New Skete Monasteries News

By Sister Rebecca This coming Sunday, Matthew’s Gospel focuses on Jesus’ origins—his genealogy. It manifests a struggle within Matthew’s diaspora community in Syria some 10 years after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. That community was a minority Jewish Christian community, which took Jesus as its leader and strove to establish a way of life rooted in obedience and love as Jesus lived and taught. But it was surrounded by some Jewish communities whose people did not accept Jesus as Messiah. There was a dire need for Matthew’s community to show Jesus’ person, not only as legitimately humanly rooted in Judaism but also as the Messiah long foretold by the Prophets inspired by the Spirit of God. Matthew begins his Gospel with a list of names from Jesus’ ancestry. Many of the names are not only obscure to us but hardly pronounceable! For people living in medieval times, Jesus’ family tree—an abbreviated illustration of his lineage, called the Tree of Jesse—w

 By Ida Williams, with Sister Cecelia In the past, I have written about the flurry of activity in preparation of Christmas at the monastery. This year I thought I would step out of my comfort zone and write about a personal experience. I am moved by music. Especially contemporary Christian music. Last Sunday, at my church, we had a special guest sing an anthem for us. Sariah, a music teacher at Fort Ann school, has sung for us many times over the years, and this Sunday she did not disappoint. Her classically trained voice was accompanied by acoustic guitar as she sang “Mary Did You Know.” By the end of the song, I had tears on my checks. I am always impressed by those who can sing with such a depth of emotion and not break down. The song goes through several verses, asking Mary if she knows the miracles that her child will perform. The final line is “T hat sleeping child you’re holding is the great I Am .” By this point I am completely involved in the song. And then a “ wh