kansas monks
Dear Friends in Christ,
In August, we celebrate a remarkable feast, one that shows the great honor and dignity our God has conferred upon us through our Lord Jesus Christ. I am speaking, of course, of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, which we commemorate on August 15th.
The Assumption of Mary is a fulfillment of the prophecy at the heart of her Magnificat: that God will lift up the lowly. She is now and forever the Heavenly Queen who reigns with her Son. She did not need to be born into a noble family, to have great wealth, or to manage some great worldly enterprise in order to be honored. All she had to do was to say “yes” over and over to God’s will for her life and care for her Son.
So Mary is an image of our hope. We too will be raised up if we are humble enough to accept God’s will for our lives.
This promise of rising out of lowliness into God’s favor is, in some ways, a theme that you will find reflected in this month’s edition of Kansas Monks. The biblical story of St. Raphael, for example, foreshadows the grace bestowed on the humble Mary at the word of an angel. You can read more about St. Raphael on the next page.
And Mary’s perfect love and trust in God’s providence, submitting herself unwaveringly to the will of God in the face of great uncertainty, proved a fitting model for the earlier generations of monks and sisters who had to entrust their stewardship of historic men’s and women’s colleges to a unified vision of Catholic higher education here in Atchison. The history of that period of discerning God’s will for our
August 2024
educational apostolate, Benedictine College—and, just as importantly, following his will—is detailed on pages four through six inside.
As Benedictines, we look to Mary as our model of monastic life. Her life of prayer, contemplation, and service inspires us to seek God above all things and to live in harmony with our brothers in the community. While what He asks of us may seem to us too small and insignificant in the eyes of the world, it is our salvation. Mary’s Assumption reminds us of the ultimate goal of our monastic journey—to be united with God in eternal life.
May the Assumption of Mary into Heaven fill our hearts with joy and renew our commitment to live as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us rejoice in the hope of one day sharing in the glory that Mary now enjoys with her Son in heaven.
In Christ,
Abbot James R. Albers, O.S.B.
IN THIS ISSUE
Feature: A Time to Embrace A History of the Benedictine College Merger
Pages 4–6
Up Next: Raphael, Guardian and Healer Part I of III on the Archangels . . . . .
table on contents on page 3
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St. Raphael, Guardian and Healer The Archangels, Part I
Part I of III on the subject of the angels named in scripture—the Archangels. In the August edition, Fr. Marion reflects on St. Raphael, who was sent by God to deliver a family of faithful Jews from a demonic power.
By Fr. Marion Charboneau, O.S.B.
“I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand and serve before the Glory of the Lord.”
A reader might recognize those words as the climax of the Book of Tobit. Raphael himself is one of the three Archangels whose name is revealed to us in Holy Scripture, along with Michael and Gabriel. In a typical liturgical year, we encounter them and the other angels a good deal in our celebrations in the coming fall and winter. September 22nd is the Feast of the Archangels; then on October 2nd, that of the Guardian Angels; and we’ll hear of Gabriel’s appearance to Mary in December. Lastly, we will also encounter choirs of angels singing of our Savior’s birth at Christmas time.
The focus in this series will be the three Archangels, although we’ll devote some attention to the Guardian Angels as well, for a couple of reasons. First, the Guardian Angels are the patrons of the monks of the American Cassinese monastic congregation, of which St. Benedict’s Abbey is a proud member. Second, St. Raphael, while not named as a guardian angel, is their prototype in scripture, and his protection and guidance in the Book of Tobit is a model for us monks as we steward our apostolates of Maur Hill-Mount Academy and Benedictine College.
In the Book of Tobit, a story more like an historical novel than a literal history, Raphael is sent in answer to the prayers of Tobit and a young woman named Sarah. Tobit is an elderly and pious Jew, but suffering from blinding cataracts and the misfortune of being taken captive to Assyria. Sarah suffers the tragedy of losing seven husbands to a demon named Asmodeus. Both of them pray to God for death. Tobit then sends his son, Tobiah, to retrieve his fortune in the city of Media. Raphael, disguised as a human being, agrees to be
Tobiah’s guide. Through Raphael’s help, Tobiah is able to miraculously cure his father’s blindness and drive the demon from Sarah, whom he takes as his bride.
