A Year of Firsts

The priests of the monastery are on a rotation to celebrate the Eucharist for the community each day.  In some monastic communities, it is the same priest assigned for the entire week who celebrates Mass.  Our custom is that a different priest celebrates Mass each day.  Today, Dec. 5, I was the principal celebrant for Eucharist.  It is always a great privilege and honor to celebrate for the community.

Fr. Victor, my confrere and classmate in ordination, and I were ordained earlier this year in May.  This recent season of Advent begins the Church’s new liturgical year.  So, for both of us, it is a year of “firsts.”  It is our first Advent as priests, and in a few weeks, we will celebrate our first Christmas since ordination.  During Advent, we wear the liturgical color “violet.”

The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”  As a monastic community, our day is punctuated and shaped by the various times we gather for prayer.  Generally, we celebrate Mass at 11:45am, the middle of the day.  God continues to bless this community each and every day.  May we call to mind all the things in our life for which we ought to give thanks.

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