World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Greetings,

While away from the monastery, we continue to pray for those who are seeking to follow God's will in their lives.  Using two identical candles, the monastery began a circulating vocation prayer for the sisters both at home and on mission.  Sister Roommate and I are the current hosts for the mission sister's vocation candle. 

On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, I lit the candle and settled in to read Pope Benedict's message for this day.  His reflection on God's continuous love was a wonderful focus for quiet meditation..."The love of God is everlasting; he is faithful to himself, to the “word that he commanded for a thousand generations” (Ps 105:8). Yet the appealing beauty of this divine love, which precedes and accompanies us, needs to be proclaimed ever anew, especially to younger generations. This divine love is the hidden impulse, the motivation which never fails, even in the most difficult circumstances."

While reflecting on this never ending love, the morning's light, chilly mist gave way to a cold spring rain.  She landed on our porch and quickly hopped down the railing to get out of the rain; a beautiful, though soggy, little cardinal lady.  The rose of her feathers showed through the brown overcoat as she shook the extra rain from her wings.  Then she hopped around to watch the rain fall; it felt like I was enjoying this springtime moment with a her.  Both the Psalms and the New Testament speak of God's loving care for the birds of the air; they will be given places to nest and even the hundreds of sparrows are counted.  If God guides her to our humble little porch for protection from the storm, He will send loving hearts to watch over each of us as well.

A beautiful reminder of the Pope's message...

Blessings,

A Perpetual Profession

Greetings,


Our community songbook open to the Suscipe
with Sister Hospitality's liturgy
of Perpetual Monastic Profession.


On Saturday we celebrated the Perpetual Monatsic Profession of Sister Hospitality.  She had been preparing for this day for almost 9 years since her entry as a postulant long ago.  The day of prayer and celebration had one overwhelming feeling...fullfilment of God's Will.   Not only was our Sister Hospitality smiling, but each of us within the community reflected that smile of joy.  There was one challenge for our Sister. 

She has served the Monastery as assistant guest mistress and servant of hospitality to those who visit us in both the retreat and guest departments; however, this day we all took on this role for her.  She laughed as we whisked company right out of her hands to guide them to their destinations.  After the Mass of Consecration and reception, Sister relaxed with family, friends, and sisters while watching those of us clearing up out of the corner of her eye.

Each moment of the ancient Benedictine Rite of Monastic Profession holds a special meaning for different sisters.  The moment that brings me the most aware of our life is the singing of the Suscipe from Psalm 119.  Our chanted translation reads "Uphold me, O Lord, according to Your word that I may live, and let me not be disappointed in the hope I cherish" and closes with the Glory Be.  The Suscipe is chanted at our sisters' Perpetual Profession, Jubilees, and wake/funeral.  Each time we share in the Suscipe, I remember the day I promised my Perpetual Profession, look forward to the Jubilees that we will celebrate together, and keep Benedict's admonition to "keep death daily" before my eyes.

Saturday, as Sister Hospitality nervously began her solo part of the Suscipe chant, I noticed the Prioress and sub-Prioress had stepped in behind her to quietly support her voice with their own and a whole new perspective awoke in me.  The call to community in each part of our life, even in this moment where the ritual calls for a solo moment; it is community that makes it complete.

Blessings,

National Vocation Awareness Week

Greetings!

As the Church in America celebrates Vocation Awareness Week, we've been trying to consider different ways of sharing that invitation with our boys here at school. You'd think it would be easy since I teach at an Order school and there are monks and priests all about, but when the focus is high class academics, the students sometimes forget to see the monks who teach them as men of prayer and service, the nun who teaches them as a woman consecrated to prayer and ministry to the Church, and the lay men and women who teach them as husbands, wives, or single folk striving to follow God. As a way of reintroducing the familiar I went to the USCCB sponsored vocation website for some awesome videos, prayers, and other info! We're going to use a variety of these short videos as openers to class or discussion. It has been a bit different to focus on the vocations for men; in my previous teacher life, I would talk vocations to mixed classes or classes of women. However, I do remind them that as friends, brothers, and dads, they will have a responsibility to support the women in their lives.