Raphael’s exhortations to the three after the miracles is good advice for anyone: To give glory and praise to God for his blessings and to make him known. In finally revealing his true identity, Raphael also gives the assurance from his own eyewitness that God truly hears our prayers, and that our needs are indeed placed before God.
Fittingly, Raphael has become a patron of travelers,
Filippino Lippi, circa 1472, Tobias and the Angel, oil
the blind, of joyous gatherings, health care workers, marriages, and even Catholic studies. His service in the story is much like that of a guardian angel, and there can be no question that as an archangel, he intercedes for us and praises God on our behalf.
Raphael serves for us monks as a model for what we do on behalf of Benedictine College and Maur HillMount Academy. There’s an unseen element, namely as board members, collaborating with administrators to ensure that all is done for God’s glory. In addition, there are the visible roles of monks as instructors, teachers, spiritual directors, mentors, and even friends. Most of all, of course, we monks celebrate daily liturgies as religious brothers and priests—the Liturgy of the Hours and the sacrifice of the Mass. Angels, we are told in the Letter to the Hebrews, are “ministering spirits.” In that respect, we unite with St. Raphael and all the other angels in serving God, with Jesus’ unifying manhood and Godhood bringing everything together, so that in the Holy Spirit, God the Father is given all due honor and praise.
It’s worth remembering that all the angels are God’s angels. They serve him, and Raphael graciously chose to serve us, reminding not just Tobit, Tobiah, and Sarah, but indeed all of us, that there amid tragedy and suffering there is a great plan at work: one of love, and one that leads to ultimate blessing in Jesus Christ as our Savior. This month, we remember Raphael’s role in that, and we even count him as one of God’s blessings.
Fr. Marion is a priest and a fly fisherman. His passion for fishing started early in life; his passion for the faith came later on. He is an adjunct instructor of history for Benedictine College.
Next Month: Watch this space for a continuation of the series, when Fr . Marion will turn his attention to St . Michael the Archangel .
Editor’s Note: In June and July, Br. David Bissen, O.S.B. published the first two parts of a series on The Art of Living. His third installment will appear in this space in the November edition. Visit the link at right to re-read Parts I and II.
My holy Guardian Angel, cover me with your wing. With your fire light the road that I’m taking. Come, direct my steps… help me, I call upon you. Just for today.”
From the poems of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbot’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 1
Raphael, Guardian and Healer . . . . . . Page 2
A Time To Embrace
Page 4
The Abbey is a sponsor of Benedictine College. Br. Placidus relates how two historical colleges transformed into a premiere Catholic co-ed university.
Tell of His Deeds in Songs of Joy . . . . Page 5
The abbey’s organ serves as the instrument of study for Benedictine College music majors specializing in organ performance. We’ve taken the program under our wing.
Living the Liturgy .
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Reflect on the readings for this month’s Sunday and Holy Day masses. In August, we focus especially on the divine amazement of the Transfiguration and the Assumption.
Back Home in Atchison . . . . .
Welcome back, Fr. Luke!
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The mission of St. Benedict’s Abbey is to glorify God by seeking him through joyful self-sacrifice, by embracing fully the monastic and apostolic ideals, and by leading others to encounter Jesus Christ, who brings us all together to eternal life.
Kansas Monks: The Newsletter is a monthly production of the monastic community of St. Benedict’s Abbey to help fulfill this mission.
Read our archives at www.kansasmonks.org/newsletter.
A History of the Benedictine College Merger A Time to Embrace
In our feature article this month, the Abbey’s archivist revisits t he circumstances and discussions that led to the founding of Benedictine College out of the merger of two historic colleges. “For everything there is a season,” scripture tells us in Ecclesiastes, Chapter Three: “a time to build up … a time to embrace …” Read on to learn how the communities of Benedictine monks and sisters in Atchison brought their colleges together.
