": so we are urged by a number of Psalms (e.g. Ps 106:1). Such prayer for its own sake, intended as pure divine service, is rightly called officium. It is "service" par excellence, the "sacred service" of monks. It is offered to the triune God who, above all else, is worthy "to receive glory, honour and power" (Rev 4:11), because he wondrously created the world and even more wondrously redeemed it.

Responsorial Psalms
I wanted to let you know about an exciting Musica Sacra project being offered COMPLETELY FREE of CHARGE to Catholic musicians.
They are settings of the Responsorial Psalms with psalm tones based on Gregorian chant.
http://chabanelpsalms.org/

"…may your art help to affirm that true beauty which, as a glimmer of the Spirit of God, will transfigure matter, opening the human soul to the sense of the eternal."
--Letter of His holiness Pope John Paul II to artists, 1999, Copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana

What Vocational Crisis?
3,200 Youth Show Readiness to Follow Call
LORETO, Italy, SEPT. 4, 2007 (Zenit.org ).- When the leaders of a Loreto youth rally made a vocations call, some 2,000 men and 1,200 women stood up to show their readiness to become priests or consecrated persons.

Monday's rally gathered about 100,000 youth from the Neocatechumenal Way, as a follow-up to the visit from Benedict XVI, who had been with the youth the two days before.

Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, presided over the meeting, accompanied by several other bishops. The rally was animated by the founders of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández, along with Father Mario Pezzi.

A Neocatechumenate communiqué explained that since Pope John Paul II's 1984 meeting with youth in Rome, the movement has called together its young people for a vocation meeting, in order to harvest the fruits from the encounters with the Holy Father.

The meeting on Monday included a procession of about 1,000 priests and a reading of the Gospel.

Archbishop Rylko commented on the Gospel reading, saying: "The Holy Father wants to convey a message to all young people, that being a Christian is beautiful."

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney was inspired by the rally and invited the youth to engage in a similar preparation for World Youth Day, to be held in Australia next July.

Pope Pius VII, the last Benedictine Pope
The last Benedictine Pope, Pope Pius VII, (second to the last if we count the Camaldolese Benedictine, Pope Gregory XVI) served as Supreme Pontiff from 1800-1823. During those years our Lord used him greatly in the spread of the Gospel, and the Roman Catholic faith.> After suffering exile, Pope Pius VII in thanksgiving for his freedom extended the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (or the Seven Sorrows of Mary) to the entire Church. The Feast will be celebrated this coming Saturday.
When Pope Pius VII was elected in 1800, the United States had one Catholic Diocese, Baltimore. By the time of his death in 1823, Pope Pius VII had created, in addition to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the newly formed Dioceses of: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Bardstown, Charleston, Richmond, and Cincinnati.
Pope Pius VII changed the colors of the Vatican flag to their current colors.

The Development Director for our Abbey, Dan Madden, while writing for the Tower Topics of Conception Abbey in the Spring of 2005, noted that there have been 24 Benedictine Popes through the ages.

___________________________________________________
Indeed, St. Basil created a very special monasticism: it was not closed to the community of the local Church but instead was open to it. His monks belonged to the particular Church; they were her life-giving nucleus and, going before the other faithful in the following of Christ and not only in faith, showed a strong attachment to him - love for him - especially through charitable acts. These monks, who ran schools and hospitals, were at the service of the poor and thus demonstrated the integrity of Christian life.
-Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, July 4, 2007

Alan G. Boesch, R.I.P.
3:59 at 7:00 PM this evening
Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR
Steve Tasker (Today’s Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle)
Monastic Life

+Alan G. Boesch 53, Hastings, died Sunday, 9/2/07. Born in Norfolk.
Survivors: wife Lynn Boesch of Hastings; Daughter Jessica Parks of Lincoln, Sons Ryan Boesch and Brandon Boesch (Benedictine College Freshman), both of Hastings. One grandson; mother Dolores Boesch of Humphrey; sisters Sharon Reiner of Shepherd, MT and Rena Branecki of Omaha; brothers Dale Boesch of Humphrey, Craig Boesch of Lincoln; 24 Nieces & Nephews.

Rosary: Thursday, 9/6/07, 7:30 p.m. and Mass of Christian Burial Friday, 9/7/07, 10 a.m. both at St. Michael's Catholic Church. Burial Friday, 9/7/07, 4 p.m. in St. Francis Cemetery, Humphrey, Nebraska. Visitation: Wednesday, 9/5/07, 1 p.m.- 9p.m. & Thursday, 9/6/07, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the funeral home & Friday, 9/7/07 1 hr. prior to service at the church. Memorials to Hastings Catholic Schools Matching Teachers Fund or Catholic Social Services. Livingston-Butler-Volland Funeral Home & Cremation Center is in charge of arrangements.

Published in the Lincoln Journal Star on 9/5/2007.
3:59 at 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 6
Ferrell Tower Classroom at BC
7:00 PM
Tonight we will present
Sergei Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 2
A new group, “3:59”, will have its first gathering this evening at 7 PM in the Tower classroom of Ferrell Hall here at BC. The group, part of Communion and Liberation University (CLU) here at BC remembers that:

It was 4 PM when John and Andrew encountered Christ, the Savior they had been waiting for with great expectation. To recognize Christ as the answer to our humanity, we first must take our human need seriously. “What are you looking for?” This is the question we take seriously in 3:59, because this is the question that fosters a sensitivity to our hearts and enables us, every time we meet Christ, to exclaim, “It’s really Him!! It’s the one who make life new again.”

Fr. Benedict Groeschel , CFR
Monday, October 29, 4:00 PM
O’Malley-Mcalister Auditorium
(Everyone, including students, who wants to attend this talk needs to reserve a seat. See the information below on how to register.) Fr. Groeschel Live! Meet the famous priest, Father Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR, seen by millions of viewers each week on “Sunday Night: Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel,” as he leads an evening spiritual conference at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, October 29, 4 p.m. The conference, ""Springtime of Faith,"" features an early bird ticket price of $10 if purchased before October 10. The regular price for tickets at the door is $15.00. BC students are free with ID. Register by calling Dona Domann at 913-360-7699. (ext. 7699 if calling from a campus phone)

Tasker honored to join Bills Wall
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Sal Maiorana
Staff writer

(September 6, 2007) — ORCHARD PARK — Steve Tasker won four AFC championships and played in four Super Bowls and seven Pro Bowls during his time with the Buffalo Bills, but strictly on a personal level, none of that means quite as much as what will take place Sunday afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in my football career," Tasker said Wednesday of his induction into the Bills Wall of Fame which will occur at halftime of the season opener against Denver.

Tasker becomes the 24th member (23 men and the 12th man) to have his name affixed to the façade at the stadium where he played for 11 1Ž2years.
"When Mr. Wilson gave me the call and told me I was selected, I called my family — I was out of the house — and told them and nothing that's ever happened to me or my family got the reaction that that did from my family,'' he said.

Tasker is the eighth member of the Super Bowl era Bills to earn the distinction, and he said that everyone who preceded him — Marv Levy, Jim Kelly, Kent Hull, Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley and Jim Ritcher are the others — relishes the honor.

"A number of former teammates are on the wall and we all came to the same conclusion — that building is really special to all of us who played there," said Tasker.

"It was a magical time, a magical team and a magical town. To have your name put up on the wall of that stadium, in the estimation of me and my teammates, is very special. It's a special place for the players who played there and a special place for the fans to go and cheer. To have my name go up there, it just doesn't get any better for all of us who have played there.''

Tasker said he has about 60 friends and family members from out of town coming to the game, and in all he is using about 200 tickets to accommodate everyone in his party including his father who had open-heart surgery less than five weeks ago.

