Monastery Blessing 

June 25– We hosted our Benedictine friends from Missouri and Kansas for the blessing of the monastery.  Abbot Gregory presided over the brief ceremony which took place in the monastery chapter room.  It included a greeting, singing of a Psalm, reading, hymn, and blessing of the newly renovated monastery with holy water.  Afterwards the Benedictine…

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Behind the Cloister Door

We’re back in the Monastery! The monastic community made the move on Monday, June 15th.  While much of the work occurred on that day, there is still plenty of moving and cleaning going on.  Everyone is adjusting well to a familiar environment with a completely new look. Workers still roam the hallways giving necessary attention…

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Companion Camp 2015

We are in the midst of our annual Companion Camp. I camp for 6th, 7th and 8th grade boys. We also invite high school boys to come and be a part of the camp staff. There are many activities throughout the weekend to keep the campers occupied. We also want them to have a positive experience…

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Batter-up! Annual Priests Softball Game is a Winner

The roaring of the crowd filled Community America Ballpark (T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, KS) on Monday night for the 2nd Annual Pitching for Priests Softball Game sponsored by Catholic Radio.  The priests of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph sought to defend their title from last year’s slugfest against the priests of the Archdiocese of…

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Moving Day Approaches

Moving Day, also known as “Monday”, is quickly approaching.  The monks are eager to settle into the newly renovated monastery. There are four “moving teams” assigned and each team will have ½ hour to move the effects of each monk from St. Joseph Hall to the monastery.  Monks are asked to have their belongings boxed and…

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Model A Fords, oh my!

We cleared the west parking lot in front of the Basilica for the Northwest Missouri Model A Ford Club.  The parking lot is filled with these beautiful, antique cars.  The 200 guests are here for a tour of the Basilica and are staying for lunch. In the spirit of St. Benedict:  Welcome to Conception Abbey!

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Work Around the House

Workers have been tearing up and replacing the sidewalks around the monastery and in various parts of campus.  However, all the rain these past weeks has left things quite the muddy mess.  We trust that the beauty of our campus will be restored in due time.  In the meantime, at least everything is nice and…

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Pick-up Game 

I made a few phone calls on Monday and talked to a few of the monks about playing some softball on Tuesday evening.  We ended up playing at the ball field in Conception Junction.  We ended up having three priests, two monks, and eleven local youth.  So, we were able to play 8 on 8.…

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Come Holy Spirit 

Below: The Holy Spirit painting that is on the ceiling of the chapter room in the newly renovated monastery.  Pentecost is a very special feast for me personally.  Two years ago, when I was ordained a priest, the first Sunday Mass I celebrated at my home parish in Stillwater, Oklahoma was on Pentecost Sunday. Two…

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New Foundations

It is community retreat week.  That means that all of the ‘monks on mission’ return and we have two spiritual conferences a day led by the retreat director.  This year’s director has been Abbot Peter Eberle.  Abbot Peter is the retired abbot of Mount Angel in Oregon.  He has been leading the monastic community through…

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