By Br. Placidus Lee, O.S.B.
The 2024 academic year marks the 53rd year of existence of Benedictine College, which, as many know, came into existence from the merger of two previous colleges: Mount Saint Scholastica College, founded by the sisters of Mount Saint Scholastica Monastery in 1863, and St. Benedict’s College, founded by the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey in 1857. This 53rd year represents the culmination of the many years of hard work, dedication, faithfulness, and stability put in by the hundreds of Benedictine sisters and monks since from the founding days.
We are far enough now from the events of the merger that many of the Abbey’s friends and benefactors, even many of the current generation of students, may not know the story of the merger of the two colleges. As time has passed, some have recalled the decision to merge as rushed; however, the social and cultural changes of the time led to the steps taken, culminating in the 1970–1971 merger meetings. Out of the chaos of those meetings arose the stability and success of today’s Benedictine College.
The merger was a product of its time: the late 1960s saw changing demographics in Catholic education, the Church, and the greater world. Like many stories that result in a happy ending—in this case, a
prosperous college—the merger may have spurred hard choices and hurt feelings, but it also yielded triumph in the face of difficult circumstances and resolve in the face of a changing world. The Church in America after the Second Vatican Council was optimistically attempting to engage the modern world in a new way, desiring to be taken seriously by the rest of the country, and trying not to lose her identity in the process. However, this eventually
St. Benedict’s College archival photo, 1959
led to a trend of secularization in some Catholic colleges and universities.
At St. Benedict’s College, these trends manifested in several ways. Many disciplines were abandoned. 1967 saw the discontinuation of the All-School Retreat being obligatory for all students. In 1968, curfew was dropped for all students but freshman, and the practice of counting class skips was abolished. Yet the change that most influenced the road to the later merger was the inclusion of lay men on the board of directors of the college in 1969. Prior to this change, the board of directors of St. Benedict’s College had been the Abbey’s Council of Seniors, comprising the Abbot and his leading advisors in the monastery. Already at their first meeting, this new board was speaking of the possibility of a future merger of the colleges.
In the late 1960s, the two colleges were already operating in a collaborative way. The math and music departments were closely united, and the two campuses shared a large computer together. However, students on both campuses were itching to be like the many other colleges at this time that were going co-educational. A 1968 poll in The Rambler, the men’s student newspaper, found that 63% of St. Benedict’s College students and 68% of Mount St. Scholastica College’s students were in favor of a merger of the two colleges. In 1969, a joint committee between the two institutions was formed to study a possible joint curriculum. Discussions on new “models” were being held.
These discussions were spearheaded by Sr. Mary Noel Wolters, O.S.B. They looked at new potential relationships between the two colleges. The discussions produced seven different options, among which were such options as merging into one college with two campuses, keeping two separate colleges with non-duplicative majors, and the model of a junior college feeding into a senior college. The general timeline was given as: whatever change may come about, it would happen within the next two-to-five years.
However, plans changed, and those relationships would have to be negotiated much sooner than anticipated. Finances at St. Benedict’s College were not adding up to what was needed for the college to survive. The source of this deficit was twofold: the late 1960s brought a drop in practicing Catholics, and along with it, fewer men
and women joining the religious life or priesthood. This meant there were fewer monks serving as faculty and administration in the college and, at that time, 100% salaries of monks at Saint Benedict’s College and Maur Hill Preparatory Academy went back to the institution. Fewer monks meant less income flowing back to the college. It also meant that fewer Catholics were looking for a solidly Catholic education, with a massive drop in enrollment projected to happen in the coming academic year. A slow economy and high inflation were driving the deficit in the budget higher, adding to the troubles.
Faced with this major deficit and the very real question of survival of St. Benedict’s College, the board met to decide what to do. In 1970, the board made the very difficult decision—with survival of the college in mind—to become co-educational. Reactions to this news varied greatly, from acceptance to great dismay. Mount St. Scholastica College, which was female-only at the time, felt the greatest impact of this decision, as the two institutions would then compete for the same students. Emergency meetings with the board of directors of Mount St. Scholastica College were held. Understandably, the board members of Mount St. Scholastica College expressed feelings of betrayal of trust. While St. Benedict’s board members had survival on their mind, they were reluctant for that survival to be at the cost of their sister school. Several months of meetings were to follow.