Monastic Life
The monastic life, that venerable institution which in the course of a long history has won for itself notable renown in the Church and in human society, should be preserved with care and its authentic spirit permitted to shine forth ever more splendidly both in the East and the West. The principal duty of monks is to offer a service to the divine majesty at once humble and noble within the walls of the monastery, whether they dedicate themselves entirely to divine worship in the contemplative life or have legitimately undertaken some apostolate or work of Christian charity. Retaining, therefore, the characteristics of the way of life proper to them, they should revive their ancient traditions of service and so adapt them to the needs of today that monasteries will become institutions dedicated to the edification of the Christian people.
Vatican II, Perfecatae Caritatis, #9

___________________________________________________
Indeed, St. Basil created a very special monasticism: it was not closed to the community of the local Church but instead was open to it. His monks belonged to the particular Church; they were her life-giving nucleus and, going before the other faithful in the following of Christ and not only in faith, showed a strong attachment to him - love for him - especially through charitable acts. These monks, who ran schools and hospitals, were at the service of the poor and thus demonstrated the integrity of Christian life.
-Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, July 4, 2007

The Abbey: 150 years
BC Knights of Columbus: 50 years
FOCUS: 10 years
CLU at BC: 5 years
Steve Tasker: on the Bills Wall of Fame
+Jim Huss
+Art Neumann

Saint Benedict’s Abbey-150 Years
The following is from the Diary of our founder, Father Henry Peter Lemke, OSB. He describes how, as a convert, it was an experience in Kansas that helped him come to love our Blessed Mother.

O, you dearest Mother of God, I thought to myself, you actually have heard my prayers! It was through the pure and unsullied soul of a child that you effected something so that the mother would be aroused and would then place a lamp in the window just about the very time when I was calling out for help because I feared for my life. Pure chance, some people would say. As far as I’m concerned, people can say what they want, but I am not about to question my firm conviction that, in this instance, the Mother of God worked a miracle. And for this reason, I promised to love and honor her until I draw my very last breath. These two events, along with the fact that my going to Kansas was the initiation of the Benedictine order here, lead me to say that my time in Kansas was well worth it.

Knights of Columbus at BC- 50 Years
The actual 50th anniversary of the St. Benedict’s College Council of the Knights of Columbus will be in December of 2008. We are beginning now, along with some alumns, to make plans for this celebration. The Knights, over these nearly fifty years, have been at Benedictine College what they have been throughout the world, the right hand of the Catholic Church.

FOCUS National Conference- 10 Years
I remember very well 10 years ago this fall working with Dr. Ted Sri to organize the very first FOCUS event. I am very happy to see the growth that has happened in these 10 years as the program has moved from Benedictine College to the entire country.

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students announces a 10th anniversary conference to be held at January 2-6, 2008 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center at Grapevine, Tx. The theme of this event is Go, and set the world on Fire. For more information go to the FOCUS website at: http://www.focusonline.org/

Communion and Liberation (CLU) at BC- 5 Years
Write to Father Meinrad ( mmiller@benedictine.edu ) or talk to a CL leader about the schedule for this year. On different weeks the following groups will meet:

Big School of Community. all together (with Sal, where we can bring our questions)
Small School of Community. (with the leader/group you choose)
3:59. (Cultural event. Movie or music presentation) (Just as the Disciples found the Lord, and it was Four O’Clock; so many are stuck at 3:59, waiting to encounter Christ.)

Small School of Community (Meets this week) Students are free to join any of these groups.
Joey Orrino’s group will be meeting in the upper lounge of the Student Union at 7pm on Thursday.
Beth Stokman and Kati Jansen’s group will be meeting in the Schroll Center (Mcdonald's Lounge) Wednesday at 7pm.
Fr. Meinrad's group will meet on Mondays at 7:30 PM in the upper lounge of the Student Union.
Non students interested in CL should contact Father Meinrad at this e-mail for information about meeting times.

Pope John Paul II to CL:

The original pedagogical intuition of your Movement (Communion and Liberation) lies precisely here: proposing in a fascinating way, and in harmony with contemporary culture, the Christian event, perceived as a source of new values, capable of directing the whole of existence. It is necessary and urgent to help people to encounter Christ, so that He become the ultimate reason for living and operating also for present-day man. This experience of faith generates a new way of looking at reality, a responsibility and a creativity that concern every ambit of existence: from work to family relationships, from social commitment to the animation of the cultural and political environment.

-Pope John Paul II

Steve Tasker, A Kansas Hero
Steve Tasker, a supporter of our Benedictine College March for Life trip, and fellow Buffalo Bill player with Benedictine College alumn Jamie Mueller, BC ‘97, will be honored by having his name placed on the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame next Sunday September 9 at half time of the season opener with the Denver Broncos.

In 2000 the NFL Hall of Fame voted Steve Tasker to the All-Time NFL Team. There he joined 26 other players - from the likes of Jim Brown and Walter Payton - as the best of the best players in the history of the game.

Today, Steve is a commentator for CBS sports, a host on the Empire Sports Network and member of the WNSA broadcast lineup. The Tasker family still calls Buffalo home, and while Steve may have hung up his player jersey he still plays to crowds and draws applause from a new fan base who come to see his performance in local community theater.

+JAMES ALOYSIUS (JIM) HUSS
Thursday, June 18, 1931 -
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Resident of Atchison, Kansas
Services to be held on Monday, September 03, 2007 | 11: am
at St. Benedict's Church with Rev. Gerard Senecal, OSB as celebrant. Interment will follow in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. A parish and Knights of Columbus rosary to be recited on Sunday, Sept. 2nd at 4:00 P.M. at Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Maur Hill-Mt. Academy School, Sacred Heart Church, Atchison Catholic Elementary School or St. Benedict's Church.

JAMES ALOYSIUS (JIM) HUSS is survived by:
a daughter, Mary E. Stecher, Atchison, KS, two sons, Anthony (Tony) Huss, Kansas City, MO, Timothy L. Huss, Lakewood, CO, two brothers, William L. Huss, Mulvane, KS, Raymond R. Huss, Independence, MO and four grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his parents, and two brothers, Eugene H. Huss and Maurice J. Huss.
Jim was born in Atchison, Kansas the son of John L. and Margaret Geisendorf Huss. He was reared in Doniphan, Kansas where he spent his entire early life on the family farm. He was a graduate of Maur Hill Prep School in 1949.

He and the former Irene Kay Stamper were united in marriage on September 5, 1955 at St. John the Baptist Church, Doniphan, KS. Mrs. Huss preceded him in death on August 20, 2000.

Jim joined the United States Air Force on June 23, 1949 and was honorably discharged on July 28, 1949 due to health problems.

He went to work at the former LFM Company in Atchison in 1950 in the machine shop. He transferred to the payroll department in 1955 and became supervisor of payroll in 1959. In 1974, Jim went to work for the First Stockyard Bank in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1975, he returned to the foundry, which was then known as the Rockwell International Corporation and worked in the cost estimating section of the engineering department. He transferred back to the payroll department in 1976 and retired on September 30, 1993.

He served as president of the Kanza Chapeter of the Kansas Anthropology Assoc., a member of the Kansas Anthropology Assoc., founder and president of the Atchison County Diabetes Assoc., former president of the Atchison Coin & Stamp Club, a member of the Farm Bureau and Council #723 of the Knights of Columbus. He appraised coin collections for many individuals and estates. He helped conduct many coin auctions in the Atchison area. He was publisher and editor of the Atchison Coin & Stamp Newsletter, the Kanza News and the Diabetic News. He also prepared income tax returns for many years.

+ARTHUR D. "ART" NEUMANN
Monday, December 29, 1924 -
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Resident of Atchison, Kansas
Services to be held on Thursday, September 06, 2007 | 10:30 am
Sacred Heart Church with Rev. Gerard Senecal, OSB as celebrant. Inurnment will follow in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. A parish rosary will be recited on Wednesday, September 5th at 7:00 P.M. in the chapel of Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home with visitation to follow until 8:30 P.M. Memorial contributions are suggested to St. Benedict's Abbey or American Lung Association.