One interesting discuss popped up after yesterday's video.
"So, Sister, what would you call the perks of being a sister? And you can't use all that churchy stuff," one junior asked. Before answering, I asked him what he meant by perks.
"You know, what do you get! You got a car, phone, lap top...what else do you get?"
"Ah-ha, I see," I pondered for a moment, "I get a community--a family of sisters who will support me and help me out no matter what, I get to be challenged every day to look at who I am and try to be better by seeing Christ in me and you, and I get to learn and have the chance to study at the monastery, graduate school, and everywhere. Those are my non-churchy perks."
The junior responded with a raised eyebrow, "Hmmm..."
Then I continued, "By the way, it isn't MY car, but the car my community has given me to use to travel to school and home to the monastery. It isn't MY phone, the phone is for my use since I'm living away from the monastery. It isn't MY laptop, but while I'm teaching the Prioress wants me to have what I need to do my work well. None of those things are specifically MINE."
A few more juniors raised an eyebrow and looked a bit skeptical, and the best part...they asked another question.

It was a good challenge, but I'd never looked at our life for the 'perks' before. The call to be a Benedictine Sister was such a draw of the heart and soul that visits felt like coming home. I'd visit, then go back to school (purposefully on the other side of the state) and try to prove to myself that I really wasn't called to be a sister. Then God would draw me back to the monastery. Perks? Not a part of the consideration, I just wanted to be where my heart had found a home.

Blessings and Keep Searching!

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Greetings,

This weekend the Church focuses her attention on praying for all those called to follow Christ through vocations to the Church. Pope Benedict XVI's address "Proposing Vocations in the Local Church" reminded me that while it is God who calls women and men to serve, it is up to us to offer prayer, invition, and support.

"We should pay close attention to the way that Jesus called his closest associates to proclaim the Kingdom of God. In the first place, it is clear that the first thing he did was to pray for them: before calling them, Jesus spent the night alone in prayer, listening to the will of the Father in a spirit of interior detachment from mundate concerns. It is Jesus' intimate conversation with the Father with results in the calling of his disciples." This is a reminder to keep praying for those who are discerning their call to serve. As a community, we commit every Tuesday to praying for women and men who are considering a Christ's call to life in the Church. Individually, many of us continue to pray especially for women who may be considering our community. One of our Elder Sisters asked the three of us who when to Rome last summer to light candles at statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and pray for vocations. We dutifully knelt at many statues and shrines of the Sacred Heart, dropped our Euro into electric candles, and prayed for Christ's intercession.

The invitation to those who seek is given in a variety of ways. We share our stories with catechism classes and youth groups; we send out flyers offering week long monastic visits and weekend come & see stays, but most importantly we live our Call as Public Witness. "...the Lord called some fishermen on the shore of the Sea of Galilee: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." He revealed his messianic mission to them by the many "signs" which showed his love for humanity and the gift of the Father's mercy. Through his words and his way of life he prepared them to carry on his saving work." Pope Benedict XVI reminds us all that how we live our daily life is an important part of the invitation, and it has been an important aspect of our community living as well. Our Benedictine call to a life of prayer and community is shared as witness to the world. At the Monastery, our Lauds, Eucharistic, and Vespers celebrations are open to the local community of college, hospital, and city of Yankton. For those of us living away from the Monastery, the stories we tell of home, our commitment to sharing life with our sisters at the covent, and our returning home to the Monastery for holidays, holydays, and summers are all living witness and invitation to those answering a call to Vocation in the Church.

As to offering support for those discerning a vocation to the Church, there is always a sister willing to offer a listening ear, a quick prayer, and some wise advice. My Sister Spiritual Director was a wonderful help while trying to decide how to respond to the call I felt. Her best words were "You don't have to decide 'FOREVER', but can you give God one year. After that, can you give another year, soon it becomes forever." I started with one year, then a second...thirteen years later I can't imagine any other home. Pope Benedict XVI's words were also inspired.

It is essential that every local Church become more sensitive and attentive to the pastoral care of vocations, helping children and young people in particular at every level of family, parish and associations – as Jesus did with his disciples - to grow into a genuine and affectionate friendship with the Lord, cultivated through personal and liturgical prayer; to grow in familiarity with the sacred Scriptures and thus to listen attentively and fruitfully to the word of God; to understand that entering into God’s will does not crush or destroy a person, but instead leads to the discovery of the deepest truth about ourselves; and finally to be generous and fraternal in relationships with others, since it is only in being open to the love of God that we discover true joy and the fulfilment of our aspirations. “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church” means having the courage, through an attentive and suitable concern for vocations, to point out this challenging way of following Christ which, because it is so rich in meaning, is capable of engaging the whole of one’s life.

Blessings,

The Presentation & Consecrated Life

Greetings,

Yes, I know I'm a day behind the world, but ice, snow, and bitter cold kept me from my computer.

When Pope John Paul II instituted a world day to celebrate the gift of Consecrated Life in the Church, I am grateful that he choose the Feast of the Presentation at the Temple to commemorate it. The feast is so rich in both symbol and tradition that support and enlighten our life in the Church.

