kansas monks
Dear Friends in Christ,
Habemus Papam! When the last edition of Kansas Monks went to print, Pope Francis was still with us, so I want to recall his memory first of all. It is a beautiful sign of God’s providence that he was able to celebrate one final Easter Sunday with the Church here on earth before entering into eternal life the very next day. We give thanks for his faithful witness and for the many ways he challenged us to express our love for Christ through joyful service to others. His life and ministry were a constant reminder that grace abounds when we place the Gospel at the center of our lives.
Now, as we welcome his successor, Pope Leo XIV, we pray that the Holy Spirit will guide him in leading the Church with fidelity, peace, and unity. This issue of the newsletter offers an in-depth reflection on the election of our new Holy Father—how our monastic community experienced the moment, his unique connection to the Church in America, and the beautiful ways in which his vision for the Church resonates with our mission at the Abbey.
Pope Leo’s humility and missionary spirit have already made a strong impression. For us monks, his election is not just a historic milestone; it is a spiritual invitation to renew our own commitment to prayer, hospitality, and evangelization in the heartland of America. We hope that what you read in this issue—whether about the papal transition or other updates from Abbey life—will bring you encouragement and hope.
As we approach Pentecost, it is especially fitting to reflect on how the Holy Spirit continues to move powerfully in the life of the Church. The same Spirit who descended upon the apostles in the upper room is still at work today—guiding, renewing, and sanctifying the Body of Christ. May this season be a time of spiritual refreshment for each of us, and may the fire of the Spirit inspire us to live the Gospel more fully.
Thank you for your prayers and support for our community. Please pray especially for our departed confrere Fr. Duane Roy, who passed away on May 8th. Be assured of our prayers for you in return.
In Christ,
Abbot James R. Albers, O.S.B
IN THIS ISSUE
Feature | Pope Leo XIV
Conclave Reflections from the Monks
Up Next | Hope
From The Art of Living, Final Part
The Art of Living: Hope
The final installment of a series of reflections on The Art of Living.
By Reid Bissen, Obl.S.B.
Hope and despair conclude our review of the Hildebrands’ The Art of Living. The heart of the matter, however, is the reason we may have to hope or despair, which depends on how we see death, and what we expect out of life.
Death is an increasingly abstract concept in our culture. Like in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, death is hidden from us and euphemized to the point that the thought that I will die is a separate consideration from the fact that people die generally. The resulting attitude is a denial of anything transcendent, beyond death. The highest good becomes whatever I can derive the most pleasure from, and I must avoid pain at all costs. There is no hope for anything better than passing from one fleeting pleasure to the next.
This is a common attitude in contemporary society, but also one that comes in more subtle forms. How often do we come to prayer expecting our daily shot of dopamine? Is this not a sort of spiritual despair, that there is nothing greater worth living for than the consolations that come in prayer? Prayer is a
transcendent experience; the consolations that come from prayer are not. Otherwise, I will only pray when I feel like it, and if prayer ceases to be pleasurable, then I would stop praying. We all have dry seasons in prayer, these are given by God for us to show Him that we love Him for who He is, and not on the condition that He makes us feel a certain way.
Our responses to the realization we are in despair can vary. One is to break the cycle of pleasure-seeking, and detox. This requires taking a risk that it will be worthwhile, that we will find something greater than pleasure. Following through on the risk will demand discipline, but most of all it will ask us to love Christ above all else. This is the only adequate reason to truly break the cycle.
Not everyone in this state is aware of it. We may notice others (or ourselves) leaning heavy on a crutch of pleasures, and bring attention to the despair they are in. This is dangerous if we fail to simultaneously provide an alternative. Never remind someone that they will eventually die, and pleasures are all vain without also reminding them that there is hope for complete fulfilment in God. Without redirecting others to Christ, the news that pleasures will not satisfy will only lead to deeper despair.
Another faulty response involves pride. We can acknowledge that there is more to life than pleasure, and at the same time think that it is “too late” to change. Or, we can say that if we tried to change, God would not accept us, so it’s better to not try. This is a denial of God’s omnipotence- it denies that God is in control, determines reality, the future, and what is possible. Saying “it’s too late for me” is to deify oneself.
Some, who are aware of their despair and know that there is a way out, choose to stay where they are.
Raphael. Theological Virtues. 1507.
