Kansas Monks Summer 2011

Summer 2011

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From the Abbot

Kansas Monks

03 . . . . . .

4...........we remember

Kansas Monks looks back at the Life of Father Hugh Keefer.

contributing writers: Abbot Barnabas Senecal “We are all called to share in meaningful ways.”

From the Abbot (3) | Abbey Notes (23)

Brother John Peto “A Christian is known by his happiness in the Lord!”

Funeral Homily on page 11.

Oblates (8)

Father Daniel McCarthy “The liturgy nourishes us all along the process of our human maturation.”

A Grateful Response (10)

5. . . . . . . . . . . . .Our Feasibility Study 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . A Healing Journey Cyclist makes an affectionate return to St. Benedict’s Abbey on a cancer ride.

Abbot Owen Purcell “It’s all a day at a time.”

Marked by a Sign of Faith (9)

Prior Duane Roy “Working at the daily task of being monk” Somos Irmãos (20)

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8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Obl ate s 9. . . . . . Marked with the sign of Faith 10 . . . . . . a Grateful Response 12 ...A word on the Way liturgy & the life of the church

Abbot Barnabas Senecal reflects, with the help of Fernando Ugarte’s photographs, on the Stations of the Cross.

14 . . . . . . . A Song from the Heart

Monks lift the world to God with musical prayer.

20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somos Irmãos

we are brothers

21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From the Desert 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in aWord 2

Publisher: Abbot Barnabas Senecal, O.S.B., bsenecal@kansasmonks.org Editor: Dan Madden, dmadden@kansasmonks.org Art Direction: J.D. Benning, jbenning@kansasmonks.org Photography: Fernando Ugarte, Abbot Barnabas Senecal (above), JD Benning, Father Daniel McCarthy, Father Jeremy Heppler, Brother Joseph Ryan Kansas Monks magazine is published by the Office of Development.

For a free subscription: 913.360.7906, or development@kansasmonks.org.

T h e L e av e n

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From the Abbot

Summer 2011

in my life

recently enjoyed the invitation to enter into an artistically and spiritually enriching partnership with Dr. Fernando Ugarte. He has continued to bless me with his generosity.

Anita McSorley is the managing editor of the of The Leaven, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. She asked me to write meditations on the 14 Stations of the Cross to accompany photographs Dr. Ugarte had taken (see page 12) during his travels with his wife throughout the U.S. and abroad. His passion is to take photographs, particularly of Stations in churches.

The Leaven staff made selections from his collection to feature in its April 8 issue. These reflections and photos are available at kansasmonks.org.

My inspiration was to provide a single word that might characterize the meditation accompanying each Station. One reader commented: “I really enjoyed the beautiful stations from around the world, and Abbot Senecal’s meditations for them were right on! Thank you for including that very beautiful and special extra (four pages).” Patty Locher, Sacred Heart Parish, Sabetha, Kansas.

I called Dr. Ugarte at his office in Marysville, Kan., to thank him for allowing me to write about his photographs. We visited about our mutual interest in photography. He shared with me that he had a Nikon D200 that he would give to the Abbey for my use in continuing my own hobby.

Holy Saturday took on a new dimension of receiving a gift. Dr. Ugarte brought the camera to Atchison. New life was given to my desire to capture beauty in God’s creation. One might call it a Resurrection, although my current Olympus E-20 had not died, nor could it take on a new form of existence. But it is truly a gift received on a holy day.

Sharing is so vital in our lives. We know that to be true in family life, community life, and civic life. It flows from believing and a willingness to do what might seem challenging. Writing the meditations was a challenge, to digest the reality of each Station in few words.

Youths who want to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation write letters to me. In these I see repeated statements about service. This is a challenge for them, to see a world different than their own. Moving from comfort of daily routine to visits in nursing homes, food kitchens, homeless shelters, to work with those with disabilities, difficulties in learning, and limited resources, to volunteer when there is little material reward – these efforts prove to be rewarding in their hearts. And they feel this. They, too, can write about their sharing.

A youth wrote: “I have participated in food drives and fed breakfast to the poor at the Kansas City Union Mission. I have come to know that outside of my beautiful community of Johnson County, it’s not all that glamorous.”

Abbot Barnabas (L to R) is pictured with Kenny Englert and his brother and confirmation sponsor Robbie.

A man said this to the youths who provided an evening meal at Shalom House, a shelter for homeless men in Kansas City, Kan.: “What you do for us is love. You used your time, talent and money to insure that we get a quality meal – food like grandma’s used to taste – and we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.”

Myself, I gain a great deal from reading the letters of these youngsters and then celebrating the Sacrament with them and their families. Confirmation preparation provides guidance and motivation for young followers of Christ to get a bigger view of life. The letters are similar to photographs. They create images for me of young people engaging in life, and I do believe they “get the real picture.” In a word, they too are forming images of themselves and of people whose lives they have touched.

Abbot Barnabas Senecal 3

Kansas Monks

we remember...

Father Hugh Keefer July 21, 1927-June 1, 2011 Father Hugh Keefer, O.S.B., 83, born as Lewis Keefer on July 21, 1927, in Topeka, Kan., the son of Sam and Sadie (Williams) Keefer, died on the morning of Wednesday, June 1, 2011.

After graduating from Emporia High School in 1944, Father Hugh enrolled at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia (now Emporia State University), receiving a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and a Bachelor of Science in education in May 1949. The next years brought experience teaching high school in Columbus, Kan., working for the Army Engineer Corps in Anchorage, Alaska, and, in 1951, finishing a Masters of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Michigan.

The 1950s brought valuable experience for Father Hugh. He worked for the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland; as a math teacher at Shawnee Mission High School in Kansas; and as a computer programmer for Babcock & Wilcox in Lynchburg, Va. In these years, Father Hugh, a convert to the Catholic faith, began to look into the monastic life, visiting the Benedictines at St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa., and for a short time was a novice with the Trappists in Virginia. Just prior to coming to St. Benedict’s Abbey in the 1961-62 academic year, he took courses at The American University and Georgetown University.

On July 11, 1963, Father Hugh professed his simple vows as a monk of the Abbey. After completing studies in philosophy and theology, Father Hugh was ordained to the priesthood on June 2, 1967, in the Abbey Church.

Abbot Thomas recognized his talent and asked him to join the first Master of Business Administration class at the University of Notre Dame. He completed the MBA in 1969. In the 1970s Father Hugh served as Controller of St. Benedict’s College and the newly merged Benedictine College, as well as from 1976-79 serving as Business Manager and Controller. During these years he also served as the chaplain of the St. Benedict’s College Council #4708 of the Knights of Columbus. Under his leadership, the college Knights were voted four times as the college Knights Council of the year for the entire United States.

In the 1980s he worked as Computer 4

Programmer for Maur Hill Prep, Atchison, and then began to work as the Assistant Business Manager of the Abbey, serving faithfully under Father Hilary Heim, OSB, and until recently under Father Maurice Haefling, OSB. His gifts were also used

by St. Martin’s University, a Benedictine university in Lacey, Wash., where he served as Controller from 1986-87, and later, in 1990, by the International Benedictine house of Sant’Anselmo in Rome where he served to update the accounting method Father Hugh and his mother there. In the early 1990s head to the post office before he Father Hugh experienced returned to his Army duties. a personal difficulty which brought him to a 12-step program. While he had certainly proved that he had a tremendous intellectual capacity, what began to shine forth more and more was his heart. He discovered a gift that he shared with many others in their lives and their recoveries. His homilies to the monks, students and guests at the Abbey Masses, to the sisters at the Mount, and to the basketball team at Benedictine College for which he served as chaplain, all came from a heart that had been changed. As one BC basketball player who went on to be a FOCUS missionary wrote: “I loved Father Hugh and his presence as our team chaplain.

He was a great witness of humility and faith. He will be in my prayers.”

Father Hugh was preceded in death by his parents Sam and Sadie Keefer, brother George Keefer and sisters-in-law Shirley Keefer and Doris Keefer.

