October 2024 Kansas Monks Newsletter by kansasmonks

kansas monks

October 2024

Dear Friends in Christ,

As you may know, October is when Catholics observe Respect Life Month. Our nation’s bishops encourage Church leaders—ordained, consecrated, and lay—to make a concerted effort each October to raise awareness for human dignity at every stage of life, particularly whenever and wherever human lives are most vulnerable.

With that in mind, this edition of our newsletter touches on themes that speak to the inestimable value of the human person.

Fr. Marion, concluding his series on the archangels, relates the role of St. Gabriel in God’s plan for salvation. This month, we do well to recall that, in scripture, Gabriel always announces the coming of a savior, and his announcements are fulfilled when God himself takes flesh in a humble virgin’s womb.

We also read timely and important reflections from Fr. Matthew and Br. Maximilian. Fr. Matthew speaks to the underpinnings of the Church’s teachings about the gift of life. And as the U.S. general election approaches, Br. Maximilian offers a healthy perspective our political process and wise insights on placing hope in Christ for policies that promote human flourishing and the dignity of all persons when we cast our ballots next month.

Br. Jean-Marie writes another installment of his imaginative letters to scriptural figures. His letter is a welcome contemplation on the foundations of a good and holy marriage. Now more than ever, to strengthen respect for life, we must also strengthen the bonds of marriage and family where lives are formed, fostered, and brought to maturity.

Last month I closed by inviting you to watch a video from our spring Abbot’s Table. This month, I encourage you to watch another speech from Lumen Vitae honorees, the Sisters of Life, which you can view online at www.kansasmonks.org/ sisters-of-life. The powerful witness of their words cannot even begin to compare to their deeds, which support and sustain a culture of life in our society by helping the most vulnerable among us.

I pray that this month’s newsletter will serve as an inspiration to you in all that you also do to uphold justice and charity in your own actions. Respect for life encompasses much more than a single month each year, or a policy platform, or the humble musings of our newsletter. It must, at its core, begin with the values to which each of us devote our own daily lives.

May God bring his will to fruition by your hands, as we at the Abbey strive to let him do through ours.

In Christ,

IN THIS ISSUE

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship

Up Next | Gabriel, Herald of the Savior . . . . . . . 2

Part III of III on the Archangels

Abbot James R. Albers, O.S.B

St. Gabriel, Herald of the Savior The Archangels, Part III

Part III of III on the subject of the angels named in scripture—the Archangels. In the October edition, Fr. Marion reflects on St. Gabriel, who proclaimed the coming of the savior in the humble form of an unborn babe.

By Fr. Marion Charboneau, O.S.B.

My previous reflections on the Archangels having already discussed Sts. Raphael and Michael, let us now turn our attention to St. Gabriel for the month of October. That’s very fitting; October is Respect Life Month, and Gabriel, as the Gospel of Luke tells us, was given the honor of announcing the births of St. John the Baptist and of Jesus our Savior.

Gabriel, whose name means “God is Great,” is often identified in Christian tradition as archangel in First Thessalonians who will herald the Lord’s second coming with a shout and a trumpet. From this, Christian art often depicts Gabriel with a trumpet, but, strictly speaking, that archangel is unnamed in First Thessalonians. Gabriel, as an angel with a name, comes to us from the book of Daniel and the Gospel of Luke.

A trivia buff might know that the prophet Daniel’s description of Gabriel is the first time in sacred scripture when an angel is described as having wings and flying. More seriously, readers may recall from last month’s article that Gabriel received valuable help from Michael the archangel. Free by Michael to come Daniel’s aid, Gabriel came to the prophet to help him understand his sacred visions and pronounce his prophecies.

Daniel’s struggles concerned the prophecy of Jeremiah, which seemed to foretell that the Babylonian Exile would last seventy years. As it happened, at the end of that seventy years King Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, decreed that the Jews could return to Israel, and upon their return the rebuilding of the temple commenced. Yet, Gabriel explains to Daniel that the prophecy of Jeremiah meant Israel’s suffering would not be just seventy years, but seventy weeks of years, and in the years after the return from Babylon, Israel fell under the rule of the Greeks, the Seleucid dynasty, and finally the Romans. Gabriel explained to Daniel that, after this span of 490 years, the Messiah would come to Israel.

