There is a type of radiation that we associate with skull and crossbones.  Everybody talked about it after the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which also caused a nuclear disaster at Fukushima.  Such radiation can be very harmful, even deadly for humans.

There is another type of radiation, which we associate with Pentecost.  The wind and the tongues of fire transformed the disciples in the upper room.  They had been full of fear before.  Now they proclaim with boldness the Good News about Jesus Christ, and do so in a new language that everybody understands.  Conviction, joy and courage emanate, radiate from them.  They touch people’s hearts and bring about their conversion.  Pentecost experiences are so very important also in our time.  “The Church needs its continuous Pentecost,” Pope Paul VI once said.

The days before Pentecost are a time of praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit who alone can bring about this good radiation in us!  In the Pentecost Sequence, the Church prays that the Holy Spirit may wash the stains of guilt away, heal our wounds, melt the frozen, warm the chill, and guide the steps that go astray.  She believes that without the working of God’s Spirit we humans have nothing good in deed or thought, nothing free from taint of ill. - A retreat, before Pentecost or at any other time, is a good opportunity to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and to become a vessel, which the Holy Spirit can fill.

After seventeen years as Prior at Christ the King Priory, our Fr. Germar Neubert, OSB, will hand over his office to a younger confrere.  Fr. Germar will move to Germany this summer and retire (or he will be ‘re-fired’ there for new tasks!).  We thank Fr. Germar wholeheartedly for his wonderful work at the helm of our monastic community and in pastoral ministry!  We welcome our new Prior, Fr. Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., who will take over the office on July 11.

A few ways of staying in touch with what is happening at St. Benedict Center and at the monastery is visiting our Facebook pages.  You can find links to them on our web site: www.StBenedictCenter.com. - When attending some of our programs, you can also earn credits now for your ongoing professional development and education through the University of San Diego.  Alternatively, you can read a book recommended by one of our presenters, write a paper about it, and also earn semester extension credits.  Each retreat or book earns one unit of graduate extension credit.  Please call us for more information.

I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Fr. Thomas Leitner, OSB
Administrator