This celebration of consecrating the infant Jesus to the service of the Temple is a wonderful reminder of my own consecration to the Church. At my final vows, the religious community witnessed my vows, the prioress received the vows, but the Church is the one that holds my vows in trust all of my life. Yes, yes, they are stored in the archives of my monastery; but they are promised to God and the Church. When students ask if I am "married to Jesus," I point out that the WHOLE CHURCH is Christ's Bride and that means everybody! My sisters and I are consecrated to the service of our Beloved in the Church.

The Feast of the Presentation is also a feast of light as we remember Christ as light of the world. The monastery follows in the tradition of blessing our candles for the chapel and places of prayer during this feast. However, I see this fitting our commemoration of Consecrated Life. We are supposed to be lights as well. Consecrated and set apart we should light the way for others. Not always the easiest call to fulfill, burning brightly on the lamp stand, but a needed role within the Church.

I am grateful for my life as a woman living the Consecrated Life as a Benedictine Sister. I am grateful for my community of sisters who help support me in the daily successes and struggles of our life together. And I am grateful for Pope Benedict XVI blessings and prayer for us yesterday.

O Mary Mother of the Church,
I entrust to you Consecrated Life,
So that you will obtain for it the fullness of Divine Light:
That it may live in listening to the Word of God,
In the humility of the following of Jesus Your Son and our Lord,
In the acceptance of the visit of the Holy Spirit,
In the daily joy of the Magnificat,
So that the Church is built by the holiness of life
Of these Your sons and daughters,
In the commandment of love,
Amen.

Blessings,

Prayer & Vocation Advice from Pope Benedict XVI

Greetings,

I found a portion of this address from July 4th on another community's website and felt it was so powerful I needed to read the entire message. I did trim some of his speech that was directed to the city specifically, but the meaning is clear.

“You have just asked me: how does one recognize God's call? Well, the secret of the vocation lies in the capacity for and joy of distinguishing, listening to, and obeying his voice. But to do this it is necessary to accustom our hearts to recognizing the Lord and to having an awareness of him as a Person who is close to me and loves me. As I said this morning, it is important to learn to live in our days moments of inner silence in order to hear the Lord's voice. You may be sure that if we learn to listen to this voice and to follow it generously, we have nothing to fear, we know and feel that God is with us, that God is Friend, Father and Brother. In a word: the secret of the vocation lies in the relationship with God, in prayer that develops, precisely, in inner silence, in the capacity for listening, hearing that God is close. And this is true both before the decision, that is, at the time of deciding and setting out, and afterward, if one wants to be faithful and to persevere on the way

“And here I would like to say something else to you: true prayer is not at all foreign to reality. If prayer should alienate you, remove you from your real life, be on your guard it would not be true prayer! On the contrary, dialogue with God is a guarantee of truth, of truth with ourselves and with others and hence of freedom. Being with God, listening to his word, in the Gospel and in the Church's Liturgy, protects you from the dazzle of pride and presumption, from fashions and conformism, and gives you the strength to be truly free, even from certain temptations masked by good things. You asked me: how can we be "in" the world but not "of" the world? I answer you: precisely through prayer, through personal contact with God. It is not a question of multiplying words Jesus already said this to us but of being in God's presence, of making our own, in our minds and in our hearts, the words of the "Our Father" that embraces all the problems of our lives, or by adoring the Eucharist, meditating on the Gospel in our room or participating with recollection in the Liturgy. None of this removes us from life but instead helps us truly to be ourselves in every context, faithful to the voice of God who speaks to our conscience, free from the conditioning of the time! … And the guarantee of truth is God. Those who follow him have no fear, not even of denying themselves, of giving up their own ideas, for, as St Teresa of Avila said, "Those who have God lack nothing".

“Dear Friends, faith and prayer do not solve problems but rather enable us to face them with fresh enlightenment and strength, in a way that is worthy of the human being and also more serenely and effectively. If we look at the history of the Church we see that it is peopled by a wealth of Saints and Blesseds who, precisely by starting from an intense and constant dialogue with God, illumined by faith, were able to find creative, ever new solutions to respond to practical human needs in all the centuries: health, education, work, etc. Their entrepreneurial character was motivated by the Holy Spirit and by a strong and generous love for their brethren, especially for the weakest and most underprivileged. Dear young people, let yourselves be totally won over by Christ! And start out with determination yourselves too, on the path to holiness, that is by being in contact, in conformity with God a path that is open to all because this will also enable you to become more creative in seeking solutions to the problems you encounter, and in seeking them together! Here is another badge (distinctive sign) of the Christian: he is never an individualist… at the service of the community, open to others, it is never in opposition to the community's needs. Hermits and monasteries are oases and sources of spiritual life from which all may draw. The monk does not live for himself but for others and it is for the good of the Church and of society that he cultivates the contemplative life, so that the Church and society may always be irrigated by new energies, by the Lord's action. Dear young people, love our Christian communities, do not be afraid to commit yourselves to live together the experience of faith! Love the Church: she has given you faith, she has introduced you to Christ! And love your Bishop and your priests: in spite of all our weaknesses, priests are precious presences in your life!