That day would be the basis for Israel’s hope, but in the meantime, Gabriel’s revelations to Daniel helped the Israelites as they struggled through much difficulty and suffering: helped them to have patience, to take courage in the promise, to do penance for sins, to trust in God that he would indeed fulfill his promises. In other words, Israel’s suffering would not last forever— the Messiah did come, a savior was born to us, and in Jesus the gift of salvation was offered to humanity. Gabriel was chosen to herald that gift, a holy work that took place in two parts. First, Gabriel appeared to the priest, Zechariah, to announce to him the birth

Angelico, Fra. The Annunciation. 1440-1445, fresco.

of John the Baptist to his elderly wife Elizabeth. John would be their joy and gladness in their old age, but more importantly, John—in the spirit of the prophet Elijah—would call everyone to prepare the way for Jesus by a baptism of repentance and a turning away from sin. Forgiveness of sin would come through Jesus, and Gabriel’s greatest moment was witnessing and receiving Mary’s consent to be the mother Christ. In the last mention of Gabriel in the scriptures, his words revealed a number of things about the Messiah: Jesus would be his name, destined to occupy the throne of David in an everlasting kingship, and all of this taking place by the spirit of God.

Taken together, these scriptural revelations provide a number of important lessons for our own lives. Gabriel gives valuable testimony to the sacredness of life, especially the unborn. Gabriel’s work always points to the Messiah, to God’s will to save. Gabriel in John the Baptist shows us that repentance and conversion are essential.

Gabriel also helps reveal the value of a life of faith. Read the stories and we will see doubts, difficulties, and uncertainties. But then we see God overcoming them, how his power and love trump human weakness. Everything we see about Gabriel in the scriptures testifies to the truth he stated to Mary, that everything will take place through the Spirit and power of God, that the power of God’s love cannot be denied. In that is a message of hope of salvation for all of us in our earthly lives and eternity. May that salvation triumph in us all. 

Fr. Marion, O.S.B. 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: Br. David Bissen’s series returns! Watch this space for a continuation of his re ections on Dietrich von Hilebrand’s e Art of Living. (Parts I and II may be found in June and July’s editions, which are available in our archives online.)

Br. Maximilian Mary, OSB explores his respect for our political process and expresses hope that it will lead to a just and equitable society.

Human

Fr. Matthew Habiger, OSB o ers a re ection on the inherent dignity of all human life, from womb to tomb and at every stage of life between.

Re ect on the readings for this month’s Sunday and Holy Day masses. In October, we focus especially on how scripture invites us to respect the Lord and his commandments.

To the Newlyweds at Cana in Galilee . . . 11 An occasional column featuring letters to biblical gures.

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.

The Kansas Monks newsletter is a monthly publication of the monastic community of St. Benedict’s Abbey to help fulfill this mission.

Read our archives at www.kansasmonks.org/newsletter

is...

beautiful in the womb, beautiful in His parents’ arms; beautiful in His miracles, beautiful in His suﬀerings; beautiful in inviting to life, beautiful in not worrying about death; beautiful in giving up His life and beautiful in taking it up again; He is... beautiful on the Cross, beautiful in the tomb, beautiful in heaven. saint augustine of hippo

Christ

A Surprising Election Season

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship

As our nation’s general election draws near, one of our monks explores his respect for our political process and expresses hope that it will lead to a just and equitable society.

By Br. Maximilian Mary, O.S.B.

With election season upon us, campaign signs abound in the yards of our neighborhoods and local businesses across the nation. One sign that caught my eye for its humor was: “Presidents are Temporary. Wu-Tang is Forever.” I chuckled, recognizing that while the popularity of the early 90s hip-hop group has outlasted a number of presidencies here in the USA, it certainly won’t last forever.

