Benedictine monastic retreat

June 25, 2017

Part 10: Who Will You Become?

butterfly on thistle

This is the final installment of our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Benedictine Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

Do you like change? It’s probably safe to say most of us do … when we want it. But when we don’t? That’s another story.

Trouble is, change is another word for “life.” We either change – grow! – or we stagnate. Continue Reading

June 16, 2017

Part 6: Finding Grace

margaret listening

Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Benedictine Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

All Benedictine values are deeply intertwined with one another, and obedience is no different. It comes from the Latin, obedire, which means to listen. It’s the first word of St. Benedict’s Rule.

We might think it’s okay to listen, but obey??? Continue Reading

June 14, 2017

Part 5: Lectio (Listening to God)

bench and water

Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Benedictine Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

When St. Benedict wrote his Rule 1500 years ago, he prescribed daily contemplative Scripture reading for his community. Lectio Divina. We still do it today. (Directions are below.) Continue Reading

June 14, 2017

Part 4: Putting Down Deep Roots

mary and black eyed susans

Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Benedictine Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

Benedictines make a promise of stability when they enter religious life. It’s really a vow of rootedness: we commit to these people, now and forever.

We put down roots. Continue Reading

June 14, 2017

Part 3: Balance – What We Need to Grow, to Risk, to Enter the Holy

butterfly on thistle

Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Benedictine Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

Balance is a popular discussion topic. We crave work-life balance. Emotional balance. We balance plates in the air.

It’s tough to achieve balance, though, partly because – as living beings – we’re always growing and changing, knocking ourselves a little off balance every day. Continue Reading

June 12, 2017

Part 2: Hospitality (Making Space for Another)

purple iris

Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

Many people recognize at least some of The Excellence of Love, 1 Corinthians 13. It’s a popular wedding reading.

It’s also a great passage to use as we consider a key Benedictine value. Try replacing the word love with the word hospitality, and you’ll see where I’m going with this: Continue Reading

June 12, 2017

Part 1: Finding Truth (in an Interruption)

dames rocket

Welcome to our Annual Summer Retreat, posted here as a mini-online retreat for you. As the woman at the well went at noon to be refreshed and gather water for the day, so we must return readily to our own Divine wellspring.  Our time together will provide an opportunity to drink fully from the well that is Benedictine Spirituality.

By Sisters Mary Core and Stefanie MacDonald

We opened on Saturday with the gospel story of the woman at the well.

This, Fr. Brendan notes, is a story of encounter. It’s a story that teaches us how to find Truth. Continue Reading

June 12, 2017

Your 10-Part Online Benedictine Retreat

new path

Part 1: Finding Truth

Part 2: Hospitality (Making Space for Another)

Part 3: What we Need to Grow, to Risk, to Enter the Holy

Part 4: Putting Down Deep Roots

Part 5: Lectio (Listening to God)

Part 6: Finding Grace

Part 7: Take Leisure!

Part 8: The Heavy Weight of Stuff

Part 9: Free to Live into What Really Matters

Part 10: Who Will You Become?

June 14, 2013

Going Forth in Peace: Work and Prayer on Day 6

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

Many people are familiar with the Benedictines’ motto of “work and prayer.” That is, Benedictines seek to balance prayer time and work time. Today, however, Sr. Antoinette helped us explore what it should really mean in practice.

Foremost, she said, work and prayer should be more than what we do. It should be what and how we live. Continue Reading

June 13, 2013

Benedictine Harmony and Balance: Day 5

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

“Benedictine harmony and balance require a respect for time. … Time is to be spent in prayer, in sacred reading, in work, and in community participation … It is public as well as private; it is private as well as public. It is balanced.” (Joan Chittister, OSB;  Wisdom Distilled from the Daily)

In other words, no one thing should consume our lives! We should never spend an inordinate amount of time on, say, watching TV or scrubbing the floor. All dimensions of life should be in balance, making up the whole. They should fit together as a puzzle (which is what Sr. Jackie and I are piecing together in this picture!). And each piece, when of the proper size and weight, should help make us fully alive. Continue Reading