2020 Jan The Current

- january 12-18, 2020
  
  HERE IS WHAT'S CURRENT
  
  We return to ordinary and begin a new year of Current issues. This week, we report on the monastery's participation in the annual FOCUS conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona over New Year's week. In attendance with Fr. Francis Hein and Br. Benedict Maria was our new Manquehue team for the winter, who we introduce. In our monthly "Archives" section, we take a brief look at the journey of Fr. Gregory Borgstedt, prior of the community in the 1940's.
  
  keeping focus
  
  The monastery had a substantial presence at this year’s FOCUS conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona over New Year’s week. Gathering thousands of university students and ministers, the conference has been consistently increasing in numbers. FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) frames its inspiration this way: “In a world that tells us anything goes, the Gospel of Christ’s love, mercy, and redemption needs to be shared and lived out more than ever before. We are called to know, love, and share Christ in every moment of our lives. We were made for this mission.” The monastery has been sending representatives to this conference each year, as it is both an inspiring and prayerful event, and a gathering of many youth who are discerning vocations.
  
  welcoming our new manquehue team
  
  Left to Right: Raimundo, Fr. Francis, Renato, Ramon,
  
  Br. Benedict, Pedro, Matias
  
  The Abbey recently welcomed a new contingent from the Manquehue Apostolic Movement. This community of five young men will be in residence for the winter term, shepherding the growing groups of students and faculty participating in Lectio Divina. Two of its members, Pedro Vega and Ramon Gimeno, joined us before the Christmas break, enabling them to make the transition with Alvaro Gazmuri and Cata Quiroga prior to the couple’s departure shortly after Christmas. They were joined at the end of the month by remaining team members Raimundo Zunino and Matias Echeverria, who were both in residence here in 2015 and 2016, respectively, as well as Renato van de Wyngard. The crew did not stay in town for long before heading out to Phoenix with Director of Spiritual Life Fr. Francis Hein and Br. Benedict Maria to participate in the FOCUS conference (see the photo above). Our visiting Manquehue groups are drawn from already existing small “communities” formed around lectio divina and a shared life of prayer. The winter group is the Aelred Community, having as its patron a saint important to Manquehue, the medieval abbot of Riveaulx for whom the practice of spiritual friendship was so important. And so we welcome our new friends!
  
  father gregory borgstedt
  
  a fluidity in stability
  
  Fr. Gregory Borgstedt became the first autonomous prior of the monastery at Portsmouth when the house was elevated to independent status in 1949. He left the community the next year. Who was this man, who played such important roles in the monastery throughout the crucial decade of the 1940’s? While he assumes a quieter place in the history of this monastery, alongside more resonant names like Leonard Sargent, Hugh Diman, or Aelred Graham, his role in the life of this community is significant and undeniable. While his path may not seem on first glance to reveal a Benedictine commitment to stability, that may be too quick a judgment. Clearly, from his conversion to his death, his monastic life seems to have circled again and again around Benedict and the Rule’s dedication to the search for God. This article from our "Archives" section traces some of his journey.
- january 19-25, 2020
  
  HERE IS WHAT'S CURRENT
  
  We report on the follow-up visit that completes the quadrennial Visitation by the Abbot Presdient: Abbot Christopher Jamison stayed with us for several days this past week. Fr. Michael spoke to the entire school on Friday, January 17, abut his personal journey of faith: we present it in full in our "Reflections" section this week. And we offer an update on the wind turbine in this month's "Works" section.
  
  a visit from the abbot president
  
  In May 2005 a new BBC TV series made its broadcast appearance on the BBC 2 network in the U.K. Filmed at Worth Benedictine Abbey near Crawley in West Sussex, it fit the wildly successful template of American reality television of the time, though now involving, “five modern lay men with little or no experience of Christian monastic life, sharing in the life of the monks for 40 days and nights.” Worth’s superior at the time was Abbot Christopher Jamison, the current Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation, which includes the three American houses of Portsmouth Abbey, St. Louis Abbey and St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington, D.C. Abbot Christopher went on to write two books based on his experience with the five men, and with the modern-day production company setting up shop, as it were, in the normally private confines of Worth’s monastic enclosure. The first to be published was Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life (2006), followed by Finding Happiness: Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life (2009). For a time afterwards, one could not avoid stumbling over display kiosks touting the two books outside WH Smith and other booksellers in airports throughout the U.K., thus propelling Abbot Christopher into that rarefied atmosphere of a minor celebrity
  
  If anyone with a keenly discerning eye suspected they might have spotted this abbot/author/television celebrity on the Portsmouth campus during the final days of the Christmas season, they would be correct. Last week Abbot Christopher completed his quadrennial Visitation of Portsmouth Abbey which involved, among many other things, meeting individually with the monks of both Portsmouth and St. Louis. As is often the case, it takes an outside observer or visitor to spot areas in a corporate body which might be in need of fine-tuning and improving. After his visit this past April, a Visitation report was prepared and delivered, delineating various recommendations, with follow-up meetings required months later. This was the purpose of Abbot Christopher’s most recent visit, to check in on the community’s response and status.
  
  While in residence, he was the principal celebrant of the Conventual Mass on January 11, the Saturday after Epiphany. The Gospel reading was John 3:22-30, which ends with the brilliantly succinct and oft-quoted declaration of only six simple words: “He must increase; I must decrease.” It sounds so simple, but in pondering what he must do in order for Jesus Christ to increase in his life personally as Lord and Savior, Abbot Christopher focused primarily on the other side of the equation. What must decrease, he said, is “grievance.” Grievance is the main sticking point which needs eradication and removal, and must be decreased in one’s life. A grievance can be associated with a feeling of injustice, complaint, mistreatment, or of an unfair allegation. On the other side, what must increase is gratitude and grace. It was a timely message to hear at the close of the Christmas season, after months of disturbing news stories and images of social, economical and political unrest, not only here at home, but worldwide, on continent after continent, each one the home of many of our international students and other friends. Abbot Christopher’s complete homily can be found on the “Reflections” page this week. We wish Abbot Christopher safe travels this month, especially to Peru, and eagerly look forward to his next visit to New England.
  
