by Wade Ballou | Apr 7, 2015 | Contemplative Life
My Monastic Immersion Weekend at Holy Cross Abbey began in earnest with Vigils. Three o’clock in the morning is early. Nah, it’s not even morning yet. I’m not used to what this hour looks like and I’m definitely not used to being functional at this hour. And that’s...
by Coracle | Mar 30, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Credit to Biblegateway.com
by Bill Haley | Mar 30, 2015 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
These past couple of years I’ve had the chance to go a couple of times to the Holy Land. Every place where Jesus was has deep meaning. A couple of places meet me with a special power each time. One of them is the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem. It is a place...
by Coracle | Mar 20, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Listening in the spiritual life is much more than a psychological strategy to help others discover themselves. In the spiritual life the listener is not the ego, which would like to speak but is trained to restrain itself, but the Spirit of God within us. When...
by Coracle | Mar 16, 2015 | Contemplative Life
[What does a monk do and why? Members of the Coracle community just got some answers as we returned from an experiences that you’ll read about below. It was great, truly great. I asked the Abbot, Fr. Robert Barnes, “What is the deepest essence of why a monk does...
by Bill Haley | Mar 5, 2015 | Contemplative Life
This past weekend a young woman came to Corhaven to talk about Mother Teresa. A freshman in high school, she’s working on a year long research project and had heard that Tara and I had met her. It’s true. I met Mother Teresa in 1995 when I spent a month in Calcutta...
by Bill Haley | Mar 4, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Several years ago, I was given the opportunity to teach on how Mother Teresa’s life exhibited spiritual maturity, and it afforded the opportunity to explore the meaning of her long “dark night”. It was a privilege for me, and this talk became...
by Coracle | Feb 18, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Just As I Am” by Charlotte Elliot 1. Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 2. Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose...
by Bill Haley | Feb 16, 2015 | Contemplative Life
A few years ago at St. Brendan’s in the City, I gave this sermon which was the result of about 10 years of journey. It remains to feel like one of the most important sermons I’ve ever given, an attempt to wrestle into clear and simple words the goal and...
by Coracle | Feb 13, 2015 | Contemplative Life, Vocation
The Soundings Seminar #2 in Northern Virginia, led by Soren Johnson and Bill Haley, explores the breadth of the Gospel, and why the good news really is good news! Check out the audio below: DOWNLOAD THE SEMINAR HANDOUT »
by Chrissy Koach | Feb 7, 2015 | Contemplative Life
To me, abide is synonymous with comfort and peace. So many stresses surround us, and fear/anger are easy reactions for me… especially when I have an imbalance of coffee or sleep (or exercise or quiet …). And reactions can be lethal. Obey, respect, and accept are...
by Soren Johnson | Feb 4, 2015 | Contemplative Life
As a dad of young children, I sometimes think that my wife and I are workers at a muddy and chaotic construction site — setting (I hope) solid foundations. Every once in a while we emerge from behind the construction perimeter fence and go out on a rare date together,...
by Wade Ballou | Feb 2, 2015 | Contemplative Life, Coracle News
A common sentiment among those who retreat at Corhaven is how powerful it is simply to step back from the noise, and be still, and create space for God to enter in and speak, and even more than that, to encounter God’s love again. Simply stepping away from daily...
by Wade Ballou | Jan 29, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke, from Letters to a Young Poet One theme from the early years of my life is restlessness. I tend...
by Bill Haley | Jan 21, 2015 | Contemplative Life
I have a brother and two sisters. I love them all and wish you could meet them. There’s a good chance that one of them, my sister Ruth, is already known to you. A funny, glee-full thing happens to me at least several times a year. Someone will be talking to me...
by Bill Haley | Jan 15, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Hebrews 6.1 invites and beckons and woos and calls and commands us: “Let us go on to maturity.” The Greek word used here for mature comes from teleios, meaning complete, or perfect. It has the meaning of something that has lived into its design and purpose. The...
by Coracle | Jan 5, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your presence everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly, that our lives may be only a radiance of yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every person we come in...
by Coracle | Dec 20, 2014 | Contemplative Life
by Mona Lindeman Mona is a dear friend of Coracle and active at The Falls Church Anglican. She gave this reflection recently to a women’s Bible Study. Consider Mary of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph the carpenter, the mother of Jesus our Savior. What do we think when...
by Soren Johnson | Dec 19, 2014 | Contemplative Life
This blog was originally posted by a Coracle board member, Soren Johnson. “What’s your favorite time of the year?” I asked my 7-year-old son the other day. Without a pause, he nearly shouted, “Christmas Eve.” Fellow dads, listen up. We can read our kids’ excitement in...
by Soren Johnson | Dec 11, 2014 | Contemplative Life
This blog was originally posted by a Coracle board member, Soren Johnson. Here is a bit of non-news: Americans today are decidedly overwhelmed, self-absorbed and hyper-social. We download apps to monitor our breathing, sleeping and our every move. We are...