If you are anything like me, being offered help can sometimes be taken as an insult. We would prefer to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps so as not to be seen as weak. We would prefer to keep struggling on our own, in case somehow, we can break free without God’s help. Then, we can show him just how strong we are, how we did it without him; and He will say “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23).
To break free of despair, we must embrace true hope. True hope is not optimism nor wishful thinking.
To break free of despair, we must embrace true hope. True hope is not optimism nor wishful thinking.
Hope recognizes that a given situation is as dire as it seems and turns to Another for a creative solution. Wishful thinking and optimism can be just as limp and atheistic as despair. ‘Even the pagans’ can have a positive attitude and just assume that everything will work itself out. These are not Christian gestures. It is easy to confuse hope with optimism or wishful thinking when we mistake it for something impersonal. Optimism and wishful thinking do not involve reliance on another person. Hope does. Every “hope that” implies a “hope in”. A hope in Another; a hope in God. When we utter the words “I hope that…” we must direct our words upwards to Someone in order for them to be truly hopeful.
Does this mean that once we have made a formulaic act of hope, we can sit back and wait for the results? Of course not. God asks for our collaboration in bringing about good in our lives so that He can be involved in our lives. He doesn’t want us to treat Him like a genie, which will lead us right back into despair. Actively working to bring about change in our lives, to break despair, is in itself a means of asking for God’s help. When we hope, we should hope with our whole selves, not just in thought. This way, our life will not become fatalistic science, but truly an art.
Next Month: This article marks the end of Reid Bissen’s reflections on The Art of Living. Watch this space for a new serial column coming soon!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Learn how the monks responded to the news of our new Pope, with reflections on the unique ties between his ministry and the Kansas Monks.
the Liturgy
Reflect on the readings for this month’s Sunday and Holy Day Masses. In May, we focus on Mary’s Queenship over creation in light of the Easter Season.
Christmas in June ������������������������
Br. Maximilian reflects on St. John the Baptist’s invitation to prepare the way for the Lord in our daily lives.
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
O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy
saint augustine
Pope Leo XIV
Conclave Reflections from the Monks
Our newly elected Holy Father has been introduced to the world, and his historic election marks the first time an American ascended to the Chair of St. Peter. Our monks have made note of the ways his election touched their hearts and relates to their own lives of work and prayer.
May 8th, 2025 marked a momentous day for St. Benedict’s Abbey as well as for the entire Catholic Church. The election of Pope Leo XIV on the fourth scrutiny, or round of voting, in the conclave was a historic event for American Catholics, as it marked the first time a citizen of this country was elected as Vicar of Christ by his brother cardinals. Much has been written elsewhere about the circumstances that led to his election, how conclaves are conducted, his personal and pastoral history as a priest and bishop, and more. We do not wish to expand on subjects that
have been more carefully reported by others, but we did want to take some time to share some of our own reflections and experiences from the papal election.
For the monks, the joy of a new pope was in some ways tinged with sadness, as our fellow monk Fr. Duane Roy also passed into eternal memory in the early morning only an hour after midnight. Fr. Jeremy Heppler and our novice Br. Fulton Neumann were with him in his final moments, but Fr. Jeremy noted that those moments were full of peace and that, as they sat praying by his bedside, it was comforting to note the look of quiet reflection on Fr. Duane’s face during his final breaths in this life.
Fr. Jeremy later considered how much of our new pope’s ministry had been spent in Latin America, just as Fr. Duane had spent much of his monastic life at our daughter priory in Brazil, working and praying among simple workers living out their Catholic faith with great fervor despite their humble surroundings. Fr. Duane, he pointed out, would have been deeply proud to see a fellow American missionary religious elected to the papacy. And in those small signs God gives us that move beyond mere ‘coincidence’ as tokens of His grace, May 8th is also the anniversary of the birth of Venerable Fulton Sheen, the patron of Br. Fulton who was praying with Fr. Duane at the end.
Although the monastic community was somber at the loss of a beloved brother, and though the funeral arrangements still needed to be made, there was nevertheless great excitement when the plumes of white smoke came billowing out of the Sistine Chapel. Fr. Daniel McCarthy, our fellow monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey who teaches Latin in Rome, had told those of us back in Atchison that he wouldn’t be in the piazza
Official portrait of Pope Leo XIV.
looking for smoke—instead, he’d be listening for the bells to peal.
