March 31, 2013

This is the Day the Lord has Made!

By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.(Psalm 118:12)

lst Reading Acts of the Apostles 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4; John 20:1-9.

As I walked over to my office last week, I saw yellow crocuses and spiked green leaves heralding irises and tulips not yet in bloom. Patches of snow linger on the north slopes, but the ground seems to be unable to keep new life hidden any longer. What wonderful signs and reminders of the Lord’s resurrection: the earth, for so long encased only in snow and ice, now erupting with new life. It is as if the earth itself is resurrecting! Continue Reading

March 25, 2013

Holy Week: Journey of Our Hearts

Introduction by Sister Susan Hutchens, OSB

From the 1st Sunday of Lent to Holy Thursday, we are asked to recall the life and words of Jesus. Now we walk his last part of the journey. We do not celebrate this week merely to “re-live” the mysteries of the Passion. We celebrate only because we know the ending, and the ending is JOY. Continue Reading

March 14, 2013

Recognizing God's Gifts on the 5th Sunday of Lent

By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB

lst reading Is 43:P16-21; 2^nd reading Phil 3:8-14; Gospel John 8:1-11

All 3 readings for today’s Eucharist are filled with reminders of God’s goodness and love for us. In the first reading we hear, “See, I am doing something new … Now it springs forth, do you not perceive? I put water in the desert, rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink; people whom I formed for myself.” Continue Reading

March 13, 2013

Going from "No" to "Yes" in One Summer Afternoon

As a Catholic girl growing up in Peoria, Ill., Margaret Mary “Marmee” McGrath (shown in red at left) never dreamed of becoming a nun. Nicknamed for the mother in Little Women (“My mother loved that book!”), Marmee attended Catholic school, prayed the rosary before morning Mass, and helped her teacher Sisters keep the sanctuary clean. She also had 2 cousins enter religious life.

During her junior year in high school, Marmee’s choir director even asked her point blank, “Have you ever thought of religious life?” Marmee said simply, No.

“And the question didn’t get me started thinking about it, either,” she laughs today. Continue Reading

March 8, 2013

Behold, New Things have Come!

By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB

Josh 5:9a, 10-12; 2 Cor 517-21; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

Rejoicing, joy, gratitude, forgiveness and new life are the themes for the 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday. In the entrance antiphon we are greeted with, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful all who were in mourning.”

Throughout today’s readings we hear good news: the people of God have entered into the promised land, no longer eat manna but “the yield of the fields of Canaan.”

Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation, the old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come.” How will we recognize the new things? Continue Reading

March 2, 2013

I Am Who I Am

By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB

First Reading: Ex. 3:1-8, 13-15; 2nd Reading: I Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Gospel: Lk 13:1-9

Remember the story of the Burning Bush in Exodus? We read it on the 3rd Sunday of Lent, and wonder what it has to do with us. Let’s consider first the story.

Moses had been asked to lead his people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, an unheard of and impossible task. He accomplished that, guided by the cloud of God. Then, despite his people’s rebellion and anger at being led “to a barren land where they were starving and groaning of hunger,” Moses prayed and God fed them. Continue Reading