“This is not what we were praying for, but this is what God sent.”

After last night’s In Good Faith podcast with Jane Knuth, I couldn’t get these words out of my head.

Jane volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The store is in a rough area of town, and she began working there to lend a hand for just a short time.  The next 15 years took her on a spiritual journey that she didn’t expect, a journey that continues to this day.  She wrote about that journey in her recent book,Thrift Store Saints.

During the podcast last night, Jane recalled a time when she and her co-workers prayed for more volunteers to help with heavy lifting and other physically demanding tasks at the store. Shortly thereafter, a woman in frail health came to volunteer. I can imagine a look of incredulity on Jane’s face when the woman said was ready to dig in and work.

As Jane told the story, I thought about the many times that God sent me someone or something that didn’t match up with my hopes or expectations. I remembered wondering if God hadn’t bothered to listen, or worse, if God was just messing with me.

In Jane’s story, it turns out that the woman was a real estate professional. In the short time that she was able to work, she helped a family avoid eviction and homelessness. She did some “heavy lifting” that was much needed but unanticipated at the time she showed up at the thrift store.

Late into the night I thought about this story and about the various reactions I’ve had when God’s response to me was unfathomable at the time. Sometimes I felt disappointed, confused, frustrated. Other times I had a good laugh, a new way to look at a situation, a deep sense of trust.

Sometime after midnight, I started to imagine God as the host of a TV game show called Jeopardy. On the show, the contestants get an answer first, and then they have to come up with the right question.  It made me smile to think that maybe God is always giving me answers, and that maybe my prayers are actually questions.

What are some of the reactions you’ve had to God’s response to your prayers? What image of God and prayer does it bring to mind for you?

P.S. We’ll post the recording of our podcast with Jane Knuth on our website in a couple of days. You can listen to it there or download the MP3 file.

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Join us for a live prayer webcast this evening at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live. On Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Central Time, join us for Ask Sister, a live webcast where we take your questions and insights about God, faith and religious life.

So often we hear that people are longing for something more in their spiritual life. We want to explore this a bit more and invite you to answer a mere seven questions (all anonymous) so we can see what you are interested in exploring, how the A Nun’s Life community can help, and how we can be with one another in some of the big questions of our life today.

Click here for the What I Long For Spiritually survey

Survey will be open for a short time so don’t delay! Respond now!

Julia is our guest blogger today. We are so grateful to you for continuing to donate in support of Julia’s fundraising marathon for A Nun’s Life Ministry. Pledge $1 per mile of Julia’s marathon — that’s $26.20 that will add zip to that grueling 22nd mile AND support A Nun’ Life Ministry. You can donate electronically or by check — DONATE NOW at aNunsLife.org/donate !

I went out on a run a few days ago. (Shocking, I know–sometimes it seems like that’s all I do.)  I got home from work and grudgingly got ready — I was not enthused about the prospect of an hour-long workout.  I racked my brains for some way, ANY way, that I could rearrange my schedule and take the day off.  Alas, there was no viable solution to be found, so off I went.

After a few yards, I came to a horrifying realization: I had forgotten how to run.

Oh, sure, my legs were still moving the way they were supposed to, and on the outside I looked relatively normal, but my heart was hammering and I couldn’t seem to get my breathing under control.  I couldn’t fathom running six miles; I didn’t have it in me.  But I couldn’t stop–this needed to happen, and it needed to happen TODAY.  What was I going to do?

As I turned on to the trail that runs near my house, I made a deal with myself.  One mile: that’s all.  I would go down the trail one mile, and if I couldn’t figure out how to calm down, I was allowed to turn around and go home.  After all, I reasoned, one mile made me much less nervous than six.  I could worry about schedules and logging more miles later.  I cranked up my music and worked on settling into a rhythm, and asked God to stick around: I was going to need major help on this one.

... random running trail ...

Sometimes, life seems so big.  Every disappointment makes the earth stop spinning, and every choice is life-or-death.  I find that it’s quite easy to psych myself out and feel helpless looking at the “zoomed-out” picture, instead of thanking God for the smaller joys that make life so rich and complete.  I’m going to have to work hard to keep that in mind during the marathon, so instead of getting overwhelmed, I’ll seek out the little things: a loud cheer from a spectator that keeps me going for a few more steps, a cup of sports drink at mile 22, or the knowledge that I CAN do this.

What little joys has God put in your life today that brought a smile to your face?

Read all of Julia’s posts as she trains for the Ann Arbor Marathon.

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Join us for prayer this evening at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live. All you need is an internet connection and to turn up the volume on your computer! You can also share your prayer requests in the chat room.

God’s Spirit
A Prayer for our Sisters

In this time of pain and promise,
we call on God’s Spirit to bless
the leadership of LCWR, of our
Congregation, and all women religious
who strive to live the gospel in these
uncertain times.

We call on the Spirit of God to reveal
the way forward that is faithful to God’s
dream for us and our lives together.

May all who are called to engage
in prayer and conversation come to
the table with hearts that are open,
transparent, and faith-filled. May their
reflection be marked by a deep listening
to the voice of the Spirit at work in
our world.

May the holy ones who have gone
before us inspire us by their courage
and wisdom and affirm that we are
not alone.

May we continue to faithfully live the
questions of our time and witness to
the people of God that we are women
at home with mystery and filled with
fierce hope for our shared future.
Amen.

by Sister Chris Koellhoffer, IHM

Please feel free to use this prayer and distribute widely!

Guest blogger Audra Turnbull of Awkward Catholic fame writes today of running and discernment in support of Julia who is running a marathon to support the nuns!

“Run for the Nuns” directly supports the work of this ministry. We need your help. We ask you to pledge $1 per mile of Julia’s marathon — that’s $26.20 that will add energy to Julia’s “get up and go” AND support A Nun’ Life Ministry. You can donate electronically or by check — DONATE NOW at aNunsLife.org/donate !

One of the best articles that I’ve read in the 2011 VISION Vocation Guide, was written by Brother Carl Wisdom, O.P. The title of the article is “Get ready to run the race.” It’s about – you guessed it – running and discernment. Brother Carl compares his training for a half marathon to discerning God’s call.

While I am not a marathoner, I now look to discernment as training for a big race. Brother Carl was right when he said that It takes a lot of preparation and little craziness to meet your goal: to find where God is calling you. And while your “training days” are important, your rest days are just as critical.

There are times in my discernment where my “discernment muscles” got tired. I was overwhelmed with over-analyzing everything that might be a possible sign from God.

Just like a runner who tried to run too much, I was feeling sore, scared and frustrated. I had a race to run; a goal to meet- there was no time to stop and recover.

Luckily, God knew just the answer: I needed take a step back and become a human BEING instead of a human DOING. I needed to stop and just feel God’s presence.

Feeling refreshed, I could continue training or, actively discerning, to meet my goal.

Here are a few pieces of advice that Brother Carl gives to discerners:

• Stay hydrated by constantly drinking at the fountain of God’s presence in prayer.
• Load up on carbs by energizing and nourishing yourself daily at the tables of word and sacrament through the Eucharist.
• Before each day’s run, pause and stretch your muscles of faith, hope and love are limber and agile.
• Plan for the “caffeine boost” you will need in the middle of the race by mobilizing family and friends for spiritual support. They can serve to remind you of the nobility of your aspiration to even have begun the race.
• When you get close, but the finish line still feels elusive, turn within and storm heaven while concentrating on each final footfall.

(Source: “Get ready to run the race” by Fr. Carl Wisdom, OP, in Vision Vocation Guide 2011)

What are your images of discernment? if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed while seeking God’s call what helped you stay on course?

Read more from Audra on A Nun’s Life and at her blog The Awkward Catholic and continue following Julia’s running posts.

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Join us for prayer this evening at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live. All you need is an internet connection and to turn up the volume on your computer! You can also share your prayer requests in the chat room.

Julia is our guest blogger today. Now’s the time to join in Julia’s fundraising effort for A Nun’s Life Ministry. Julia and running buddy Audra would like you to pledge $1 per mile of Julia’s marathon — that’s $26.20 that will add energy to Julia’s “get up and go” AND support A Nun’ Life Ministry. You can donate electronically or by check — DONATE NOW at aNunsLife.org/donate !

When I started running (legit, several-times-a-week, I-need-a-second-pair-of-sneakers running), I remember being surprised about how spiritual the experience was for me. Now, don’t get me wrong, there had been times before that when I talked to God on my runs–mostly when my parents would drag me out for a jog, and I would beg for death, or the end of the run, to be swift in coming.

But this was different; this was me, relaxed and (somewhat) enjoying myself, chatting with — and listening to — my Creator. It was pretty cool, even though the conversations were super awkward at first. (I’m not the best conversationalist when I’m nervous.)

In fact, I’m pretty sure my first attempt went something like this:

“Hey, um, God… it’s, uh, it’s me, Julia.” *pause* “Oh, um, but I guess you knew that, right? Right.” *longer pause* “Oh, a butterfly! Wow. Um, thanks for… making… that butterfly…” *longest pause EVER…Julia turns iPod back on*

I wasn’t used to God Outside of Church. As a cradle Catholic, I was quite familiar with God of Kneelers and Holy Water, but that kind of relationship didn’t seem to fit. It felt… too formal.

Plus, I couldn’t exactly kneel, what with all of the running.

I decided to try a different approach. I’d heard people talk about God as a friend, and that image seemed like one that might work for me. The next time I went out for a run, I invited Jesus along. I said the same things that I would say to invite any of my friends for a run–I told Him to make sure he had some good sneakers (“The sandals are great–I really like ‘em–but they might not hold up too well”), and I offered to carry the water bottle.