“How do you hold class while students are watching for the smoke on their phones, or plan a lesson when the students are ready to sprint two miles to the Vatican to hear the announcement of the new pope?” reflected Fr. Daniel afterwards. “I was fortunate in that most of my classes ended before the first smoke would appear each day.”
As a Latin professor, he recalled when a colleague of his, Fr. Reginald Foster, had been approached some years ago by the Vatican Secretariat of State about planning for an eventual conclave. There was a question about the Latin phrasing of the announcement of a future pope’s name. Does one use the possessive form (“the name of X”) or the accusative (“the name X”)? If you were brushed up on your Latin and listening carefully, you’d have heard the accusative form, “qui sibi nomen imposuit Leonem XIV”—“who takes to himself the name ‘Leo the Fourteenth’.”
Reggie, as Fr. Daniel calls his late friend, had had the final word on the matter. There was no need for the “of.”
Fr. Daniel met the bishop we now call “Leo” when Cardinal Robert Prevost had visited Sant’Anselmo a year earlier. “The odd thing is that only the really astute among us remembers him,” says Fr. Daniel. “He was so reticent, so humble that few remember his visit.” He’s quite certain everyone will remember the bishop next time he pays a visit, as the Holy Father traditionally does on Ash Wednesday.
Here in Kansas, things progressed a little differently.
Fr. Jeremy was at Maur Hill – Mount Academy for the students’ end-of-year ice cream party when a student asked, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we got the white smoke right now?” In just a few moments, it appeared. Fr. Jeremy wrote about the experience for the school’s records as well:
“Fortunately, the cafeteria was ready to provide the students with an early lunch, while we were waiting for the announcement of the new pope. As soon as the students finished eating, the entire school gathered in the Abbot Barnabas Senecal Auditorium so that we could watch the announcement. The anticipation
IN UNUM UNO ILLO
was palpable. As the minutes rolled by, the nervous excitement only increased. Shortly before the Cardinal announced the name of the new pope, bells—including the football victory bell—rang out. Applause, amazement, and joy were prevalent when we realized that the new pope is from the US. It only grew as Pope Leo XIV made his appearance. The Spanish-speaking students were very excited to hear him speak in their language.
“After Pope Leo gave his blessing, we prayed an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for him and his intentions, before concluding with singing ‘Holy God, We Praise Thy Name’ and announcing that the next day’s morning Mass would be a Mass for our new pope.”
Fr. Meinrad Miller, associate pastor at St. Benedict’s Parish in Atchison, was in the parish office when the new pope was introduced. “We were all excited to hear the news,” he shares. “It was a reminder how the Holy Spirit still guides the Church as He did on Pentecost.”
At the Abbey, some of the lay staff congregated around a computer to wait for the Pope’s name and
Papal crest of Pope Leo XIV.
identity to be revealed after the white smoke was seen. Br. Placidus Lee and Fr. Jay Kythe noticed the commotion and huddled with them behind a desk, hoping to catch a glimpse before midday prayer and the noontime Mass. Both were to be disappointed, as they had to depart for the church before the announcement from the Loggia came—but not before Fr. Jay suggested that, as the celebrant for the Mass, he wouldn’t be opposed to the discreet delivery of a sticky note at Mass. Our events coordinator, Garrick Lambert, was able to deliver the following brief message around the time of the homily: “Leo XIV. Cardinal Robert Prevost. American-born.”
Fr. Jay was able to name the new pope during the Eucharistic Prayer.
“You know,” he has since pointed out, “I might have been the first priest in the whole world to pronounce the words ‘and Leo our Pope’ at Mass.”
Br. Placidus later returned to the staff office and asked, “Did anyone have ‘first American Pope’ on their bingo card this morning?” As the Abbey’s archivist, he was quick to point out that the monastic community has ties, of sorts, to the new Holy Father not just through our shared national identity, but through a unique historical connection to the Augustinian order to which Pope Leo belongs.
In 1931, twenty-four young Augustinian Recollects who were refugees from the Spanish Civil War came to the Abbey, where the monks hosted them in their need. Half of them left for England a year later, where they had procured a monastery. The last of them eventually took up residence in St. Augustine’s Monastery in Kansas City, Kansas, when it opened in 1935. (St. Augustine’s Monastery has since changed hands and no longer houses the Recollects.)
