The Oblates of Mount Saviour Monastery

– Fr. Michael Perry

Because the memory of war was seared in the mind of Reverend Father Damasus and others We became one of the hundreds of churches  around the country And around the world Dedicated to Mary the Queen of Peace

Place our church atop the Saviour’s mountain. And you have. What we have: A prophetic statement  in stone, wood and glass

In a setting on a mountain top Well chosen to be hidden. And seen. Both.

Hidden for the solitude. Seen as a beacon for those who come here. To see the spire rise as they approach  the mountain top.

And find the octagon that gives witness to the Resurrection and the time after  it: the now of our lives, On the Saviour’s mountain.

It would be a lot easier for us to think  that this abundant mountain was some far off image from our poetic past. But  Because the word of God is prophetic  The Mountain Isaiah Is THIS mountain. OUR mountain.

Mount Saviour. Crowned by our queen Our chapel From which all abundance flows

It is here. But not only here That the Lord of Hosts will provide for all peoples A rich feast. Because there is no feast richer than the Eucharist And choice wine.

In this room dedicated to His mother, Christ does more than He was told to at the wedding feast at Cana. The choice wine He offers us here is not Just vats of water that was changed. But His blood that is offered And received

It is here that our lives are lived until we die. And where the veil of death is destroyed at our funerals, In  witness to Our Lord’s resurrection. And in Him, to our own rising from the tomb.

This is no ordinary room.

This is where our brothers gather in praise And hope. Together. Allowing for human tears and the pain of human existence, As we look for divine comfort. Which we can do because  The hand of the Lord rests on this mountain. And in this consecrated Octagon, Symbolic of the Eighth Day of creation. The day of hope and praise, waiting for the Kingdom As we build that kingdom, Living stone by living stone.

So in praise and petition From dawn til dark It is here more than anywhere That we Benedictines share one another’s burdens, In witness to the hope we have in every circumstance of life. A hope that enables us to do all things, In Him who gives us strength And courage. And grace

We are the people who have been brought in. To this blessed banquet hall, Which was prepared and consecrated. To be the place for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, The Eucharist

The good and the bad alike are we. The worthy and the unwashed. Filling this hall for the King. Here because we are more than invited

And some day when the Covid ban is lifted, Others will join us again, On both sides of the enclosure, Here On the mountain of God’s abundance. Here In this tabernacle of praise.

But for  now we live in the poverty of Hope. Waiting

Waiting and watching. Watching and praying

Praying in faith. Believing in hope. That our lives here. Will advance the kingdom, Where Mary is the Queen of the Peace that the world cannot give. 

And where grace flows past the closed doors of our chapel. Flowing down Monastery Road. To provide Living Water  To our thirsty world.

                                           AMEN

Based on the Scripture readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time