It is fitting and a true gift that this solemnity of the body and blood of Christ is the day on which we give thanks for the relationship of ministry between the member parishes of Centered on Christ and Saint John’s Abbey. 

The metaphor of the Body of Christ is the single most powerful symbol of the Church, both as individual parishes and as an area Catholic community. 

The Body of Christ, blessed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and including members of all ages, young and old, from many cultures and gifts, comes together as Church. Whenever we come together to listen to the word of God, and break bread of Life and Share the cup of Christ’s Life, we become more deeply Church. 

And the structure of the Area Catholic Communities nudges each one of us to have larger sense of Church, to avoid being too parochial in our conception - rather, we need to have a wide-angle vision of Church. 

It is a bittersweet day, a day to be grateful to God for the mutual blessings shared between the abbey and each of these four communities.  It is also sad day to bring to conclusion, at least for the foreseeable future, this longstanding ministerial relationship. 

Our decision as a monastery to leave Centered on Christ was not a political decision. It was completely a pastoral decision. As a monastery we are in a demographic crunch in all our apostolates, with our men who work in the University, as well as with our men who serve in parishes.

With Father Matthew’s carefully discerned decision to begin a process of incardination in his home diocese of Des Moines, the abbey did not have a replacement pastor for him. As an abbey we do not have any utility players who can step in when something happens. Very seldom has a decision been so crystal clear to me. 

I believe that I serve you and the Diocese best by facing these issues head on and allowing time for the leadership in this parish and in the diocese to plan a good transition. Few things make life more miserable than we are collectively scrambling to hold things together. The educational work in these parishes of this ACC the attention to sacramental ministry, to marriage preparation, to the sick and the elderly, to the needs and gifts of so many different people, all of this requires a seamless transition. 

Has this been an easy decision?

No – we are fiercely proud of each of these four parishes, what you accomplish day in and day out for the Church, for handing on a living faith to the next generation, for the echoes of Benedictine spirituality that are present in each and in your worship and care for the needy. It has been a difficult decision, but one that I believe will serve these communities well. 

As a monastery we have men in formation, good solid men but the number is small and not all of them are going toward ordination. I am hoping that we will be a monastery of 90-100 men in the future, which on a global scale is still large. But our reach – the distance we can work from the monastery, will be less and the way in which we do our ministry will be different.

When pastoral relationship is working, it goes both ways. So I want to thank you, parishioners of Saint James, Immaculate Conception, Ss Peter and Paul, and Saint Boniface, for being such a good shepherds to Fathers Matthew, Cletus, Edward, Julius, Roger, Dominic, Stephen, Mel, and to all of our Benedictine monk-priests over the span of 167 years: for teaching them how to be a pastors and parochial vicars, for loving them and supporting them, for being patient with human weakness and limitations, for trying to draw out their best energies, for stretching them and being willing to stretch yourselves. In this time of transition, the goal is utterly clear: to be lively, expanding communities of faith in and service to Jesus Christ. 

Abbot John Klassen, OSB

11 June 2023