He is survived by his brothers in the monastic life and a brother: Robert (Lila) Keefer of Wichita and nephews: Ken Keefer of St. Joseph, Mo.; Kevin Keefer of Pasadena, Calif.; Richard (Marilyn) Keck, Lathrop, Mo. Nieces: Kristin (Doug) Shaffer and sons Sam and Ben; Carol Keefer, Denver, Colo.; Teresa Thomas, Jackson, Wyo.; Mary Ann Keefer, Miramar Beach, Fla. Gifts in honor of Fr. Hugh can be made to St. Benedict’s Abbey, 1020 N. Second St., Atchison, KS 66002.

Summer 2011

Abbey Renovations a High Priority for Constituents

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“Being a part of the Benedictine Family is part of who I am. Continuing the Abbey’s mission is more important now than ever before.” – survey participant

ove for the Benedictine way of life and support of the monks who share the love of Christ, educate the faithful, and serve with grace in many parishes fuels the friends of St. Benedict’s Abbey. Over the past few months, the Abbey has engaged in a feasibility study to determine if a capital campaign would appropriately serve our mission and receive the support of our constituents.

needs so that the mission of the monks can continue well into the future.

One comment we received from a survey participant was particularly thought provoking: “You may find that Catholics hunger for a calm environment for the calm expression of ideas, and a Benedictine monastery with its traditions of good liturgy and serious and meaningful preaching could be such an environment - a place where the Spirit could come to touch us.”

The results are in, and we are both pleased and humbled by what our study has found.

Church Development, a Kansas City-based firm with expertise in stewardship development and fundraising for churches and other faith-based organizations, conducted personal interviews with a number of our friends and supporters to gather input about our potential plan. Additionally, a survey was made available through this magazine and online.

We were pleased to find that 90% of those surveyed felt that it is important to support the monastic way of life. With support like that, it was not surprising, but encouraging none-the-less, that 90% of those interviewed and 68% of those surveyed indicated that they would financially support a capital campaign to fix the roof of the Abbey, replace outdated windows, and provide long-term financial solutions for elderly monks.

In fact, the support for completing these projects was very high.

Eighty-eight percent of those surveyed indicated that they thought it was urgent that the Abbey begin a campaign now to address these critical

This sentiment exemplifies how the monastery can be of great benefit to many people as a place to exchange ideas, connect with God, and explore our faith in Christ. Therefore, a capital campaign would certainly enable us to address basic physical needs of the Abbey – a good roof, energy efficient windows, and retirement benefits for monks.

However, it’s the presence of those monks in the community, and the people who come to the monastery for spiritual retreat, that are the critical and driving reason we need to raise funds. It truly is not about the bricks and mortar but about the Spirit of the Lord working in and among the monks who make their home in the Abbey.

We will continue to share more information in coming issues of Kansas Monks about how a capital campaign may impact our work at the Abbey. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their ideas and input with us. We greatly value your support of our work for God’s Kingdom.

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Kansas Monks

A Healing Journey In early April three cyclists arrived at St. Benedict’s Abbey connected by one terrible disease. Ron Johnson, a member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Overland Park, Kan., whose wife was a cancer survivor, had promised to lead his friend Reg Robertson on a training ride from Leavenworth to Atchison. Robertson, a member of the Team in Training program, a cycling club that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, was beginning his training for a 100 mile ride around Lake Tahoe. The third rider, Jim Wedeking, a dedicated cyclist, had survived a deadly bout with cancer and had recently learned he was again headed into battle, this time with prostate cancer. Johnson wanted his friend to meet and ride alongside someone who had battled the dreaded disease. For his friend Jim, he hoped the ride and its destination on the grounds of St. Benedict’s Abbey would bring some sort of spiritual healing.

Unbeknownst to any of the riders, except for himself, Jim Wedeking had lived decades before as a candidate at St. Benedict’s Abbey, hoping deep in his heart to become a monk. St. Benedict says that each day the monk should keep death before his eyes. Now Jim Wedeking, cancer survivor, husband, father, grandfather and soon to be cancer patient, was going back.

He agreed to the following interview with Dan Madden while recovering from radical cancer. | Photos by J.D. Benning •What is your history as a cyclist?

As a young kid growing up in Topeka I rode my bicycle to school and even had a paper route throwing The Kansas City Star newspaper. Then, when high school rolled around, riding a bicycle to school was not the norm, and so it was a few years later when I took up riding a bike again.

In 1984, I helped start the MS 150 (cycling club). At that time we only had a couple hundred riders, which is now over two thousand riders. For about 10 years my wife and daughter rode with the bike club on weekends and also did the Bike Across Kansas a few times. Before retirement from my job I commuted to work, putting in 34 miles a day.

side of my neck and was referred by my oncologist to KUMC for a bone marrow transplant. KUMC prepared me for the transplant by starting me on RICE chemo for two months.

During most of my chemo treatment I had to carry my medication around with me in back packs with pumps working overnight. I rode my bike with the chemo going throughout my rides.

Many could not believe that I was doing that, but my thoughts were to push the chemo through my system quicker and eradicate this ugly cancer.

On Sept. 1, 2008, I packed up my belongings, including my bicycle and my trainer, and was admitted into the Bone Marrow Transplant unit (BMT) of KUMC. I set my bicycle up on my stationary trainer in my room, and put a virtual reality video in the TV and did my daily ride up Mount Lemon (located in Tucson Ariz.) while they started me on chemo. The Mount Lemon ride is rated a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10, and takes about 2 hrs to complete. The first day I rode four hours, but I rode at least an hour and a half each day thereafter.

I was released from KUMC on Sept. 20 to the comforts of my own home. My wife had to prepare the house for me, which had to be sterile. No plants, no pets, all my meals had to be fresh, no leftovers. I was not allowed to be around kids, and I had to be extra careful whom I came in contact with, because I had no immune system.

Brother Joseph Ryan greeted Ron Johnson (left) and Jim Wedeking (center) and Reg Robertson (not pictured).

•Could you tell me about your battles with cancer?

In Aug. 2004, I found a lump on the side of my neck; a surgeon removed it and sent it off to a pathologist who told me it was cancer. I was referred to the Kansas City Cancer Clinic (KCCC).

A scan further revealed stage 4 Lymphoma. I went to Kansas University Medical Center (KUMC) for a second opinion and was told the same. KCCC started me on eight rounds of R-Chop chemo, but no radiation since I had so many cancerous lymph nodes. I managed to work through the whole ordeal of losing my hair and various other side effects.

Three and a half years later I found another lump on the other 6

This past February I was diagnosed with an aggressive stage of prostate cancer. I was not given good options. A priest friend gave me the miraculous oil of St. Walberga, and another gave me the oil of St. Padre Pio, I combined them and prayed the Novenas every day.

The urologist performed a prostate biopsy, and sent me over for a bone scan to see if this cancer had spread to my bones or bladder. It had not. So far the miraculous prayers are working!

Because my cancer was not caught early enough, the urologist could not paint me a good picture for any of the treatment options. I talked to others who had gone through this; however, all of them had their diagnosis early on. As for me I assumed that my oncologists were checking it with my blood tests and scans every six months; I was wrong. I had to make the best decision, which was a Radical Prostatectomy.

Summer 2011 •Why did your ride include a visit to the Abbey?

Ron outlined the entire trip. I know that he truly felt that I needed this prior to my surgery. Ron, I know, wanted to bring me closer to Christ, and a spiritual healing he felt was as essential as the physical.

Ron did not know that I had an earlier connection in life to the Abbey, but when he told me about doing this trip, I just had to do it.

I know that I could not ask for a better friend than Ron, and I really don’t know how to express my feelings, I only wish that I could still be riding with him and the others, but that will have to come after I get over this incontinence.

Father Eugene Dehner: A funny guy; Brother John Kaighin: A very nice man who had a love for music; Brother Walter Landwehr and Brother Anthony Vorwerk: They could really get into it; Brother Stephen Schober: He said I had a mental block because I could program Fortran language but didn’t like Math; Abbot Thomas Hartman: The abbot during my brief stay and Father Terence Sullivan: The prior; •Tell me about your visit to the Abbey cemetery?

