By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
When something dreadful is going on in my life, I know it. I’m aware of some pending doom, whether illness, difficult decision, a friend who is unhappy or an encounter that has left me uneasy. Continue Reading
Month: March 2012
My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me?
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
These are the first of the seven last words spoken by Jesus the night before he was crucified.
They must be the words spoken by a single mother, Janice, who is burying her 18 year old son this week; he was killed in an automobile accident on Saturday night. Continue Reading
The Seed Lives!
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
Jesus surprises not only his guests, the Greeks, but also his disciples and the other people standing around listening to him. It is five days before Passover (and his death) and he tells them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Continue Reading
Giving the Gift of Ourselves
By Prioress Sister Phyllis McMurray, OSB
This week we celebrated the feast of St. Benedict. Also this month we celebrated the feast of St. Joseph, and on March 25th we will celebrate the feast of the Annunciation. There is a common thread that runs through their stories that is also a part of our story. What do Mary, Joseph and Benedict have in common with us? Continue Reading
Celebrating St. Benedict
Happy Feast of the Passing of St. Benedict! That’s a mouthful, but this is a very important feast day for us. Aside from the fact that he (and his twin, St. Scholastica) is our founder, St. Benedict held wisdom for the ages. Indeed, we still quote him, join his monasteries and live by his Rule 1500 years after he died!! Continue Reading
Are we really living – and not just wearing – Jesus' truth?
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
All sports fans will recognize a section of today’s Gospel: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believe in him may have eternal life.” John 3:14-21 Continue Reading
Changing … Everything
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
When I walk down to our lake, I am aware of how the water ripples, moves in and out. The boundaries change over and over again. I see rocks on the bank of the lake, the next minute I see water, then weeds. Change is the nature of the flowing water. Continue Reading
Do We Reflect God's Image?
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
We visualize 2 powerful scenes during next Sunday’s readings. In the first reading from Exodus, God gives Moses the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai. Moses encounters thunder and lightning. Later, in the Gospel of John, Jesus storms into the temple, overturns the tables, scatters the vendors’ coins and thunders, “Take these things out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a market place.” Continue Reading
Decision-Making 101: These Nuns Wouldn't Send me to Africa!
It was halfway through the summer of 1948. Marilyn Ring had graduated from high school and now was watching as her friends prepared to leave for secretarial school, marriage and the convent. Despite an active faith life that had included daily Mass and a fabulous Catholic youth group experience at Peoria’s Academy of Our Lady, nothing called to her.
Continue Reading
A Real Make-Over!
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB
Our local mall has a MAKE OVER contest. Who would not like to be transformed, made over? The persons chosen receive a facial, hairdo and new wardrobe. They are transformed (so we are told). Continue Reading
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