ARTHUR D. "ART" NEUMANN is survived by:
two daughters, Judy Procter, Lake St. Louis, MO, Jere Heck, Overland Park, KS, three sons, Tom Neumann, Manhattan, KS, Frank Neumann, Chugiak, Alaska, James Neumann, Atchison, KS, one brother, Dick Neumann, Atchison, KS, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

He was predeceased by three sisters, Ann Bellis, Ruth Owens, Margaret Neumann, and two brothers, Charles Neumann and Francis Neumann.

Art was born in Atchison, Kansas the son of Frank and ellen Langan Neumann.
He and the former Catheline Agee were united in marriage on September 1, 1947 at St. Benedict's Church, Atchison, Kansas. Mr. Neumann passed away on what would have been the sixtieth wedding anniversary for he and his wife. Mrs. Neumann predeceased him on August 16, 2005. Art served as the building trades instructor at the Northeast kansas Area Vocational Technical School, now the Atchison Vocational Technical College, from the mid 1970's until the early 1990's. Prior to his teaching he worked as a brick-layer for several years. In addition he was a farmer and stockman.

He was a member of Sacred heart Church, a former member and president of the Atchison YMCA and the Fleming-Jackson-Seever Post #6 of the American Legion. Art also was a member of the Donut Shop Coffee Club.
He enjoyed spending time at the Neumann Farm and most of all the quality time he spent with his family, especially his grandchildren. He formerly enjoyed the game of golf.
He served in the Army Air Corp during World War II.

___________________________________________________
Indeed, St. Basil created a very special monasticism: it was not closed to the community of the local Church but instead was open to it. His monks belonged to the particular Church; they were her life-giving nucleus and, going before the other faithful in the following of Christ and not only in faith, showed a strong attachment to him - love for him - especially through charitable acts. These monks, who ran schools and hospitals, were at the service of the poor and thus demonstrated the integrity of Christian life.
-Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, July 4, 2007

Funeral Arrangements for Jim Huss
Rosary, Sunday, September 2, 4:00 PM, Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home, Atchison, Ks
Mass of Christian Burial, Monday, September 3, 11:00 AM, St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, Atchison, KS. Father Gerard Senecal, OSB, presiding and homilist.

Rehabilitation
of the Religious Sense
From the very beginning, Lent confronts us with the truth of our radical dependence on the Mystery that is the source of our existence, not to depress us, but to launch us on the journey that will allow us to recognize the revelation that “everything is grace”

By Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete
(From Traces Magazine)

Recently, I had the opportunity to read the text from which Fr. Giussani said he took the term “the religious sense” to describe our need for the infinite Mystery at the origin of our existence. The term appeared in a Pastoral Letter written in 1957 by the Archbishop of Milan, Giovanni Montini–who later became Pope Paul VI. He defined the religious sense as a natural attitude of the human being which allows us to perceive our relation with divinity. This attitude or orientation is an “innate” aspiration or appetite, submitted to the rule of reason but instinctively oriented to God, as if guided by a superior power. Montini wrote in his letter that this “religious sense” is “like man’s opening to God, the inclination of man toward his beginning and his ultimate destiny.” It is the natural posture of the soul, the defining orientation of the creature as a human being, the “synthesis of the spirit.”

When this “religious sense” hears the Word of God, it recognizes it and brings about the experience of correspondence with what we call “the heart,” so that the divine Word is not received only passively, but as something that “warms” this source of our life and makes of our faith a living reality that identifies us, and not a mere formalism. According to Montini, and Fr. Giussani, our greatest need today is a “rehabilitation” of this religious sense. Without it, Christian life is destroyed by a crippling dualism that empties faith of its power.

It is not surprising that Montini wrote his Pastoral Letter for the season of Lent. The prayers, almsgiving, and sacrifices associated with Lent are meant to help us rehabilitate our religious sense by an education of our desires that will allow us to recognize those desires that constitute the human heart’s need for God. This education prepares the heart for the encounter with the Risen Christ at Easter. Through them, the Church community accompanies the catechumens on their journey to Baptism.

From the very beginning, Lent confronts us with the truth of our radical dependence on the Mystery that is the source of our existence (“Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”), not to depress us, but to launch us on the journey that will enable us to recognize the revelation that “everything is grace,” because the Mystery sustaining our existence is a God that is Love.

That is why Pope Benedict XVI has urged us not to celebrate Lent with an “old” spirit, as a burdensome and heavy duty, but to do it with a “new” spirit of the one “who has encountered in Jesus and His paschal mystery the meaning of life and who now experiences that everything must refer to Him.”

___________________________________________________
Indeed, St. Basil created a very special monasticism: it was not closed to the community of the local Church but instead was open to it. His monks belonged to the particular Church; they were her life-giving nucleus and, going before the other faithful in the following of Christ and not only in faith, showed a strong attachment to him - love for him - especially through charitable acts. These monks, who ran schools and hospitals, were at the service of the poor and thus demonstrated the integrity of Christian life.
-Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, July 4, 2007

+Jim Huss. May he have eternal rest.
(From Father Gerard Senecal, OSB, Ph.D., Pastor of St. Benedict’s Parish)
Members of the Jim Huss family gathered around his bedside at Heartland East Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri, last evening as he received the call from his Lord to come to everlasting life. Present at the time were Mary Stecher, daughter and nurse at Atchison Hospital, Tony Huss, son and frequenter of our Perpetual Adoration Chapel, and David Stecher, grandson of Jim and son of Mary. Jim with great courage continued coming to Mass, even daily Mass, for as long as he was physically able to do so. He surely is a wonderful example of how to prepare for meeting the Lord.

Millard Miller, Mike Burns and I visited with Jim Huss on Sunday, Aug. 26, at Heartland. Jim was in good spirits, and talked about many things but he knew the end of his life was near. On Wednesday Dr. Ranganini said Jim would not last beyond Thursday. I asked Fr. Roderic Giller to go from St. Joseph's, Wathena, to offer the prayers for the dying for Jim on Wednesday evening. The next evening I had the opportunity to offer the same prayers again, following our praying the Rosary for Jim. May Jim Huss rest in peace.

Jim Huss was a native of the Doniphan area, and because of this he was the principal person looking after the well being of the St. John's Church in Doniphan. The Mass at St. Benedict's Church on Thursday morning was for Jim's late wife, Kay; this Mass was on her birthday. Looking in the centennial history of St. Benedict's Church, 1966, there is a picture of the church committee for that year that includes James A. Huss, William Dykstra, William H. Wolters, and Francis Carrigan. Jim Huss also was much involved in the Kansas State Archeological Society, and only recently had gone on a "dig" for two weeks. Jim was a good man. Please remember him in your prayers.

There follows here a part of the homily I gave for Jim's wife, Kay, in the year 2000:
Irene Kay Huss, Aug. 20, 2000. St. Paul compares the love of husband and wife with the love which Christ has for his church. Jesus knelt down to wash the feet of his apostles. He told them: "If I who am your lord and master have washed your feet, so also you ought to love one another." When husband and wife have this kind of love for each other, it is a wonderful blessing.

Parents also have the tremendous responsibility and the great joy of cooperating with God in bringing new life into this world and of guiding that new life into the ways of God. Parents know how to give good things to their children, just as God makes his rain to fall and his sun to shine on all his children. Parents love their children.

Sacred Scripture has the promise of wonderful blessings for children who honor their parents. "He who honors his father atones for sins. He stores up riches who reveres his mother. With your whole heart honor your father; your mother's birth pangs forget not. Remember, of these parents you were born; what can you give them for all they have given you?"

Jim, everyone here this morning joins me in offering prayerful sympathies to you, to Mary, Tony, Tim, David and all the members of your family. You have lost a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister. This morning you come here in sadness, but you come also to thank God for the blessing Kay has been for you. Many people are here to support you.

