It was a good event.  It is really geared for ‘kennenlernen’ (this is the German verb ‘to become acquainted with, become friends with’).  Overall, it was a pretty good day.  I was able to meet my inner monk (and reaffirm that I should not be a monk).  I was able to meet some people from other orders.

Two of the people I met on Saturday came to visit us on Monday.  It was nice to have visitors.  They are from an order that is in the 15th District of Vienna.  I had met one of them a week earlier at a Wander Mutter Gottes prayer group meeting.

One of the difficult things about moving to a new country and joining a religious order at the same, is that you do not meet a lot of people.  Events like JOLT are nice for this reason.

Today it seems that many people choose not to pray together and many people choose not to eat together. We live in a time that stresses the importance of our own choices. Our comfort is more important than our lives together. We see this with the end of families eating together. Everyone seems too busy to come together, as a family, and share a meal.

We even see this with our friendships. How often have we had the following conversation:

“Would you like to go somewhere?”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. We can go grab a cup of coffee.”

“Hmmm… I don’t think I want a cup of coffee.”

“Well, we can go to Café ABC, they have many things.”

“Maybe next time. I don’t like that place.”

“Oh… Okay. I will call you later.”

What is wrong with that conversation? The error is the choice that is being made. The point of the invitation is not the coffee nor the Café. The point of the invitation is to spend time with a friend. But, the person is making their decision not based on friendship, but is deciding based on their own comfort. The internal benefit of common friendship is being ignored for the external benefit of personal comfort.

We don’t only do this with our family and friends. We do this daily with God.

How often do we make excuses for not going to Church? I have heard and used many of them. We say things like: “I am tired,” “I am too busy,” “ The music is not very good”, “I went last week,” “I don’t really like the priest,” or “I am just not feeling like it today.” When we use these excuses, we are separating ourselves from God. We are saying that external things (things that are not in common to us and God) are the reason for the choice we make. God is not part of the decision. He is the one that is inviting us to spend time with him. But, are we making our choice based on our relationship with Him?

In the Book of Jeremiah (42:9-12) God presents two choices to the people. In the passage the people are experiencing great hardships and God tells them “stay with me and I will grant you mercy.” But they want to flee to Egypt. They think that the hardships will go away. They believe that there will be an end to hunger, sorrow and war. But, God tells them that it is an illusion and that in the end they will die.

The First Choice

Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him: If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent of the evil which I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not fear him, says the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land.
(Jeremiah 42:9-12 RSV)

The Second Choice

then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, then the sword which you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow hard after you to Egypt; and there you shall die.
(Jeremiah 42:14-16 RSV)

The Struggle that the Jews were facing is a metaphor for our lives as Christians. Israel, the promised land, represents Promise of Heaven. Egypt represents the World. The struggles the Jews are facing are the struggles that we encounter as Christians. We can choose to leave the Promised Land for what seems to be a more comfortable life. But, that life is a mirage. It is an empty promise without God and it will lead to death (life without the promise of Heaven).

How does this relate to Common Prayer and a Common Table?

At the last supper Christ invited us to eat with him. He has offered us the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation. He told us to come together as a community to pray and eat with him. Will we choose our own way, our own life and live separately from Him; or, will we choose His Way, His life and live in common with Him?

If we want stronger relationships with our family, friends, and with God. We must choose to live a common life with them. We need to be wary of the false promises of external comfort. Every day Christ asks us to spend time with Him. It is our choice to make.

Honour to me is a sacrifice of thanksgiving; to the upright I will show God’s salvation.’ (Psalms 50:23 NJB)

Instead, I have made a short video. The pictures cycle through fairly quickly.  I am not a video editor.  I wanted to just provide you all with an idea of what the ceremony is like.

I hope you all enjoy the video.

At First Vespers on the Feast of St Augustine, I officially entered Stift Klosterneuburg as a Novice.  I was clothed in the habit of the Canons Regular of St Augustine and given a new name.

Along with my new Clothes and new Name, I also have a new job.  Here are some pictures of my first day at work.

We have now filled all of our Choir Stalls.  Here is a view from the stalls, towards the high altar.

On the Feast of St Augustine, new Novices are admitted and vows are taken.  This year there were 5 new Novices (yours truly, included).  Two members completed their novice year and took simple vows.  One member extended his simple vows for three more years.  Dom Albert made his final vows this year, as well.

I have over 300 photos to go through of the events.  I will be working on them this upcoming week.

And finally a picture of me with the Provost.

I wanted to post a few pictures.  I have not had time to really take many.  My camera battery was dead when I got here.  I was unable to get the new power cords for my chargers until yesterday.  That meant that I was able to take some pictures this morning.

Today, we had a breakfast that is more common in Bavaria.  Herr Benedict, one of the juniors, was kind enough to fix breakfast this morning.  Normally, breakfast consists of the bread, cold cuts, soft boiled eggs, yogurt or cereal. Here is a picture of our special treat :

I have begun setting up my room.  My bedroom is for the most part finished.  I need to get something on the walls.  But, that can wait a bit.  I need to get hangers for the wardrobe.  Right now, everything is folded.  I enjoy my rooms.  They are very nice.  I have taken a picture of my bedroom and the garden that my rooms overlook.

This is the beautiful medieval garden that is outside my window.

And this is looking across the garden towards my rooms. I have placed arrows showing my sitting room and my bedroom.

Since arriving, I have gone to get fitted for my habit.  It was a fairly easy process.  Novices receive old habits.  After a few minutes, the tailors had found one that was about my size.  They then took measurements and pinned it so that it could be tailored to fit me.

I am still waiting for my stuff to arrive.  The gnomes, the books, and everything else are still in Customs.  We are working through the issues and I hope to have it all resolved soon.  Over the next few days, I will take more pictures and post them here on the blog.

In the meantime, here is another video.

The first one is about the Oper Klosterneuburg.  This event takes place in one of the courtyards of the Stift.  It is in German.