“Now the grace of our Lord hath abounded exceedingly with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 1:14)

It is not merely a sentimental notion but a living reality that the love of others is directly informed and fulfilled by the love of God, which is essentially our response to he who first loved us and who gives us the grace to love with a divine love. Thus our love for one another is proportionate to the love of God that dwells within us and to our union with he who IS Love.

The unity of our humble association, as it is with the Mystical Body of Christ, will be formed and sustained by love. And love that is truly love is not divorced from Truth. Therefore, if we hold fast to the Catholic Faith (i.e., Orthodoxy, Christianity), which is ONE, we are capable of loving God and loving others: our fellow members, our brothers and sisters, our neighbors and friends, our allies and even our enemies. It is then, and only then, we will be united in Love by way of Love.

If it were possible to form a community of people who do not live in physical proximity to one another, we have the greatest probability to succeed due to the very nature and purpose of our association. The life of monks puts the Truth and Love of God first in all things and at all times. Therefore it is to the measure that we keep God and the life of our soul in communion with him as the source, center and summit of our thoughts, activities and relationships, that we will be united to one another in a truly supernatural and transformative way, which time and space cannot limit or diminish.

I love you all, and I am fully aware of my inadequacy to express love. All that I know how to do is to be an echo of the Truth that is in our Lord Jesus Christ and the One, Holy, Catholic, & Apostolic Church, where salvation is found, and nowhere else. May the Person of Truth, who is Divine Merciful Love, be with us and our association, our friends and families, our neighbor and even our enemies, uniting all those you who give and receive love.

14 February 2010
St. Valentine's Day

Kevin Francis Bernadette Clay,
MONKROCK Founder
and fellow Oblate of the Last Martyrdom

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