While there is no direct connection to Pope Leo XIV, it illustrates the way in which his life and ministry have been reflected in the lives and ministries of priests and religious in this country for decades—even centuries. It is of interest to note that the monastic community of St. Benedict’s Abbey was first established in the era of Bleeding Kansas, when Americans were on the brink of civil war over the injustices of slavery—and our new
pope himself is the first man elected to the papacy who is descended from the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Pope Leo’s maternal grandparents were of mixed-race Louisianan and Haitian Creole heritage, identified as “Black” in an early census in the South before marking their race as “White” in a later census in Chicago. While some of the Holy Father’s ancestors arrived on the western shores of the Atlantic in slave ships, his ascent to the Bark of St. Peter could only have been possible after the great social upheaval of the American Civil War that began on Kansas soil. The emancipation of slaves in the U.S.A. eventually culminated in the abolition of slavery throughout the New World, particularly following the 1888 encyclical In Plurimis, which condemned the Brazilian slave trade. That encyclical was authored by Pope Leo XIII, whose visionary social teachings inspired the choice of the new Pope’s name.
Fr. Matthew had some thoughts on the Pope’s choice of name. “His namesake was a great teacher and administrator,” he notes, and he thinks the new Pope will follow in the earlier Leo’s footsteps well. “Pope Leo XIV brings good credentials with him: a canon lawyer, leader of the Augustinians, bishop in Peru, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, and a natural leader.” Fr. Matthew believes Pope Leo’s familiarity with South America, where he holds dual citizenship as a Peruvian, will serve him well, as it is the region of the world with the highest proportion of Catholics. “We wish him God’s grace as he faces the challenges of the second quarter of the twenty-first century.”
The halls of St. Benedict’s Abbey have certainly been abuzz with chatter in the time since the conclave ended, and much excitement, hope, and prayer has been expressed in those conversations. Perhaps it is Br. Jean-Marie Hogan who puts the thoughts of the monks most succinctly:
“We pray for our Holy Father, that as he bears witness to the Gospel throughout the whole world, Peter may continue to speak through Leo in shepherding the universal Church.”
Living the Liturgy
Commentary on the Liturgical Year
Reflect on the readings for this month’s Sunday and Holy Day Masses. In March, we focus on Lent and the patron of the universal church, St. Joseph.
By Tom Hoopes
The joke was common when I was in elementary school: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims!
A Catholic version might be: If April, month of the Holy Spirit, brings Mary, spouse of the Holy Spirit, what does Mary’s month of May bring? And of course, the answer is June, the month of the Sacred Heart, which stands for the love of God incarnated in Mary by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
June 27 is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, but the whole month’s dedication has been recognized publicly more recently than in years: People are increasingly putting Sacred Heart flags outside their homes, posting Sacred Heart pictures on social media, and rediscovering Sacred Heart devotion in their spiritual lives.
Even the late Pope Francis got into the act. “Today we begin the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, source of love and peace. Open yourselves to this love and take it ‘to the ends of the earth,’ witnessing to the goodness and mercy that flow from the Heart of Jesus.”
A friend of mine was an early adopter of the practice of sharing the image of the Sacred Heart online. She told me that promise No. 11 of the promises St. Margaret Mary received in her visions of the Sacred Heart was her inspiration.
“I will bless every place in which an image of my heart is exposed and honored,” Jesus said. “Including the internet?’ my friend wondered. I think so. The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has real power because it is an icon of the heart of the Christian message. It is the heart of Jesus, and therefore it is the heart of God — and it is both afflicted with pain and aflame with love. It tells us so many key things all at once:
• God is close to the brokenhearted.
• God is with us in our suffering.
• Our sin causes eternal pain.
• Jesus, the eternal man, transforms that pain into love.
St. John Paul II summed up Sacred Heart devotion in words that I have kept close throughout my adult life: “Through the union of the Heart of Jesus to the Person of the Word of God we can say: in Jesus, God loves humanly, suffers humanly, rejoices humanly. And vice versa: in Jesus, human love, human suffering, human glory acquire divine intensity and power.”
Eyes Forward
June 1 | Ascension Sunday in Kansas and most states
In this Sunday’s First Reading, from Acts, after Jesus disappears into clouds in the sky, the angel
asks them: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up at the sky?”