The Abbey Cemetery really put a lump in my throat to see all of the familiar names on the head stones, like:

There are so many fond memories. I will always keep each and every one in my prayers.

Brother Jerome Elmer: Give him a few drinks at haustus night, and he would play his banjo for you. He always made me laugh;

•What impact did the visit to the Abbey have on you?

The visit brought back memories to the time when I was there.

Everyone was more than family to me. Although I was a layman living and acting out my life just like all the other monks, I felt just like I belonged there. I was sad to leave and only wanted to live my life as a Benedictine monk. My only regret was to not keep in touch with you all, it was always sad to learn about the death of someone I knew weeks after it occurred.

Brother Vincent Fitzgerald: I still can’t believe he left you; he was a specimen of good health;

•I understand you were close to Brother Vincent Fitzgerald.

Brother Leo Rotter: He was like a dad to me, and helped me work on my car when I replaced the clutch. And I confess that I took him to the liquor store once;

Father Regis Hickey and Brother Gregory Viscek: The first to greet me and help carry my stuff in; Father John Habiger: I actually got to know his son, Father Benedict, who taught me Tae kwon do; Father Gerald Mesmer: A political science teacher who even made trips to Lenexa to say Mass on weekends; Father Henry Deters: Whenever I was concerned about my grades, he would tell me that they were as good as his and not to worry; Brother Martin Burkhard: He always gave me encouragement to do things on my own, and got me interested in ceramics. Many of the items I made were inspired by him. I have a lamp and a complete chess set.

I don’t know if the word close is appropriate, since I really never wrote or kept in contact with anyone, I simply never write letters.

Brother Vincent was very likable and from day one we became good friends. Brother Vincent was well liked by many of the students as well. He always Continued on next page 7

Kansas Monks wore a smile and had kind things to say to everyone with whom he came in contact.

One time Godzilla vs the Smog Monster was playing in Kansas City at the drive-in theater so we got permission from Abbot Thomas to go see it. There wasn’t any particular underlying reason to see such a ridiculous movie, but we got a kick and a hoot out of going and doing something out of the ordinary.

I told my grandson about that movie, and he now collects all the Godzilla movies. I cannot tell you why he is fascinated with that fictional monster, but when I told him the story, he became interested and started his collection.

•Was the bike trip a success?

I’m not sure what impact the Abbey and the grounds had on Reg, but in terms of what the trip did for me, it was the best thing that could have happened, especially since Ron planned this whole trip with the intention of a spiritual healing for me without knowing that I had any previous connection to the Abbey. That is the Holy Spirit in action for sure!

•Will you come back and visit us soon?

If that is an invitation, the answer is yes! I would love to as long as I can visit with my old friends. I say old because I’m not so young myself.

Obl ates

On the First Sunday of Advent Catholics will be noticing some very obvious changes at Mass. The Mass itself is not changing but many of the responses will be different and parts of the Eucharistic prayers will change as will some of the opening prayers.

This has all brought to mind what Catholics experienced following the Second Vatican Council when English was used in the liturgy and most churches had new altars facing the people. I recall those days so well as I was not yet in the monastery but was teaching in a Catholic high school in Denver. It was an inner-city school staffed by 20 Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth and a handful of lay teachers. I ate most of my meals at the rectory and spent most of my time around the place. The Irish pastor announced right before the first Sunday the that changes were to take place, and that the sisters and myself were to report to the church late one Saturday afternoon to practice the new liturgy.

A large free standing altar had been placed in the sanctuary of the church. The altar did a decent job of matching all of the marble throughout the church. As an aside I saw many altars which were not more than small tables placed in many churches which seemed to down play the mass. Annunciation’s new altar did not.

Monsignor went through all of the Mass for the following day and asked us to make the appropriate responses–some in Latin and some in English. It was somewhat disjointed as it was all so new and we were not used to responding in our own language.

The liturgy would now have two readings each Sunday prior to the proclamation of the gospel which was a total change and we would have different readings for different years. Monsignor Barry told me that I would be at every Mass to proclaim the readings and lead all of the responses from a place in the pulpit. That would mean four Masses each Sunday. I was young and really enjoyed what I was doing but as I look back I realize the people of the parish did not get much of an opportunity to do much and 8

that seemed to defeat much of the challenge of the Council. There wasn’t any explanation of why we’re doing things differently than they had been done before. The changes at Annunciation brought about one incident I have never forgotten. Monsignor Barry tied off a good number of the back pews with some heavy rope. The elderly Mrs. Hill was not about to Brother John Peto change her ways and find a new Director of Oblates place to sit nearer the front of the church. The next Sunday she arrived with clippers to cut the rope and regain her place in the back pew.

Readers may wonder what this historical account of some years ago has to do with the First Sunday of Advent 2011. Once again we will be noting a number of changes in our English at Mass.

The church has translated the Latin into more accurate English.

One of the most noticeable changes will be in the creed. We will return to saying “I believe” rather than the “We believe” that we have been saying. It makes sense as the Latin is credo (I believe). It is a formula that is personal and I dare say we all believe just a little differently. Belief is colored by our education and backgrounds in various disciplines.

I will not attempt to explain the changes but I do recommend a short booklet “Understanding the Revised Mass Texts” second edition by Father Paul Turner, a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. It is published by Liturgy Training Publications and is $1.25. I am sure many Churches will have this available and certainly all church goods stores.

During summer the oblate groups here at the Abbey will be studying this book.

- Are you interested in becoming an Oblate of St. Benedict?

Contact Br. John Peto: johnpeto1@gmail.com | 913-360-7896

Summer 2011

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Marked with the sign of Faith

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Brother Vincent Fitzgerald 1932-1997

ne of two monks to join the Abbey from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago – Father Regis Hickey being the other – Brother Vincent called Chicago his birthplace.

It was obvious in his speech. Though a Chicagoan he was a Republican as well.

Vincent graduated from Mount Carmel, came to St. Benedict’s and made vows April 20, 1952. After a very short stint as a truck driver he began working in the Print Shop (The Abbey Student Press) and did so until 1997. Ever curious he worked through letterpress, offset, and computer assisted printing. He was manager of the press from 1976 to 1979. His vision extended far beyond the Press. While not rock-ribbed about it, the changes in the Church as a result of Vatican Council II were sometimes not easy for him to accept. He spoke his peace and let it be and kept his smile as he puffed on his pipe!

Brother Vincent was the coach on the men’s and women’s bowling teams of the College and his Women’s Team won the Mo-Kan Conference Championship.

He taught youth, serving as religion instructor in parishes in Atchison, Everest, Wathena Troy, and Good Intent. He worked also in Weston, Mo. He served on the Board of Governors of the College and also on the Abbot’s Council of Seniors.

Brother Vincent’s life touched so many in many and varied ways. He was a friend of college students and confidant of many.

He loved to play the banjo in jam sessions with his confreres, to

Brother Vincent and Father Aaron Peters (right) work on their regatta at Warnock Lake in Atchison, Kan. plan and enter the Annual Milk Carton Regatta, competing for the miniature Gold Loving Cup. One of his boats is on display in the monastery coffee room.

He hiked, camped out, went tobogganing, skied and river rafted.

He delighted in people and brought them to life. Vincent shattered the image of the lay brother largely confined to the monastic routine and monastery grounds.

He was ever a community man and held the trust and respect of his monastic superiors.

Vincent always made monastic visitors very welcome and usually took them on a hike if they were here over the weekend. He wasn’t pushy but people wanted to spend time with him.

Brother John Peto said he never heard him say anything critical about anyone, although he recalls he did not have any hesitation to criticize about events and policies.

He died of cancer, but a couple of days before his death, perhaps the day before, Abbot Owen Purcell is compiling a necrology of St. he asked his Benedict’s Abbey, profiles on brother who the deceased monks of the was keeping Abbey. It offers a thorough vigil to take and entertaining look into the history of the Abbey, one him to the monk at a time. If you have a Dairy Queen comment, insight or addition for a chocoe-mail Abbot Owen: late malt. pucellowen944@gmail.com.

