Br .Jonathan the Annunciation of the Lord is a most appropriate feastday for

your taking the next step on your monastic journey. Its liturgy tells us, that

God for his universal plan of our salvation, wanted to depend on the B.V.M.

who at 1st was disturbed & scared of the idea, but then wholeheartedly consented in faith & trust, without exactly knowing what she was letting herself

into. She made her commitment: “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what

you‘ve said, be done to me”. You too Jonathan are about to commit yourself

to the Lord in faith & trust, unsure what the future will hold. But we can all be

absolutely sure about 2 things. That God knows, that all of us have our weaknesses & limitations and that God will make up for whatever we are lacking.

Therefore He gave all of us the 1 thing we need the most on our challenging

journeys: namely the assurance of his presence. “I will be with you till the end

of time.” We will be able to live and fulfil our commitments, not only because

of our own efforts, talents & skills, but above all, because of God’s grace,

which enables us to accomplish so much more than we could ever have done

on our own. As St. Paul would say: “God’s power will be made manifest thro’

our weaknesses.” Why can we be so sure & confident? Because God is closer

to us; more intimate to us than we’re to ourselves. God is the Creator of the

universe & more powerful than we can ever imagine. He wants to set all of us

on fire with his own presence make us as radiant & beautiful as possible. We

can’t control or avoid God. That would be an illusion & a hopeless path to

take. We just need to learn to surrender to what he is asking of us. Then we

will not only be on the right path, but we will also be at peace and happy.

Finally: the black scapular, that will rest on your shoulders is a reminder of

Jesus’ words; “shoulder my yoke for it is easy & light, so find rest for your

soul”. And the belt around your waste symbolizes the truth with which to

stand your ground in the spiritual battle and to resist the Devil’s tactics.