And just like that, I had a new running partner. Sometimes I talked out loud, and sometimes I just ran. The idea of God being RIGHT THERE wasn’t something I had given a lot of thought to before, but it became one of my favorite ways of experiencing my Creator. It’s one that still speaks to me, and I highly recommend it. It might speak to you, too–even if you’re not a runner. Do you like to knit? Sit with God as you make a baby blanket. Long commute ahead of you? God makes a fantastic passenger.

If you ARE a runner, I know of Someone who would be ecstatic to keep you company. His pace will match up perfectly with yours, and He’ll never leave you in the dust.

Be sure to complement His running sneakers.

Read all of Julia’s posts as she trains for the Ann Arbor Marathon.

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Join us for prayer this evening at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live. All you need is an internet connection and to turn up the volume on your computer! You can also share your prayer requests in the chat room.

It was an interesting week at the convent — we moved our residence and A Nun’s Life studio, we received news from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about the LCWR Doctrinal Assessment, I got the flu and broke my second to last toe (seriously, don’t ask). Here’s hoping for a calmer week!

In the midst of boxes and general disorder here in the studio, I am delighted that we are here. Sometimes we take disorder and chaos as signs of dis-ease and desolation — and indeed such can be the case! But these can also be signs of the creative power of the Spirit. I will try to keep that in mind as I search for stuff amidst the boxes and unpack, unpack, and unpack!

What disorder and chaos have you found yourself in lately? What helps you to tap into the creative power of the Spirit?

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Join us for prayer this evening at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live. All you need is an internet connection and to turn up the volume on your computer! You can also share your prayer requests in the chat room.

A Nun’s Life community member Julia writes about training for a marathon. Whether you are a runner or not, how might Julia’s words apply to a situation in your life? What bits of wisdom shine out for you?

Sneaker Down

A few weeks ago, I started to feel a little run-down. I didn’t think much of it; I kept working and kept running. I got a sore throat, lost my voice, started to cough, and continued to feel pretty awful, but I was so busy that I managed to push it out of my mind and motor through. After all, I had a 7 mile run to tackle; who had time to wimp out? No pain, no gain, and all that.

When the fever hit, I made it two days before making a doctor’s appointment, since it was clear that this–whatever it was–wasn’t going away. A few hours later, I had a prescription for a hefty dose of antibiotics and a diagnosis of pneumonia. (In retrospect, I suppose that explained quite a bit.) My doctor ordered me to take two days minimum off of work. I sheepishly agreed, but then she dropped the bomb: “…and NO RUNNING until you’re back to your baseline.” (Um, excuse me?) In a trembling voice, I asked what she meant by “baseline”–were we looking at a day? Two days…a week? “It all depends on your recovery, but we could be looking at up to two months,” she replied.

Just like that, my carefully crafted plan fell to pieces.

Numbly, I thanked her, gathered up my things, and left. As my brother drove me home, I thought about my training. How could I run a marathon if I couldn’t work out AT ALL for two months? What was I going to do? I hated the thought of scrapping my plan; it was a good one, and I had been working really hard. True, my recovery probably wouldn’t take two months, because my immune system was doing its job nicely, but I couldn’t afford to waste any time.

I went home and parked myself on the couch for a week. I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without resting three times–30 seconds after standing up, I had to sit down again. Once I was on the mend, my body flat-out refused to work past its potential, and (luckily) I was so scared of getting sick again that I listened. If I was tired, I skipped my run and took a nap instead. I did what I could, when I could, and tried to work from there. Despite my compliance, I was full of anger and frustration over my situation. I couldn’t seem to make sense of my new circumstances, no matter how hard I tried. I’m a 24-year old distance runner who eats well, drinks tons of water, takes vitamins, gets lots of sleep. I was doing the right things for a good cause. How could this be happening?

After letting my negative thoughts ruin my attitude for a few days, I took the advice of a friend, stepped back and took stock of the situation. I had been given another chance. I was still healthy, my body had done its job, and a disease that could have killed me was working its way out of my system. I might not be able to run the marathon I wanted, but could I run a marathon? Absolutely. I hadn’t lost much of anything except a bit of time–and my temper. In the process, I learned a valuable lesson in curbing my tendency to be a bit, shall we say, “controlling.” I needed to hold on to my hopes with an open hand, just in case God had other plans. I’m happy to say that I feel MUCH better now, and I’m still on track to run the Ann Arbor marathon in June. I’ve also learned an important lesson about God as sovereign, one that I will work hard to carry with me.

What experiences have you had in which God’s plan didn’t match up with yours? What did the experience do for you?

Read all of Julia’s posts as she trains for the Ann Arbor Marathon.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

Also a reminder — “Ask Sister” has moved to Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. Central Time. “Ask Sister” is a live broadcast where we talk with listeners about faith, community, ministry, prayer, and many other topics! All other weekdays the NL community comes together for prayer. Join us!

This Easter vigil, I was honored to be a sponsor for a friend who is now fully Catholic. YEA! The deal was sealed as she was anointed with the oil of chrism.

“In treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints: a spiritual seal. Anointing, in Biblical and other ancient symbolism, is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of abundance and joy; it cleanses (anointing before and after a bath) and limbers (the anointing of athletes and wrestlers); oil is a sign of healing, since it is soothing to bruises and wounds; and it makes radiant with beauty, health, and strength.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1293)

This Easter Monday morning there’s been a new twist to this whole anointing thing. I’m staying here in Monroe at our IHM Mothership and frankly couldn’t sleep very well. So I was sorting through my stuff and settling into my room (just here for a visit while Sister Maxine and I get our new office and convent together — see A Moving Experience for details). And lo and behold on the guest towels are stitched these words: BE ANOINTED.

It caught me off guard. Maybe it’s because it is only 4:13 in the morning or maybe it’s because of the boldness of the command. The words are strong, powerful, compelling, and they are directed right at me. BE ANOINTED.

I’m not sure just yet what these words mean for me personally this day, but I do know that they are a reminder to me and to you that each and every day we experience our own anointing from God. There are the wonderfully rich moments as in the receiving of chrism oil and the oils of the catechumens and of the sick. And there are the other sacred moments when we are anointed in a special moment with our God.

When I saw the towels this morning, I thought instantly of a time in my life about 10 years ago when I had just in the beginning stages of chemotherapy — I had had my head shaved and for the first time I experienced raindrops falling on my bald head! BE ANOINTED.

Another thought was when I was driving home from work one windy day. All of a sudden the white blossoms from a tree cut loose and were dancing around the street alighting upon my car and everything in sight. BE ANOINTED.

These moments of anointing can happen at the most random, unexpected times. They can happen in good or tough times and in the ordinary stuff of everyday life. In what ways have you experience a random act of anointing?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat
tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

And BE SURE to join us for a live broadcast of “In Good Faith”
on Wednesday with our guest, Prof. Sister Patricia Wittberg, SC.
More info on the In Good Faith page.

Question from Ed …

Hello, What is the best book on Our Lady? Something not too sweet / saccharine on the one hand, nor too dry / academic / theological on the other. I don’t that about much about Our Lady and want to learn more. Thank you.

Annunciation by He Qi, 2001

First, of course, consult Scripture! That is our primary source for what we know about Mary.

Second, I must confess that I tend to swing towards the more theological side of things but I think you’ll find some some of that very accessible and engaging.

Third, talk to Mary herself! We are blessed to live in and with the Communion of Saints meaning holy people like Mary are with us always. So spend some time in quiet and be open to Mary’s presence with you. Sometimes it is helpful to use Scripture as an entry way to prayer in this regard. Take a passage with Mary in it and imagine that you are in that scene (the Nativity, in the Temple for Jesus’ Presentation, at the Wedding Feast of Cana, at the Cross, etc.). Allow your imagination to wander and interact with the people and things in the scene. Praying with your imagination is a great form of prayer!

And finally, BOOKS and articles!

The best book I know on Mary by far is Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson. Now it does have that word “theology” in it, but I have to say, you just might want to give it a whirl. As a first step, perhaps, read this review by Nancy Hawkins in America magazine: Spirit-Filled Companion (June 9, 2003). I love this book because it gives us a real-life sense of Mary that takes account of her real-life circumstances and tries to free Mary from some of the unfortunate accretions of her story over time. Another way to see if you’ll like this book is to read Sister Elizabeth’s article for Catholic Update in 2001: In Search of the Real Mary.

The next place I’d go for resources on Mary is over to my friends at Loyola Press. Loyola Press is a Jesuit ministry and have a fantastic collection of writers and resources on all things Catholic. I used to work there and can say from personal experience that they have a great grounding in theology and the faith. Their materials are top notch. Here’s a few on Mary I’d recommend (en español tambien):

• Mary: Jesus’ Mother–And Ours: Six Weeks with the Bible (Catholic Perspectives) by Kevin Perrotta
• Mary and the Saints: Companions on the Journey in the “Catholic Basics” series
• Mary, The Compassionate Mother: A Part of the Somos católicos Series by Virgilio Elizondo

Ed, I’m sure the A Nun’s Life Community has a bunch of suggestions too so check back here to see the comments folks leave on the blog post here! Blessings to you!

A Nun’s Life community member Julia writes about training for a marathon. Whether you are a runner or not, how might Julia’s words apply to a situation in your life? What bits of wisdom shine out for you?

“I’m training for a marathon.”

The words are like magic. They surprise, confuse, and even inspire awe from time to time. They excuse all manner of quirks, too–nobody questions my choice to eat a big honking ice cream sundae when I can justify it as necessary preparation for a 15-mile run the next morning, and few people have the nerve to laugh at me when I hobble around like an old lady because I tweaked my hamstring during my fartlek workout.  (Some people laugh at me for using the word “fartlek”, though.  For the record, it is a real word.)

