If you’ve ever had The Blahs – and who hasn’t? – you’ve had a brush with the Noonday Devil, or spiritual fatigue.
Sneaking about at mid-day or mid-life to whisper discouraging words to you, this devil will begin to make you feel that the day is interminably long, your activities indescribably boring, and your hope for the future folly. Here’s what to do about him.
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
I’ve been at a conference on religious life this week with Sisters from 57 different communities.
While informative, it’s also been a little jarring for this Benedictine.
Why? 2 reasons. Continue Reading
In Christianity’s earliest community, if someone received money from their work or selling something they owned, the money went into the community collection to be used for the needs of the whole.
Everyone received the food, medicine and shelter they needed.
St. Benedict created his communities of monks on the same principle … and we continue to live that way today. Continue Reading
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
In every age we need to rediscover Jesus. Who is this person who so changed those he lived with that his legacy changed the course of human history?
The Incarnation
First, if God is in all – sun, moon, river, creatures – then where is God not? The entire created matter of the universe is incarnate. Jesus did his best to help us see this. Continue Reading
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
To define sin according to what we might remember from our grade school days may not be useful.
That is, despite what we may have been taught, sin is not the result of the devil trying to lure us away from God. (Just recently, one of my preschoolers claimed the devil made him do his misdeed. I set him straight.)
Sin is our own doing.
Listen with your heart … shake off the words … let what’s left set your heart on fire.
Sister Sharon advises us to do so each morning as she begins her talks. Today’s talk was about the stars.
Why should we ponder the stars?
Because they can teach us so much. After all, they are our distant kin. Continue Reading
An overnight rain gave way to dappled sunshine and diamond-tipped grasses bobbing in the morning breeze.The Sisters gathered in the community room for Day #2 of our silent summer retreat, coffee in hand, smiling and nodding at one another.
We relish this time together to just … be. And today’s talk addressed the meaning of that word, “be.” Who – what – are we? Continue Reading
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
Our annual summer retreat has begun. Silence. Ahhhhh! 🙂
Sister Sharon Zayac, OP, is presenting our daily conferences (talks of about an hour in length to guide our thinking). Her theme: Waking to the Divine in All. Continue Reading
Several years ago, we asked Sister Mary Jane Wallace to reminisce about her life as a Benedictine. She brought scrapbooks, photos, typed notes and laugh-out-loud stories.
Sr. Mary Jane is still a dynamo at 85. She continues to teach piano to children and adults, write skits for community celebrations and work on a book about her ministries. And all of that is what she does in between our daily Benedictine prayer schedule.
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