Kay was a native of St. Joseph, Missouri. She attended grade and high school there, and then worked for a while in California. Jim met Kay. They loved each other. On September 5, 1955, they married at St. John’s Church, Doniphan. They enjoyed nearly 45 years of marriage. This surely has been a blessing for you, Jim, and for all the members of your family. Kay spent her life in service for others, members of her family and children served by the kitchen at USD 409.

___________________________________________________
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
-James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Archbishop Keleher visits Maur Hill Mount Academy
Recognizing Christ, Serving others
Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR
Monastic Wisdom

Archbishop Keleher Visits Maur Hill Mount Academy
Yesterday, on the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, our retired Archbishop James Patrick Keleher visited Maur Hill Mount Academy here in Atchison. He celebrated Mass for the students and faculty, concelebrated by the school chaplain, Father Marion, Abbot Barnabas, Prior James, and Father Meinrad. I was impressed with the reverence of the students, and the words of wisdom of the Archbishop.

Recognizing Christ, serving Others
September 8th will be Benedictine College’s Atchison Clean-up day, and we would love to get as many students involved as possible. It is run through the Atchison Chamber of Commerce. If you or anyone you know is interested in being on a team, talk to Kelly Dineen keldineen@gmail.com and she’ll sign you up!

Secondly, September 22nd, also a Saturday, is our fall service day. Students will participate in various projects throughout the Atchison and surrounding communities. One of these projects is helping Habitat for Humanity build a home in St. Joseph. Others include visiting the nursing home, delivering meals for Hunger Coalition, a supplies drive, helping at the Humane Society, and possibly visiting the juvenile correctional facility or a soup kitchen. There will be more info on these things at the ministry fair tonight or you can talk to me! We'd love to have many students and faculty members participate!

Fr. Benedict Groeschel , CFR
Monday, October 29, 4:00 PM
O’Malley-Mcalister Auditorium
Fr. Groeschel Live! Meet the famous priest, Father Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR, seen by millions of viewers each week on “Sunday Night: Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel,” as he leads an evening spiritual conference at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, October 29, 4 p.m. The conference, ""Springtime of Faith,"" features an early bird ticket price of $10 if purchased before October 10. The regular price for tickets at the door is $15.00. BC students are free with ID. Register by calling Dona Domann at 913-360-7699."

Monastic Wisdom
St. Pachomius, founder of Koinonia in Egypt
(Reg., nn 139, 140, CR 1:32’ PL 23,82; Boon Pachomiana Latina, pp 49-50)
...There should be no one in the monastery who does not learn to read and know something of the Scriptures – as a minimum, the New Testament and the Psalms.

St. Gregory the Great, First Benedictine Pope
(Lib. IV, ep. 31 ad Theodorum medicum, PL 77:706)
The Emperor of heaven, the Lord of men and angels, has sent you his epistles for your life’s blood; and yet, excellent son, you neglect to read these epistles ardently. Study then I beseech you, and daily meditate on the words of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God, that you may long more ardently for the things that are eternal; that your soul may be kindled with more intense desire for heavenly joys. For a man will have the greater rest in those joys in the proportion that he now allows himself to rest in the love of his Maker. But, that you may act this, may almighty God pour into you the Spirit, the Comforter; may he fill your soul with his presence, and in filling it, compose it.

St. Jerome
(Ep. 5 ad Florentium, n.2, PL 22:337)
Such books (explanation of the Psalms, and St. Hilary’s work on the Synods) must be the food of the Christian soul if it is to mediate on the law of the Lord day and night.

St. Augustine
(Lib, de spiritu et anima, c. 32, PL 40, 802)
The soul ascends to God by meditation and contemplation; but God descends to the soul by revelation and divine inspiration.

John Cassian
(De coenob. Institut., Lib IV, c. 19, PL 49:179, 180)
The monks are to keep the utensils of the monastery with the utmost care and solicitude, so that none of them may be harmed or destroyed; for they believe that even for the smallest vessels they must give an account as though of sacred vessels, not only to a present steward, but to the Lord...wherefore if anything has once been brought into the monastery they should hold, that it ought to be treated with the utmost reverence as a holy thing.

___________________________________________________
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
-James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Campus Ministry
Thanks to all who helped with the Opening School Mass today on the Feast of Saint Augustine: Father Brendan, MC, the student musicians, servers, ushers, and Eucharistic Ministers, and Mike O’Hare and Br. Lawrence, the MCs of the academic procession. There will be an activities fair for students to find out about campus ministry organizations. This will be from 8-10 PM on Wednesday, August 29 in the BC Student Union Atrium. Hope to see you there.
BC Freshman Retreat: September 7-9, Ralph Nolan Gymn
September 8 (Birth of the Virgin Mary) Student Kelly Dineen will be leading a project for upper classmen to build a home.

Fr. Benedict Groeschel , CFR
Monday, October 29, 4:00 PM
O’Malley-Mcalister Auditorium
Fr. Groeschel Live! Meet the famous priest, Father Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR, seen by millions of viewers each week on “Sunday Night: Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel,” as he leads an evening spiritual conference at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, October 29, 4 p.m. The conference, ""Springtime of Faith,"" features an early bird ticket price of $10 if purchased before October 10. The regular price for tickets at the door is $15.00. BC students are free with ID. Register by calling Dona Domann at 913-360-7699."

Communion and Liberation
Write to Father Meinrad, or talk to a CL leader about the schedule for this year.

On different weeks the following groups will meet:

Big School of Community. all together (with Sal, where we can bring our questions)
Small School of Community. (with the leader/group you choose)
3:59. (Cultural event. Movie or music presentation) (Just as the Disciples found the Lord, and it was Four O’Clock; so many are stuck at 3:59, waiting to encounter Christ.)
Small School of Community.

BC Communion and Liberation Student Groups
Joey Orrino’s group will be meeting in the upper lounge of the Student Union at 7pm on Thursday.
Beth Stokman and Kati Jansen’s group will be meeting in the Schroll Center (Mcdonald's Lounge) Wednesday at 7pm.
Fr. Meinrad's group will meet on Mondays at 7:30 PM in the upper lounge of the Student Union.
Non students interested in CL should contact Father Meinrad at this e-mail for information about meeting times.

___________________________________________________
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
-James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

CL Documentary
This evening, Sunday August 26, there will be a viewing of the Communion and Liberation Documentary from Italian TV in the Benedictine College Student Union Second Floor Classroom at 8:30 PM. All are welcome.

Opening School Mass
The Benedictine College opening school Mass will be at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, August 28 in the Abbey Church. This is also the Feast of Saint Augustine, an appropriate day to celebrate our community of faith, scholarship, and communion in Christ and in the Church.

___________________________________________________
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. -Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Saint Bernard

College Mass Schedule. Masses start today, Monday August 20, Feast of St. Bernard
Eucharistic Holy Hour
+Delphine Schmitz, May she Rest in Peace
Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR to speak at Benedictine College October 29
Jim Kelly’s Tribute to Steve Tasker

Today is the Feast of Saint Bernard, Cistercian Monk

In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.

- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

College Mass Schedule begins today, Monday August 20,
the Feast of Saint Bernard, Cistercian Monk
Saint Martin’s Chapel
Monday-Friday: 12:05 PM (12:10 PM on Tuesday. Thursday)
Monday-Thursday: 9:30 PM
Saint Benedict’s Abbey Church
Sunday: 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM
Saint Benedict’s Abbey Masses
Monday-Friday: 5:15 PM
Saturday, 11:30 AM
Sunday: 10:00 AM
Saint Benedict’s Parish Masses
Monday-Saturday, 8:20 AM
Saturday (Vigil of Sunday) 5:15 PM
Sunday, 8:30 and 10:30 AM, and 6:30 PM
Mt. St. Scholastica Monastery Masses
Monday-Friday: 7:15 AM
Saturday: 9:15 AM
Sunday: 10:15 AM

Eucharistic Holy Hour
Every Saturday evening from 8-9 PM, join the monks for a Eucharistic Holy Hour in the Abbey Church. Come let us adore our Lord who became man, and dwells among us!!!

