I find the Advent Liturgical Season the richest and most fundamental for my life. As we listen to Prepare the Way of the Lord and Come Oh Come Immanuel, we join with humanity in waiting for Christ to come.
Advent serves as a great tool for discernment. It is the perfect time to take stock of the past year and to prepare – to set goals – for the coming year. Continue Reading
This week I can suggest several Scripture passages that reflect an important aspect of discernment. While there are many areas to pray and reflect upon when discerning a vocation to religious life, the fundamental and essential area is that of our relationship with God. What type of life leads to God for you? We want to know from God the answer to this question, don’t we? Staying focused on our relationship with God allows us to see what is authentic in our discernment. Continue Reading
The last several days the story of Job has been in my prayer and reflection. We meet Job in the Old Testament as he rebounds from losing everything meaningful in his life – his family and possessions. We encounter him in a very vulnerable state. When all is lost he turns to God and, after a struggle, is blessed abundantly. The last we know of Job he is praising the wonder of God who brought him from nothing to life. At he heart of this story is Job’s struggle to let go of many meaningful parts of his life in order to receive from God a new life. You might find in Job inspiration to address those changes in your life and to learn Trust in a gracious God who is with you. Continue Reading
Jesus often used images in His teaching to create profound messages. A recent Gospel, for example, used the image of a small mustard seed growing into a sturdy tree. How amazing that from a small kernel grows a large tree! Metaphorically, most of us would have our doubts that something meaningful could come from something so small. Continue Reading
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to attend the Quad City Symphony concert. It was a bold concert, featuring the work of Peter Tchaikovsky. Listening to the many instruments blending together to create the whole work, I thought of God’s work creating each of us.
Like a creative composer, God entwines many movements to bring our lives to this very moment. It is a softness of the strings, the brazen brass, the deep tuba, the breeze of the woodwinds that bring a symphony to life. It is the soft, bold and deep experiences of our lives that lead to God. Continue Reading
Honour the wisdom of dormancy. Know that when you aren’t doing something that is productive, you are giving your soul the time and space it needs to quietly take in the nutrients it requires to remain productive. Buy a rocking chair and sit in it regularly, not thinking, not praying, not talking to a friend, just sitting, your soul a fallow field that is quietly waiting. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI
This week my soul has been caught up in the whirlwind of “busyness,” with no time for the kind of quiet that is needed to seek God. Can you relate? Events have been out of my control. Projects have been piling up, while my calendar fills to overflowing. Even as a Monastic woman committed to a balanced life of prayer, community and ministry, I can find myself in a whirl with my priorities mixed up. Continue Reading
This morning as I walked outside on the Monastery patio overlooking the lake before Vespers, I was in awe. The lake was still, hardly a stir, and the fog hugged close to the surface. It was breathtaking.
As I went upstairs to join the Sisters at Lauds (Morning Prayer), the sun began to lighten the darkness ever so subtly. By the time Eucharist began about an hour later, the sun was brilliant, the lake was calm and the fog was gone until another morning. The fall colors vibrated through the woods surrounding our Chapel. Clarity!
It seems to me the issues surrounding our discernment may be as the fog hovering over our inner self. Continue Reading
This week I am in Louisville, Ky., for the National Religious Vocation Conference which is the professional organization for North American vocation directors. This is always an energizing time and a great opportunity to network and share vocation experiences. Our keynote speaker on Friday was the renowned Scripture scholar, Fr. Don Senior. His focus was on St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Paul’s journey was marked by extremes, beginning with anti-Christian activities as the early church struggled to carry on Jesus’ ministry and teaching. He was a violent man – dragging Christians out of their homes, beating those he caught and even cheering as Stephen was stoned to death. Continue Reading
I am in Southern Indiana for a directed retreat. The gorgeous fall weather helps enrich this already-rich environment of prayer and people. I cherish my time here for many reasons, but most especially because God is always good to my prayer life here!
One of the best parts of retreat is the opportunity for a refreshing contemplative walk. Like anyone, my life can become over-filled with the to do’s, expectations and stuff I think is important. When that happens I lose the quiet walk of contemplation…or at least it becomes noisier!
A contemplative walk is when your life and God are more in sync and, in essence, flowing well together. Continue Reading
Read Nancy’s wonderful discernment prayer comparing her life to autumn in “A Time to Plant,” below. Leaves must fall before new growth can begin, she says, and I agree! In our lives we must shed our old leaves in order to grow.
Discernment is a Paschal Mystery walk, where we pray to let go of what we cling to and learn to embrace what God sets before us. What is it in our lives that God is nudging us to change and to move beyond? These difficult inner movements require a listening heart, a trusting heart and an attentive heart. We must die to our desires and comforts in order for God to break through with God’s desires for us.
The Paschal Mystery – Jesus letting go of human life – went beyond the everyday to embrace God’s plan of resurrection and eternal life. Our discernment journey may ask the same of us – to let go of the familiar, the everyday – in order to embrace God’s plan for us. Not an easy journey but a transformative journey – where we are more deeply responding to God’s new life for us.
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