Reflecting more deeply on this and other jokes like it, however, has been a sobering exercise for me; this humor can be a thin veneer for a dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in our political system and this election cycle. One might say, “What’s the point in participating? Nothing seems to change for the better.” In fact, the current ideological climate takes for granted positions on issues that are contrary to the basic dignity of human life. Abortion, which is always a grave evil for it ends the life of someone innocent, defenseless, and voiceless, now seems to be taken for granted by a vast majority as a necessary part of “women’s health”. Discouraging as well is the degeneration of our political process into a contest of mudslinging and ad hominem attacks. The only goal seems to be winning votes and seats of power rather than building up the common good. These are just two woes that plague the conscientious voter, but one could go on.

Within this context I have had a few surprising experiences that have filled me with a desire to participate whole-heartedly in the election this year.

The first was reading Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship with its new introductory letter, a publication of the U.S. bishops’ conference for Catholics who want to engage faithfully with our electoral system. If you haven’t already, I commend it for your reading, even if you are already familiar with Holy Mother Church’s teaching on

involvement in the civic process. I was surprised by the opening lines to the letter:

“As Catholics and Americans, we are blessed to be able to participate in our nation’s political and public life. Our freedoms respect the dignity of individuals and their consciences and allow us to come together for the common good. Election seasons, therefore, should contain a sense of gratitude and hope.”

This was a correction for me. Hope and gratitude during an election season? How is this possible?

As I read further, I remembered something that I have learned about the virtue of hope: it must be based on something present and active. What is already present and active here? Before all the rhetoric and grubbing for attention and influence through political ads, I have been given life here on this earth, in this nation, in the state of Kansas, in the town of Atchison today. And this is something that I have not given myself, but it has been given to me by Christ who has also shown me abundant mercy in calling me to my vocation, to the task of witnessing to him, that he is the one thing that makes life worth anything at all.

Here, I think there is a subtle trap that needs to be avoided, a trap similar to the humorous campaign sign

referenced above: If Christ is the only thing that really matters, then the outcome of the election is immaterial, and so my participation in the process is not really necessary. I do not have to care so long as I have Jesus.

This is honestly about where I was until the first presidential debate last month. This isn’t because the presidential debate itself was surprising; it went more or less as expected. The next day, though, I had a conversation with a friend residing in America, but who is the citizen of another country. He was very excited about it because he was able to see the positive where I could not. Even though he acknowledged that the discourse could have been more civil, he said: “For me, that the debate even happened is a good thing. This would never happen in my country.”

I was struck by the great gift that we have in being able to participate in our political process at all. My friend’s enthusiasm for the good that he sees in a country that is not his own helps me to not take for granted this freedom which calls on me to respond, not with cynicism and complaining, but alive to the gift that my ability to respond is in the first place.

I am here reminded of another recent conversation with a confrere that was very helpful for me. Though we were not talking specifically about the upcoming election, his words are still pertinent. He said that he wanted to not just show up, but to bring his whole heart with him. What did he mean by this? He meant it is not enough to just float through life, going from one thing to the next, waiting for happiness and life to really begin sometime after five o’clock on Friday. He reminded me that I have a deep need to be happy now, today, and this happiness for

which I long is something that is given to me, something that I cannot make happen for myself.

All of this underlines the fact that it is not really satisfying to keep part of my desire out of the equation just because there don’t seem to be many candidates who fully support and defend the dignity of human life. Rather, our participation in this election is meant to be a begging, a praying for our country, that a truly just social order be put in place. This corresponds directly to the beatitude “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6).

So, let us hunger and thirst for righteousness, and tell our elected officials, whoever they may be, of the duty incumbent upon them to uphold the common good for all. And even though our nation, just like all nations (not to mention hip-hop music groups), is doomed to pass away, let us pray for, prepare for, and vote in this election knowing that we have received this gift, which demands our responsibility, from Christ who wants nothing more than to bring us all together to eternal life. 