+Delphine Schmitz
Delphine Schmitz died Thursday August 16. She and her husband lived in my home parish growing up. She would often help lead the Holy Rosary with my mother before Mass. She was also a first cousin of our Bishop Herbert Hermes, OSB, a monk of the Abbey serving as Bishop of Cristalandia, Brazil for the last 17 years.

Rosary was last evening at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Hutchinson. Mass of Christian Burial will be today at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 20, at the church, with Father Joe Eckbert presiding. Visitation will be from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Penwell Gabel Funeral Home and Crematory, Hutchinson, with the family present from 2 to 6 p.m. Interment will be in Waterloo Cemetery, Waterloo.

Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR,
to speak here at BC on October 29
I am very excited to announce that a true friend of Benedictine College will be returning this October. Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, will be speaking in the O’Malley McAlister Auditorium at Benedictine College on Monday, October 29, at 4:00 PM (Note the time change from the previously announced 7:30). The topic of his presentation will be Springtime of Faith. The talk is free for BC faculty and students with IDS. For other the cost is $10 before October 10, $15 following. To make your reservation please call Dona Domman at (913) 360-7699. Father Benedict first spoke at Benedictine College on March 25, 1996, the Feast of the Annunciation. His topic at that time was Being Loyal to Christ in a Time of Change.

Jim Kelly’s Tribute to Steve Tasker
On Septmember 7-9 Prior James Albers, OSB from the Abbey and I have been invited to go to Buffalo for Steve Tasker’s induction onto the Bills Wall of Fame. Steve will also be announcing the Buffalo-Denver game for CBS Sports that day.
The following is from the foreword by Jim Kelly to Steve Tasker’s Tales from the Buffalo Bills. Champaign, Il: Sports Publishing, by Steve Tasker and Scott Pitoniak
During my years playing in the National Football League, I had the opportunity to compete with and against scores of talented athletes. Many of theme were close teammates who understood and shared my passion for playing the game we loved. There was one, however, who stood out as a leader, an athlete, a great family man, and a great friend-Steve Tasker...
At training camp with the Bills, Steve was a player no one wanted to cover or could cover for that matter. All the defensive backs would challenge each other to see how they would fare against his speed and toughness. Nobody touched him. This was not exclusive to our team; it happened around the league.
He excelled in special teams play in the NFL. In fact, teams game-planned around Steve. You could see how they would have him double covered, and if that didn’t work, a third guy would peel off to try and stop Steve’s progress. But we know that wasn’t possible- he played with heart, soul, and a determination unmatched by many players today. He could see the field and the openings better than anyone. He could find the player with the ball and make a hit that no one would forget.
...I will never forget that at each and every game, Steve and I would wait in the tunnel, shoulder to shoulder. We would walk onto the field, proud to be a part of the Buffalo Bills. But at Super Bowl XXV, as we stood in the tunnel at one of the greatest games of our lives...We could feel the rippling effect of the band, the crowd, and the energy. We walked out, and there were the flashes of cameras everywhere. I will always remember it as one of the best trips we took as teammates down the tunnel.
When I reflect on that time in our lives, I know it was not only his talent and ability on the field that impressed me but how he conducted himself off the field. Steve has always been a great family man and understands what is important in life-family.
Jim Kelly, Pro Football Hall of Fame Quarterback.

___________________________________________________
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
-James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Christ the King, Topeka
Benedictine College: Growing in Faith
Leader of Communion and Liberation on EWTN
Whispers of Communion and Liberation

Christ the King, Topeka
This weekend I had the honor of celebrating the Masses at Christ the King Catholic Church in Topeka, Ks. I spoke to the people about the Priory our monks established in Brazil. As always I saw many people who graduated from the Mount, St. Benedict’s, Benedictine College, or our high school.

Benedictine College: Growing in Faith
The most amazing aspect of the growth here at Benedictine College is not just that the number of students has nearly doubled since I first came here as Chaplain in 1994. The most amazing aspect is the hunger these young people have for community, for beauty, for truth, for justice, for their Catholic faith, and for Christ. The same is true at Newman Centers and youth ministry program around the world. While the media wants us to believe that faith is dead, the young people are showing that it is alive and well. As Jesus told us in the Gospel, I have come to light a fire on the earth. May we rejoice in that fire of Mercy.

Our Benedictine College President, Steve Minnis has assembled a great leadership team to help carry on the great work of evangelization.

Leader of Communion and Liberation to appear on Rome Reports on EWTN
Thought you might like to know that on EWTN, the showed called Rome Reports, a weekly news program, will next Sunday, 26 August, 10 a.m. eastern, have an interview with Father Julian Carron, leader of Communion ad Liberation. You can also pick up the video clip by visiting: www.romereports.com; web site is frequently updated.

Whispers in the Loggia
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Destiny: Truth. Destination: Communion and Liberation,
Benedict XVI's favorite of the church's "new movements" kicked off its annual seaside conference this morning with a word of encouragement from afar and, befitting its still-increasing global profile, a more succinct message than in years past.

Held every August in the Adriatic resort town of Rimini, Comunione e Liberazione's (Communion and Liberation) weeklong "Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples" has long been a magnet for Italy's ecclesiastical, cultural, political and academic classes. In recent years, however -- and particularly since the election of one of its red-clad cheerleaders to the chair of Peter -- the conference's net has gotten even wider. Case in point: tucked into the lengthy days of concerts, caffè meetings, presentations and round-table discussions is a panel on American jurisprudence headlined by none other than Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

Begun in Milan by the late Msgr Luigi Giussani -- whose 2005 funeral homily was preached before a packed Milan Duomo and Italy-wide TV audience by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, exactly two months before his first public liturgy as Pope -- the CL is better appreciated in practice than explorations of its foundational texts; a long-running line in church circles is that few, if any, can comprehend Don Gius' published streams of thought. In that vein, while last year's Rimini, drawing from the founder's pen, took "Reason is the need for the infinite and culminates in the longing for and the presentiment of this infinite becoming manifest" as its topic, this year's theme is the (much) more easily-approachable "Truth is the destiny for which we have been made."

The meeting's formal opening event last night was a musical on Joan of Arc (written by US composer) played over the backdrop of a 1928 silent film on the French heroine, but events kicked into full gear this morning with a Mass celebrated before a crowd of 10,000 by the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone SDB, acting as papal legate.

"In the current socio-cultural discourse," Benedict's "Vice-Pope" said in his homily, truth "has come to lose its universal value, becoming a 'relative' reference. In fact, the term 'truth' has often become equalized to that of an opinion, which then necessarily descends into the plural: there then exist many truths, many opinions which are often quite different. Sometimes one has the impression that, in the climate of relativism and skepticism that pervades our civilization, this has the effect of proclaiming a radical distrust in the possibility of knowing the truth."

Bertone contrasted his perception of modernity with the Sunday reading's recounting of the prophet Jeremiah who, he said, preached "not a truth of compromise or of comfort, an opportunistic truth, but the truth for its own sake, a truth correlated precisely to the divine will, however uncomfortable."

"The one who hears hears God, the one who clashes places himself against God," he said, comparing Jeremiah's consignment to the cistern to the crucifixion of Jesus "for having given testimony to the truth."
In its coverage, the Italian press has focused more intensely on Bertone's post-liturgy press conference, where he made comments underscoring the moral imperative on paying taxes. The issue was raised amidst calls by the separatist leader Umberto Bossi, head of the Northern League party, for a "tax strike" as a protest against the government of Premier Romano Prodi.

The Pope's ties to the cielini -- as the CL's adherents are known -- run far and deep. Four laywomen of the movement's communal arm, the Memores Domini, comprise the household staff of the papal apartment, and one of the women leads Benedict and the others of the household in the weekly "School of Community" catechesis every Saturday.

