Thursdays at Volmoed – Sermon by Br Josias

Scripture Readings

  • Job 2:1-10
  • Mark 9: 38-50

In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin (dark) yang (light) is used to describe how contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn.  

Symbolically the yin yang demonstrates the dynamic proportional relationship of this opposing pair and of other such pairings in nature. The yin begins where the yang ends, and the line that separates them is curved. The white dot lying in the black half and the black dot in the white half show how each part takes its origins from the other, and how neither could exist without the other.

Thursdays at Volmoed – Sermon by Br Josias Read More »

Reflection for Sunday 22 September 2024 by Br Aelred

Scripture Readings

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

In a world that is so full of violence, greed and evil, I do believe it is because there is a lack of love.

We find in the gospel passage for today that for a second time, after last week’s announcement, Jesus is announcing His death and resurrection again. Also, after last week, He again instructs His disciples on discipleship.  

Reflection for Sunday 22 September 2024 by Br Aelred Read More »

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Sermon by Br Daniel

Scripture Readings

We find Jesus and his disciples in today’s Gospel reading not too long after John the Baptist’s disciples asked Jesus if he was really who he said he was, and John’s subsequent murder. This is also when Jesus teaches his disciples about the suffering that awaits him. Who knows what was going on in Jesus’ mind when he asks his disciples what the people are saying about him and who the disciples are saying he is? He must at least have been feeling fragile at this time.

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Sermon by Br Daniel Read More »

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Scripture Readings

In the period leading up to the stories we heard from Mark’s Gospel this morning, Jesus has been quite busy, with many demands on his time and attention and energy. He had tried to take his disciples aside to what should have been a quiet place, only to be met by a crowd of over 5,000 people, all of whom he had somehow fed. He managed to end that day alone in prayer, but started the next day by walking across a lake on the water to re-join his disciples. Since then, there had been no end of crowds, with everyone bringing their sick to him for healing. There had also been an argument with Pharisees and scribes, which he turned into a teaching moment for the crowd and then for his disciples.

Perhaps Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon in the hope that nobody in that territory would recognize him, and he could have some time and space to himself. If so, it didn’t work. He is met by yet another person who not only knows who he is, but needs his help. He doesn’t seem to respond at all graciously to the disturbance.

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

August 2024 News

At the beginning of August, in his capacity as the Vocations Director for southern Africa, Br Luc travelled to KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, to make home visits with three men who had enquired about possibly joining our monastic community and whom he has been accompanying in initial discernment. These visits helped clarify that one man does not seem to have a vocation to our way of life, one is not yet ready to take the next steps, and one will continue in the discernment process, perhaps making a visit here to spend some with us relatively soon.

Br Daniel also travelled during the month, in his case to visit with an elderly nun in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape, with whom he has had a close friendship developed over many years. It seems she does not have much longer before she departs for her heavenly homeland, and so it was good for them to have some time together again. She is the last remaining member of her Order – the Society of the Precious Blood – in South Africa, an Order that faithfully held this country in prayer through the end of apartheid, which added a special poignancy.

August 2024 News Read More »

The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost – Sermon by Br Daniel

Scripture Readings

We do not seem to get away these days from Jesus and bread, and what it might mean. Last week Jesus told us: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Today Jesus tells us: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Big stuff. Fearful stuff to ponder.

The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost – Sermon by Br Daniel Read More »

July 2024 News

After the excitement and activity of our Order’s annual Chapter gathering here at Volmoed in the first half of June, our monastic community’s annual 8-day winter retreat in the second half of July was a much-appreciated time of quiet reflection. During the retreat, we follow a reduced schedule of chapel prayer, and apart from the mid-day meal in common we spend much of the time in solitary silence, allowing for longer periods of prayer and study and attentiveness.

July 2024 News Read More »

Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Scripture Readings

Why are you here this morning? What are you expecting or hoping for from our time together?

This morning’s gospel reading continues the story from last week. The crowds were following Jesus then, and today they’re looking for him again. Why? What were they expecting or hoping for?

Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

June 2024 News – OHC Chapter in SA and beyond

Our Order’s annual Chapter gathering took place in South Africa for the first time, here at Volmoed in the first two weeks of June. While not all of our North American Brothers were able to come over, more than half did (we were able to include the remaining Brothers in the formal discussions and decisions by having hybrid meetings with online access). For most of the visiting Brothers, it was their first time in South Africa.

June 2024 News – OHC Chapter in SA and beyond Read More »

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Scripture Readings

This morning’s gospel reading is a fascinating drama with many entry points for our imaginations, beginning with the first line. I wonder what it would have been like for the disciples to get back into the boat and cross over the sea again with Jesus, after their experience of the overwhelming storm and astonishing actions of Jesus on the previous journey, which Br Aelred reflected on with us last week? Interestingly, this time Mark does not even mention the disciples. It is almost as if Jesus is alone in the boat.

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

Scroll to Top