What about this statement is so impressive?  In my humble opinion, it’s the mental picture that appears in our minds when we think of a marathon.  Ever since Phidippides ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens in Ancient Greece, the race has represented the human tradition of meeting–and making friends with–our physical limits.  Upon mention of the word, we imagine smiling men and women striding gracefully across the finish line–of course, they would be tired after 26.2 miles, but they have transcended the boundaries of exhaustion and found themselves in a state of calm and happiness.

Well… not necessarily.

First of all, the marathon experience is often more about the training than it is about the actual race.  True, nobody gets a medal for finishing their training, it’s rarely televised, and I’ve never worn a number on my shirt when I go out for a Saturday morning run.  But the training takes at least 16 weeks, not counting the “base mileage” that must be in place beforehand (most beginner training plans recommend the ability to run at least 5 miles comfortably before starting Week 1).  Getting myself out the door for all of those runs felt like just as much of an accomplishment as the one day where I showed up at the starting line and ran 26.2 miles.

Second of all, training is so much more than running.  Attention to factors like weight training, cross-training, and core work can make or break a race.  Food issues–too much, not enough, or the wrong kind–can leave a runner hurting, and poor clothing choices can spell doom on a long run.

That brings me to Third of all: running a marathon is hard.  By mile 22 or so, I was pretty miserable.  My legs were jello; it was all I could do to keep them moving.  I tried stopping and walking, but it didn’t feel any better–plus, I knew that running would get me to the finish line faster, so I stuck with that as much as possible.  I never wanted to see water or energy drinks EVER AGAIN, and if one more person said “you’re almost there!” I was going to scream.

However, Fourth of all is really important: I did reach a point where the pain was worth it.  I thought of people who would love to be able to do what I was doing, of people who supported me, and dedicated a mile–or a half mile, or a few steps–to them.  I felt as if, for a little while, I was standing on the edge of something bigger than myself, and it was both energizing and humbling.

So when I run in Ann Arbor on the 17th of June, will I glide over the finish line, smiling serenely?  Absolutely not.  I plan to stagger across, grinning from ear to ear.

Read all of Julia’s posts as she trains for the Ann Arbor Marathon.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

Also a reminder — “Ask Sister” has moved to Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. Central Time. “Ask Sister” is a live broadcast where we talk with listeners about faith, community, ministry, prayer, and many other topics! All other weekdays the NL community comes together for prayer. Join us!

Our runner Julia weighs in on music and running. Check out Julia’s other posts as she trains for a marathon and raises money for A Nun’s Life Ministry — the only nun-run social media hotspot helping people discover and grow in their vocation by engaging questions about God, faith, and religious life! Support Julia and A Nun’s Life – DONATE  NOW!

I love running with music. To be precise, I can’t stand running WITHOUT music. My workouts are, without fail, dictated by the songs on my iPod shuffle, which goes with me on every run–as long as it’s not raining. (I tried that once, and the results were disastrous.) Sometimes, the only thing that gets me out the door is the knowledge that my new musical obsession is just waiting to pour through those earbuds and fill me with sound.

Nun Note: I stumbled upon this while searching in vain for a runner silhouette. I was so deeply compelled by Leia with an iPod that I decided it must be used (the Force made me do it).

I am always amazed at the powerful effect that music has on me. When I’m tense, Michelle Branch’s “Breathe” hauls me out of my slump. When I’m tired, a few bars of Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” is all I need before I’m practically dancing down the sidewalk. Sometimes, when I feel as if I just can’t go anymore, I hit the skip button furiously until I find that song–the one that I’ve been listening to on repeat for days, the one that I know will loosen up my achy legs and put a smile back on my face. Sometimes I go five miles listening to that same song over and over again.

Now, I know plenty of people who don’t need music to run; in fact, many of my runner-acquaintances prefer their workouts to be decidedly soundtrack-less.

Quite frankly, I think they’re nuts.

Then again, music has always been a huge part of my life. I often associate songs with memories and emotions; so strong are these connections that at times an unfortunate event has ruined a perfectly agreeable song–or the correlation of a tune with a wonderful friend has me grinning from the time I hear those first notes. This has worked in my favor as I have embarked on my training. The songs that Sister Julie and Sister Maxine play after podcasts have expanded my musical horizons, and many of them have ended up in my music library; as a result, when I hear those songs I often associate them with my A Nun’s Life peeps! They come on during my runs and not only do they make me run faster, they also remind me to pray for my friends. One of the things that I love about NL is the amazing network of prayer that exists here, and I am so happy to be able to add to that.

Rock and run, friends.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

Also a reminder — “Ask Sister” has moved to Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. Central Time. “Ask Sister” is a live broadcast where we talk with listeners about faith, community, ministry, prayer, and many other topics! All other weekdays the NL community comes together for prayer. Join us!

The first time I heard music by the group called the Dogma Dogs was in theological school. My professor, seeing the students drift off a bit in the middle of our two-hour afternoon class, cranked up the song “Lent.” Next on the playlist was the dance tune, “21 Ecumenical Councils,” followed by the rock classic, “Pharaoh.” It was the comic break that we needed!

The songs are actually for helping children learn about their Catholic faith. But for adults, the songs have a cleverness that makes them funny, sort of like a “Grammar Rock” for religion.

So have a listen to the Dogma Dogs clips below, but beware — you might hear the words “Lent, Lent, Time to Repent” replay in your head all day.

Click PLAY below: Dogma Dogs, “Lent”

Click PLAY below: Dogma Dogs, “21 Ecumenical Councils”

Click PLAY below: Dogma Dogs, “Pharaoh”

Do you have a song recommendation for Lent or other seasons in the church year? We’d love to hear about them!

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

Also a reminder — “Ask Sister” has moved to Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. Central Time. “Ask Sister” is a live broadcast where we talk with listeners about faith, community, ministry, prayer, and many other topics!

This past weekend we had a big meeting of IHM Sisters at our Mothership in Monroe, Michigan. One of my nuns had said something awesome and I exclaimed, “You rock!” She looked at me with a rather disturbed look. “Why are you calling me a rock?” I LOL’d and explained what that meant, and included a Pete Townshend signature move!

I was never much of a rocker in my former life — my music landscape was pretty much Peter, Paul, and Mary and Neil Diamond (thank you, Mom and Dad)! I still adore their music but along the way I found Whitney Houston and Duran Duran (and then there were the dark years of dance music in college).

Now in my later years, I am re-discovering rock music, including that sometimes frightening category of Christian rock! NL peeps (that is, people who hang out in the A Nun’s Life community on chat, or the forum, or on Facebook), have introduced Sister Maxine and myself to Kutless, Superchick, and others. The classic for me of course is U2 though they crossed the line into mainstream rock. I am also rather partial towards hip hop and heart TobyMac and have the sweatshirt to prove it.

I am totally looking forward to taking with rock drummer David Nantais this Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT on the live broadcast of In Good Faith — all are welcome! David is the author of Rock-a My Soul: An Invitation to Rock Your Religion We’ll be talking with him about rock music and the spiritual life!

I’ve been working fervently to have at least one song ready to play on my electric guitar (that’s right, nuns play electric guitar). But I tell you, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” is a tough one! (I was inspired by my 2.75 year old nephew.)

Tell us about your forays into rock music! What’s up in the world of Catholic rock music (is there such a thing??)? What’s the connection to your spiritual life?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

A number of folks in the A Nun’s Life Community wanted to engage in some good spiritual reading during Lent and Easter. The community chose the book Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the theology of God by Sister Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 2007).

The book discussion takes place on A Nun’s Life Community Forum and begins now! All you need is to sign up on the forum (free and easy to do) and engage in the discussion! Here’s the schedule:

By March 10, 2012 — Obtain the book and read the Introduction

Chapter 01 — March 11 to 17
Chapter 02 — March 18 to 24
Chapter 03 — March 25 to 31
Chapter 04 — April 1 to 7
Chapter 05 — April 8 to 14
Chapter 06 — April 15 to 21
Chapter 07 — April 22 to 28
Chapter 08 — April 29 to May 5
Chapter 09 — May 6 to 12
Chapter 10 — May 13 to 20

Finale TBD

This is a great opportunity to deepen you spiritual life and to engage with a fabulous faith community. This is our first book discussion and we look forward to many more!

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Lent is a wonderfully fertile time for the soul. What do Catholic sisters and nuns have to say about Lent? Here are a few selections from across the nunosphere. What nugget of wisdom strikes you?

Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday – Sister Mary Zirbes, Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls

What Should I Give Up For Lent? – by Sister Margaret Dorgan, Carmelite Nuns of Eldridge, Iowa

“And we are [Jesus'] messengers who convey love and comfort to those whose emotional reserves are so depleted. In our fragile world, no age is free of losses. Christian compassion reaches out wherever we see sorrow. And Lent can be a time for opening our eyes to the sadness we have not paid that much attention to in our own small circle.”

Lent and Vocation Discernment – by the Dominican Nuns of Ireland

“Lent is always a very fruitful time for those extra little ‘nudges’ that God gives… So for those of you who are discerning your Vocation, embrace Lent this year as a particularly graced period for discernment!”

Gracious, Spacious, and Precious: Lent 2012 –  by Sister Denise Wilkinson, Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana

“I’m exploring notions about making my prayer deliberately mindful of those persons and beliefs that are different from mine; prayer mindful of those who consistently fall under my radar and attention because I’m simply not paying attention to the people and issues of Earth. Mindful of the all-encompassing embrace of Providence, I will consciously widen my own embrace of the other, the least, the oppressed.”