Meeting with a St Peter's Square-ful of cielini in March to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Holy See's recognitio of the Comunione's statutes, the pontiff praised Giussani as his "true friend," through whom "the Holy Spirit raised in the Church a Movement -- yours -- that would witness to the beauty of being Christian in an age when the opinion was spreading that Christianity is a difficult and oppressive way to live."

Further underscoring his ringing endorsement of it as his "model" ecclesial movement, Benedict said that the CL "offers a profound way of life and it actualizes the Christian faith."

The Pope said that "the Pope still wants yet again to repeat that the original pedagogical intuition of Communion and Liberation lies in reproposing the Christian event within contemporary culture in a fascinating and harmonious way, perceived as a font of new values and able to orient one's entire existence." And with a line like that, you can tell he's read Giussani.

At the close of today's Angelus, Benedict offered his closeness in prayer to the Rimini gathering, confident that it will enhance awareness of "the most profound vocation of man: to be a seeker of truth and, thus, a seeker of God."

___________________________________________________
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. -Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works
Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Move in Day
Today is the day that Freshmen and new students arrive at Benedictine College. Our enrollment will be close to 1300 for the Fall of 2007, double of when I started back here as Chaplain in 1994. I’m impressed with the maturity, and generosity of this new class. Continue to pray for our faculty, staff, students and alumni that the Holy Spirit continue to use this moment to do great things.

Monsignor Giussani on the Holy Rosary

by Luigi Giussani
The Holy Rosary, the most widespread prayer that popular tradition has handed down to us, has over the centuries consecrated the most humble aspect of the Virgin’s life. As we recite it, the figure of Mary rises up, as it were, in its simplest and most recondite aspect. But in urging you to live the Rosary with a special rediscovery of awareness of what Our Lady is in the life of man and the world, I am led above all by the strongest impression I received during my journey through the Holy Land.

The thing that amazed me most and in a sense paralyzed my spirit–paralyzed in the sense of awestruck–was when I saw the little, remaining grotto-house where the Virgin lived and I read an unassuming little plaque on which was written: Verbum caro hic factum est–The Word was made flesh here. I was as though petrified by the sudden evidence of the method of God, who took something that was nothing, really nothing.

Jesus’ Agony in the Garden
“Now my soul is sorrowful; and what must I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour [faced with the thought of sacrifice, the thought of death, of self-denial…]’? But it is for this that I have come to this hour [for this, for this condition have I been chosen, called, lovingly taught by the mystery of the Father, by the charity of the Son, by the warm light of the Spirit. Now my soul is sorrowful and what must I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? ‘Take away this condition, Father, take away this condition.’ Must I say this? But it is precisely for this that I have come to this hour!].” Thus I can say at the end, “Father, glorify Your name [glorify Your will, bring about, realize Your plan], which I do not comprehend [because He did not comprehend the great injustice]. Father, glorify Your name in front of which I stand in fear and trembling, in obedience–that is to say, in love. My life is Your plan, it is Your will.”

How many times–praying to the Spirit and the Virgin Mary–will we have to reread this passage in order to identify with the most lucid and fascinating instant in which the consciousness of the Man Christ, Jesus, expressed itself. We can come upon this by surprise, from its deepest recesses to the highest peaks of His example of love for Being, of respect for the objectivity of Being, of love for His origin and His destiny, and for the contents of the plan of time, of history. “Father, if possible, let me not die; however, not my but Your will be done.” This is the supreme application of our acknowledgment of Mystery, adhering to the Man-Christ kneeling and sweating blood from the pores of His skin in His agony in Gethsemane–the condition for being true in a relationship is sacrifice.
-Monsignor Luigi Giussani, Founder, Communion and Liberation

___________________________________________________

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Abbey Postulants

Assumption

Reflection by Matthew Tsakanikas of Benedictine College

New Postulants for the Abbey
Last evening, on the Eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Abbey received three men into the postulancy: Nick Padley, Adam Wilczak, and Stephen Watkins. This is yet another sign of the Springtime of faith here at the Abbey and in the college. Thank you for your continued prayers for more vocations to the monastic life here, and to Dioceses and Religious Orders of men and women everywhere. May our Blessed Mother through her Immaculate Heart draw many souls to her Son, Jesus.

Assumption
Today on the campus, there is Mass at 12:10 PM, and 9:30 PM in the St. Martin’s Chapel of Memorial Hall.
The Abbey Mass will be at 5:00 PM (15 minutes earlier than normal) followed by Vespers.
The monks have invited the faculty and staff of the college and their families to the annual picnic today beginning at about 6:00 PM.

Reflection by Matthew Tsakanikas of Benedictine College
Matt wrote the following reflection that appears today on Catholic Exchange: http://www.catholicexchange.com/

By Matthew Tsakanikas, Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas
The Second Vatican Council only promulgated two dogmatic constitutions: Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) and Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church). Stating this is not meant to downplay the other constitutions and documents of the council. Rather, it is to highlight key opening passages found in a dogmatic context. Certain repeated passages at the start of these dogmatic constitutions beckon the faithful to renew their evangelical pronouncements and catechetical methods by incorporating a recovery of the biblical and patristic understanding of deification (in Greek: theosis) into the New Evangelization.

Byzantine (Greek Catholic and Orthodox) theology, spirituality, and catechetical tradition has always centered on the near-symmetry that "God became man so that man might become God" (cf. CCC#460). The pronouncement balances and encompasses the wider meaning of "salvation" and the purpose of the Incarnation as defended by Saint Athanasius against the Arians. In the East, catechetical reiteration upon "participation in the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4) and "becoming God" by grace was always standard fare. In the West, the symmetry was never lost but the doctrine seemingly waned catechetically from the time of the 14th Century until the 20th Century. Nevertheless, the heart of the matter was always maintained in Western mystical theology, especially in Saint John of the Cross, and known implicitly in Marian devotion and study. Liturgically, at the Offertory, we still hear, "By the mingling of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity."

Certainly a creature can never become equal to God in all respects. Such is a contradiction. God had no beginning and is eternal. No creature can ever overcome the fact that he must receive a beginning. No transformation can change the fact that a creature is forever defined by his need for a beginning. A creature forever remains dependent upon God for life and existence. Human nature is a gift and mercy that allows us to overcome 'non-existence'; it is the foundation of our existence. Nevertheless, once a human begins to exist, God can so elevate the capacities of the spiritual soul to know Him that a human begins to participate in God's very power. When God unites Himself to a creature to enable such knowledge, the human can rightly be said to have "become God" by sharing in this union. Without loss to human identity and nature, the grace of deification (becoming God) enables humans into participation in the Trinity and makes humans real family members with God (cf. Jn 1:12).

This teaching is so intrinsic to the Christian message that the dogmatic constitution, Lumen Gentium, immediately stressed God's purpose in creation as: "His plan...to raise men to a participation of the divine life" (#2). The other dogmatic constitution, Dei Verbum reiterates the same at its opening: "through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18; 2 Peter 1:4)" (#2). We are called to experience the infinite bliss which God knows, and we are given a share in God's own power to experience Him! On the Feast of the Assumption we should at least briefly reflect upon what deification meant for the Virgin Mary.

Renewing Mariology
Commenting on the theological movement of popes since the Second Vatican Council, Stratford Caldecott, contributing editor to Communio and director of the Centre for Faith and Culture (Oxford) writes: "In particular, it is the 'rediscovered' doctrine of theosis [deification] or divinization by grace, when combined with other fundamental principles of Catholic theology, that indicates how we can safely attribute to our Lady many of the titles and honors that popular devotion wishes to bestow upon her, without driving a wedge between her and the Church, or between her and ourselves" (Logos 3:3 p.89).