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Kansas Monks

a Grateful Response liturgy & the life of the church

When the Mind’s Idle ersonally, the silent pauses are one of the most refreshing characteristics of our recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours at St. Benedict’s Abbey.

At the morning office of readings we observe a full minute of silence together after each of the two readings. At morning and evening prayer we observe a half-minute of communal silence after each psalm. After each phrase of a psalm we pause briefly so that each person may take adequate breath.

The quality of our communal silence requires discipline and reveals much about our cooperation with one another.

In my travels to other monastic communities I have noted the tendency of some monks to take the lead or to compete with others or to rush to get the job done so that they begin a hair’s breath ahead of the rest, but the choir master can help them to unify their recitation by setting a pace that all can maintain. The patient recitation of one phrase of a psalm reveals the cooperation of each person involved.

When I began to share in these moments of communal silence as a young monk, my mind easily raced ahead to the next psalm or turned to the tasks of the day which I brought with me and had not yet let go. This type of reflection is helpful to organize and plan on one’s daily activities.

Once I gave myself to the silence and settled into its predictable pace, my mind left behind the tasks at hand and began freely to wander, and the memories, events, reactions that came to the fore revealed to me the inner workings of my own mind. This kind of reflective silence helped me to befriend myself and to appreciate the concerns and distractions of my life experiences. Some people are put off by their own wandering mind and struggle to repress this form of reflection often to no avail.

Other people prefer to structure their reflection according to a particular method, for example, reflecting on a phrase of a psalm so that the silence provides an opportunity to personalize some aspect of the psalm just recited. This type of reflective silence helped me to be open in a new way to the voice of the psalmist and to the Spirit prompting my response.

At a certain point I realized that the mind’s musings quieted and at times it is simply sufficient to be aware of my bodily presence with my confreres and the guests who pray with us. Simply breathing in and out gently helps calm the mind. This contemplative silence seeks to appreciate the moment shared with others.

I have often been struck by the appearance of a guest who enters our company while we are keeping silence together. I imagine that it might seem odd to find a group of people engaged in shared silence, but liturgy celebrated well is structured in part by moments of keeping silence together.

One such moment occurs at the end of the introductory rites after the assembly has gathered and the ministers have processed in. We may sing the Kyrie and Gloria and then all are invited to pray as the presider says, “Let us pray.” In many parishes the server then brings the Sacramentary to the presider who offers the opening prayer. What many parishes omit after the invitation to pray is the moment of communal silence, and when observed the silence is rarely longer than several seconds, just long enough 10

for the server to move about and the presider to manage the book.

What the liturgy envisions is something quite different. The moment for silent prayer helps each person to begin the liturgy with a personal prayer before the common prayer is given by the presider and ratified by the assembly’s “Amen”.

The expectation of a moment for Father Daniel McCarthy personal prayer could help some people to reflect on their concerns as they come to church so that they might offer them up in silent prayer in the Christian assembly.

Such preparation for the liturgy, however, may develop when the silence for personal prayer is dependable so that a congregation can develop this habit. It may develop when the silence is of adequate length to give people a real chance to formulate and express a personal prayer. There is no obstacle so great to this personal prayer as when a presider decides to cut The tradition of illuminated manuthe silence short. scripts expresses the reflections of The larger the group, monks meditating on the scripthe more difficult it tures they are praying. The images may be to initiate such give pause for silent reflection in a practice; at least this common. These images are from is my experience. Planan Antiphonale for the liturgy of the ning ahead and discusshours and a Graduale for the Mass hand lettered and illuminated by a ing the practice of monk of St Michael’s Abbey, Farncommon silence may borough, Hampshire, England. prove an important opportunity to teach on the value of personal prayer in the Christian assembly. Such planning may also consider how the presider and servers observe this silence.

I typically ask the server Iluminated letter ‘P’ (upper left) The Church at prayer is depicted in to have the book ready this illuminated letter P for the feast for the opening prayer of the Annunciation of Mary. before I give the invitation to pray so that the silence is not broken by the handling of the book.

Another important scheduled moment of silence during the Mass is after the first reading and before the common response.

This gives a chance to reflect on the first reading before turning our attention to the other readings. The Prayers of the Faithful may have a moment of silence for personal prayer. The Eucharistic Prayer may have silent pauses. Many parishes observe a prolonged silence after communion, but when this is the first moment of communal silence, many an opportunity has already been lost.

Parishes that observe an extended silence only after communion might consider the value of briefer but more regular moments of silence, as the liturgy recommends.

It does not take a liturgist to suggest moments of shared silence for prayer. Families gathered at their dining room table may have such a moment before saying a shared grace. Parents may teach their children how to reflect on their actions throughout the day during a moment of silence before the bedtime prayer. Even a class of first graders can tell you of the importance of quiet time.

Word

a farewell

June 6, 2011 | by Abbot Barnabas Senecal

“You are living stones, built as an edifice of spirit, into a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Once you were no people, but now you are God’s people; once there was “no mercy for you, but now you have found mercy.”

Zephaniah 3:16-20 | 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10 | Matthew 5:1-12

F

ather Hugh liked to preach. He would start preparing many days in advance. He would work out his material, then memorize it. He had the custom, here in the Abbey anyway, to preach from the presider’s chair. When he finished reading the Gospel, he walked to the chair. He developed a signal that indicated whether he was going to preach when he reached the chair.

The content of his preaching sometimes challenged the listeners to some self-examination. And he often spoke of his own shortcomings. There were worshippers who particularly enjoyed his style of preaching and who came to hear him.

Father Hugh had come to Catholicism deliberately, reflectively.

He tried one form of religious life, with the Trappists, but chose not to stay. He was a highly educated man, in math and in management. He worked in the corporate world and in the military.

He valued family a great deal. He valued being an educator. He valued the work he did for the Abbey community, in processing health insurance paperwork and in keeping accurate records for monthly financial reports.

Father Hugh enjoyed working with individuals as well as with a community. He was effective in working with international students in Benedictine College’s American Language Academy.

He was effective in getting young college men to join the campus Knights of Columbus Council, and received national recognition for this leadership.

He held responsible positions in the College business office. He worked with other religious communities to establish better practices of financial record keeping.

He loved Catholic liturgy and was our Master of Ceremonies for a good number of years. He developed guide sheets for various liturgies and passed these on to monks who succeeded him in this assignment.

Summer 2011 Facets of his life converged in his preaching themes. He wanted to help listeners find unity in their lives, to develop ways to deal with differences between individuals.

He encouraged people to appreciate the history of a Catholic Church practice or doctrine or devotion.

He counseled individuals, also. He was “dear friend” to many. He was the chaplain to the basketball team and sat with them on the bench, prayed with them before home games, even gave his interpretation on how the coach could improve game strategies. He consoled individuals who had lost a loved one, through a spoken or written word.

Father Hugh knitted sweaters for friends. He did art, in clay and watercolor, works he shared with monks and made arrangements to share it on our website. He loved his monastic room with its many windows, sunlight and potted plants.

He had a sense of humor that many remember well. He approached people with a smile, indicating how he felt and how he wanted the other to feel. “The thing I will miss the most about Father Hugh was his sense of humor. He always made me laugh even if I did not want to laugh,” wrote one gentleman upon hearing of the death.

Father Hugh An article chronicling Father Hugh’s preferred, demanded, work as Basketball Chaplain was featured in the Spring 2009 issue the availability of a small of Kansas Monks and is available at blue Ford Focus that is part of our automobile Kansasmonks.org. fleet. He wrecked one; we got another. This was his shopping car. Some folks have shopping carts; he had a shopping car. Routinely, he received requests from community members for items from Wal-Mart or other places.

Friday morning was shopping day.