And don’t forget to see what the nuns here at A Nun’s Life have to say about Lent!

We welcome again writer Kerri Leigh Power as our guest blogger today.

Two years ago, my husband’s elderly mother passed away, and we spent several days cleaning out the house where she had lived for sixty years. As we sorted and packed belongings, deciding what to donate and what to keep in her memory, we unearthed many hidden treasures from her long life. Among them were three colourful little cans that I found in the bottom of a dusty cookie jar.

I wasn’t familiar with them, but my husband told me they were Lenten offering cans left over from his boyhood in the ‘60s. The idea was to put the money you would have spent on candy or other pleasures during Lent into the jar, and then offer the donation at Easter.

I was charmed by the cans and the images of Jesus that seemed to belong to another time. I was also reminded of my own years in an all-girl Catholic school. I’m sure the nuns did their best to teach us about the meaning of the Lenten season, but as kids we made a game out of Lent — gossiping about who was giving up what, or trying to outdo each other by claiming that we would give up something unthinkable, like Coke, or even chocolate.

Recently I’ve begun to explore my own long-buried Catholic roots. Now, for the first time in my adult life, I’m entering the season of Lent consciously, and wondering what it means. Should I give up something I enjoy? Will this deepen my relationship with God? How can my sacrifice become more than a surface act of self-denial, and take me into deeper spiritual terrain? I look forward to exploring these questions in the coming weeks and seeing what new and unexpected treasures turn up.

Do you find meaning in making a sacrifice during Lent?

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Continue the conversation using the comment area below AND tune into Ask Sister tomorrow night where the nuns go live on the topic of denying oneself and taking up one’s cross. And be sure to join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Mardi Gras is here and that means it is Catholic party time! Enjoy the day, but don’t forget the best part of the part — the desert! Or is it the dessert?! I was reflecting on today’s Take Five for Faith and I inadvertently switched the “desert” in here to “dessert”.

Preparation is crucial for a meaningful celebration. Advent prepares us for Christmas, Lent prepares us for Easter, and Mardi Gras prepares us for Lent. These alternating seasons of quiet and celebration help us notice and appreciate the fact that God is found not only in austerity and prayer but also in music and celebration. As a result, we experience the sustaining presence of God in every aspect of our lives. A good Mardi Gras will help us have a good Lent. A good Lent, in turn, ensures a spiritually rich Easter, which is the ultimate goal. So go ahead and celebrate Mardi Gras today! Decorate your home, gather with friends, enjoy some good food. Tomorrow you enter the desert.

That’s right, I thought it said that tomorrow I enter the dessert. That to me sounded a lot better than entering the desert (or the dragon for that matter).

Desert and dessert seem to have such opposite meanings and so whether you are entering one or the other can make a HUGE difference! The desert is often used, though not terribly correctly, as a symbol of lifelessness, vastness, and oppressive conditions . It can seem hostile and unwelcoming. Desserts, on the other hand, are sweet, lush, and luxurious. We turn to them for comfort and for celebration.

And so now I am left with this curious image of Lent — how is it both desert and dessert? If that isn’t enough to blow one’s mind check this out — the word “dessert” is actually Middle French, from desservir to clear the table, from des-de- + servir to serve, from Latin servire (Merriam-Webster). So dessert might actually be an apt image for us during Lent — to take time to clear the table and to prepare to serve.

Tell us your thoughts on desert and dessert as you prepare for Lent!

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For kicks and inspiration, listen to one of our famous podcasts on Mardi Gras. Also, don’t forget, we are doing a live broadcast of Ask Sister from a secret location tomorrow (Wednesday). And finally, join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

On Sunday I had the privilege of being part of the Rite of Sending, the Rite of Election, and the Call to Conversion which were celebrated first at Saint Clement Church where my friend is in formation to become a Catholic and later in the day at Holy Name Cathedral, the home parish of all of us Chicagolanders.

In the course of the celebrations, I had an opportunity to mingle and talk with the newly Elect (formerly “catechumens”, people being baptized for the first time) and the Candidates (person coming from another Christian tradition or renewing their own Catholic faith). I was so moved by their commitment and their palpable joy in this moment and in their journey toward full communion with the Catholic Church. They are a fantastic group of women and men, with a most excellent good shepherd in their primary catechist, Christina Bax, Pastoral Associate and Director of Evangelization at Saint Clement.

Cardinal George presided at The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion and gave a scripturally robust homily that was so encouraging to those gathered. And I was struck once again by these words of the Rite which the Cardinal proclaimed with such solemnity: “Christ’s body, the Church, recognizes your desire.”

Here’s some photos from the celebration. As we enter into the Lenten journey toward Easter, let us pray that with the Elect and the Candidates, we too might hear God’s call to conversion, “strive courageously to reach the fullness of truth,” and faithfully live our baptism.

Holy Name Cathedral

Francis Cardinal George

Christina Bax holds high the Book of the Elect

The Cardinal with The Elect and The Candidates

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

“Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.”
- James 1:19-20

In today’s world, it seems like everyone has something to say. There’s nothing wrong with that (I say as I type these words). But James’ letter reminds us to listen before we speak or react to what others say or do.

Listening is easy to do – when I agree with what I hear. But when I hear something that’s totally not what I agree with, it’s much more challenging. Yet James’ letter doesn’t say I have to agree with everything I hear! But it urges me to respond in Christ-like way.

What James does ask of me is to respect differences of opinion – to stand in my own truth while allowing others to stand in their own truth. My prayer for today is to listen carefully to other people, especially those whose political, religious, or social viewpoints are very different from my own.

While it might be tempting today to avoid conversations on controversial topics, I will remind myself instead to listen without judging others or myself and in doing so to cultivate a spirit of patience and acceptance in the world.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

I was at our IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan, this past weekend. It is always great to be home and to hang out with my nuns. I want to tell you about this amazing moment that happened at the Sunday Eucharist. Chapel of course was filled with IHM Sisters, associates, family and friends of the community, and a variety of visitors.

I was sitting about midway back and in front of me was the family of one of our sisters who is in health care. Sister was in a wheelchair at the side of the row. Next to her was this precious young woman, a grandniece perhaps, maybe in her late teens, early twenties. The young woman had on a bright fuchsia and had fabulous blue-painted nails. She emanated vitality and youth!

When I first saw the family, I thought how sweet it was that they were here and wondered briefly what the young woman might have been feeling sitting there with her aunt and surrounded by so many adults and elders. I wondered if she felt uncomfortable or nervous or out of place. It didn’t take long for me to find out that my fleeting thought was far from the truth.

Around the time of the homily, the young woman turned toward her aunt and smiled  – a long, beaming smile. She reached gently for her aunt’s hand and for a few minutes the two just looked at one another with this profound tenderness and love. For the rest of Mass, they remained this way, hand in hand.

I don’t remember the homily or much of the rest of Mass but I can tell you that in that moment an old nun and a young woman preached one of the most powerful homilies I will ever have the privilege of witnessing.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Today is the feast of St. Scholastica (d 543 CE), a remarkable woman who has influenced spiritual seekers to this day! Among her life’s work was the founding of a monastery of nuns just a few miles from the monastery established by her famous brother, Benedict.

A year ago, Benedictine sister Lynne Smith described St. Scholastica’s life and ministry during an Ask Sister podcast. We’re delighted to offer this recording of Sister Lynne’s story of St. Scholastica!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Our guest blogger today is our friend Sister Hildegard Pleva, OSsR. Sister Hildegard is a regular at evening prayer, appeared on an Ask Sister podcast, and has guest blogged before! You can find Sister Hildegard and the Redemptoristine nuns at the blog Contemplative Horizon.

“… Form ever follows function…”
~ Louis Sullivan, 1856-1924, Father of Modern American Architecture

Our contemplative monastic community has been searching for a new monastery. Our current home and its land is changing hands requiring us to move. In the process have had to explain over and over again the nature of our life and how radically it differs from service oriented apostolic religious life.

The mental image of a cloister is often limited to a dark monastery vestibule or parlor where the visitor glimpsed a heavily veiled nun behind metal grille appointed with spikes to remind that the encounter would not include a touch or kiss.

These images belong to the past and do not point to the real purpose of the cloister. The architecture of enclosure supports the life of prayer to which the nuns are dedicated. The enclosure ensures silence and solitude. It is a living space for the community set apart from space open to the public; that more private space for a community praying, working, eating and recreating together while managing a large household. It allows those activities to cluster around the center which is prayer and praise at the Eucharistic and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Within the enclosure all of the functions of the monastic household are carried out 24/7 within a fixed group of members. It must have room for everyone to do everything together most of the time. No members will be off to a ball game or have a late night at the office. No one will go out to work. No one can arrive home after a long hard day and announce their departure to take in dinner and movie with a friend. These realities determine architectural form.

In our search we visited large homes and former convents. Invariably we realized that each structure conformed to the “form follows function” rule. Private homes were built to be just what they were. Buildings designed for apostolic religious supported the kind of life they lead, a life with work outside the residence. No effort at remodeling would successfully transform them into suitable monastic structures. We had to face in-depth consideration of our monastic enterprise. “What is it we wish to protect; what is it we wish to nourish and pursue in the structure we envision?” “Form follows function”; not the other way around. In the end we recognized that no mere structure will guarantee dedicated contemplative life. Thoughtful design provides suitable space, an environment conducive to prayer, a place apart. The rest is the work of God’s grace in the desiring soul.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.
Our prayer leaders for this week are Audra of Awkward Catholic fame
and Regina who is engaged in Soul Composting!