An excellent passage from Saint Basil the Great can serve as one such sturdy launching pad for such a reflection and rediscovery. The passage ties closely together the mystery of one's share in the Holy Spirit and one's becoming a source (mediatrix) of grace for others. In his work, De spiritu sancto, Basil explains:

As souls that bear the Spirit are illumined by the Spirit they become spiritual themselves and send forth grace to others. Thence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of things hidden, distribution of spiritual gifts, citizenship in heaven, the dance with the angels, joy without end, divine distribution, likeness to God, and the summit of our longings, namely, to become God (9:23).

Certainly he is speaking of all Christians sending forth grace to others because of their union with the Holy Spirit. The greater such union, the greater they become relative sources of grace. How much more so this must be true of the Saints in heaven who experience the greatest possible union with the Holy Spirit and watch over us! Jesus pointed to such a share in his mediation when he said, "Whoever believes in me will do the works I do and greater ones than these" (John 14:12).

If those who have been touched by sin and are now in heaven can be mediators of grace in Christ, how much more so can the one "conceived without sin" be a mediatrix of grace! She is the Immaculate Conception, totally united with the Holy Spirit from the moment of her conception and never knowing sin due to the saving power of Christ in her predestination. No one believed more in Jesus than the Virgin Mary, and no one received a greater share in Jesus' Spirit (cf. 2 Kings 2:9) than the Virgin Mary. Christ, the new Adam (cf. 1 Cor 15:45) prepared a new Eve to be the mother to all who are participants in the Spirit. Christ's saving office as new Adam and high-priest did not end in death. Nor did Mary's saving office, bestowed at the Annunciation and prepared in the Immaculate Conception, end in death. She is the first to be fully saved in Christ Jesus.

Queen Assumed into Heaven
Sent to earth to be our true Adam and source of deification, Jesus needed to resurrect from the dead, body and soul, so there could be a renewed humanity in which we could share through the Holy Spirit. "High-priest for all humanity" is an office in which only Jesus can serve and an office on behalf of humanity requires someone still fully-human (body and soul): "He learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, declared by God high priest..." (Heb 5:8-9). As a man, Jesus was given a mission, and that mission was not to end in death. He is now the heavenly man who has become "the Last Adam a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor 15:45).

The superabundant and life-giving relationship Jesus has with the Father became accessible to us because the Word (Jesus) was made flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:14). He showed us how to enter into this relationship and empowered us to make gifts of ourselves to God. Jesus gives us a participation in his relationship with the Father when he gives us the Holy Spirit to know and love the Father as He does: "No one knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him" (Matthew 11:27). This share in the Son's relationship with the Father is the beginning of our deification as "sons in the Son", the beginning of eternal life in us. Just as we share in Jesus' relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit, we also share in Christ's one mediation through the same power of the Holy Spirit according as the gift is distributed.

Given the brief nature of this article, it suffices to say that the angel Gabriel's invitation to Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, included a cooperation (an office) which God willed would not end at Jesus' birth. God bestowed an office upon Mary when she agreed that the Spirit should descend upon her and make her fruitful for the sake of the Messiah and his mission; that her heart should be united with his and also be "pierced" (Luke 2:35). Her whole life is dedicated to Christ and she becomes the Mother of all disciples according to the announcement from the Cross: "Behold your Mother!" (John 19:27). The Mother of the Lord is Queen Mother for the Kingdom. The office is three-times re-affirmed. She was there to nurture Christ as a babe and obtain the new wine at the Wedding Feast of Cana. She continues to be there for those newly born of her Son and she participates with the Spirit in bringing them into union with Christ just as she did at Pentecost (Acts 1:14). From her union with the mission of her Son, the Spirit continues to shower us with graces.

"This mediation flows from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it. It does not hinder in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ but on the contrary fosters it" (Lumen Gentium #60). Since only she can fill the office of Queen Mother to the Kingdom which Jesus finalized at the Cross, and since Jesus desires to foster union of the faithful with himself, Jesus has already raised her body and soul to continue her office on behalf of humanity.

Taken together with the words of Saint Basil from De spiritu sancto, along with the meaning of our deification, Mary's prerogatives are explained by the Second Vatican Council: "Taken up into heaven, she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to procure for us the gifts of eternal salvation...Therefore the blessed Virgin is invoked in the church under the titles of advocate, helper, benefactress, and mediatrix" (Lumen Gentium #62).

"O, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!"

Matthew Tsakanikas is the Director of the Institute of Religious Studies, a joint effort of Benedictine College and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

___________________________________________________

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. -Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

New Benedictine College website
Baby Pio Zia
+Sister Regina Hansen, O.S.B.
+Kelly Thorpe Estrada

What is Communion and Liberation?

New Benedictine College Website
Check out the new Benedictine College website at http://www.benedictine.edu

Congratulations to the Zias!

Julia and Dr. Mark Zia are happy to announce that their third child was born via a natural delivery August 6th, the Feast of the Transfiguration, at 11:16 p.m. at Heartland Hospital in St. Joseph. Their son, Pio Pasquale Zia, weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 21 inches long. He was a bit of a trouble maker, so mom is on the mend, but both are doing well and have returned home as of Wednesday afternoon.

Dr. Zia is the acting Chairman of the Theology department at Benedictine College this fall while Dr. Richard White is teaching at the Florence, Italy, campus of Benedictine College.

+Sister Regina (Mary Urban) Hansen, O.S.B.
December 13, 1919 – August 8, 2007

A gifted woman, Sister Regina used her formidable intellectual energy for research and teaching aimed to advance human welfare. From the undereducated poor who tend to “fall into the cracks” to the higher education that nurtures international understanding, her immense range of interests made her a trailblazer and catalyst for innovative educational programs. Violinist, pianist, administrator, college teacher (U.S., Israel, Egypt), world traveler, Benedictine lover of place, writer – Sister Regina encouraged others to love the arts and to study and serve. Born in Alamosa, Colo., she was the oldest child of Ernest H. and Maria Griesemer Hansen. Sister Regina entered the Mount community June 13, 1941, and made monastic profession Jan. 1, 1943. She earned the MA in music from the Conservatory of Music, Kansas City, Mo., and the MA and PhD in English from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis. She designed an individualized instruction process for DeLaSalle High School in Kansas City, Mo., and administered and explained its instruction/counseling approach for other school systems. As a Fulbright scholar, Sister Regina went to India and to Cairo, Egypt; was visiting professor of English at Kaohsiung Teachers College in Taiwan, taught English at Bethlehem University and chaired the English department there. She taught at Donnelly College, Kansas City, Kans., Mount St. Scholastica College, and Benedictine College, and was an emerita member of its Board of Directors. She embraced “the love of learning and the desire for God.” Let us remember her in grateful prayer.

+Kelly Thorpe Estrada
One of our alums, Tommy Thorpe ’87, lost his sister last week. Her name is Kelly Thorpe Estrada. Kelly was killed by her estranged husband and then he killed himself. Kelly has two children who will now be cared for by Tommy and his parents. Kelly’s funeral is tomorrow (Tuesday) out in Denver. Would you please put them on your prayer list?

What is Communion and Liberation?
“A charism,” Fr. Giussani has written, “can be defined as a gift of the Spirit, given to a person in a specific historical context, so that this person can initiate an experience of faith that might in some way be useful to the life of the Church. I emphasize the existential nature of charism: it makes the Christian message handed down by the apostolic tradition more convincing, more persuasive, more ‘approachable.’ A charism is an ultimate terminal of the Incarnation, that is, it is a particular way in which the Fact of Jesus Christ Man and God reaches me, and through me can reach others.”

The essence of the charism given to Communion and Liberation can be signaled by three factors.
first of all, the announcement that God became man (the wonder, the reasonableness, the enthusiasm for this): “The Word was made flesh and dwells among us.”

secondly, the affirmation that this man – Jesus of Nazareth dead and risen – is a present event in a “sign” of “communion,” i.e., of unity of a people guided, as a guarantee, by a living person, ultimately the Bishop of Rome;
thirdly: only in God made man, man, therefore only in His presence and, thus only through – in some way – the experienceable form of His presence (therefore, ultimately only within the life of the Church) can man be truer and mankind be truly more human. St Gregory Nazianzen writes, “If I were not Yours, my Christ, I would feel like a finished creature”. It is thus from His presence that both morality and the passion for the salvation of man (which is mission) spring up.