Not all of these sketches of Father Hugh showed up in his homilies. However, who he was was clear from his actions. He knew himself as having weaknesses and strengths. He knew himself in comparison to only one other, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was grateful to others who walked the walk with him. He sought to be heard when at times he might have felt alone.

Christ provides direction to all of us, in liturgy and in Scripture, in lectio and in recited prayer. He gives us reason to hope by building up trust. He is ready to receive us, on the day of his choice and in our day of quiet acceptance.

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A Word on the Way:t Kansas Monks

by Abbot Barnabas Senecal / Photos by Fernando Ugarrte

Much of the world’s most beautiful art is rooted in Christian themes. St. Francis of Assisi, who is believed to have created the Stations of the Cross, said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when neccessary use words.” Combining the the beauty of Christian art from around the world and an economy of the written word, photographer Fernando Ugarte and Abbot Barnabas Senecal share this meditation on the humanity of Jesus Christ through suffering, his and that of those whom he loved and who loved him. This meditation and photos first appeared in The Leaven, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

Wash

1

Jesus was not to be protected by civil authority. Pilate distanced himself from those who wanted Jesus killed. He washed his hands. A child witnessed this washing. Pilate held power, could have defended Jesus. He chose not to do that. Perhaps the child near Pilate learned a lesson. Perhaps we learn a lesson, to defend the innocent among us.

Jesus accepted the cross. He knew the Father’s will. He heard the will of the people. “Crucify him.” Jesus loved both the Father and the people. It would take a dramatic action to prove this love. It would require sacrifice, a lesson I learn to imitate in daily life.

Accept

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Weakness

3

Jesus wanted to be strong. There was a crowd of witnesses, taunting him, in the beginning of this difficult walk. He fell to the ground. The weight of the cross was not expected. The unexpected does cause the burden to be greater, for each of us.

Mother

Jesus knew his mother’s sorrow. She had thrilled at the way Jesus had taught and healed others. She knew he had power to make this scene go away. She knew, however, that good would come from this suffering. She wasn’t sure how. I, too, accept this unknown in my life.

4

Help

5

Jesus welcomed Simon. The soldiers must have seen that Jesus was in need of help, and they allowed another to walk with Jesus. There was no reward for Simon. His help didn’t put a stop to the cruelty.

It didn’t help Simon understand why. I need to be Simon to another.

Impression

Jesus thanked Veronica. He truly left his impression on her cloth and in her person. Veronica means “true image.” She represents all who identify with Jesus and bear His image in their lives. That image is to be clearly visible. Followers of Jesus are impressed with and imitate His graciousness.

Partner

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A second helper, perhaps, along with Simon. Art depicts a balance, “where two are gathered in His name.” Many want to help in the work of Jesus. They recognize his innocence of any crime. They want to eliminate such unfair use of power by others. You and I step forward when we are able.

6

Summer 2011

the Stations of the Cross 8

Weep

“Weep not for me.” The women of Jerusalem were grouped as one, and Jesus acknowledged this. Women give life and nurture life. They suffer with one who suffers, be that child, spouse or friend. Jesus, however, encourages them to weep for those who cause suffering. We regret any suffering we cause.

Exhaustion

Jesus stretched his human strength. He fell a third time on the hard stone of the pathway. Soldiers, men and women friends, were near him. To carry that which will lead to one’s death is an added weight, crushing the spirit. We may want to lay aside that which burdens us.

9

Stripped

Jesus was stripped of his outer garment, making evident the stripes that had been inflicted and the bruises of the heavy cross. It made evident, also, his total gift of self. He was humbled in his apparent helplessness. We share that feeling at times, and we are drawn to the Father, as was Jesus.

10

Abandonment

Jesus was nailed to the cross he had carried. He felt the pain, heard the pounding of the hammer, knew the reality of death was near. He was nailed to his loneliness, a feeling of abandonment swept over him. This was the human condition, experienced deeply by the Divine. An awesome sharing.

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Finish

Jesus died on the cross, an upright position for an upright Person, Love is felt in loss. We see persons in sorrow, often. When the dying are our family members or our friends, we long to prolong the love we’ve known. We are grateful for them and promise to never forget them. We do this with Jesus.

12

Tender

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Jesus died and was taken off the cross. Mary embraced her Son. The burden of death bore heavily upon her. This was her only Son, the one mysteriously conceived and now mysteriously deceased. What further mystery is to unfold, or is this truly the end of His life? We share Mary’s tender heart and her search for continued life.

Buried

Jesus was laid to rest behind the stone. Heavy hearted persons carried this burden, a life cut short, a teacher, a quiet leader, one who had great promise. Such hope should not have been begotten in so many. Could it be sustained without him? We would welcome his return, but how might this be?

14 13

Kansas Monks

A Song from the Heart

music in the monaster y

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Summer 2011

S

itting in an office chair, far from organ and choir stalls, the music rises in Father Aaron Peters’ heart.

Moments before he grimaces, still feeling the sharp discomfort from recent cancer surgery. But as he waves his hand with the small rhythmic flourishes of a choral conductor and begins chanting the ancient texts he smiles slightly.

“Break into song for God with tambourine,” the monk recites to the beat. He then starts to slap his knee softly, not unlike one enjoying a tent revival or a front porch sing along.

“Sing in honor of the Lord with cymbal; let psalm and canticle mingle for him extol him and invoke his name.”

Continued on next page

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Kansas Monks “That works,” he says of the beat in his head, as he chants the Canticle of Judith in the same poetic metre he used when arranging ancient texts three decades ago.

In 1994, when Abbot Barnabas Senecal was blessed as the eighth abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey, he chose as his motto “Sing to the Lord a New Song,” the first line from Psalms 98 and 149. He wrote, “I sense that song is a wonderful prayer. We listen to one another. We create something from the gifts each of us has. We know our limits and accept leadership. Song reflects a community which walks in harmony and strives for peace.”

Music is essential to monas- Abbot Barnabas’ Coat of Arms tic life. The singing of the psalms predates St. Benedict, and even monastic life, all the way back to the temple in Jerusalem.

“In prayer the community is having a conversation with God, in song its heart is speaking to God,” Father Aaron says. “The psalms are a songbook. They are Israel’s songs. They are meant to be sung. Music is the highest expression of one’s faith. You are giving emotional expression as well as intellectual expression. There is a reason that the heart wells up when one listens to a great piece of music. I think of my prayer like incense, rising to God, as it says in Psalm 141.”

“You can give more of yourself in song,” says Father Blaine Schultz, Abbey choirmaster and organist, who wrote most of the original music at St. Benedict’s On the left is the seal of St. Abbey. “It takes much more energy Benedict’s Abbey, a black cross to sing the Lord’s Prayer than it on a silver battlement below a does to recite it.” silver crescent moon on blue, Only human beings can sing, representing the Virgin Mary. The he notes, and in the monastery it portion on the right shows three doesn’t matter if they can do it well. five-pointed stars, like horsemen’s spurs, separated by a gold chevron “We accept all comers,” he says. found in a Senecal family coat of “We don’t demand that you sing arms. Crossed lilies indicate French beautifully or even on pitch.” origin. Above, a Gospel book Brother Leven Harton admits and flame, each indicative of St. sacred isn’t exactly his preferred Barnabas. Two martlets face each taste in music. other; a martlet represents the “I was formed by popular rock fourth son; Abbot Barnabas is a twin, thus, duplicate 4th sons. music,” he says. “But I know when I like a hymn. When I can sing it helps. Music moves you. It makes you feel good and we all need to feel good at times.”

However the 27-year-old monk scoffs at the idea that beautiful music is more pleasing to God than any other form of prayer.

“It sure doesn’t come down to God being more pleased,” he says.

“What God loves is us trying hard, even if we can’t sing well.”

He notes that one of his senior confreres can’t sing a note, but he always sings with vigor and passion. Brother Leven suggests that monk is offering more fitting praise to God than the most honey-voiced monk who sings while distracted.