We had a very interesting conversation about penance and sacrifice on the last Ask Sister podcast. For some people those are harsh, negative words, but for others, they are words of freedom and wholeness. While discussing this, an interesting word popped up from the chat room: austerity. That’s another great word that tends to be dismissed as harsh and negative. But what does it really mean? Does it have a place in Catholic faith and spirituality today?

What does it meant to be austere? When in doubt, turn to Sister Merriam Webster!

aus·tere adj \ȯ-ˈstir also -ˈster\

1 a : stern and cold in appearance or manner; b : somber, grave
2 : morally strict : ascetic
3 : markedly simple or unadorned
4 : giving little or no scope for pleasure
5 of a wine : having the flavor of acid or tannin predominant over fruit flavors usually indicating a capacity for aging

While I appreciate #5, it’s probably not the definition we are after here. As we look through the first 4 definitions, however, there is are several distinct meanings for “austere” ranging from the more harsh, negative sense (stern, cold, no pleasure) to the positive (simple, unadorned).

In centuries past, austerity was often interpreted in practices that were indeed harsh and unhealthy. These include but are not limited to repression, self-denial and other severe “bodily penances” — that is, physical actions taken to avoid and “defeat” occasions of sin. There are many dangers to body and spirit when a person is compelled by and engages in these extreme acts. And what is extreme and severe for one person may be quite natural and necessary for another. I leave this discussion to others much wiser and knowledgeable about such matters than myself. What I’m more interested in is the “ordinary” practice of austerity.

Some of austere actions — when properly understood within Catholic spirituality and one’s relationship with God, and with the support of a spiritual mentor — can be a help to one’s spiritual life. Fasting and abstinence, for example, may be done as a penance (an act moving toward reconciliation/wholeness after one has turned away from God) or as an act of sacrifice (letting go of one good for a greater good) — listen to Ask Sister AS098 episode for more on the distinction. But these are not to be “extreme” nor unhealthy for mind, body, or spirit. Saint Jerome (who himself was a bit too overzealous when it came to austerity) cautions that us:

“Be on guard … lest you imagine yourself to be perfect and a saint; for perfection does not consist in this virtue. It is only a help; a disposition; a means though a fitting one, for the attainment of true perfection.” (source)

(By the way … “true perfection” is another one of those phrases we often misinterpret … will write about that tomorrow. Email me your thoughts or good theology quotes on “true perfection” @   )

Austere practices also include fasting and abstinence — these maybe done as a penance (an act moving toward reconciliation/wholeness after one has turned away from God) but also as an act of sacrifice (letting go of one good for a greater good) — listen to Ask Sister AS098 episode for more on the distinction.

It is this more accessible form of austerity that I think bears consideration and reflection. Also the aspect of “markedly simple or unadorned” that Sister Merriam points out in the definition above. These choices, practices, actions, and movements of the spirit are ones that are very personal and unique to each one of us. They may be things that are part of our way of life, or they might be things that we do for a defined period of time.

One small example from my own life is when I felt drawn to not eat meat. It is a choice for me that has deep spiritual meaning along with physical and emotional aspects. It is indeed “necessary” for me in the sense that it allow me to be most truly myself. For me, it is a movement toward wholeness. But just because it is that way in my life, doesn’t mean that it is a “higher good” or more spiritually significant than other practices in which others engage. It’s what works for me. I have no need to broadcast it (well, other than as an example here), or to tout my awesome vegetarianness. I don’t think of it as extreme or radical — it just is what I need to do.

Each of us has and are drawn to these kind of “austerities” in our own life. But it’s up to you to know them and choose them. A spiritual director or mentor can provide some help and guidance and I definitely recommend one if you are unsure what to do or the thing you feel compelled by has a significant spiritual, physical, and/or emotional impact on you (e.g., I talked with my doctor and with a couple of my nuns when I realized I wanted a life-long commitment to not eat meat).

What are your thoughts or wonderings about austerity? What are some other ways that you practice austerity that is “markedly simple, unadorned”?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for a live podcast and chat every weekday at 6 p.m. CT
(find your time zone) at aNunsLife.org/live

Kateri Tekakwitha stained glass window by Debora Coombs in St. Mary

Let’s hear it for the Mohawk Valley area of New York state! From that area of the world not one but TWO soon-to-be saints have emerged (not counting myself who was born a mere 3 hours away).

“The Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk Indian, spent most of her life here during the 17th centurY. About 200 years later and 40 miles to the west, the Blessed Mother Marianne Cope began a religious life that focused on providing medical care in central New York and the Hawaiian islands.

On Dec. 20, Pope Benedict XVI certified miracles attributed to the two women, the final step toward sainthood. The women’s canonization is expected to happen this year.

When they are elevated to sainthood, they’ll be among just 12 of the Catholic Church’s thousands of saints who either were born in America or ministered in what is now the United States.” (source)

While many may be familiar with Kateri, let me fill you in a bit more on Mother Marianne. She belonged to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.

“Mother Marianne Cope’s roots in the Mohawk Valley began in Utica, where her family settled in 1840 after emigrating from Germany the previous year, when she was a year old. A factory worker until she joined the Franciscan sisters in Syracuse in the early 1860s, the young nun worked as a nurse and hospital administrator, helping to found two hospitals — St. Joseph’s in Syracuse and St. Elizabeth’s in Utica — that are still in operation today. Under her direction, no one was denied medical care, according to Sister Patricia Burkard, general minister of the Syracuse-based Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.” (source)

Marianne Cope in a 1883 photo provided by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities

She was “the only one of 50 religious leaders to respond positively to an emissary from Hawaii who requested for nuns to help care for Hansen’s disease patients on Kalaupapa.” This earned her the title “beloved mother of the outcasts.” The place where she went was a settlement on Molokai island run by Father Damien who was recently canonized a saint in 2009.

“Marianne was known for demanding money from the government to help the leprosy patients. She wasn’t “afraid to pursue anything for her people,” said Sister Davilyn Ah Chick of Honolulu….

The nuns said Marianne is credited with having a school built and teaching women and girls to sew and garden. She was also a source of support during a time of much suffering, which included abuse, families forced apart and the banning of pregnancies, [Sister Rose Annette] Ahuna said.

Marianne died there of natural causes in 1918.” (source: Hawaii nuns describe life of soon-to-be saint, Jan. 2, 2011)

We look forward to the canonizations!

I am not a big fan of the New Year’s resolution thing, and so I wasn’t planning on blogging about anything resolution-esque.

But then I read Father Jim Martin’s post over at Huffington Post, 12 Really Stupid Things I Never Want To Do Again (December 29, 2011). As I reflected on it, I realized that I’ve partaken of a dozen or so really stupid things myself! So I figured it wouldn’t hurt for me to consider something new for the new year. No, not a new really stupid thing, but a new idea or habit or virtue I could reflect and focus on.

Nothing much had come across my path in the last 24 hours so I figured I’d just skip it. Then, as I was going through me email, I found one that our IHM Community sent out — a “Remembering” reflection in honor of my friend and IHM Sister who died early this week. In her remembering I found these words of hers:

Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.
    ~ Sister Frances Ryan, IHM

These are words that I will treasure and strive to live out of as Frances did throughout her life. You can read more about Sister Frances in a 2009 article on our IHM website.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 24 :: O Lex Mundi written by Regina

I’m not afraid of the dark. Although I don’t like waking up in the dark during winter, in general I am very comfortable with dark places and spaces. Some of my most creative moments come deep in the night, long after so many have already gone to rest; sometimes I genuinely lament the constraints of 9 to 5 employment that require consistent, relatively early bedtimes. Dark for me is like a cocoon, a place where life is being nurtured.

And yet, I love light.

sunlight through bark

Stained Glass, IHM Motherhouse, Monroe, MI

I love sunrises and Christmas lights and candles and long summer evenings and stars shining in the inky night and luminaria illuminating pathways and the play of light through trees, leaves, bark and clouds and through stained glass windows and lightning.

Luminaria on Christmas Eve

And I love Jesus, the Light of the World. I want to live in that Light. I want to dance in that Light. I want that Light to flow around me and illuminate my world. I want that Light to shine through me so that when people encounter me they see the Light of the World and it brings them joy the way sunrises and Christmas lights and stained glass windows and lightning and luminaria bring me joy.

I want to be in the Light.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

BONUS MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS EVE

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 22 :: O Rex Gentium written by Meredith Gould. Meredith is the author of eight books, including The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions (Doubleday) and Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? (Morehouse). She’s founding moderator of the weekly Twitter-based chat about church social media (#chsocm) and blogs about culture and faith at More Meredith Gould.

O King of nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

While most people usually focus on the “O King of nations” part of this O Antiphon, I remain fixated on the last two lines. More precisely, I keep zooming in on the word “clay.” Being fashioned from clay by the Creator is a metaphor that has always worked for me.

Add water to clay and it becomes mud. Add even more water and mud turns into a slurry. Slurry can be washed away, but not without leaving a messy trail. Let mud dry out and it can be crumbled into dust. Dust is always at risk for blowing away before being reconstituted as clay.

On a brighter note, clay is very pliable. How well I know this.

During my years as a visual artist, I’d switch to pottery whenever I needed a break from drawing. I loved the tactile messiness of working with clay as it swirled into form on the pottery wheel. When the form wobbled off-kilter, I happily pounded it back down into a lump and started over. Happy about the pounding. Happy about the starting over.

We humans seem quite adept at pounding ourselves and one another into lumps, let’s not blame God for this. Instead, let’s give thanks for every opportunity to be formed, yet again, by our loving Savior of clay. God knows, I do.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 21 :: O Radiant Dawn written by Sister Joyce

Original art by Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM

O Oriens: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

I saiah had prophesied, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1).

