Fr. Paul Mark speaks on ‘being new’: How often people ask me what is new in the monastery. It is a question not easy to answer because on the one hand life here in the monastery is so ordinary and one day flows smoothly into another and before we know it a year has come and gone. But having said that I am also aware that each day is a new beginning and therefore a new chance for me to change, to view life from a fresh perspective, to hope anew for improvement that has so far alluded my life.
So, when people ask me what is new in the monastery I can truthfully say, EVERYTHING! Nothing stays the same. Since yesterday, the trees have grown larger, I have grown older, and every other thing on this earth is new, no matter how miniscule and imperceptible the change may be to the naked eye.
Saint Paul articulates this well when he wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation, the old things have passed away, behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor 5:17). Saint Paul is saying to never give up hope for a better world and for a better “new you”.
The summer season offers a good opportunity to reflect on this eternal truth because we can see so much change in growth and development of plants, of crops, in the newborn wildlife (we have a number of turkey clutches in the enclosure, and it is fun to watch the poults develop).
Whatever comes your way these warm days of summer embrace and love it as a way by which you become reborn, renewed, and transformed into the new creation you are called to be in Christ, daily.
Summer blessings,
Your brothers of New Clairvaux
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