“After Jesus suggested to the rich young man of the Gospel that he leave everything and follow him, the young man went away sadly because he was excessively attached to his many possessions (cf. Mt 19:22). In you, on the other hand, I read joy! And this is also a sign that you are Christians: that for you Jesus Christ is worth much, even though it is demanding to follow him, that he is worth more than anything else. You have believed that God is the precious pearl that gives value to all the rest: to the family, to studies, to work, to human love... to life itself. You have realized that God takes nothing from you but gives to you "a hundredfold" and makes your life eternal, for God is infinite Love, the only love that satisfies our hearts. I would like to recall St Augustine's experience. He was a young man who, with great difficulty spent a long time seeking something that would satisfy his thirst for truth and happiness. Yet at the end of this process of seeking he understood that our hearts are restless until they find God, until they rest in him (cf. The Confessions, 1, 1). Dear young people, keep your enthusiasm, your joy, the joy that is born from having encountered the Lord and may you communicate it also to your peers! I must now depart and I must say that I am sorry to leave you! With you I feel that the Church is young! But I am happy as I leave, like a father who is serene because he has seen that his children are growing up and growing up well. Dear young men and women, walk on! Walk on the path of the Gospel; love the Church our mother; be simple and pure in heart; be gentle and strong in truth; be humble and generous. I entrust you all to your holy Patrons ... especially, to the Virgin Mary, and I bless you with deep affection. Amen.”

~Benedict XVI, Meeting with young people at the Cathedral of Sulmona, Italy

47th World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Greetings,

I hadn't realized there was a day of prayer for vocations until today...I do pray for vocations, but I'm glad there is a day to set aside specifically for those who are discerning Jesus' call in their lives. Pope Benedict XVI titled this day of prayer "Witness Awakens Vocations". The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also opened their new vocation website on this day of prayer for vocations.

The very life of men and women religious proclaims the love of Christ whenever
they follow him in complete fidelity to the Gospel and joyfully make their own
its criteria for judgement and conduct. They become “signs of contradiction” for
the world, whose thinking is often inspired by materialism, self-centredness and
individualism. By letting themselves be won over by God through
self-renunciation, their fidelity and the power of their witness constantly
awaken in the hearts of many young people the desire to follow Christ in their
turn, in a way that is generous and complete. To imitate Christ, chaste, poor
and obedient, and to identify with him: this is the ideal of the consecrated
life, a witness to the absolute primacy of God in human life and
history.

Every priest, every consecrated person, faithful to his or her
vocation, radiates the joy of serving Christ and draws all Christians to respond
to the universal call to holiness. Consequently, in order to foster vocations to
the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life, and to be more effective in
promoting the discernment of vocations, we cannot do without the example of
those who have already said “yes” to God and to his plan for the life of each
individual. Personal witness, in the form of concrete existential choices, will
encourage young people for their part to make demanding decisions affecting
their future. Those who would assist them need to have the skills for encounter
and dialogue which are capable of enlightening and accompanying them, above all
through the example of life lived as a vocation. ~ Pope Benedict XVI

This is also a good day to remember and reflect on my own vocation history. Before entering on January 3rd, 1998, I spent a fair few years unsure of where I was finding God or following Christ. However, things came to a focus when Sr. Lorraine became my spiritual director as I was finishing up college. We met twice a month to discuss a book about the Rule of Benedict, pray, and share about our prayer lives. She was a wonderful guide and coach as I started to seriously consider my vocation to be a Benedictine; she was also quite direct. Sr. Lorraine challenged me to begin letting go of things, to practice setting aside parties and spending practices. Then she cut to the quick...no more outings with boys who happened to be 'friends'. I was still waffling a bit during one of our sessions before I requested application papers and she gave me some of the most wonderful advice (I think it's why I'm here now): You don't have to enter knowing that you can be there for a lifetime! Give God a year and see how your Call goes and listen to Christ in your prayer. Then give God another year ... Being a Sister doesn't happen all at once, but it grows year by year.

Blessings,