A new title from our Fr Isaac, now available from Liturgical Press.
Too often Christianity has been hijacked by the superego and the good news of grace has been compromised by fear and the rationalization of violence. In “Do Not Judge Anyone” Cistercian monk Isaac Slater reflects on the desert fathers’ teachings and practice of not judging with a focus on contemporary life. Interweaving sources from East and West, ancient and modern, Slater finds profound points of contact between the first monks and figures like Dostoevsky and Simone Weil, and in the teaching and witness of Pope Francis. “Do Not Judge Anyone” offers a radical, refreshing, and deeply hopeful vision of the gospel for the twenty-first century.
Following closely Jesus’s injunction to “Stop judging!” the first Christian monks strongly emphasized the practice of not judging others as central to the gospel ethos. Through captivating and sometimes enigmatic sayings and stories of the desert fathers, Slater shares a monastic approach to everyday living that applies Jesus’s teaching of radical non-judgement as a balm for the polarized environment commonly found in the Church and the world today.
The Abbey of the Genesee is home to some 24 contemplative monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance also known as Trappists.
Founded from the Abbey of Gethsemani in 1951 monastic life at Genesee is made up of a balanced daily round of prayer, lectio divina and manual labor in an atmosphere of simplicity, silence and fraternal support.
The natural beauty, silence and solitude of the verdant Genesee River Valley so conducive for the contemplative life provides an ideal location for the monastery.