A Great Community Effort AA

visitor to St. Benedict’s Abbey may find the gentle rhythms of monastic prayer as effortless as breathing to the monks who do it four times each day. But the music and poetry of the Liturgy of the Hours is the result of what Father Blaine calls one of St. Benedict’s Abbey’s great community efforts.

The Psalms, or Psalter, is a compilation of 150 of ancient Israel’s religious lyrics, poems and prayers by many authors. The word “psalm” is from the Greek Psalmoi, “songs sung to a stringed instrument.”

The Psalter was gradually assembled.

Psalms 1-89 were in their present form by the first century B.C. and the whole collection was finalized by the second half of the first century A.D. For the early church the Psalms were both prayerbook and hymnbook and are featured in the writings of most of the Patristic authors.

The Psalter is prominent in Catholic and Protestant liturgy. For the Liturgy of the Hours the entire Psalter is usually recited during a one-, two-, or four-week cycle.

16

Gregorian chant, named for Gregory the Great, has been prevalent in the Liturgy of the Hours since around 600 A.D., and was based upon older chant in Rome, Spain, France and Milan. It eventually supplanted various local and regional forms of chant throughout Europe. Pope Gregory’s contribution was to gather the many forms of chant, which were set to many popular tunes of the time, and adapt them into one songbook.

Gregorian chant was revived by the monks of the French Abbey of Solesmes after a long period of serious decline.

Beginning in the late 1800s the monks of Solesmes traveled throughout Europe collecting manuscripts from abbeys, convents and cathedrals. Their goal: to come up with a unified edition of the chants for the Mass and Divine Office.

The monks edited thousands of melodies based upon careful study of ancient manuscripts. Ninety-nine percent of the music they found was composed by anonymous monks and nuns, too humble to sign

Summer 2011 their names to their work.

“What an ambitious project,” Father Blaine proclaims. “The amount of music they poured over was incredible. It was one of the great feats in the Church.”

When Father Blaine entered the monastery in 1957, all the music sung at the Liturgy of the Hours and mass was contained in two volumes. Today the community uses five hymnals and 15 volumes of three-ring binders that include the entire four-week cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours including all the psalms, canticles and antiphons.

The monks sing 248 pieces of music during a four-week cycle.

Father Blaine says Vatican II and the introduction of the vernacular into the liturgy caused a mad scramble by monastic liturgists and composers. At St. Benedict’s Abbey the initial English version of the Liturgy of the Hours contained almost no singing: a hymn at the beginning, another at the end and the rest was recited. Slowly canticles and intercessions were added until Father Mark Bauman came up with what the community called the “Green Book,” a Divine Office in English on a two-week cycle.

Father Blaine said it was fairly successful.

“It got us through,” he recalls, “but it didn’t take long for people to see how inadequate it was.”

The only parts of the office that were sung were the hymns and gospel canticles. Everything else, including Vespers, a liturgy that is traditionally sung in its entirety, was recited. Later, Abbot Brendan Downey prodded Father Blaine to compose a Vespers that was sung from beginning to end, but only for Sundays. Eventually, it evolved into a daily practice. With the years, the community got bolder, adding more and more music.

Then, in the mid 1980s, under the leadership of Abbot Ralph Koehler, the community embarked on a massive undertaking—a complete revision of its Liturgy of the Hours. The desire was for a more prayerful Liturgy of the Hours in an easier to use form.

The project, led by Prior Emeric Fletcher, involved almost every member of the community in some manner.

Father Aaron began the complicated process of fashioning a schema—a schedule of the canticles and psalms to be sung and/ or recited. The Monastic Thesaurus. a resource for the Liturgy of the Hourse published by the Confederation of Bendictine Orders,

provides four schema option, but Father Aaron notes that it allows a community to create its own schema to fit its distinct character.

“The prayer life is the focal point of the monastic life,” Father Aaron says. “You want something that is going to fit your community, the temperament of your community. Our Liturgy of the Hours works for our community because it came out of our community.” He says that is why, at least in the American Benedictine world, every monastery’s community prayer is different, not so uniform as it once was.

Praying the office is “an expression of the community and its worship of God,” he says. “It is the community having a conversation with God. Its heart is speaking to God.” The schema started with St. Benedict, who told his monks what Psalms to pray. The Abbey kept many of Father Mark’s Old Testament Canticles from the Green Book, which were chosen for their poetic style and traditional use.

Father Aaron worked up a four-week cycle. Certain psalms went with certain hours and days. Mondays tend to be about creation, Tuesdays have a community ring to them. Wednesdays feature the Davidian psalms and community. Eucharist and the Temple are central to Thursdays. Fridays are a time for penitential thoughts.

Psalms and their assigned hours come to Father Aaron’s lips with ease. He counts examples off randomly on his fingers: Psalm 119 is always at noon; Psalms 147-150 are always done at Morning Prayer. There is always one penitential psalm at Morning Prayer.

Psalm 132, that would be Tuesdays at Vespers.

Father Aaron’s next task was not only to choose texts of Old Testament canticles, but to also “point them” so that it rolled off the tongue in a poetic metre that sounded in English similar to the original accented rhythm of ancient Hebrew. For this, he looked

For Father Jeremy Heppler, the two sides of the monastic choir represent the lungs of the community.

Photo by JD Benning17

Kansas Monks at a variety of translations and often resorted to “dovetailing” or combining translations to come up with something that sounded better when spoken chorally. He did the same for the many antiphons for the psalms and canticles, some of which he composed and some of which he translated from the Latin, as provided in the Monastic Thesaurus Father Aaron and Prior Emeric tested the translated texts by reading them back and forth to one another until one sang out, “That works!”

Meanwhile, Father Blaine, who was away on sabbatical in Europe, would return to some of the most important work of his life.

Not one to procrastinate, Father Aaron had been writing antiphons sung canticles and some psalm tones. When Father Blaine returned, he handed over his work and said, “If you don’t write something better this is what we’re going to use.”

“He did and not only was it good, it was superb,” Father Aaron recalls. “I think he has written some of the best music in the monasitic world.”

Over the years, Father Blaine has collected psalm tones—the melodies that accompany psalm texts—like a boy collects baseball cards. Most were of his own composition. In his travels he also traded tones with other composers. He seeks to write music that is simple and easy to sing, but has an interesting “melodic contour.”

One of Father Blaine’s old teachers said that when writing for modern congregations it is best not to challenge them too much because they will tune you out. He suggested adopting a folk style.

“I think I’ve done that unconsciously in composing music over 40 years,” Father Blaine says.

He recalls a classroom exercise when he was studying music composition at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., 40 years ago. The professor assigned each student to compose a vocal melody for a psalm using only five notes and then teach it to his fellow students in five minutes.

“I went to the piano and used only the five black keys,” Father Blaine recalls. “We use that melody for Psalm 23 to this day.”

He says, “Once you get people’s attention, they will come back to you.” He strives for music that after a few times through, the singers don’t need to look at the notes anymore.

“Happy Birthday is a wonderful melody,” he points out. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…and then on that third one, the composer challenges the singers to leap a whole octave.”

Father Blaine and the rest of the liturgy committee strived for

St. Benedict’s Abbey Podcast 18

“The Psalms contain every emotion...from praise to cursing... thanksgiving to lament” -Father Jeremy Heppler variety. Hymns are chosen from the works of composers in five hymnals. And Father Blaine has continued to keep his own writing fresh by exchanging ideas and artistic expression with other musicians through travel and experience.

As the psalm tones, music for canticles and texts came in, they were tried out by the community and then sent back for revisions.

Father Aaron admits he was surprised by how few revisions were made to the original versions. The final product was noted for its variety and prayerfulness.

“I think we succeeded,” Father Blaine said.

Final is relative. The Liturgy of the Hours is constantly changing. Still, today, the monks have small “work parties” when a page is added or changed.

A Full Heart

Father Jeremy Heppler acknowledges that music was part of the initial draw to monastic life for him.

“I remember sneaking up the hill with friends to pray Vespers with the monks and it was probably because it was sung,” he recalls from his days as a Benedictine College student.

Since joining the monastery, Father Jeremy finds that sung prayer tends to stick with him through his day more than recited prayer.

