Greetings!
In these final days of summer 2020, many thoughts go through my mind especially as I look out of the windows in my office, overlooking the Platte River Valley to the south and farmland between the monastery and the City of Schuyler. Christ the King Priory is located on a hill and all around us is farmland with all its beauty, decked out in autumn shades of nature. The harvest season has started. It is my hope and prayer that, in spite of lack of moisture in recent weeks, our hardworking farmers can expect a decent crop.
The wildfires in the western part of the United States and the impact of the major hurricanes Laura and Sally cause concern for the people of the affected regions. I heard from our confreres in Tororo, Uganda, that a severe storm caused damage. It reminded me of tornadoes that are so common in the Heartland of America.
On our website, we posted the most Current Appeal seeking help for our monks of the Abbey of the Incarnation in Agbang, Togo. Over a year ago, one of their monks, Fr. Jacques, accepted a new assignment to Christ the King Priory and we are happy to have the ever-smiling confrere in our midst. Due to the current pandemic, his outreach to the Hispanic community is limited to phone calls and emails. However, working outdoors caring for our garden and harvesting the produce and apples from our small orchard keeps him busy.
We monks are aware of the challenges that you and all of us are facing these days. We greatly appreciate your friendship and your prayerful and financial support of our work whenever possible. Together with my brother monks, I pray that the Lord grant you strength, graces, and good health for each day to come.
Soon we enter the month of November. The Church invites us to focus on the communion of saints, the living and the deceased, and especially those who left an impact on our own journey of life. We will again celebrate daily Holy Mass for all the deceased whom God called from this life into the never ending Easter glory of heaven. God knows all your departed loved ones: parents, spouses, children, relatives, teachers, friends and acquaintances, etc. They are with God, we pray, and intercede for us. With each year, the list gets longer, especially when we add the thousands of people who lost their lives due to the current pandemic, riots, and/or natural disasters. On September 11, we commemorated the victims of the terror attack on the United States in 2001, which claimed the lives of 2,977 women, men and children.
In checking statistics, I notice that as of September 20, our nation mourns 202,409 victims due to Covid-19 and globally the report shows 958,314 deaths. I assume that the death rate is even higher. In some countries, it is more challenging to keep track of the number of infections, recoveries, and deaths. We turn to our Creator God in prayer for the living, for all those dear to us, and throughout November, we pray especially for those who have gone before us to their heavenly reward.
Life in Community, Aidan Hart with contributions from Donald Jackson
© 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, used with permission
The monks of the Benedictine Mission House – Christ the King Priory send prayerful good wishes!
Bro. Tobias, O.S.B.
Mission Procurator