Listen to this verse sung in Gregorian chant by the North American Choir:

O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

What dawn do you await in your life?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 20 :: O Key of David written by Denise Gorss, Web Editor at Loyola Press, where she works on various online projects including managing the photo blog Picturing God: Faces and Traces of the Divine

O Key of David, open the gates to our heavenly home.

In the days of key cards and remote controls, the image of today’s O Antiphon, “O Key of David,” may not have the same effect it once did. It seems too easy to just “beep, beep” and imagine the gates swinging open.

With God’s grace, the essence of the gates opening is true, and we are granted free access thanks to the death and resurrection of the one we will welcome as a child just days from now. When Jesus comes, it’s as though the locks are changed, and we can hope for salvation. But we need to take some action here too.

We need to prepare our hearts to walk through the gates. We need to leave something behind to go forward. Maybe it’s a dependence on familiarity, or a struggle with any one of a number of worldly temptations, or something else that we’d rather be kept locked away. But in welcoming a new key, we likely have to open ourselves in honesty about that something else. The old key won’t work once the locks are changed.

There’s something to be learned by remembering the act of physically touching a key to the lock and turning it to open the door. Sometimes the key sticks a little, or we accidentally pull out the wrong key on our first try, because we are too preoccupied to check which of the items hanging from the chain is right for the situation.

But Jesus will always be the right key.

So even though the Key is coming, and the Key will determine what opens or remains shut, we need to ask ourselves, are our hearts and hands ready to open the unlocked door?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 19 :: O Radix Jesse written by Regina

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Two years ago after my sister’s kidney transplant, I planted a Bleeding Heart plant in her honor. And then I promptly forgot to tend to it, and it withered away. When our landscaper cleaned up the garden in late summer, the plant was gone.

My untidy garden

The following spring as I came into the house after work, I noticed a green shoot, roughly in the spot where I had planted the Bleeding Heart. As I am an untidy gardener, I did not pay it much attention, thinking it was perhaps a weed, or at best a wild flower. Several weeks later, I came home and found a tiny pink blossom on my “weed” – our plant had come back, because the roots had never been torn away – it remained in the earth, patiently awaiting it’s time to bloom yet again.

As we complete this homestretch in Advent, the cry of “Come and deliver us” feels particularly pressing, particularly acute. We long to be delivered from the dark (literal and spiritual, for some), we long to be delivered from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we long to be delivered from the frustration of politics as usual and corporate greed… Even in our longing, though, we spy hope, like a tiny bloom on a spring plant, because we long for the Root of Jesse, promised to us so very long ago. The Root of Jesse is strong, it is sure, and no amount of neglect, or hapless tending to our spirit changes that. The Root of Jesse remains, and so our hope of deliverance remains.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 18 :: O Adonai written by Erin Edwards (Regina’s sister!)

When my sister, that would be Regina, asked me to sign up for a blog for Advent for a Nuns Life, I said “Sure, I can do that”. I’ve written devotions for Advent for a good part of my adult life. This is a piece of cake, I mean really, I am theologically trained, how hard could this be? Then panic struck….Wait, I’m a Protestant…. How am I going to write a devotion for a Catholic Community?? Yes, I was raised as a Catholic and I still pray the rosary, and I wear St. Gerard and St. Lucy on a chain around my neck (no, really I am Protestant). Then I remembered who I AM. I am a child of God. You are children of God. We are connected by the love we have for God.

And we are connected because together we proclaim Jesus is Lord! How wonderful is that! The phrase puts a song of joy within in my soul and heart.  It brings light out of darkness, it turns tears into joy and it transforms lives because when Jesus is Lord, our role is to be good and faithful servants. Learning how to be good servants and stewards transforms our lives!

In Advent, we take time to prepare for the birth of our Lord and think about how we can become better servants. It’s not always an easy road when we turn our lives to serving the Lord, but for me it is the only road I know. It is embedded in me that my life is to serve the Lord; it is what I do. It is what I prepare for each Advent season. It is a way for me to reemphasis my life as a servant, as a follower of Christ.

I pray that you all are blessed through the rest of this Advent season!!  My husband and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 17 :: O Sapientia (O Wisdom) written by Wren

"Sophia, Divine Wisdom" - Gouache and gold leaf on sculpted board, written by Mary Plaster 2003

December 17 marks the beginning of the “octave before Christmas”, when the seven “O Antiphons” are recited before the Magnificat during Vespers during the Liturgy of the Hours.

Catholic SAT words FTW! Let’s engage in a little clarification, shall we?

To begin with, the Liturgy of the Hours are prayers said at certain times of the day; usually this means you are praying the Divine Office, which are the official prayers sanctioned by the Catholic church. However, some people pray other prayers during these times that are not the Divine Office, though most Catholics use these terms interchangeably (kind of like “nun” and “sister”). If you were to pray the full Liturgy of the Hours, there are seven times in the day for prayers: The Office of Readings, otherwise known as Vigils or Matins, which in modern times may be prayed at any time of day, but traditionally are prayed at midnight. Next comes Morning Prayer, AKA Lauds, which nowadays is prayed any time between 6 and 11AM, and traditionally was prayed at dawn. Then Midmorning Prayer, AKA Terce, prayed at about 9AM. Midday Prayer (AKA Sext) is next, which is prayed around noon. Then Midafternoon Prayer is prayed around 3PM, and Evening Prayer, AKA Vespers, currently is prayed between 4 and 11PM but traditionally prayed between 3 to 6PM. Night Prayer, AKA Compline, is prayed before bedtime. Not everyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours prays all seven hours, but some do. And no, each prayer does not take an hour: the word “hour” here is somewhat like saying “o’clock”. It’s like saying a store is open “round the clock” or “24 hours”: the LotH are formal prayers prayed around the clock.

So in the case of the O Antiphons, we are talking about something recited (or chanted) during Evening Prayer.

The Magnificat, which is Latin for “[my soul] magnifies,” is also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary. It is taken from Luke 1:46-55, where Mary says: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.” (RSV)

Each of the O Antiphons highlights one of the titles for the Messiah. We start with O Sapientia, which means O Wisdom: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.”

So, now that we all know what the O Antiphons are, and when they are prayed, let’s talk about why they are prayed. During Advent, we are anticipating and celebrating the forthcoming arrival of Jesus. As we get closer, the O Antiphons are a way to meditate on some of the many attributes of Jesus, examining one per day. Today, on the first day of the octave, we meditate on “Jesus is wisdom.”

As part of my Advent meditations, I began reading Matthew straight through, and am reminded of John the Baptist: he had prophesized that one greater than he would soon come, and when Jesus sought him out to be baptized, he seemed surprised, recognizing right away Jesus’ wisdom, when he said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” In modern sci-fi terms, this would be like Yoda asking Luke to teach him about the force, and Luke saying, “But you’re Yoda.” Did I just reference Star Wars when talking about the gospel? Yes, yes I did.

There are certain figures in life that everyone can see their wisdom. Do you need to be Buddhist to think the Dalai Lama is a pretty wise man? Of course not. Did John need to witness all the miracles that Jesus had not yet performed or the resurrection in order to know how wise he was? Nope. He recognized him for what he was. Later in the gospel, while in jail, John sends word through his disciples asking if indeed Jesus is the Messiah when he hears of Jesus’ many deeds (Matt. 11:2-6), which means that he recognized Jesus’ wisdom before he even knew for certain that he was the one (I will refrain from making a Matrix reference here).

As we contemplate the impending arrival of Jesus at Christmas, take a moment to meditate on Jesus’ wisdom in your life. How does it manifest? Do you take comfort in his teachings in the gospel? Do you work to seek his direction in your life?

Happy Advent!

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 16 :: John the Baptist written by Sister Julie

Ever pray with a hip hop song? I’m prayin’ this one today. It’s Stephen the Levite’s song “John the Baptist”(music and lyrics below).

I love this song — for such a familiar Bible story, so many new images pop up in my mind when I listen to Stephen the Levite’s retelling of the story. Makes me want to “get with this” and proclaim “Yo, God is here!”

The verse that struck me upon first listening was, “not a reed bent easily he was built for this.” This is particularly meaningful for me because it reminds me that we are built by God with both strength and tenderness, standing tall like an oak yet flexible like leaves in the wind. I’m conscious that if I swing too much toward “unbending” or “easily bent” then i lose my center, I lose my footing in God and in myself.

What strikes you in this song and why?

