The Dawn From on High

From where does our hope come?

A Question This is the question which confronts us today from every point of entry: our relationships, our work, our civic life, you name it – if we examine our lives, there it is, waiting for us. What a gift and opportunity we are given in Advent, the Church’s New Year, to take up this question and discover again what makes us new, that is, what is the origin and reason of our hope. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has written, “The days of Advent are like a quiet knocking at the door of our smothered souls, inviting us to undertake the risk of stepping forward toward God’s mysterious presence which alone can make us free.” The monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey invite you to join us in taking these steps into the holy days of Advent, days given to awaken us to that great event proclaimed by Zechariah, and carried by our Lady: “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”