By May of 1970, an agreement was reached. The 19701971 academic year would be the last of the historic arrangement of the colleges. A joint planning committee was formed to select the best of the seven previously proposed models for the new arrangement of the colleges. That fall, the recommendations were presented to the boards of both institutions. Three options were researched: both colleges going out of existence and emerging and a new, singular college that owned all properties of the original two colleges; both colleges legally remaining in existence with the new college leasing the existing properties from them; or for there to simply be a legal partnership between the two colleges with a single administration. In the end, the second option was chosen.
In contrast to many of the religious orders divesting their apostolates at the time, this lease agreement allowed both monastic communities to retain their leadership over
the school. The monks and sisters would each have a set number of board members on the board of directors of Benedictine College, to help guide the future of the new institution. To keep the identity of the new college both solidly Catholic and in line with its Benedictine heritage, a detailed lease agreement was drawn up with conditions the new institution would have to follow. What property belonged at that time to both institutions was leased to Benedictine College, though the new college could acquire its own property beyond those bounds. Much debate occurred between the two colleges’ boards over what those stipulations would be, especially over the amount of Theology and Philosophy courses that would be required for students. In the end, it was agreed upon to retain the requirements St. Benedict’s College had at the time of the merger, which is three courses in each field. Benedictine college was incorporated in 1971 with 104 faculty members, 26 administrators, and 1,276 students.
Despite the turmoil and uncertainty of the merger, we can reflect now on that time and recall the words of Raguel’s prayer in the Book of Tobit: “Blessed are you, O God, for you have made me happy; what I feared did not
happen. Rather you have dealt with us according to your abundant mercy” (Tobit 8: 16-17). The intervening years have been filled with their own trials and triumphs, but the Kansas Monks, the Sisters of Mount Saint Scholastica, and the lay leaders of Benedictine College have much to celebrate in how they have shepherded the merger into the 21st century.
Br. Placidus hails from Alabama and graduated from Benedictine College in 2011 with an education degree. He teaches religion at Maur Hill–Mount Academy, in addition to serving as the Abbey’s archivist.
CALLING ALL ALUMNI
At this “Back to School” time of year, many recall their own school days—college, high school, or elementary. If you or your loved ones attended any school founded by the Kansas Monks or Sisters of the Mount, we’d love to hear from you! Let us know on our website at: www.kansasmonks.org/alumni
Tell of His Deeds in Songs of Joy
Student Musicians and the Abbey Organ
The Church’s sacred music is a timeless treasury in which our monks and Benedictine College continue to invest. Our organ helps to carry out the words of scripture: Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Psalm 107: 21–22
By Dr. James R. A. Merrick
Students at Benedictine College officially begin their studies by entering the abbey church for the Convocation Mass. And their time at Benedictine is officially concluded when they are sent out from the Commencement Mass. As freshmen process in and as the graduates recess out, the abbey organ fills their hearts with joy and attests to their hope.
This isn’t the only time the organ will impact the lives of Benedictine College students. Beyond the regular monastic liturgies and Sunday masses, the abbey organ is a special part of the opportunities that the college’s music department offers. It is played throughout the academic year at numerous concerts and recitals, including a joint choral concert with the University of Kansas which invites their students and families into the abbey church. In fact, the abbey organ sees daily use from college students.
» Article continues on page 10 »
Living the Liturgy Commentary on the Liturgical Year
TheBy Tom Hoopes
Church wants to amaze and astound you this August—and also enflame your heart—by reminding you just how much like the animal kingdom you are, and then just how spectacularly beyond the animal kingdom Jesus Christ has taken you.
The August Sunday readings are about feeding our bodies on earth then seeing them transformed in heaven. They stress our need for the real presence of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, and two special feasts this month—the Transfiguration of Our Lord and the Assumption of Our Lady—change our understanding of the physical world.