“The Psalms contain every emotion and place a person can be in life, from the praise psalms to the cursing psalms to the psalms of thanksgiving to the lamenting psalms,” he says. “Singing sets a

Coming June 30th: A special Kansas Monks edition of the Saint Benedict’s Abbey Podcast. Father Blaine Schultz and Father Jeremy Heppler discuss the music of St. Benedict’s Abbey. Father Blaine follows up with a performance of a few of his favorite compositions on the Abbey organ.

CD’s of this podcast are available for purchase for $5.00 (shipping included) to order your copy call 913.360.7906.

Summer 2011 tone and evokes the emotions of the psalms, often in ways that I may not have grasped.”

In Psalm 137 “By the Rivers of Babylon,” with a psalm tone

by Father Blaine, Father Jeremy says he can hear the sadness and anguish. “The music takes it to a deeper level.”

A mental jukebox runs in Father Jeremy’s head most of the time. Country ballads, modern rock and roll, and sacred music may pop up at any moment throughout his day.

The young priest feels a sense of excitement when his favorites arrive in the course of daily prayer. Psalms 46, which proclaims the unshakable power of God, is always a welcomed change of pace. It features two soloists singing back and forth from either side of the choir in glorious language of a mighty fortress and a great city.

The image of this experience for Father Jeremy is that while

prayer is the heart of the monastic community, the two sides of the monastic choir, especially in such striking moments as when the soloists are singing, are the two lungs.

In the end, what distinguishes the music of the Liturgy of the Hours at St. Benedict’s Abbey from other monasteries?

“It’s the community itself,” Father Aaron says. “The community makes it different.”

He points out that if you take the Liturgy of the Hours from another abbey and pray it at St. Benedict’s it would be different.

“Because we are different,” he explains. “It’s like what draws a young man to a particular monastic community.” What distinguishes St. Benedict’s Abbey is more the singers than the songs.

“We all have the same faith, but our expressions of that faith are different,” Father Aaron says. “The heart is different.”

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A Monk on a Mission Kansas Monks

Father Jeremy Heppler led a group of Benedictine College Students on a mission trip to El Salvador over spring break: (Clockwise starting at right) Right: Father Jeremy celebrates Mass for the community in Santo Domingo de Guzman.

Lower Right: The group had the opportunity to see a few sites during their trip.

Lower Left: The community of Manuel performmed a few skits for the visiting group. Father James Albers and Brother Leven Harton recently constructed homes near the community.

Left: Father Jeremy blesses one of the newly built homes.

Upper Left: Father Jeremy (L to R) and BC students Callie Pflug and Katie Garret work alongside a Christian Foundation for Children and Aging worker. The CFCA helped coordinate the groups efforts on their trip to El Salvador.

Somos Irmãos

we are brothers

Summer time is a time for planting, growth and harvest. This issue of Kansas Monks finds us, south of the Equator, going into winter now.

Days are shorter; it is dark during our 6 a.m. prayers. By 6:30 p.m. it is dark again. No twilight. Nights are cooler, no moisture, low humidity and dusty. After 40 years here in central Brazil, I still have fond Prior Duane Roy memories of summers in Kansas, Prior - St. Joseph’s Priory those long days and the outdoors; the nights catching fireflies.

Summer in the U.S. is a time for graduations, weddings and other pleasant activities. For those with diplomas in hand, decisions are made. Among the choices are jobs, careers, furthering education and/or volunteer work. Many options are available.

Our community is studying how to better promote church vocations. Especially in our education and pastoral work we interact and are open to receive new members. We use the Internet (www.msaojose.org and www.mongesbeneditinos.wordpress.com) to project our charism, and to dialog with those who express interest in the Benedictine way of life. Like farmers worldwide we, too, are planting seeds, and praying to the Lord, counting on the intercession of St. Joseph, patron of our Priory.

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The Church in Brazil is seriously investing in vocation promotion. Dioceses are implementing plans for all forms of vocations— lay, religious and ordained church ministry. Parishes continue to expand, forming new communities. New ministries are urgently needed. This is true not only in Latin America. Internationally, most “able-bodied” parish priests serve at least two parishes.

With the guidance of the National Conference of Men and Women Religious of Brazil, religious congregations and orders are looking at “new generations,” not with skepticism, but genuine interest in dialog and mutual acquaintance. Today’s youth are different because of the high technology of communication, travel, educational opportunities and exposure to different cultures and lifestyles. Parents and grandparents want their children and grandchildren—born in the turbulent ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s— to advance socially and economically, and achieve what they were not able to do and obtain. Some come to our doors wanting to make their contribution, but are leery of restrictions and requirements to maintain what they consider to be old-fashioned and weighty structures and institutions. Others may have less noble motivation: social climbing, social dropouts, unable to find their niche, or unable to survive financially in the market place.

Vocations continue to be a mystery. All people are called to grow in sanctity, follow the Lord, and serve humanity. Normally, church vocation requires a simpler lifestyle, motivated by faith and conversion, and missionary conviction. What is it that makes a youth today opt for such a vocation among so many other choices?

We are convinced that the Lord Jesus, Owner of the Harvest, continues to call persons of our present generation to follow him and join the ranks of those who have grown old in faithful service and witness to the Christian heritage. Join us this summer in planting, growing and harvesting vocations in the youth among you.

Summer 2011 streams, my life; when can I enter and see the face of God?” But how do we become aware of exactly what God’s Divine Will is for each of us?

How do we become aware of the Divine Action?

De Caussade answers: “Do not flatter anyone, nor worship your own Divine Moments illusions, they can neither give you anything nor receive anything from I know I have mentioned more than once in this column the you. Receive your fullness from the meaning of the name “From the Desert.” It means that we must will of God alone, it will not leave you have an interior life with God, a place where we are not afraid to Father Gabriel Landis empty. Adore it, put it first, before all Pastor St. Joseph’s Church discover who we truly are, to try to see ourselves as God sees us.

Atchison, Kan. things; tear all disguises from vain Not just the parts of ourselves which God would like to help us pretenses and forsake them all going to the sole reality.” The italic change, but also to see ourselves loved by him. It is a place to live emphasis is my own to stress that we/I need to adore God’s will, with God. A desert theme involves images of an untamed landput God’s will first above all things.

Yes, we all know this. Yes, we scape. Yet as in just about every real desert in the physical world, have read this before and we have heard it preached before. But I there are hidden springs, beautiful oasis, and deep wells to refresh like de Caussade’s choice of words: “Adore it!” us.

One of my fellow monks likes the phrase, “You talk a good talk, When we find ourselves in this interior desert, walking in the but are you walking it?”

If I do not adore wilderness, facing who we truly are, or if we God’s Divine Will each and every moment, find a place of refreshment, we are never, then I am not walking my talk.

And I know never alone in our desert. In every moment that I don’t always do my best about living we breathe, in every situation, in every joy, in in the Divine Moment.

I know I don’t say all consolations, and in every desolation, in to Him each moment, “My will is to do thy all things, in all Divine Moments, we can cry own Will.” out with the Beloved Disciple, “It is the Lord” Isn’t it amazing, that if we look back into (John 21:7). The Lord is always with us, not our past, I mean really look and search for only helping us to grow in virtue and discovwhat God has done for us, it is all because ering what is good and beautiful, but He is He has a unique plan for each one of us? there each Divine moment, every Divine Each moment of your existence, there he second revealing His Divine Will to us in our has been.

He yearns for you. He sent his Son Interior Desert. upon the earth to purchase your salvation About a month ago I started reading a with His Most Precious Blood. book, AbandonWhy is it so hard at times to give Him ment to Divine our total gift of self? God wills my salvaProvidence by tion and He has put everything into place, Father Jean Pierre so, God willing, it will happen. De Caussade de Caussade says, “Nothing is essential, real, or of any (Available online value unless ordained

by God who arranges at Amazon.com all things and makes them useful to the soul. for $8.95). It is a Apart from this divine will, all is hollow, treasure, a book empty, null, there is nothing but falsehood, well worth readvanity, nothingness, death.

