Advent-ageous Days

Greetings,

These final days of Advent are a mix of busy silence here at the monastery. The mornings are still filled with silent waiting in the halls and refectory until after breakfast. The daily chapel is still unadorned except for the stained glass lights marking our time through Advent. We are still waiting for the coming of the Christ child...however...

The preparations for the celebration have begun, and it would only be advent-ageous of our sisters here at the monastery to take advent-age of the sisters coming home from teaching or serving away from home or those on break from teaching or serving at the college! Today's goal was to decorate the long hallway past the refectory to the care-center sister's recreation room with hundreds of satin covered Christmas balls. Sister In-Charge explained that we have been bedecking the hall in this way since 1987--twenty-three years of tradition. I love the final affect. The ceiling seems to dance with the swaying and bobbing movement of the ornaments.

The crew of hallway elves included one sister into her diamond jubilee years (overseer or supreme snooper-visor), one sister past her golden jubilee (director of scaffold pushing and ball placement), two teaching sisters in the 'teens' of their profession (one ceiling worker and one scaffolding pusher), and one student sister from Korea (ceiling worker and artistic director).

I admit we had a good time telling tales of hallways past and singing a few Christmas songs
made up to fit the event of day. We also enjoyed the SNOOPER-visors that stopped to visit and check our progress down the hallway. The joy-filled decoration seemed to bring a smile to all that happened upon our work for the day. A few had suggestions about how far to space certain colors or where to fill-in an empty space or two, but all left with a bit more bounce in her steps.

Tomorrow we will begin decorating the upper chapel for the Christmas season. My favorite is the crib scene that we display in the gathering space outside of chapel...and all the poinsettias that brighten our chapel with brilliant reds and whites.

However, it isn't Christmas yet. Our O'Antiphon wreath is still in the main hallway, reminding all who pass by that we still await our King!

Blessings,

Listening

Greetings,

The Rule of Benedict begins with a phrase that condenses how we Benedictine folk approach prayer, God, and each other... "Obsculta, o fili, praecepta magistri, et inclina aurem cordis tui" ... "Listen carefully, my child, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart." This includes listening to my dreams like Joseph in the Gospel for this 4th Sunday of Advent; "an angel of God appeared to him in a dream...When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him."

Hearing what others have to say is simply not enough. Listening with the ear of my heart calls me to set aside my own preconceptions and try to understand God's call in the wisdom that another is sharing with me. I should be open to this listening not only to the prioress or superiors, but also listening to my sisters, family, coworkers, and students; there is no telling from where God's wisdom might come to me if I'm open to it.

My first year in community I learned a lot from one of the most unassuming of folk. I was in a funk and unsure of why I was staying and felt that all my choices were being taken or that maybe I had left all my choices at the door. Then one very wise junior sister cornered me and shared her wisdom, "There are always choices, there are always decisions that we can make...it starts with one decision, do you stay or do you go?" I will be forever grateful that I was able to hear her with the ear of my heart. Since then I've often brought myself a little guidance when in a confused funk by using her words, do I stay or do I go?

You never know who your wisdom will touch or what effect it will have on those who are listening.

Blessings,

Anxiety & Anticipation

Greetings,

Classes moved into finals preparation on Monday; the anxiety level of freshmen and upper class men could be palpably felt in the hallways. Teachers also began to exude a vibe of increased focus as tests were written and rewritten. The only folk immune from the end of the year jitters were the sophomore boys, go figure; but even they began to carry extra books, type notes into outlines on laptops, and talk to themselves in study hall.

Wednesday, the finals began with the 'short' periods being combined into one longer test period. I started with all of my freshman in a combined test period...one hour to complete five essay questions. This was their first 'major' test for finals week and I thought it might be best to teach them a little bit about pacing during their time with me. As always, I included a few cartoons (a Calvin & Hobbes Christmas mix) to create natural breaks between every two essay questions. About every fifteen minutes, I would remind the boys of the time remaining and ask them to rest their brains for a minute and enjoy a cartoon. Once, I skipped the cartoon recommendation and asked them to pray for one minute instead. The point? Relaxing or pausing to de-stress every so often would help them work on the test in the long run...I hope they consider that as they continue their finals week today.