That’s good. We need to be shaken up. It has been four centuries since the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century, and it shows. We Catholics can’t help but be very strongly influenced by the materialistic worldview that demands that we only believe what we can touch, test and quantify. These Summer Sundays in Year B of the liturgical cycle of readings remind us that there is so much more. They show that Jesus Christ, true man, knew that our bodies need real food—and that Jesus Christ, true God, invited us to share in his divine life.
There has always been a creative tension between two strains of religious sentiments throughout time. One sees religion as a guide to life in this world; the other sees religion as a way out. The genius of Jesus Christ is that he gives us both.
When the Church guides us through this world, it tells us how to behave (the Ten Commandments), what attitude to have (the Eight Beatitudes), and what to do with our time (the Works of Mercy). Look for that this August, as St. Paul exhorts us again and again to live according to the new life we have been given.
But the other strain in religion is the supernatural— the “wild and crazy,” if you will. You see it in everything from the visitations by angels reported throughout history to the intricate dreams of Native Americans that were taken with deadly seriousness. You also see it in the world’s longing for the extraordinary, from the video game worlds we create to the popularity of Stephen King, Lord of the Rings and Stranger Things.
The Church is reliable a guide to that world also, laying bare the meaning of what lies above—or at the core of—what we can see. The Church gives us direct contact with Christ himself (in the Seven Sacraments), the Holy Spirit (through his Seven Gifts) and the Father (through the Transcendentals: goodness, truth, beauty and being).
In August it all plays out week by week, feast by feast, revealing fascinating God and yourself more and more.
Icon of the Transfiguration, circa 1516, from a Russian monastery
GOD ISN’T PETTY LIKE US
4 August, 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
What did God do for the Israelites? He rescued them from their Egyptian masters, gave them the Passover, parted the Red Sea, and pointed them to the Promised Land.
And how did the Israelites respond? “Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!” they grumbled. “But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine.”
But instead of answering them with the back of his hand, God answers them with an open palm. “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread.”
Our God isn’t petty, vindictive, or thin-skinned. He doesn’t hold their selfish prayers against them: He showers them with Manna and quail.
The same scenario plays out in the Gospel. After Jesus has multiplied bread and walked on water, the people dare to say, “What sign can you do that we may see and believe?” Jesus gives them what they want: He offers them the Eucharist, promising “whoever comes to me will never hunger.”
What does God want in return for all this generosity? St. Paul sums it up nicely: “Put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires,” he says, “and put on the new self … in righteousness and holiness and truth.”
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT CHRISTIANITY WAS SAFE …
6 August, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
In the 21st century the Transfiguration, which is not a day of obligation but is a great feast historically, may cause a little cognitive dissonance for us.
“We did not follow cleverly devised myths,” says St. Peter in the Second Reading. But the First Reading from the Book of Daniel describes a radiant figure sitting on a throne of fire, and ruling over “all peoples, nations, and languages.” And the Gospel says, “Jesus was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white,” as “Elijah appeared to them along with Moses.”
How is this not a “cleverly devised myth”? In his remarkable book The Case for Jesus, which every Catholic should own, Brant Pitre describes how popular the book of Daniel was in Jesus’s times, and explains Daniel’s precise predictions of a Messiah King coming in the Roman Empire, and calling himself “the son of man.”
Jesus reveals himself as the fulfillment of these specific, timebound predictions, and also the fulfillment of our craving for the extraordinary, which we somehow know awaits us in the world beyond.
RISE AND EAT FOR THE JOURNEY
11 August, 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
We saw how God answers grumbling prayers. Another kind thing he does is ignore them.
In the First Reading, Elijah has been experiencing God’s frustrating silence as he flees trouble, and then, “He prayed for death, saying ‘This is enough, O Lord!’”
Then an angel “touched him and ordered, ‘Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!’”
Elijah’s prayer for death wasn’t answered. Instead, he got what he didn’t ask for: a hearth cake, a jug of water, and a nudge of encouragement. And it turns out that the tiniest possible affirmation from the Lord was enough to carry him 40 more days.