It’s one of those Scripture passages that seems secondary to the main story yet points to the core of it. The angel understands that Christians experience a strong temptation to look lost contemplating the
greatness of God and not set eyes forward to find where we must share that greatness.
The Apostles in the story have been dazzled by Jesus’ last spectacular act, and told they have to take over his mission, to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth” and it is all too much to process at first. What do you say to something like that?
God kindly gives them — and us — some space to figure it out — while waiting to receive the transformative grace of the Holy Spirit who will push us forward. Because, before we know it, he “will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” and we will be staring up in wonder again.
Extended Drama
June 8 | Pentecost Sunday
Pentecost Sunday is the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Mary at Pentecost in the Upper Room, with all the drama we are accustomed to: the mighty wind and the tongues of flame followed by the gentle breath of Jesus in the Gospel.
But some will celebrate at the new extended Pentecost Vigil Mass option, and will get extended drama with four Old Testament readings. First, the Holy Spirit takes on the Tower of Babel — confusing the languages of the proud. Then thunder and lightning fill a heavy cloud over Mount Sinai as a trumpet blast summons Moses and soon we are gazing with Ezekiel on a vast field of dried bones that the Spirit reanimates. Last, the Prophet Joel predict the Spirit pouring out on “all flesh” at “the coming of the day of the Lord, the great and terrible day,” preparing for the Gospel where, instead of the gentle breath of Jesus in a private room, we hear Jesus cry out in the Temple, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink!”
Why all the drama? Because a huge change is happening. The Easter Triduum showed us how God joined his people in Jesus; Pentecost shows us how his people are joining God in the Spirit. “Creation is groaning in labor pains” says St. Paul in the epistle reading for both Masses, and “the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” We are caught up in a cosmic drama.
God the Storyteller
June 15 | Trinity Sunday
Jesus reveals something fundamental in the Gospel today. Alasdair McIntyre said, “Man is a story-telling animal,” and added, “I can only answer the question ‘what am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’”
He means that if I tell my story as “Tom, husband and father, journeying to heaven” I will behave differently than I would if see my story as “Tom, his own man, maximizing his pleasure.”
Well, we are the story-telling animal because we are made in the image of a storytelling God. As one ancient analogy puts it: the Father speaks the Word who is the Son with the Breath that is the Holy Spirit. That makes all creation a story, like the one we hear in the First Reading.
Jesus describes that process in slow motion in today’s Gospel, referring to storytelling seven times. “I have much more to tell you,” he says. But he leaves it to the Spirit who “will speak what he hears” and will “take from what is mine and declare it to you,” but of course “Everything that the Father has is mine.”
The story the Holy Spirit tells is the Christ’s story, in which we are the Father’s characters — but characters who, as the Second Reading puts it, can boast even of our afflictions because we know and trust the storyteller.
Our Bread is Him
June 22 | Corpus Christi the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ
Interestingly, in the Gospel for Corpus Christi we don’t hear about the Eucharist, but the multiplication of the loaves, which is a necessary precursor of the Eucharist because it shows Jesus multiplying bread.
The importance of bread and wine in the Bible reach back long before the Eucharist. In the First Reading, a priest from before the Jewish priesthood, Melchizedek, offers bread and wine to the future Abraham, along with a blessing. Jesus himself offers
bread and wine and a blessing in the Second Reading, stressing that they become his body and blood.
Bread and wine are not naturally occurring foods. You don’t find them like nuts and berries; you cultivate, plant, nurture, harvest and make them with a lot of time and help.
Jesus provided the Eucharist in such a way that we all have to work together to perpetuate it. Just as we pray for “our” daily bread, not “my” daily bread, the Eucharist is always “ours” and never just “mine” — it is ours through the one who stands in the center of the Gospel scene, Jesus Christ. His real presence in the Eucharist means we are his and he is ours and our bread is him.
The Church of Life
June 24 | Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist
The Church calendar never lets us go a full quarter without celebrating a baby: March, the third month, gives us the Annunciation; in June, the sixth month, it’s the birth of John; in September, month nine, we celebrate Mary’s birthday; and in December we celebrate the greatest baby of all.
This means, for starters, that the Church’s calendar is profoundly pro-life. But June’s baby day is the most pro-life of all, including all the year’s babies: Mary set out at the Annunciation to visit Elizabeth, where the unborn John testified to the unborn Jesus, and she served until John’s birth.
