Monthly Newsletter

July 2026

Updates from The Benedictine Way and Contemplative Underground

The Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia

On the top of Monte Cassino in sixth century Italy, during the collapse of the Roman Empire and a localized climate disaster, St. Benedict of Nursia founded a Christian community of monastics that provided stability and peace to a war-torn world. It was for this group of monks that he wrote The Rule of St. Benedict, the same rule we read every morning at Incarnation Monastery. Those same promises of obedience, stability, and conversion guide us in our service to the poor and forgotten today.

The Feast of St. Benedict is coming up this month, on July 11, and our community is looking forward to celebrating this holy day in prayer and fellowship - as we have done in years past.

Each year our community has experienced different joys, challenges, hopes, and dreams, and we have prayed through each of them, committed to Christ and to each other. Our way of life has drawn together a diversity of people to share in prayer, service, and community in our time - when the wider world is experiencing deepening division and violence. The Rule provides stability and grounds us in the love of God.

As we approach another celebration of the Feast of St. Benedict, it is this stability that we invite you into.

The stability of a Benedictine community is not dependent on an institution, nor does it seek the absence of trial and tribulation. It is not contingent on the anxieties of daily life, the state of the nation or world, or how we feel moment-to-moment. Benedictine stability is found only and above all in the love of God.

Here in the United States, the 250th anniversary of our country is also being celebrated in July. Our country's historic hope for freedom brings with it the realities of division, violence, and the oppression of the poor and forgotten.

Resting in the stability of God's love informs our action in our time. When immigrants are rounded up, tortured, and deported, the stability of God's love tells us to welcome and protect the stranger. When leaders seek war and destruction abroad, the stability of God's love tells us to nonviolently advocate for peace and justice. When the rights of women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people are stripped away, the stability of God's love tells us to protect the lives and dignity of the marginalized.

The stillness and silence of contemplative life does not mean we stay still and silent in the face of evil. It means the evils of the world are powerless in the face of the peace of God we hold in our hearts. Stability allows us to act faithfully when we are confused and courageously when we are scared.

We seek the stillness and silence of the heart so that we may listen for God's call to action.

St. Benedict shows us the way towards this stability in his rule, and it begins with our life of prayer. We invite you to join us, in person at Incarnation Monastery or online with Contemplative Underground, to pray in community. To find stability in God's love. To listen for His call in the stillness of your heart.

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

Pride History Sunday at St. Augustine's

Sunday, July 12 at 12 PM

285 S 208th, Elkhorn, NE 68022

The Benedictine Way will attend St. Augustine of Canterbury's special Pride History Sunday on July 12 about the Episcopal Church's journey to full inclusion and theological affirmation of "all the sacraments for all God's people." The workshop will take place at 12 PM, after their morning worship services, and will go over some of our church history and theology before the events of Pride Week and the parade.

5th Annual Pride Mass at Trinity Cathedral

Wednesday, July 15 at 7 PM

113 N. 18th Street, Omaha, NE 68102

The Benedictine Way will attend Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Fifth Annual Pride Mass! The LGBTQ+ community and allies are invited to a worship service designed to celebrate and promote the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the church. The service will be held during Heartland Pride week on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 7 PM, and features singers from the Trinity Cathedral Choir and River City Mixed Chorus. All who attend are invited to communion and worship.

Pride Parade & Festival Presence

Saturday, July 18 at 10 AM

The Benedictine Way will join with the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska to march in this year's Heartland Pride Parade! The parade begins at 10 AM on Saturday, July 18 in Downtown Omaha. After the parade we will host a booth at the festival in the Holland Performing Arts Center and Tenaska Center. We look forward to seeing you at the festivities and invite you to come visit us at our booth! Learn more about Heartland Pride here.

Save the Date! Fall Young Adult Retreat

Saturday, October 10 - Monday, October 12

Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center

Young Adults are invited to join us for our Fall Young Adult Retreat at the Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Iowa. The retreat will be themed around Creation Care and natural spirituality, and will run from October 10-12. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details about the theme, registration, and retreat activities. We hope to see you for a weekend of rest, renewal, and connection with the earth.

From the Contemplative Tradition

St. Benedict of Nursia

St. Benedict of Nursia lived in sixth-century Italy when the Roman Empire was collapsing. As a young man he renounced the world to live in solitude, but he came to the notice of nearby townsfolk and monks as a holy man. He was sought out as a leader, but stubbornness and envy among the other monks led him to leave.

With a group of disciples he founded a monastery on Montecassino, south of Rome, and wrote The Rule of St. Benedict; a rule of life centered on the love of Christ in the context of community. This community thrived and Benedictine monasteries spread, providing stability and security in an unsettled time.

St. Benedict stressed the importance of relationship and community life, and monastics made vows of obedience, stability, and conversion. These vows (or promises) are the same values we are committed to in our time at The Benedictine Way, reflected in our life of prayer, service, and community. It is a different way of being in the world, a way of love and nonviolence that guides our praying community to serve the poor and forgotten.

From The Rule of St. Benedict (RB 4.20-33)

Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else. You are not to act in anger or nurse a grudge. Rid your heart of all deceit. Never give a hollow greeting of peace or turn away when someone needs your love. Bind yourself to no oath least it prove false, but speak the truth with heart and tongue.

“Do not repay one bad turn with another” (1 Thess. 5:15; 1 Pet. 3:9). Do not injure anyone, but bear injuries patiently. “Love you enemies” (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27). If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead. “Endure persecution for the sake of justice” (Matt. 5:10).

Our Contemplative Library

We have recently updated our library with new book recommendations.

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