This happens to be what we get at Mass on Sunday also: Jesus offers “the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” And our “morsel” from God has even greater sustaining power than Elijah’s did.
James Tissot, circa 1896, Gathering of the Manna (detail), gouache
OUR LADY OF POETRY AND PROSE
15 August, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary, the Mother of God, is a walking embodiment of the central paradox of Christianity: Life is poetry, and life is prose.
You can see it through her whole life. Her conception happened in the usual way, but it was also the singularly graced Immaculate Conception. She was the “handmaid of the Lord” but also “Mother of my Lord.” She was a carpenter’s housewife, but also the Queen of Heaven.
In short, she is the woman of the Assumption who we can picture as Our Lady of Guadalupe. That image shows a humble Mestizo woman with head bowed and hands folded in prayer. It also shows the woman the First Reading describes: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.”
Finally, we see her poetry and prose in the Gospel: She is Mary, the helpful housekeeper and Mary of the Magnificat. Mary, we pray that your poetry will lighten our most prosaic days!
MORE THAN SHELTER FROM THE STORM
18 August, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Sunday’s First Reading personifies Wisdom as a woman in a house of seven columns and offering food and wine there. But notice her invitation: “‘Whoever is simple turn in here’; to the one who lacks understanding, she says, ‘Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!’”
In the Gospel, we learn how Christians get to live this Old Testament dream. Jesus says, “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me,” he says.
In Christ, we aren’t strangers who are offered shelter. We become adopted children who are partakers in the divine nature and family members living in the Church with seven sacraments and a Eucharistic table.
St. Paul says our job is to live the “house rules” of our new home. “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise … singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of the Lord.”
Francesco Botticini, 1475, Assumption of the Virgin, tempera
WHO WILL YOU SERVE?
25 August, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
In the First Reading this Sunday, Joshua gathers the tribe of Israel. He tells them all that the Lord has done for them, and gives them a choice. They can follow foreign gods, or they can serve the Lord of grace and truth. Then Joshua says the words that make great wall art in Jewish or Christian homes: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." His conviction is contagious. The people rally and follow God.
The same thing happens in the Gospel. When “many of his disciples retured to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” over his hard teaching
about the Eucharist, Jesus asks his apostles, “Do you also want to leave?”
Jesus needs a Joshua, and St. Peter volunteers. “Master, to whom shall we go?” he asks. “You are the Holy One of God.”
In 21st century America, where the false gods of power, money and pleasure beckon, God needs a Joshua again, and he’s looking at us, waiting.
Who will step forward and, in our words and in our lives, say “As for me and mine, we will serve the Lord”?
Tell of His Deeds in Songs of Joy
Continued from page 6 »
That daily use comes from organ performance music majors. Each organ student is required to practice 5 hours a week, which currently means the abbey organ is used almost 40 hours per week by college organists. This is in addition to the weekly lessons the students take with Dr. Lara West, Benedictine College’s professor of organ music. Dr. West is at the organ console for the aforementioned Convocation and Commencement Masses. An accomplished and enthusiastic organist, she studied organ in both the U.S. and in Germany. She attained a doctorate in church music with a concentration in organ from the University of Kansas. In addition to her service to the Department of Music here, she is the minister of music for Trinity Lutheran Church near Kansas City.
Since joining the faculty of Benedictine College over 15 years ago, she has worked diligently to promote organ music both within the department of music and out in the local community. She oversees all the college organ students. But she also gives private lessons to the monks as well as to several local teens. Beyond this, she organizes recitals and performances as well as publicizing the various local opportunities to enjoy and support organ music in Lawrence, Kansas City, and beyond.
This past spring she had 13 organ students and 4 organ recitals. That is almost double the number of students she had in 2021. All indications are that the college’s organ program will continue to grow. Dr. West has noticed an increased interest in the organ among the student body, which reflects a resurgence of interest in the Church and society at large.
