Month: July 2012

July 30, 2012

When MacKenzie Visits the Monastery

My sister MacKenzie is here visiting for a week … a vacation she’s been looking forward to. She loves to come to the monastery. As my father says, she has 30 grandmas to be with!

Mackenzie, who has a learning disability, is a great help here. She always offers to take the Sisters’ trays after meals. She helps Sister Anne prepare food bags for the food pantry. She has been helping me get ready for the new school year…

Sister Stefanie’s bio-sister, MacKenzie is here visiting for a week … a vacation they’ve both been looking forward to. Read a real-life example of how a Sister’s blood family becomes part of our community!

July 22, 2012

Responding to a Nagging Sense of "Something More"

From the beginning of recorded time, living as a religious Sister has been countercultural. We give up our possessions … our bank accounts … our cars. We take on a new set of priorities. We take on a new set of responsibilities.

In other words, it’s no longer about “me.” It’s about “we.”

What might make someone take such a radical, countercultural step? It’s sure not the salary. (There is none.) It’s not the easy lifestyle. (We begin our days before dawn in chapel for Lauds.) It’s not the nightlife. (Unless that’s what you call a rousing game of cards on Community Night!) Continue Reading

July 11, 2012

Celebrating St. Benedict, the Father of Western Monasticism

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Benedict, the father of Western Monasticism. How did he earn that title? Certainly there were other monastics before his time (c.480–543), including such well-known hermits as Cassian and Pachomius.

But what made Benedict unique was his emphasis on living in community. He said the best way to seek God was not as a lone hermit, but as one who rubbed shoulders with others. That is, the best way to find God is in one another. Continue Reading