Br. Maximilian, O.S.B. is a former FOCUS missionary (and current monk). He recently became vocations director for the Abbey.

God’s Most Precious Gift All Human Life is Sacred

The following words of wisdom on God’s love for us at every stage of life come from one of the longest-serving members of our monastic community. He invites you to prayerfully reflect on the inherent dignity of every human being.

By Fr. Matthew Habiger, O.S.B.

We are embodied persons. Our bodies and our persons go together. We are not pure spirits like the angels. When we die, our soul is separated from our bodies, but this is only a temporary, unnatural state. At the Second Coming we shall be reunited with our bodies, now in a glorified state, like Jesus after the Resurrection. We are bodied spirits, and spiritual bodies. Thus we want to give our bodies all the care and respect that they deserve. Our bodies share in the great dignity of our persons. We are not to violate this God-given dignity.

I am 82, and have lived through the various stages of life. With a little reflection, we realize that God has a definite plan for us as we move across the trajectory of life. Each stage of life is precious, and to be appreciated.

In God’s plan, parents use their fertility to share life with their children. Parents are co-creators with God. They provide the body, and God provides the immoral soul. If people appreciated this fact of life, then they would never abort an unborn child—a fully human person. Because parents treasure their children as God’s greatest gift to them, they are willing to do anything, anything, that the child needs.

Our bodily condition is precarious. There are always infirmities, sickness and unforeseen accidents that go with the early years of our lives. Parents show their love by attending to the bodily needs, the physical care, of their children. Children know if they are being loved.

As we advance through life we pass through an adolescent growth spurt and puberty, when our sexuality is awakened. This is all part of God’s plan for us. Our task is to meet the challenges of every stage of life, and to be open to good guidance and moral teachings.

In middle age we enjoy the full powers of the body: strong energy, keen senses, and a maturity of mind. These are our most productive years, when we assume responsibilities and use the talents that God gave us to advance the good and resist the evil. For most people

it is a vocation to marriage and family life. God gives us our best energy when we most need it to raise a family and to support it with our labors.

In our autumn years, our energy levels drop, and the body begins to wear out. Sickness, tragedy, and various hardships make their appearance. The elderly now must rely upon their children for assistance.

Every stage of life is graced and important. Each stage has its challenges to meet, tasks to accomplish, and goods to pursue. We are to treasure every stage of our lives, even when there is suffering involved. Some suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. Euthanasia is an offense against our dignity. Only God can determine when our lives begin and when it is completed. As long as we have life, we are called to continue to grow in our love for God, in our relationship with Him, and in our love for one another.

Life is God’s gift to us. We are called to live each stage of life in the great pursuit of loving God and loving our neighbor. When this life is well lived, and God calls us over the threshold of death, then we begin the full completion of God’s plan for us, and enter into the boundless love, joy and beauty of eternal life with God, the saints, and angels.

“None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7-9). 

Fr. Matthew, O.S.B., in an occurrence unmatched in history, was ordained a priest alongside his twin brother and their widowed father in the same ordination Mass.

Living the Liturgy Commentary on the Liturgical Year

October — Respect God Month

By Tom Hoopes

October is a strange month. Its name means “eighth month” even though it hasn’t been the eighth since 45 B.C., when Julius Caesar reworked the calendar. Its festival, “Octoberfest,” actually starts in September and its most famous holiday, Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, is named for November’s All Saints Day.

The fact that it is Respect Life Month, when we remember those killed by abortion, also makes sense in part because of the month before it, Mother of Sorrows, and the month after it, the Month of Prayers for the Dead.

But October also has several feast days that fit with Respect Life Month. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus on October 1, the Holy Guardian Angels on October 2, and St. Luke on October 18 all celebrate persons who take special notice of children. Think of all the ways how St. Luke’s Gospel touches on women and children: Luke is the only Gospel writer who names the women following Jesus, and only Luke tells the story of the home life of Martha and Mary. He also shares the story of the unborn John, in the sixth month of his mother’s pregnancy, leaping in the presence of the unborn Jesus, in the second week of his mother’s pregnancy.

