In September 2019, a community of three monks from the Order of the Holy Cross arrived at a place of considerable beauty and warm welcome and gracious hospitality called Volmoed, near Hermanus. They established a prayerful presence and welcomed new vocations to their way of life. In November 2025, a community of five Holy Cross monks will be leaving Volmoed to establish a new home for themselves in Harkerville, near Plettenberg Bay.
In between the arrival and the departure of the monks, quite a lot has happened, much of it joyful, some of it challenging. A number of people seem to have come to appreciate the presence of the monks at Volmoed, and to be disappointed that they are leaving. The monks themselves are moving on with mixed emotions, very aware of what and who will be left behind, grateful for all they have received and for the relationships they have formed, while anticipating what they are moving towards with hope.
In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus raises the question of what it is that we place our hope in. His audience had been admiring the Jerusalem temple with all of its beauty and strength, and how it reassured them of the presence of God in their midst. Jesus tells them it will all be coming down, but that they are not to be afraid. The destruction of the temple will allow for them to become aware of new ways that God will be present to them in the midst of the joys and challenges of life. If they persevere faithfully in the love and truth of God, they will find new life together.
The prophet Isaiah calls us all to be glad and rejoice forever in what God is creating among us, for it will be a source of joy and delight if we are able to receive it faithfully. God is always creating something new; let us pray that we will have eyes to see and hearts to understand what it is, for then our labour together will not have been in vain. In Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the Seed, as told earlier in Luke’s Gospel, the good soil does not just yield an abundant harvest without effort; the good soil is those who, having heard with an honest and good heart, hold firmly onto the word and bear fruit through patient endurance of all adversity.
In an unread response to the encouraging passage from Isaiah that we did hear this morning, we find these words, also from Isaiah:
Surely, it is God who saves me;
I will trust in Him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defence,
And He will be my Saviour.
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name;
Make His deeds known among the peoples;
See that they remember that His Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord, for He has done great things.
Cry aloud, ring out your joy,
For the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One.
If the monks are missed when we leave Volmoed, it will mean that our presence here has mattered, and that is a good thing. The presence that has mattered far more, though, is the presence of the Holy One in our midst, the One who loves us all and is always drawing us towards Himself, that we might find our life in Him. God it is who saves us all, and God it is who will remain behind even as He goes ahead of us and with us.
What the monks hope to leave behind is the living memory that God’s Name has been exalted; God is the One whose Name we should call upon with joyful thanksgiving. We hope to see that you remember this, for we need to remember this with you.
God is creating a new thing, because that is what God always does, and it will be a source of joy and delight if we all open our hearts to it. God is bringing something new into being here at Volmoed, and God is bringing something new into being in and through the monks in their new home, which they hope will be a place of considerable beauty and warm welcome and gracious hospitality. Even as we acknowledge the loss of the good we have known together here which is passing away, let us be glad and rejoice in the newness that is coming into being, for God intends to rejoice in Volmoed and to delight in his monks.