Monthly Newsletter - September 2026

Monthly Newsletter

September 2026

Updates from The Benedictine Way and Contemplative Underground

Eighth Anniversary Foundation Day

You're Invited!

We're looking forward to our Eighth Anniversary Foundation Day Celebration in just two weeks! Join us on Thursday, September 17 on the lawn of Incarnation Monastery (3020 Belvedere Blvd., Omaha, NE 68111). Vespers begins at 5:30pm and will be followed by a reception.

Foundation Day is a special time for our community. Oblate Candidates make their full promises as Oblates, new Oblate Candidates are received, and new Young Adult Residents are welcomed. It is a time of renewal, celebration, and prayer.

Foundation Day is also a time to celebrate our wider community - those who support us through prayer, volunteering, and financial donations, those who visit us at the food pantry, those who join us for various retreats and young adult events, and others. Our community of Benedictines sits at the center of these circles of love, and we wouldn't be here without all of you.

We thank God for your presence in our community and hope you will join us for this year's Foundation Day Celebration. Please RSVP to Abby Ybay at aybay@episcopal-ne.org.

God's Peace be upon you,

Br. James Dowd, OSB

Prior of The Benedictine Way

Spiritual Guide of Contemplative Underground

Abby Z. Ybay, Obl/OSB

Dean of Community Life

Spiritual Guide of Contemplative Underground

Upcoming Events

Welcoming the Stranger

An Episcopal Response to Immigration

Tuesday, September 8

7-8:30pm at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

925 South 84th Street, Omaha, NE

You're invited to an evening of clarity on Anglican / Episcopal teaching. Come learn about the current challenges facing our Nebraska neighbors and how we can respond faithfully. We will explore the rights, responsibilities, and dignity of the person, current migration pathways and the experience of immigrants in Omaha, and practical ways to put your faith into action. Featured speakers are The Rev. Michael Heller, Priest-in-Charge at St. Martin of Tours, and Sarah Keeney, Lead Organizer for Omaha Together One Community (OTOC). Click here to RSVP.

Friday Vigil for Justice, Mercy, and Peace

Special Intention for the Upcoming Elections

Friday, September 11 at 12:15pm CT / 11:15am MT

Online Via Zoom, Register here

Starting next Friday, September 11, our Vigil for Justice, Mercy, and Peace will take on a special intention in praying for our upcoming midterm elections here in the United States. Join us in praying for our country this election season, that we may use our voice and vote to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, liberate the oppressed, protect our democracy, and love our neighbors as Christ loves us. Register here.

Love in the Time of Elections

A Contemplative Underground Workshop

Tuesday, September 15

7-8:30pm CT / 6-7:30pm MT

Online via Zoom, Register here

Learn to resist through contemplative nonviolence. Join us on Contemplative Underground for a workshop on contemplative prayer and nonviolent resistance during a critical election season for our country. Together we will explore what Christian love means in our current national context, working through the basics of contemplative practice and nonviolence, everyday nonviolent action during a campaign, on election day, and in the aftermath of the election.

Eighth Anniversary

Foundation Day Celebration

Thursday, September 17 at 5:30pm CT

Incarnation Monastery

3020 Belvedere Blvd., Omaha, NE

You're invited to the lawn of Incarnation Monastery for our Eighth Anniversary Foundation Day Celebration on Thursday, September 17. We will join together in prayer and welcome new Oblates, Oblate Candidates, and Young Adult Residents into our community. Worship begins at 5:30pm, followed by a reception. Please RSVP to Abby Ybay at aybay@episcopal-ne.org. We hope to see you there!

Our Neighbor, The Earth:

How She teaches us to heal

Fall Young Adult Retreat

Saturday, October 10 - Monday, October 12

Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center

How does God’s Creation teach us to build God’s Kingdom? What can we learn from nature to help us heal a world torn apart by violence and consumption? Young adults are invited to explore these questions amidst the beauty of the Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, guided by the wisdom of Indigenous spirituality found in Robin Kimmerer’s book, “The Serviceberry”. The cost is $100/person, some scholarships available.

Click here to register now!

From the Contemplative Tradition

Image Source: Guy Mendes

Wendell Berry

Poet, novelist, and environmentalist Wendell Berry held a deep reverence for the land and was a staunch defender of agrarian values, affirming that humans must learn to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth or perish. His poetry celebrates the holiness of life and everyday miracles often taken for granted. Berry’s poetry collections include This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems (2014), Given (2005), A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997, Entries: Poems (1994), Traveling at Home (1989), The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (1988), Collected Poems 1957-1982 (1985), Clearing (1977), There Is Singing Around Me (1976), and The Broken Ground (1964).

He passed away this last Monday, August 31, 2026. As we begin the liturgical Season of Creation here at The Benedictine Way, we remember him as a prophetic poet and wisdom writer whose words help us reflect on our connectedness with the earth.

Poem from Sabbaths 1979

I go among trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet

around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places

where I left them, asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes

and lives a while in my sight.

What it fears in me leaves me,

and the fear of me leaves it.

It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.

I live for a while in its sight.

What I fear in it leaves it,

and the fear of it leaves me.

It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor,

mute in my consternations,

I hear my song at last,

and I sing it. As we sing,

the day turns, the trees move.

Wendell Berry

Our Contemplative Library

This webpage provides book recommendations from our Spiritual Guides on topics like Contemplative Life, Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, and more - along with links for purchase. It is meant as a resource for personal study. God's peace be upon you.

Prayer Hours

The Daily Office

The Benedictine Way keeps the prayer schedule below, and we're open to the public 6 days a week. Incarnation Monastery is located at 3020 Belvedere Blvd., Omaha. This schedule includes in-person prayer hours and Contemplative Underground online Centering Prayer Sit schedule. Tuesday Vespers is livestreamed on our YouTube Channel.

Pray with us!

SUNDAY

4pm CT - Online Centering Prayer

5:30pm CT - Vespers

MONDAY

7:30am CT - Online Centering Prayer

No in-person services

TUESDAY

8am CT - Lauds & Holy Eucharist

12:15pm CT - Online Centering Prayer

5:30pm CT - Vespers

WEDNESDAY