monastic life
Thunder Cup Weekend
We had lots of activities and visitors this weekend. First, our Board of Regents members arrived on Friday for their meetings in order to help offer input and feedback regarding the Seminary planning. Bishop Dendinger celebrated Mass Friday evening. Bishop Johnston, the Bishop-elect of our Diocese, Kansas City-St. Joseph, is pictured with the seminarians from…
Family Weekend
Above and Below: Beautiful weather– this is my favorite time of the year. It was our annual Family Weekend for the seminarians. Their parents, siblings, and other relatives enjoyed a weekend of activities and some wonderful weather. All enjoyed Evening Prayer with the monastic community, a social afterwards, and a banquet in the dining rooms.…
Witnessing the Faith
On Sunday early afternoon, seminarian Chris Davis (Diocese of Salina) and I decided to bike to Maryville to participate in Life Chain Sunday. I tried getting others involved, but not too many were thrilled about the 35 mile round trip. We planned to do this a couple days before, but when Sunday rolled around, it…
Seminary Fundraiser
Friday evening was our 7th Annual Partnering for Future Priests (PFP) seminary dinner/auction fundraiser. The dinner was held in St. Joseph in the parish hall at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. More than 200 friends and benefactors joined the monks of Conception Abbey, priests of the diocese, and the seminarians of Conception Seminary College. The…
Alumni & Open House
This past weekend was our annual Alumni Reunion Weekend. We welcome more than 100 alumni. Many of them were eager to return to see the newly renovated monastery, a capital campaign to which many of them contributed generously. Bishop Pates (Diocese of Des Moines) was the Guest Speaker for Alumni Day and he also celebrated Mass…
Catholic Radio with Bishop Pates
Bishop Pates called into his regular show on Friday mornings on Des Moines Catholic Radio from Conception Seminary College. He spoke about his experiences of being in Washington, D.C. during Pope Francis’ Apostolic visit. Bishop Pates had Abbot Gregory, Fr. Brendan, and the three Des Moines seminarians join him for the hour long radio program. It…
KC Golf & Dinner
The days continue to be very busy with many good activities. Yesterday was the annual Priests and Seminarians Appreciation Dinner and Golf outing. The proceeds from the event benefit Conception Seminary College. It is a day to say “thank you” to the priests who serve in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and the…
Tri-C Celebration
We welcomed another monastery vocation guest who was here for the weekend visiting our community. He and Archbishop Jerome were discussing gardens, so we took a tour of the gardens Sunday morning. Above: Our vocation guest and Archbishop Jerome checking out the cherry tomatoes. Below: Br. Justin picking Habanero peppers to make some salsa. We had…
Labor Day Weekend
It was a warm Labor Day Weekend in Missouri. Saturday morning I was at Viking Lake with the students from the Newman Center at Northwest Missouri State. We had Mass, then spent a few hours swimming and going out on the boat. Several of the priests from the Abbey take turns on the weekends celebrating…
Donor Thank You
On Sunday we invited our donors and benefactors to join us for Mass, a banquet, and an open house and tour of the newly renovated monastery. Many local friends from around the Abbey were also invited to take a look at our new house. The Basilica was completely filled with guests as we extended our…