So thank God, Mary, Elizabeth and John today for our joyfully pro-life Church.
The First Pope and the New Pope
June 29 | Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
We are used to thinking of “everyman” but not of “every-pope” — but we should. The Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul points to the office of the papacy and how it always has the hallmarks of Peter and the complementary figure Paul.
St. Peter represents the institutional Church — the Church that sets rules, governs its dioceses and
attends to doctrines and norms. St. Paul represents the missionary Church proclaiming the Good News worldwide.
Peter, in this Sunday’s Gospel, receives “the keys to heaven and earth,” and is told, “What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” Peter is the Churchman par excellence. Paul, the tireless traveler who says “Woe to me if I do not evangelize.”
Pray the new pope, Pope Leo XVI, and every pope echoes them both.
Moretto da Brescia. Christ in Glory with Saint Peter and Saint Paul. 1540.
Philippe de Champaigne. St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness. 17th century. Oil on canvas.
Christmas in June
The Vocation of the Forerunner
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.” (Jn 1:6-8) This excerpt from the Prologue of John’s Gospel tells us the most essential thing about the Baptist; that he was created and called to witness to the coming of Christ into the world. I’d like in this article to share some reflections on significant aspects of the life of St. John the Baptist and how the Church remembers him in the liturgy to show how his vocation can help us to understand more deeply our own.
There are many parallels between Jesus and John. Apart from their being related to each other and around the same age, they both are born into the world through God’s intervention. Both are heralded by God’s messenger, Gabriel, as destined for grand things during the course of their lives. Both of them are also born when Israel was in great expectation that the messiah would arrive at any time according to the reckoning given in Daniel. John must have had the look of a potential messiah, at least in terms of his having attracted a following. Strikingly, that was one thing he emphasized that he was not.
“When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ … They said to him then, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’” (Jn 1:19-20, 22-23)
This is the first thing that John shows us about our own vocations: that our living of our vocation is not for our own glory. John saw his entire life as given to him for the sake of being a sign or a highlighter for others to prepare for, to take note of, and to follow his cousin. This is probably most effectively done by first
becoming more deeply aware of Christ’s presence in our day-to-day life. When we are more aware of his presence there, we can begin to make John’s words our own: “Behold, the lamb of God!” (Jn 1:36).
It is interesting to note the connection between the solstitial nature of the nativities of Jesus and John— John’s on June 24 is always near the longest day of the year, and Christmas is always near the shortest—and John’s saying from the gospel “he must increase, I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30) John’s nativity always comes around the time the days begin to grow shorter again, and Jesus when they begin to grow longer again. This is far from being merely coincidental. It’s coupled with the fact that John is one of the few people for whom the Church has two feast days. It is striking also that we use the same names for these two feast days for both Jesus and John; John’s are also commonly called his nativity and his passion.
The corollary to our vocation here is that our living of it makes us look more like Christ; better put, it makes us more alive in him and he comes to live more fully in us. There is something of a paradox here in John’s life, and indeed, in the life of any saint, in that they become more themselves by making everything about them more not about themselves, but about Jesus.
As catchy as the phrase “Christmas in July” is, especially for commercials, this is why it is more fitting to talk about “Christmas in June.” The birth of John the Baptist is a foretaste and foreshadowing of the redemption that is so close to happening at the time he is born. For us, our commemoration of the Forerunner this month is meant to lead us to a deeper awareness of our need for Christ to come into our lives today. It also shows us that, because he does come into our lives each day, we need not wait for Advent to “Make straight the way of the Lord.” (Jn 1:23)
THE PENTECOST VIGIL JUNE
7TH 2025
The Monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey invite you to join them for this special vigil Mass on the Eve of Pentecost, Saturday, June 7th at 5:00 P.M. After Mass and Vespers, join us for a potluck dinner. The monks will provide Bierocks and beverages- sign up to bring a side to share! For more information visit www�kansasmonks �org/events/pentecost
KANSAS MONKS
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pilgrimage of hope
Join Abbot James and the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey on a pilgrimage in the heartland to visit the holy sites and shrines of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, Blessed Stanley Rother, and Venerable Emil Kapaun. Sign up to recieve updates at www.kansasmonks.org/events/pilgrimageof-hope