  (report by Br. Sixtus Roslevich)
  
  father michael recounts his spiritual journey
  
  Father Michael Brunner, Prior-Administrator of the monastic community, spoke to the School this week on his religious journey. His remarkable story resonates with any religious seeker, and his honest recounting of the circuitous path leading him to, and from, and back to Jesus Christ is worth retracing, in all its peregrinations. From a home in Rochester, New York and a Catholic family open to rigorous religious and political debate, Fr. Michael’s ongoing search led through the Josephites, the political activism of the 1960’s, decades of involvement Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood, a career in the hotel industry, and eventually to the Benedictines. Fr. Michael relates how his return to the Christian faith was prompted by a powerful encounter with an internal and inescapable voice demanding: “What do YOU think about Jesus Christ?” His complete presentation can be found in the Current’s “Reflections” for this week.
  
  high season for the wind turbine
  
  The installation of the wind turbine in 2006 changed the skyline of the campus, and ushered in a timely infusion of green energy. This week we check in on the wind turbine, now in its fourteenth year of continuous and productive operation. It is fair to say this is “high season” for the turbine, in several ways. First, the winter months have statistically generated the most consistent winds. Second, the project has essentially paid for itself, and now continues to generate green energy and cost savings. Thirdly, the project is in its theological high season, speaking to concerns of our day, representing a step forward in addressing the environmental issues now facing our world. You can find a more complete update, with further information, links, and photos, in this month's "Works" section..
- Jan 26 - Feb 1, 2020
  
  HERE IS WHAT'S CURRENT
  
  This past week a group traveled from the School to our nation's capital for the 46th March for Life. The community also commemorated Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday. And we take a look at selections from Cardinal Basil Hume, one of the best known Benedictines of the twentieth cedntury.
  
  marching for life
  
  The 2019 March for Life group visiting the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
  
  With the bus departing Thursday, January 23, at 5:30am for the airport, forty students joined Mr. John Huynh and a group of faculty members for this year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C. Mr. Huynh has led this group since his arrival at the School, and is pleased to see its participation grow, while acknowledging the additional logistical challenge. The event consistently draws hundreds of thousands to the National Mall to express support for the rights of the unborn. The first March was January 22, 1974, making this the 46th gathering, prompted by the Roe v. Wade decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. The 3-day school trip also includes participation in various events, including Masses, concerts, and some touring. On Thursday, January 16, Lucia McLaughlin '21 spoke to the School on her experience with the March:
  
  "So why do 300,000 people, every year, trudge to Washington DC in January in what some have called the largest continuous peaceful and selfless demonstration in the history of our
  country? I mean this thing is bigger and has been going on longer than Coachella… My mom went to the March for Life when she was in high school which was a long time ago. Why do we do it? Why do we go to Washington D.C? Simple. We go to add our voice to the debate and to ensure, like Ghandi says, that our government continues to be great by remembering its commitment to our weakest members. During last year’s trip in D.C., we went to a Christian concert that was part of the March For Life program. Laura Conlan and I didn’t know most of the songs the band was singing and a woman who was a chaperone from another school noticed this. She tapped my shoulder and proceeded to teach Laura and I the “Jesus Dance,” which seemed childish at first, but then we got into it and let’s just say we know it by heart now. This small act of kindness taught me the importance of a community that celebrates together and takes action together. The March for Life is an event that has the ability to restore one’s faith in humanity and give people a sense of community larger than any school or workplace." (read Lucia's full talk)
  
  Maddie McCann '16 on the 2016 Trip
  See report on the 2018 Trip
  
  commemorating martin luther king, jr.
  
  Fr. Gregory Havill, school chaplain, invokes the school assembly with prayer.
  
  Monday, January 20, marked Martin Luther King, Jr. day, recognized in the School in its annual MLK assembly. This year's assembly included remarks from several students on the significance of King's legacy to them. The students also offered a clip from the 2018 HBO documentary, "King in the Wilderness," which "chronicles the final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, revealing a conflicted leader who faced an onslaught of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum" (HBO site). Andrew Young, Executive Director of the SCLC notes of King in the film: “He was prepared to die, but he was also determined that his death and his life would have meaning.” The clip shown at the assembly included some of King's speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," delivered April 3, 1968, the day before his death. Student remarks, noting the ongoing political debate about race, and King's impact on them through word and example, provided clear evidence that his death and life indeed continue to speak to us today.
  
  HBO: "King in the Wilderness"
  
  cardinal basil hume, o.s.b.
  
  Portrait image of Basil Hume, O.S.B. from the Tablet's obituary issue.
  
  This month’s exploration of Benedictine wisdom presents selections from Searching for God, by Cardinal Basil Hume (1923-1999), who was called to serve as Archbishop of Westminster and cardinal from his position as abbot of Ampleforth Abbey. The Cardinal Hume Centre posts: “In 1998, Cardinal Hume asked John Paul II for permission to retire, so that he could go back to his monastery at Ampleforth and spend some time fly fishing and watching Newcastle United Football Club. The request was refused. He was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer in April 1999. On June 2 of that same year, Queen Elizabeth awarded him the Order of Merit. He died just over two weeks later on June 17th in London, aged 76. His funeral was live on national television and he was buried in Westminster Cathedral. Pope John Paul II said he was a “shepherd of great spiritual and moral character.” Excerpts from some of his best known writings, conferences collected in the book, Searching for God, can be found in the January's Wisdom section.