It is clear why Luke’s Gospel has this emphasis: He himself tells us why. When he tells us readers, “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart,” it is his ancient way of citing where he got his information: from the Blessed Mother herself.

And Mary, herself, is another reason October is a perfect Respect Life Month: It is the Month of the Holy Rosary. October 7 marks the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, commemorating the successful rosary campaign that led to victory during the Battle of Lepanto—and, not coincidentally, October 13 is the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, who was the 20th century’s greatest promoter of the rosary.

And that’s the perfect segue to the four Sundays of October this year, which could be termed “Respect God Month.”

Unidentified artist, Our Lady of the Rosary of Lima, 1800, Oil on canvas

RESPECT GOD’S PLAN FOR MARRIAGE

October 6 | 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

“A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,” says Jesus in today’s Gospel, “...and the two shall become one flesh.”

The Church gives us the First Reading from Genesis, which is what he had quoted: The beautiful account of how human love is the meaning of the world, beginning with the Lord saying, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” and ending with, “the two of them become one flesh.”

Two don’t just become faithful; they become one. If that sounds like a painless, untroubled exercise in perfect harmony, think again. For two to become one entails two wills trying to be one will, two sets of preferences trying to compromise on one set of choices, two lives trying to be one life—and suddenly what should be beautiful harmony becomes agonizing division.

St. Paul compares marriage to Christ’s relationship with his Church. The pain we feel in becoming one is like the pain Jesus felt uniting with our sins and bringing them to the cross. The Second Reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, teaches us that Christ was “made perfect through suffering.” Likewise, the only way our love becomes perfected is through the suffering that comes with, for and even because of, our spouse.

But it isn’t true that marriage is merely a painful path of division and suffering. The secret that married Catholics know is that Jesus’s forbidding of divorce has brought more happiness than pain into their lives: Many couples can tell you the about a time in their life when they were convinced they should divorce but couldn’t, and they can tell you the joys that followed that they never would have known.

As with Christ, so with us: “perfect suffering” leads to glory.

CHOOSE WISDOM OVER WEALTH

October 13 | 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

This Sunday, the second reading warns us that the word of God hurts sometimes—and the Gospel proves it. “The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,” says the Letter to

the Hebrews. “No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.”

The Gospel follows, telling the tale of a “rich young man” who met the Lord. Jesus asks him if he has kept the commandments; he has. So Jesus asks him to give everything.

“Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come; follow me.”

This is the same compelling invitation of Christ that convinced fishermen to walk away from their jobs and their families. But the rich young man does not join the apostles. Instead, “his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”

Then Jesus takes the occasion to tell whoever will

listen, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The first reading is a beautiful expression of someone who has his priorities straight. It’s an ironic one, though.

“The spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,” says the Book of Wisdom. The words are attributed to Solomon, who chose wisdom as a young man, but died in disgrace, because he eventually chose riches, scepter, and throne.

TRUE RESPECT: A VIP WHO SUFFERS

October 20 | 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The First Reading from Isaiah tells of the Suffering Servant, who the “Lord was pleased” to “crush in his

infirmity.” We learn that “through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.”

It seems like a terrible way to treat a VIP, but this is precisely how God does treat those who are his most important representatives. James and John found this out directly. In this Sunday’s Gospel, they approach

Jesus and ask to be given places of honor, at his left and right, when he is “in his glory.”

In other words, when the victory has been won and Jesus comes back to claim his prize, they want to be stars of the show. They don’t talk about earning their way there. They don’t talk about justifying their presence there with a record of winning souls. They just want to make sure they get good places.

Imagine if Jesus said, “Okay!” Imagine if God preassigned places of honor based on arbitrary reasons, at the request of “important” people. His nature would be

Heinrich, Hoffman. Christ and the young rich ruler. 1889.

changed. He would be a kind of supreme politician. He would be a more powerful version of the kind of rulers human beings tend to be, when left to our own devices.

