Monks and Students Meet the Monks - St. John's Abbey

Kudos for
Collegeville
by Daniel Durken, OSB
T
he Abbey Banner
received honorable
mention in the General
Excellence Award for religious
order magazines at the Catholic
Press Association (CPA) convention in Atlanta on May
28-30. Sharing this honor is our editorial and production
staff: Margaret Wethington Arnold, Pam Rolfes, Dolores
Schuh, CHM, and Gwen Spengler of Palmer Printing.
First Place Award for Best Essay in religious
order magazines was given to the article “The
Crucifixes of Collegeville” which I wrote in
the spring 2002 issue. I am grateful to Mary
Schaffer, curator of the Arca Artium collection,
Alan Reed, OSB, curator of abbey art and artifacts,
and Andra Van Kempen, photographer, for their contributions
in the preparation of this piece.
The CPA represents 215 newspapers, 242 magazines,
125 newsletters, and 44 foreign language publications,
all Catholic, in the United States and Canada for a total
circulation of almost 26.9 million.
The 2003 CPA convention was an inspiring blend
of workshops, panel discussions, speakers, exhibits
and conversations. I especially appreciated the magazine
design critiques of John Brady of Brady and Paul
Communications, Newburyport, MA.
Mr. Brady insisted that a magazine is published primarily
for the readers. To help maintain and improve
The Abbey Banner I need your input. When you have
read and reflected on this issue, please snail-mail or
e-mail me (ddurken@csbsju.edu) and tell me what you
like or do not like about the magazine.
For me the highlight of the convention was the performance
of “Cotton Patch Gospel” by co-author and lead
Tom Key together with an exuberant cast. They gave
a southern-fried version of Matthew’s Gospel in which
Jesus preaches that “man does not live by grits alone.”
The video of “Cotton Patch Gospel” is available from
www.Amazon.com. I am sure you will enjoy it.
May your autumn be colorful and gentle.
Jesus Our
Teacher
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB
FROM EDITOR AND ABBOT
Have you ever noticed that
when someone addresses
Jesus as “teacher,” wow,
do they get taught! Jesus is a
resourceful and skilled teacher.
He speaks in the simplest, most
intelligible terms about our deepest hopes as well as our
most painful shadows. Though he is the Word of God,
he never once uses words like “eschatology,” “prolegomenon,”
or “sitz im leben.” He is always grounded in
the world of those he is teaching.
Sometimes Jesus speaks in parables that refuse to
allow the listener to stand outside of the teaching, locked
in his/her own world. Sometimes he uses crisis language
so outrageous that it rocks the listener out of sleep: “If
your right eye is the problem, gouge it out! Better to
enter the reign of God with one eye than to have both
eyes and end up in Gehenna.”
Sometimes Jesus uses hyperbole: “I tell you it is easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for
a rich person to enter the reign of God.” He often asks
hard questions: “What price can a man or woman pay
for his or her life?” Jesus teaches by example. He never
requires his hearer to do things that he himself has not
integrated into his own life. At every stage of our life,
Jesus is a compelling teacher.
_________________
I want to make you aware of two ways that can
enhance your connection to Saint John’s. If you send
your e-mail address to me at jklassen@csbsju.edu, I
will send you news of upcoming special events or of a
monk’s death and funeral schedule. Be assured that I
will communicate only relevant information and will not
stuff your e-mail box with junk mail.
Second, the monastic community is very willing to
pray for the special intentions of our readers. If you have
special prayer needs, please let us know by sending them
to my e-mail address above. We also provide space on
our contribution envelope for readers to request prayers
for special intentions. These intentions will be regularly
posted on our main bulletin board so that as we go to
prayer we hold you in prayer.
The Abbey Banner Fall 2003 page 3