Anticipation also floods the halls this week. We begin a two week Christmas break on Friday afternoon! The 5 day boarders will be going home for an extended visit, and the 7 day boarders (many of them students from distant states or countries) will be going home for the first time since school started! I asked one of our students from Korea what his first plans were going to be and he broke into a broad grin, "Hug my mom and eat everything she cooked for me!" The same question posed to one of our boys from way out of state was answered a little differently, "My sisters and I are going to have a Christmas movie marathon." The anticipation of getting to go home and be with family seems to be the focus of the excitement...and I'm excited for them as well.

Me? I'm excited to be going home to the Monastery for two-weeks too! The first week will be the end of Advent and the air of silent preparation will still be settled over the halls of our monastic home. While I could hardly stand the quiet at the beginning of my life with the sisters, now I find myself craving the intentional silence that fills our refectory, chapel, and bedroom hallways. I will also be arriving at home just in time to begin the preparations for Christmas: setting up the trees in the carcent for our elderly, decorating cookies in the bakery, and replacing our advent purple with Chrsitmas white and gold in the chapel. I won't be alone mind you, there are always a few of us from the schools that are excited and willing to volunteer when we come home for the holidays. It will be good to be home.

Blessings,

Gaudete! Rejoice!

Greetings,

Advent grows rosey as we reach the third week of our waiting for Christmas! This week of Gaudete! Rejoice! reminds me that I need to be filled to overflowing with the joy of the coming season. It is not only a time of hope and faith, but also a time of celebrating the anticipation of our Savior's coming again.

This video of a 'flash mob' mirrors our own soul's overflowing with rejoicing!

Advent Blessings,

The Mundane

Greetings,

Mundane: relating to, characteristic of, or concerned with the commonplace; ordinary.

The daily events of life can be mundane, but it is the mundane horarium (schedule) that Benedict says will transform our lives. To live the daily with an awareness of God brings my prayer out of the oratory and into the world in which I serve.

My service takes me out to the world of high school teaching; what could be more unpredictable than a courses filled with freshmen and sophomore boys. Yet, the mundane filters into my life here too. The schedule of courses, the responses of each student, even my own responses to certain gentlemen can become so predictable, so everyday that the mundane has slid into a very unpredictable environment.

However, it is in the mundane that I can push myself to look into that dailiness to see God. God laughs in the silly humor of my freshmen boys and celebrates the variety of life in their interests. Recently, they poured down the steps at full-tilt, hit the tile and slid into the classroom, ties flung over their shoulder and bookbags dangling from their hands, laughing as they compared how far they could slide. God reveals His loving care as the boys support each other in times of sickness or academic crisis. We begin class with prayer and the freshmen share the concerns and intentions of their life. God's flexibility is evident in the sophomores as they continue to grow and change so quickly day by day. There are the guys that show up right after the bell to visit and banter; others linger after the bell for one last word or two before they go to the next class.

I continue to teach my boys and daily grow in my knowledge and care for them. I begin to see God in them and find that the mundane reveals the diversity that is hidden within.

Blessings,

The Immaculate Conception

Greetings,

Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Our school celebrated with Mass and music for the monks, boys, and staff. I spent a good deal of my theology class time with a Q & A session about the feast of the day. I had forgotten how many folk misinterpreted this celebration of Our Lady.

I have recently grown in my own understanding and love for this feast. I realized that God's seeking to prepare Mary for the coming of Christ was also God looking forward with anticipation to becoming more active in our lives. God's forethought shows his desire to be with us in the dailiness of our lives. The commemoration of the 1854 declaration of Mary's sinless nature from the time of her conception is not only a feastday for her alone. We celebrate God's love for us and the spark of the divine which is within each of us.

It was a beautiful day to remember Mary and her pure love for God. It was also a beautiful day to see God's love for us in the desire to make all things holy.

The picture of this simple statue of the Virgin was snapped by my sister Lisa on her trip to visit my last spring. Marquette's Joan of Arc Chapel hosted this 16th century bronze...my favorite place to pray on all of the campus. Her gentle, rounded shape with the infant
Jesus propped up on one hip seemed so natural and real in it's depiction of her motherhood.

Blessings,

Merry Advent

Greetings,

Advent is a time of joy-filled waiting for the Lord. So, I believe it is a time we should make merry and set some time aside for holy laughter! Enjoy this video that was shared with me a couple of years ago...

Praise God with Laughter!