The will of God ing, only 89 pages. is the salvation, health, and life of body and I find myself soul no matter what subject is applied. ” Each reading only a moment of our lives has been created by couple pages a day God for our salvation. Not a second in our during my Holy Hour. I read, underline, and lives has been wasted by God. Of course, sometimes write a short prayer in my book. due to our fallen nature, at least my own Then there are days where I am compelled to fallen nature, I can shamefully admit I have reread what I read a day or so before. Each wasted many of those Divine Moments. time something new is presented to reflect We know where true interior peace can and pray upon as I seek to discern God’s will.

Choosing God’s will over one’s own will be found—the giving of our own will to His “The Sacrament of the present moment,” that must be more than words. You must Will. His Will is Divine. We will truly have is where God wants us to be at all times. ‘walk your talk.’ no peace until we can say: My Lord and My Our Interior Life in the Desert is meant God I surrender my own will unto your own. I know I will never be to increase our sanctity more and more by abandoning ourselves at rest or at peace, nor will I ever grow in sanctity, unless I surrento God. God desires our perfection, in short, by freely uniting our der to you.

Take me and use me as you desire. And at the end of own will with His Divine Will. One of my favorite Psalms, Psalm my life, quench my thirst so that I may see you face to face. Amen.

42, expresses this longing: “Like the deer that yearns for running

From The Desert

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Word

Kansas Monks

in a

The Following Homily was delivered by Abbot Barnabas Senecal at Maur Hill Mount Academy Baccalaureate Mass on May 21, 2011.

“May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.”

Last Wednesday evening I celebrated Confirmation with the parish of Good Shepherd in Shawnee, Kan. Eighty-five eighth graders were anointed with chrism as each stood ready to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Letters they had written to me spoke of their eyes having been opened to the poverty that people in their city lived in. They had hopes that they would continue to grow in their understanding of the faith and their love of family. They wanted to receive power for living good lives.

There were two surprises for me as I greeted the youths and their sponsors. Two of the sponsors had roots in my little town of birth, Atwood, Kan. One was a member of a farm family for whom my twin brother had worked in the summers. I knew that her mother Margaret had died about three weeks ago, and I embraced Peggy. Another told me, “You served the Mass when I was married to Ramona Vap, perhaps 60 years ago.” That line in the reading of today spoke of “the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones.”

Consider your friendships as “riches” in which you will glory and which you consider part of your inheritance. You carry these with you for life.

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I want to share with you three of the quotes from the letters of those who were confirmed. Each has parallels to all of us, and you who graduate today in particular.

“I helped at Hope Lodge, where patients being treated for cancer in an area hospital are able to stay. My grandpa is a cancer survivor; he and many others have been helped by Hope Lodge. I felt I should give back to them.”

“I felt I should give back to them.” Many have helped you to reach this day of graduation from high school. You will give back to them by your continued growth, your continued expressions of appreciation, and your developing sense of who you truly are and what your potential for helping others really is.

Hope Lodge is a beautiful name for a place and a group of people to give encouragement to others.

“Like a chair that supports your back, God is here to support me throughout the most precious and hardest times of my life.”

May you know God as such a reality. May the God you’ve come to know, and will continue to love and understand, be like the chair this young woman knows, at moments of achievement and acceptance, in moments of struggle and frustration.

“A combination of new friends, a newfound love of dancing in working with kids with special needs, and an old favorite, Camp Tekakwitha, turned my nonchalant attitude toward the Catholic Church into something much more passionate.”

As you move into a new phase of your life, a phase of independence and yet of continuing ties to people and programs you already know, be open to a passionate living of your faith. Be open to new friends whom you sense will bring good into your lives. Be open to the joy of helping people in need; it is you who will benefit greatly. Hold on to expressions of faith that you’ve known here – in your school, your parish, your family – and be leaders in the practice of the faith wherever you are in the future.

The founder of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), Curtis Martin, said recently that the first 48 hours that a young man or woman lives on a college campus will determine the degree to which they will be involved in their faith.

Value your faith. Your God is like a chair. That chair may not be a recliner. It may look more like a pew. But it will give support and you will be strengthened and supported. Others have found this to be so.

2011 Maur Hill-Mount Academy valedictorian Joseph Asher addresses his fellow graduates.

Photo by Kelly Elias

Abbey Notes Abbot Owen Purcell was honored by the Residence Life and Campus Ministry staffs of the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth for his work with students in the Late Night Breakfast on the day prior to semester exams.

One student drew a likeness of Father Owen that became part of the imprint on 147 blue t-shirts, along with the phrase, Biscuit Toss. The t-shirt was a pleasant surprise to Abbot Owen.

Father Meinrad Miller gave the monastic retreat for the Abbey of Saint Andrew in Cleveland, Ohio. Two Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill., came to Cleveland in 1922 to serve the spiritual needs of Slovak catholic immigrants. The 2011 Ordo lists 32 members. One is auxiliary bishop of Cleveland, Bishop Roger Gries. Seventeen are priests, one deacon, nine brothers, three juniors and one novice.

Brother Simon Baker is doing a tutorial class in ecclesiastical Latin, with Father Denis Meade as instructor, during the summer months.

Father Marion Charboneau and Father Jeremy Heppler were part of the team which conducted a TEC weekend at SS. Peter and Paul in Seneca, June 11-13.

Greg Schell, former teacher and administrator at Maur Hill prior to merger days, was inducted into the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame, June 4. He currently teaches in Blue Valley West High school.

Two staff members of Subiaco Academy and Abbey visited the Abbey in May. Steve Wilmes, Director of Development, and Glenn Constantino, Business Manager, had interest in feasibility studies prior to Capital Campaigns and other practices that our institutions could benefit from sharing.

A step that has been taken to prepare the monastic community for our 2011 Visitation is the composition of a Customary, a collection

Summer 2011 of traditions, policies and ideals, which supplements the Constitution and Directory of the American-Cassinese Congregation. The Customary was approved during our annual retreat, June 5-9.

Prior Duane Roy is with us and with his family during June. He arrived from Brazil on June 1 to join us in the community retreat.

He and other monks have been working in the Abbey garden, hoeing weeds and tying up tomato vines.

Elected to serve as members of the Council of Seniors for the coming year were Brother Joseph Ryan, Father Jeremy Heppler and Father Marion Charboneau. Appointed to the Council by Abbot Barnabas Senecal were Prior James Albers, Subprior Meinrad Miller and Business Manager Maurice Haefling. These six monks meet with Abbot Barnabas as needed, six to eight times a year.

Two professed monks of St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Ala., are planning to attend Benedictine College this fall and to live with us in the Abbey. They are Brother Bernard Denson and Brother Josemaria Balderas. They made first vows on Aug. 15, 2010.

Father Justin Matro, OSB, Rector of Saint Vincent Archabbey Seminary, Latrobe, Pa., and Assistant Professor of Spiritual Theology there, was our retreat Master in June. Community members were pleased with his content and manner of presentation. He focused on a triptych of Matthias Grunewald, c.1475-1528, a major figure in a generation of great northern German Renaissance painters. His worldwide reputation is based chiefly on his greatest masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece (c.1513-15), which was long believed to have been painted by Dürer. This work was the focus of Father Justin’s conferences.

The Archdiocesan Presbyterate of Kansas City in Kansas was on retreat on the BC campus in early June. The retreat master was Father James Cameron, OP, editor-in-chief of Magnificat.

The female branch of the Apostles of the Interior Life was on retreat at the Abbey the first week of June. Their retreat master was Monsignor Dennis Lyle, rector of Mundelein Seminary.

23 photo by Brother Joseph Ryan

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Summer 2011 | Volume 6 | Number 2

A statue of Saint Benedict, sculpted by Tim Mispagel, was recently placed in front of the Haverty Center on the Benedictine College campus. The hands were modeled from a photo of 24 the of Abbot Barnabas Senecal. | Photo by JD Benning