Instead, he set the example himself. As our Second Reading, from Hebrews, says.: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.”

Since we have that, then we can be sure that there is no “in” club of people God favors. Instead he accepts us, whoever we are, however we are, and helps us: “So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”

GOD’S DIRECTION, DESPITE DISASTER

October 27 | 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Our First Reading is written by Jeremiah, who has a reputation as a doom-and-gloom prophet because he saw so clearly the horror of the destruction coming to Jerusalem and the tragedy of the exile of the Jewish people—and wrote about it forcefully.

He wanted the people to believe his warning: They were headed to no good if they kept going on this way. But once the tragedy occurred; once defeat was upon them, he announced the restoration that follows ruination. In this Sunday’s reading, he predicted Israel’s

rescue from exile, shortly before announcing the “new covenant”.

The Psalm today records the people’s joy when the first part of that prophecy came true: “When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion,” it says, “our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.”

The second reading—about the new high priest, Christ, and the new priesthood “in the order of Melchizedek”—describes the new covenant.

It wasn’t human wisdom that allowed Jeremiah to prophecy at the most inopportune times—when his words were most likely to be rejected and misunderstood. It was his willingness to focus on God and shut out the false voices of the world. His message: “The Lord has delivered his people … I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst.”

In the Gospel, a blind man is the only one who can see that the man in front of him is “The Son of David”, the Messiah. He calls out “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!” The Gospel says “many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, ‘Son of David, have pity on me,” like a man with no shame.

Today, God turns to us expecting the same kind of “shameless” insistence on looking to him, and no other, for our direction in life. 

Unknown artist. The Healing of the Blind of Jericho. 1470.

To the Newlyweds at Cana in Galilee

An occasional column featuring letters to biblical figures, in the voice of Rabbi Gamaliel.

By Br. Jean-Marie Hogan, O.S.B.

Dear Mr. and Mrs.

First of all, I would like to express my congratulations on your recent marriage. It is always a joy for the entire People of God to see a son and a daughter of Abraham joined in the holy bond of matrimony. I would also like to commend you on your guest list. If there is anyone who should be at the center of your marriage, it is that young rabbi who brought his disciples with him. You were very wise to invite his mother. Whatever else may happen in your lives, I hope you stay close to her.

I suppose what I really want to say to you is: Your marriage is a sacrament of God’s faithful love for His People. While much could be said about this, I have found as a teacher that it is generally best not to overlook basic questions. What is marriage? Who is God? What does it mean to love? Now that you have entered into marriage in the sight of God, and have pledged to love each other for the rest of your lives, I hope you take some time to ponder these questions seriously.

In that spirit, I want to share some thoughts on the word sacrament. In general, a sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality. (This term also has a more specific sense, but that is a story for another time.) Here is a concrete example: my oldest son likes to bake bread. He has gotten rather good at it over the last few years. When he bakes, I can tell he puts a lot of care into what he is doing. For him, bread is a sign of love for his family. As you have probably discovered, men sometimes have a hard time verbalizing our feelings. My son doesn’t always know how to say, “I love you.” The best way he knows is by baking for us.

There is more to life than what we can see. I am speaking primarily of God, angels, and human souls. I know how easy it is to become caught up in everyday concerns over visible things. Our daily lives demand so much of our attention that we often forget how much more there is to reality. Perhaps this is why the Lord expects us to observe daily and weekly times of prayer, to rest on the Sabbath, and to participate in certain feast days throughout the year. Through these times when we turn our attention to Him, He is inviting us to remember that He is always present, here and now, with us in whatever we happen to be doing in the moment. When I got married, I discovered that doing the dishes ceased to be simply a chore; it became an event within the sphere of my relationship with my wife. That’s what God wants for us in our relationship with Him.

I wish you all the best as you begin your new life together. Next time you are planning a party, make sure you buy enough wine. The Lord always provides, but sometimes He wants us to plan ahead, too.

Shalom,

Rabbi Gamaliel

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