The abbey organ allows Benedictine College students to get true-to-life experience. One of the challenges of playing an organ in a church is accommodating the acoustics and sound delays of a large space. Because BC organists are allowed to use the abbey organ, they are more equipped to go on to play the organ in their local churches, which many of them have done.
The monks are only too glad that the students can benefit from their organ. Benedictine monasticism was a major catalyst in the development of western music. At St. Benedict’s Abbey, this tradition is kept alive by the monks sharing their organ so that students at the college they helped found can serve the Church and promote sacred music throughout the world. Glory to God in all things!
Back Home in Atchison
Welcome Home, Fr. Luke!
Fr. Luke Turner, O.S.B. became the pastor of St. Benedict’s Parish here in Atchison, Kansas on July 1, 2024. He’ll also be getting to spend lots of time at St. Benedict’s Catholic School for elementary students across the street. Those who don’t know him may be wondering, “Who’s Fr. Luke?” Those who do might want to know, “Where’s he been?”
I’d like to provide a brief introduction and update for you!
Fr. Luke is a native of Kansas and first entered St. Benedict’s Abbey in 1981. Having discerned that he was unprepared at the time for a lifelong commitment, he left the monastery after a few years. He embarked on an enjoyable journey of careers with Hallmark Cards and Mastercard International. His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Rockhurst University, as well as an MBA and an MA. He returned to join the Abbey again in 2010—this time he stayed! He taught in the Benedictine College school of business. (I had an International Culture and Management class with him, where he earned well the moniker, “The Merciful Br. Luke.”) Fr. Luke was ordained to the priesthood in 2019 by his friend Bishop Kevin Vann. He served the College as director of campus ministry and then later as the director of the Thompson Center for Integrity in Finance and Economics.
The past two years for Fr. Luke have been decidedly more… Texan. For the sake of assisting his aging mother, he was given temporary assignments in the Diocese of Dallas. In 2022 he became parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Dallas’s Lakewood neighborhood, a parish of almost 6,000 families that supports the state’s largest Catholic grade school, with an enrollment of almost 1,000 students.
Fr. Luke has shared that he was initially drawn to the monastic life because he had no desire to be a parish priest. When going to Texas, he was asked what his gifts were and responded that he knew Spanish and loved
By Br. Maximilian Mary Anderson, O.S.B.
administrative work, so becoming a “parish priest” seemed a perfect fit! He very much enjoyed being in Dallas and ministering at St. Thomas Aquinas where his corporate background served as a connecting point with many of the parishioners.
Then, in 2023, Bishop Burns appointed Fr. Luke to help initiate the Propaedeutic Program for Priestly Studies at Holy Trinity Seminary, following recent changes to the universal church’s program of priestly formation. He served as spiritual director for the first-year seminarians and was confessor for all the students at the seminary. “His boys” at the seminary demonstrated their gratitude by giving him a new confessional stole.
Coming home is something that Fr. Luke had been greatly looking forward to as it means being closer to the monastery and its steadying rhythm of prayer and work. For our part, it’s good to have our brother home!
Br. Maximilian is a former FOCUS missionary (and current monk). He recently became vocations director for the Abbey.
Kansas Monks
EDITORIAL TEAM
Editor-in-Chief - Abbot James Albers, O.S.B.
Managing Editor - Seth Galemore
Art Director - Philip J. Smaldone
Editorial Advisors:
Fr. Matthew Habiger, O.S.B.
Br. Timothy McMillan, O.S.B.
Dr. James R. A. Merrick
Josh Harden
Dwight Stephenson
SUBMIT your prayer requests
www .kansasmonks .org/prayer-request
St. Louis August 27th
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Visit www.kansasmonks.org/events for more details.
www .kansasmonks .org/donate
CALLING ALL ALUMNI
Did you, or any member of your family, attend an educational apostolate of St. Benedict’s Abbey? If you went to Benedictine College, Maur Hill-Mount Academy, or St. Benedict’s Catholic Elementary School, we would love to hear from you! Fill out our form online at: www.kansasmonks.org/alumni