“John the Baptist” by Stephen the Levite on the album Forerunner EP

Yo, what the deal wit’ this, voice cryin’ out in the wilderness/ “make the ways of the Lord straight, no hills in it”/ level out the valley’s make plains, He’s revealed to kids/ prophesied by Isaiah, He’s fulfillin’ it// spirit of Elijah with the same clothes killin’ it/ Camel hair and a leather belt no frills in it/ What did you expect to see, some kind of silkiness?/ not a reed bent easily he was built for this// More than a prophet, he’s a man on a pilgrimage/ the messenger, written of in Malachai, spillin’ it/ “Repent of your sins, He can cleanse all your filthiness/ There’s a new era comin’ through, can you get with this//

Hook: The Kingdom of Heaven’s at hand (get with it)/ Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven’s at hand (get with it)/ and switch, the Kingdom of God is at hand/ (get with it) ya dig? the Kingdom of Christ is at hand (get with it)//

Check the hype bruh, cats call John “the Baptizer”/ wild style vow since a child, Nazerite stuff/ cousin of the Son, born of parents that are righteous/ leapin’ in the belly when the fetus of the Christ comes// Mary and Elizabeth can identify, “the/ Spirit of the Lord is in here” queue the choir/ not a lot of singin from the pops Zechariah/ vocalizin’ doubts had him silent for the nine months// neighbors get floored when the Lord broke his silence/ couldn’t even chat, now the cat prophesies stuff/ all that God’s done got ‘em wonderin’ the kind of/ man he’s gon’ be, a strong beast from the wild cuz// fast forward, John’s at the Jordan spittin’ fire/ “b3ar fruit…axe is at the root…brood of vipers”/ there’s a new steeze and you’ll see the Messiah/ is comin’ next, I’m just here to prep ’til His time ’cause//…

Hook

Peep the drama, Christ comes just like he taught us/ John baptizes little cousin in the water/ Dove drops with a little ac’ from the Father/ sayin’ that He’s pleased with Him, leavin’ ‘em awestruck// dudes must’ve missed when he spit what his job was/ seein’ that when Jesus baptizes, all come/ upset, thinkin’ He’s a threat to what John does/ not so, John got low, givin’ props up// “i need to shrink so that he can be honored/ He holds the mic, I’m the hype man, I’m not much/ He get’s the Bride, I’m the side groom it’s not dumb/ i’m gon’ rejoice at his voice, I’ll be all done// same team, say the same thing, see the plot bruh?/ last words lotta cats heard ‘fore he got plucked/ later on he fades from the pages he’s got one/ scenes left, he will see death, but it’s fine ’cause//…

Hook

End the saga, foul plot, mouth got him locked up/ there for a while, so His doubts start to pop up/ sent a couple cats just to ask “was I wrong cuz”/ came back, tellin’ of the acts He’d accomplished// After peeps left Jesus was rep’ed for’em hard bruh/ sayin’ he’s the greatest man born of a mama/ wonder what the reason they seized him at all was?/ let me go back, show the wackness upon us// Herod wil’ed took the spouse of his Mom’s son/ John put him on blast sayin’ it was wrong but/ He’s shook, knowin’ peeps took him for a prophet/ she’s not, fiendin’ for the opp just to squash ‘em/ chance comes, he received a dance from her daughter/ “anything you want will be yours” is the offer/ mama says, “bring me John’s head on a charger”/ but he’s just a finger, the Kingdom of God comes//

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 15 :: Mary written by Sister Maxine

Artwork by He Qi

With Christmas just around the corner, ‘tis the season for Nativity sets. They seem to be everywhere – at churches, the grocery store, schools, my neighbors’ front lawns. Inside each of them is the familiar figure of Mary, about to give birth to Jesus.

In some of the Nativity sets, Mary wears a blue and white flowing gown and is surrounded by dramatic lighting. In others, she looks like a travel-weary young woman in threadbare clothing. In one very unusual Nativity set Mary is wearing a 1960s style peasant blouse and a long brown skirt probably made of organic material (Joseph was wearing sunglasses).

The various images of Mary make me think about the various Marys in my life, and the ways they symbolically give birth to something new. There are the two Marys who received me into the IHM congregation, certainly a life-changing moment for me. There is the good friend Mary whose death at an early age awakened in me a profound sense of the beauty of life. There is the Mary who was my first encounter with Vatican II theology and, to my astonishment, talked about an imminent, loving, caring God and a Church known as the People of God.

So as I go by the Nativity sets this year, I say a prayer for all the Marys in my life, the Marys who are the source of new life not only for me but in all the relationships around them. Thank you, Marys!

Who are the Marys that you know who bring forth new life? How have they affected you?

Mary, be with us as we seek to be a source of new life and hope in the world, to be the bearer of Christ to all we encounter in our life

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 14 :: Joseph written by Marla

In trying to write about Joseph, I realized I know little about him despite his importance in the whole nativity narrative of scripture. I know that superstitious Catholics have long believed that burying a statue of this under-appreciated saint in the back yard is a step in the right direction for anyone trying to sell a home, but aside from that I’m sorry to say I know almost nothing about dear old Saint Joe..

Scripture doesn’t help. Joseph is hardly mentioned at all in the gospels. Mark ignores him completely. A quick search at Gateway Bible online shows a measly eleven references to this brave soul who took on the enormous task of being stepfather to the Savior.

Despite Joseph’s minimalist biography, we can know with certainty that he pleased God. After all, Joseph said yes to God, just like Mary did, just as the prophets did, and just as the apostles did. He agreed to marry a pregnant girl and raise a child that was not his own. That’s a big deal.

But saying yes always is.

My friend Colleen taught the kids in our parish—and me—improvisation every Wednesday for an entire year. According to Colleen, the first rule of improv is to always say yes! If your partner on stage says, “Can you tell me how to get to State Street?” you have to give directions, thereby saying yes to his premise. If you say, “I’ve never heard of State Street” you are saying no to the bit and the scene stalls. In other words, saying yes means opening up to every possibility.

Saint Joseph absolutely opened himself up to any and every possibility. He was asked to serve God and he said yes, and I’ll bet his life was never the same again. And even with a tiny 11 references in scripture, Joseph is not a figure we are ever likely to forget.

In this season of Advent, may we all be more willing to open ourselves up to whatever God requires of us. Even if we have to practice saying yes every day, let’s go for it. Because saying yes to God can only bring amazing goodness (even if it hurts a little).

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 13 :: Solomon written by Sisters Julie and Maxine

Sometimes wisdom doesn’t come in a nice neat package. It can be messy, cranky, weird, and downright bizarre. Who would have thought that the great king of wisdom — Solomon, the son of David and builder of the first temple of Jerusalem — would have suggested a very gruesome solution in order to settle a dispute between two mothers? Yet, in the end, the case was solved and Solomon has been praised for centuries for his most unusual exercise of wisdom.

We could use a little bit of unusual wisdom today. We had a full day planned for today and not one, not two, but a whole bundle of contrarieties popped up today throwing a gorilla wrench in our plans. Now we both appreciate a good plan and when it is blown asunder, it’s difficult to switch gears. Any chance you can relate?!

You might think that just because we are nuns that we would blissfully and serenely adjust to life’s unexpected twists and turns. But, you know, we’re human too and bliss is not what we were initially feeling. Then we took a moment and decided that out of this unexpected chaos, we could still make good on our day. We could make a choice to ape-preciate the gorilla wrenches and open ourselves to the new possibilities while simultaneously bidding farewell to the perfectly-good-but-no-longer-helpful plans we once had.

And therein lies the wisdom of Solomon — sometimes wisdom comes in very unusual packages. In what we initially took as a preposterous problem (how dare life change our plans!) we discovered a new way to be with one another and with our plans for the day. Surely the two women who fought over the child, each claiming that the child was theirs, thought it preposterous when Solomon suggested dividing the child in two. But one woman tapped into the deepest truth of her own being and her love for the child, and was willing to shift gears for the sake of the child. She didn’t hold onto her previous position (give me the child) though she had every right to. Rather she shifted and opened herself to the new. The other person? Not so much. She was willing to dig in her heels and take her “half” of the child. Obviously that would not end well.

So here’s our invitation this day — what contrariety has come your way? What unusual wisdom may be lurking within the situation?

Solomon, be with us as we negotiate the contrarieties of our daily life. Help us to use the wisdom and creativity that God has gifted us with and to remember always our truest self in Christ.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 12 :: David written by Audra from the blog The Awkward Catholic

Yesterday Regina wrote that God knew what (s)he was doing when (s)he picked little David to be anointed. So we fast forward to when David’s three older brothers went off to war with Saul. Jesse, David’s father, asked David to see how his brothers were getting along in the war. When David reaches the camp Goliath had already proved to be impossible to beat. Israelite soldiers were running scared from this giant but to David he was not so much a scary giant as an obstacle to the Israelite people.

David’s brothers become angry and accuse him of being a smart aleck. David believes he can actually defeat Goliath because he had protected his sheep from lions and bears. Saul and the others try to convince him otherwise but David don’t care. David gets what he wants. He tells the others repeatedly that God had their backs. Saul gives David his really nice armor but it made David too uncomfortable so he takes it off. David goes with what he knows…his sling and five smooth stones and the rest is history.

It took just one pebble to bring a giant obstacle down. Even though at first David wasn’t sure why God chose him, he certainly felt confidant that God had his back. But maybe David was so confident because he didn’t understand why the others were scared. David never experienced the feeling of God leaving him. God never failed. What if we acted as though we never felt God leave us? What if at all times we felt confident that God has given us the right tools to get the job done? How many Goliaths would we be able to “slay”?

It’s a message we hear over and over again yet we need to hear everyday- God will never leave you. There are times in my life when I sensed defeat just around the corner. There were days I thought things were never going to get better. However, it was the little “pebbles”- the little blessings- that defeated the darkness. Those were the moments I was confident God had my back.

As always I found God helping me throw pebbles at Goliath because I didn’t have the strength to throw the boulders.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 8 :: Moses written by Marsha

The Burning Bush, Ratner Museum

It was later that I began to realize the significance of what happened there. When Moses asks the “force” in the burning bush to identify itself, the name that God gives to himself is “I am that I am.” Other ways of translating this might be, “I am the one who IS,” or “I am the one who is BEING ITSELF!” “I am EXISTENCE” or “I am REALITY.”

Note: The word “Yahweh” means “I AM.” The Hebrew letters that spell that word are YHWH or JHVH (Y=J, V=W in the Semitic alphabets). There are no vowels. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible added vowels to the Hebrew consonants and came up with JeHoVaH. More recent scholars have rendered the same consonants as YaHWeH. It’s the same word. And it always means “I AM.” Note: Orthodox Jews even today believe that this word Yahweh is so sacred that it is never to be spoken, so they always speak of God with euphemistic epithets: “Master of the Universe, “The LORD,” etc.)