“From the first hour of class at the Berchet high school in Milan,” Fr. Giussani recalls, “I tried to show the students what moved me: not the wish to convince them that I was right, but the desire to show them the reasonableness of faith; that is, that their free adhesion to the Christian proclamation was demanded by their discovery of the correspondence of what I was saying with the needs of their hearts, as implied by the definition of reasonableness. Only this dynamic of recognition makes whoever adheres to our movement creative and a protagonist, and not simply one who repeats formulas and things they have heard. For this reason, it seems to me, a charism generates a social phenomenon not as something planned, but as a movement of persons who have been changed by an encounter, who tentatively make the world, the environment, and the circumstances that they encounter more human. The memory of Christ when it is lived tends inevitably to generate a presence in society, above and beyond any planned result.”

___________________________________________________

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. -Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

Springtime of Faith

Steve Tasker, the Wall of Fame,

and BC student Stephanie Mouser

Another Wall of Famer endorses Belmont Abbey College

Springtime of Faith

I am very excited to announce that a true friend of Benedictine College will be returning this October. Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, will be speaking in the O’Malley McAlister Auditorium at Benedictine College on Monday, October 29, at 4:00 PM (Note the time change from the previously announced 7:30). The topic of his presentation will be Springtime of Faith. The talk is free for BC faculty and students with IDS. For other the cost is $10 before October 10, $15 following. To make your reservation please call Dona Domman at (913) 360-7699. Father Benedict first spoke at Benedictine College on March 25, 1996, the Feast of the Annunciation. His topic at that time was Being Loyal to Christ in a Time of Change.

Father Benedict has been Director of the Office of Spiritual Development for the Archdiocese of New York. He founded the Trinity Retreat, a center for prayer and study for the clergy. He was appointed promoter of the cause of canonization of the Servant of God Terence Cardinal Cooke by John Cardinal O’Connor in 1984.

Previously Father Benedict was chaplain of the Children’s Village in Dobb’s Ferry, New York for fourteen years.

Father Benedict obtained his doctorate in psychology from Columbia University in 1971 and has served as professor of pastoral psychology at Saint Joseph’s Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. He has taught at Fordham University, Iona College, and the Maryknoll Seminary. He is also chairman of the Good Counsel Homes and the St. Francis House which provide residence and program for homeless young mothers and homeless youth.

In May 1987, along with eight other friars, Father Benedict formed the community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal under the patronage of Cardinal O’Connor of New York. This community, which follow the Capuchin tradition, is dedicated to preaching renewal and personal reform and providing care for the homeless around the world.

Father Benedict has published a number of books and tapes, and CDs on spirituality and pastoral counseling and is familiar to television audiences.

See the first paragraph for information on how to register for this talk.

Steve Tasker, the Wall of Fame,
and BC student Stephanie Mouser
When I told people about Steve Tasker’s being named to the Bills Wall of Fame, BC student Stephanie Mouser mentioned to me that her cousin from Iowa, Josh Stamer, is now playing special teams for the Buffalo Bills. The following article mentions the two players.

Tasker's wisdom is welcomed
Former special teams ace drops in on camp to impart knowledge
Sal Maiorana
Staff writer

(August 6, 2007) — PITTSFORD — The man many people think revolutionized the way special teams are played in the NFL, who has seven Pro Bowl invitations to prove it, resides about 15 minutes from Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"Him being the best special-teamer who ever played in the NFL and living right here in town, it would be stupid of us not to try to get that knowledge out of his head," said Josh Stamer, one of the best special teamers on the current Bills roster, about ex-Bills star and proud western New Yorker Steve Tasker.

Later on, spealing of Tasker, Stamer said: "There's something in there that made him the best besides being scrappy," Stamer said. "He has a ton of knowledge, and he can talk football talk. He can tell you an opponent does this and he can give us the answer to any question we have."

Another Wall of Famer endorses Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, a Benedictine school, hosted an event the other year which featured another Buffalo Bill Wall of Famer speaking about the value of Catholic higher education.

Extremely durable and dependable, Joe DeLamielleure had played in 185 consecutive games during his 13 playing seasons with the Bills and the Cleveland Browns. A starter from the first game of his rookie season, he played and started in every game for eight seasons in Buffalo before being traded to Cleveland.

Primarily due to the success of the Bills’ running attack led by Simpson, DeLamielleure was best known for his run blocking. With DeLamielleure manning the front line, O.J. became the first player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. But, he was more than just a run blocker, DeLamielleure was also an effective pass blocker and rarely allowed his opponent to disrupt Buffalo’s or Cleveland’s pass plays. DeLamielleure, who was named to the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade Team, finished his career in 1985 with a final season back where it had begun, in Buffalo.

Twelve years later, he was honored by the Bills by being placed on the team’s Wall of Fame at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"It meant a lot. It meant a whole lot,” said DeLamielleure in an interview at the time. “I wish my parents were both alive, they both had passed away by that time. It was my proudest moment in football because it’s not for a game like when you get a game ball or go to a Pro Bowl for a season - that’s for a career. It’s the best honor I’ve ever had in football."

Hundreds of students and their families had an opportunity to hear Joe DeLamielleure’s story when he gives his talk, “The Values of Catholic Higher Education,” during a special reception on April 4, 2006 at 6:00 PM at the Buffalo Club in Buffalo, NY. The event was hosted by Belmont Abbey College, a great Benedictine college in North Carolina..

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A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. -Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6

New Way of the Cross

Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB, blessed the new Stations of the Cross north of the St. Benedict's Abbey Cemetery Aug. 4, 2007. Our novice Br. Leven and Andy Soukup started the project which was completed with the help of the Brazilian monks while were here.

...we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ, and be found worthy to be coheirs with Him of His kingdom. -Conclusion of the Prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict

125th Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention on EWTN

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), Salt & Light Television (Canada), and Sirius Satellite Radio’s The Catholic Channel will each provide coverage from the Knights of Columbus 125th Supreme Convention Aug. 7-9, 2007 in Nashville, Tn. Knights are encouraged to tune in to convention coverage via television, radio or the Internet.

Pope Benedict XVI on Monsignor Luigi Giussani

He was always the faithful servant of the Holy Father and his bishops. His legacy is a new way of thinking about the Church: Communion and Liberation.

Travels with Bishop Herbert

Bishop Herbert Hermes, OSB, is a monk of our Abbey and Bishop of Cristalandia, Brazil. He and I spent the last two weeks visiting family and friends in Colorado and Kansas. We had a nice visit with Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M., Cap. in Denver, and Bishop Michael Sheridan in Colorado Springs. We also saw family and friends in Lamar, Co, and Leoti, Scott City, and Wichita, Ks.

Bishop Herbert’s Prelacy (pre-Diocese) in Brazil is the size of Iowa. For 17 years he has labored among the people. Please keep him in your prayers.

Steve Tasker to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame

On September 9, Steve Tasker’s name will be added to the Wall of Fame of the Buffalo Bills. He will join such noted players and coaches as Jack Kemp, Jim Kelly, and Marv Levy. Steve and his wife Sara are the parents of five children, and have been generous in their support of Ravens Respect Life at Benedictine College. On that day Tasker will also be one of the announcers of Buffalo’s home opener against Denver for CBS Sports.

Also please remember Steve’s father, the Rev. Gordon Tasker in your prayers. He is a retired Methodist minister living in Winfield, Ks who just had a heart attack this past Friday. Bishop Herbert and I were able to visit with him at the Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita on Saturday morning.

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A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1

Not to give way to anger.

-Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 4 on Tools of Good Works

Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, -James 1, 19

Here the prophet shows that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.
-Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6