religious life

August 28, 2013

Not letting routine dull our realities

<p

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

Routine and habit can so control our lives that our perception of ultimate realities can become dull. We can miss important moments when we don’t expect them. We can miss clues … to problems … to questions … to opportunities to change our lives.

To some extent, we all crave routine. I have taught young children for 15 years now and can confirm their need for routine. I can also confirm my own need for routine: as a former single woman, I sank into a routine that didn’t vary much from day to day.

Continue Reading

August 16, 2013

The mystery of a religious vocation

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

In today’s society, we do not deal well with the mystery. Mysteries are to be solved, not accepted and even – the horror! – embraced.

We read and watch mysteries with great excitement (sometimes we skip to the end to find out who done it). Scientists explore mysteries to get to the bottom of why. Our culture demands to know … everything.

Sometimes, though, we forget about the importance of faith. No matter what invisible-to-the-naked-eye particle we discover, we simply must take the why of it on faith. And that’s true of our path in life as well. Continue Reading

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

June 10, 2012

Being Bearers of Hope

The retaining wall outside the dining room is a highway this morning. Chipmunks of all sizes scamper first one direction and then the other, tails and spirits high. A rabbit lopes along and stops to peer in. Goldfinches dart among the grasses that brush the wall, and purple martins dive at insects above them. High overhead, American Pelicans soar in formation.

This is our last morning of retreat. It has been deeply refreshing and renewing, and Bishop Joe has been a wonderful director. Today’s talk is on Hope, a beautiful place both to end and begin. Sister Stefanie reflects on it, too. Continue Reading

June 7, 2012

The Path to Holiness as Lived Out in Profession

That’s a mouthful of a title! Although the path to holiness can be lived out in other ways – marriage, singlehood – we Benedictine Sisters have chosen religious life (St. Scholastica, left, founded the women’s community to follow her twin brother’s Holy Rule, which we follow 1,500 years later).

Today, Bishop Joe – a member of a religious community himself – reflected on the promises we make in our Monastic Profession. (Sister Stefanie also reflected on the Promises today!) Continue Reading

June 6, 2012

Bathing in the Light of Forgiveness

The sky could have been painted blue and the trees splashed gold this morning as we gathered for our conference with Bishop Joe. Sparrows, cardinals and jays fluttered about Sister Anne’s birdfeeder, just beyond the podium, beneath the river birch off the patio. Bits of cotton drifted by, stray tufts of dandelion, perhaps, or cottonwood seeds. It was a graced morning, a graced talk. Continue Reading

June 5, 2012

Our Blessed Mother as Our Guide

Warm lights glow in the dining room as we gather for today’s morning talk.

We arrive by wheelchair and walker, on 2 feet and with canes. Some move slowly and deliberately and others rush in, all business. Then quiet settles upon the group and we turn our thoughts inward. We turn our thoughts and open our hearts to the One in whose name we gather.

Bishop Joe begins by reading the Gospel narrative from Luke, 1:26-28. He suggests we ponder the mystery of Jesus through the eyes of his mother, Mary. Continue Reading

June 4, 2012

Eucharist: The Gift of Jesus to Us

The sky is overcast and growing darker as we gather in the dining room for our morning conference with retired Bishop Joe Charron. He is nearly upstaged by our resident chipmunk as it skitters back and forth along the retaining wall outside. Goldfinches, too, provide a bit of drama as they flit among the tall grasses, in brilliant bursts of sunshine amid the green. Later, a doe and her fawn will gambol along the lake as they travel from one wooded area to another.

Today’s topic (under the theme, “Renewing Our Desire to be Holy”): Eucharist: The Gift of Jesus to Us. Continue Reading