Until that revelation, human beings thought that gods were big, powerful beings, related in some way to the people who worshiped them, related to the forces of nature. But they could be managed, placated, bargained with. They weren’t reality itself.

But a God who is not “A” being, but who IS BEING itself, EXISTENCE, itself – that’s a whole other matter. For one thing, if this God is himself the very ground of being, the very essence of what REALLY IS REAL, (or as later theologians put it, “the First Cause”) then God could not be one of a set. Instead there could only be ONE basis of reality. So we have here the first glimmer of monotheism. We have a God who is much too big, much too powerful, much too terrifying to be bargained with, to be manipulated or control. How do you control what is REALLY REAL?

And what happens next is what always happens when humans encounter GOD. God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to SET MY PEOPLE FREE!

Jesus, beginning his ministry, reads from Isaiah – “I am come to set the captives free.” When we encounter God the Son, consubstantial with the God the Father, we find that this One God, the Creator, the First Cause, the very Ground of Existence itself has chosen to create and sustain his creation out of motives of love. And that he calls us to participate with him in the process of creation by cultivating and building and developing what we had been given – and to share in the task of setting captives free.

So: be careful around those burning bushes. If you recognize the holy, if you take off your shoes, if you listen, you may hear a voice that tells you God’s name and your own. And you may find yourself sent out to set captives free – those captive parts of yourself awaiting salvation, those broken parts of the world that need to be mended and set free. You, like Moses, may have to speak truth to power and take the consequences.

LINKS TO MOSES RESOURCES:

• Yakov Azreil Poem
• James Weldon Johnson
• Y2Yahweh VIDEO
• Poem by Doug Tanoury

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 7 :: Jacob written by Marla (reposted from last month)

Jacob Wrestling with God by Carl-Heinz Kliemann. Woodcut, 1962

Genesis 32 tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God. God actually instigates the match, and the two wrestle all night long. When God has accomplished whatever it was He set out to do (and we never really know what that is), He simply grabs Jacob’s hip bone, wounds him, giving him a reminder to carry with him for the remainder of his life, and let’s Jacob go. Nowhere does it say why the wrestling happened.

I think I might know a little something about that. I wrestle with God every day. It started when I was a kid and my life didn’t make sense with the God I was coming to know. Part of the reason I wrestle with God concerns the plea Jacob makes in Genesis: “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” Considering that God started the fight, this is a very curious plea, but I get it. It was Jacob’s cry, and it is most assuredly mine.

Years ago, after I first realized a personal attachment to this story of Jacob and God, I had to keep going back and re-reading the plea as doubts arose in my mind about the wording. Was it, “I will not let You go until You bless me?” Or “I will not let You go unless You bless me”?

The first version implies that God will, indeed, bless me eventually.

The second version is the correct one, however. “I will not let You go unless You bless me.” Unless. Meaning, God might choose never to bless me, but, by all that is holy, I’m not going to make not blessing me easy for God! I’m making clear exactly what I want from God, and until God agrees, here I am.

Maybe when God started our wrestling match, He never dreamed I would latch on and become a permanent fixture.

But He knows everything, right? Omniscience changes the flavor of the whole deal. God knew I was going to harass Him to the end of my days, just like He knew Jacob was going to be in it for the long haul.

Every night, before I sleep, my final words are, “Lord, hold onto me.” I wrestle even in my sleep. As my body decreases, my determination to cling to God increases.

Sometimes I beg for that blessing so that I might finally rest. Honestly, I think that’s exactly when I’ll get this particular blessing, too: right before I rest. In the meantime, I’ll hold on. I’ll keep up the fight. To stop without a blessing… that would just be wrong. That would be more than I could bear. “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

Where there is a certain knowledge, a knowing, a faith, if you will, in the statement, “I will not let you go until You bless me,” there is a certain hope and an absolute determination in saying, “I will not let You go unless You bless me” I struggle mightily with faith. Determination? I have boatloads.

If God knew I would accept his challenge but never let go “unless You bless me,” maybe He wanted to make sure I stayed with Him throughout my life. Maybe he knew I would wander off if he appeased me with a blessing too early.

The hope is in believing He might never abandon me, and that if He did go away momentarily, at least I would have His blessing. Conversely, if I never received His blessing, at least I would know He would always be with me. We wouldn’t be casually walking along, either. We would be grappling, intimately embraced in a fight for my life.

Many days I yell at God. I am vocal and needy and demanding and pitiful. Other days I am quietly struggling. Aren’t we all all of these things and more as we discern God’s plan for our lives?

I’m guessing it was God’s plan all along that I grab hold and never let go. And I’ll bet that’s God’s plan for you, too.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 6 :: Isaac written by Sister Julie

"Sacrifice of Abraham" by He Qi

The story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his child Isaac reminds me of my first philosophy class in college: Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. As fascinating as Nietzsche is with the whole “God is dead” thing (love him or despise him, Nietzsche definitely got people thinking!), I was particularly taken with Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), a Christian philosopher who wrote the book Fear and Trembling which including a mind-blowing section on the sacrifice of Isaac. Kierkegaard wanted to understand what Abraham must have been going through as he tried to reconcile the demands of his two loves and to make an impossible choice between the two. While I can’t say I understand all the philosophical wonderings of Kierkegaard, I can say that I started looking at this story from a whole new perspective.

It was sort of like getting inside Abraham’s head and looking at the situation as he was going through it, not with the advanced knowledge that in the end, God would prevent him from sacrificing Isaac. What was that “either/or” (the title of another of Kierkegaard’s works) like for Abraham? Did he envision anything beyond either/or? How did he contain all of these emotions and thoughts as he tried to “act normal” with Isaac, his wife Sarah, and his friends? The 3-day journey to Mount Moriah must have been torturous for Abraham. And then I think about Isaac who probably felt his dad’s dis-ease but had no idea what it was about until that fateful, terrifying moment when he realizes his dad is going to kill him. How does he possibly come to terms with this? And not just Abraham or Isaac, but what about his wife Sarah or his companion Eliezer or that poor ram that eventually did take a hit for the team?

Life seems full of either/or’s, like we are always being forced into a binary — either yes or no, either in or out, either for or against, etc. Yet even if we don’t quite understand what happened in the story of Isaac, we can know that other possibilities exist. The story gives us a greater breadth of understanding when we face our own either/or situations. For me, I feel called to be open to the unimaginable, to not give up on loving even to the knife-sharp point of death.

Think about your “either/or”. What helps you break the binary and see possibility? Where is God in either/or for you?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 5 :: Abraham and Sarah written by Sister Julie

One of my most favorite movies ever is the classic Rob Reiner film The Princess Bride. It’s an unusual yet deeply compelling fairy tale of love, evil, pirates, swords, and the infamous R.O.U.S. (rodents of unusual size). Throughout the movie, unexpected things happen, leading the too-smart-for-his-own-good kidnapper Vizzini to exclaim repeatedly, “Inconceivable!” (see clips of Vizzini uttering “Inconceivable!” on Youtube.

When I think back to the story of Abraham and Sarah, I like to imagine Abraham and Sarah looking at each other in shock and, in Hebrew, exclaiming, “Inconceivable!”

• God calls them to leave everything and to go to a new land where they would become a blessing for all (Genesis 12:1-7) – Inconceivable!
• Abraham asks Sarah to pretend she’s his sister so they can safely enter Egypt (Genesis 12.8-20) – Inconceivable!
• “Your descendants shall be like the stars.” (Genesis 15:5) – Inconceivable!
• God says that Sarah, though barren and 90-years-old, shall bear a child (Genesis 17 and 18) – Inconceivable!

God patiently walks with Abraham and Sarah and offers then one very simple explanation for these unexpected turns of events:

“Is anything too wonderful for God to do?” (Genesis 18:14)

As we too walk with Abraham and Sarah on this Advent journey, what moments in your life have been “Inconceivable!”? What have  you learned about God and yourself in those times?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 4 :: Noah written by Audra from the blog The Awkward Catholic

As a child of the Catholic school system advent meant one thing: paper crafts. One of the most popular crafts was the Jesse tree. This was my favorite because it was the most involved and took the longest. Each day we would learn about a person represented in the Jesse tree and then draw a symbol of that person. I liked how each symbol had a story behind it — this probably explains my love of Icons today.

My favorite symbol — besides Jesus — was Noah. I liked Noah because I got to draw animals. (Although Noah is sometimes represented by rainbow.)

Now that I’m older, my relationship with the Jesse tree and Noah has matured. I now look to the Jesse tree as a rich history of the people who have shaped our Jewish/ Christian stories. They are the roots of our family tree.

I view the Noah story as one of sustainability and responsibility to our animal friends — that God loved her creatures so much as to save two of each kind so they could be cared for and enjoyed for future generations. Of course, one can not forget the covenant God made to Noah, his family and the animals after the flood. God promised to never destroy the earth by a flood again.

It’s amazing that as we grow the Bible stories of our youth grow with us. Sometimes the childish reasons stay with us — I still like drawing animals — but the meanings of the stories deepen and shape who we are as Christians. This Advent I want to take a person from the Jesse tree and revisit them to see how my view has of their story has changed.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 3 :: Fall of Humanity written by Regina

The man replied, “It was the woman you put beside me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate it… The woman replied, “What is this that you have done?” Genesis 3:12-13

I would have eaten the fruit.

I’m sure of it.

And I would have been just like Adam and just like Eve, giving excuses, passing the blame, saying “it’s not my fault! That guy over there made me do it.”

I know this, because I’m just like that now. When my hand gets caught in the proverbial cookie jar, my impulse is to talk my way out of it, to try to convince God that He’s the one that’s got it wrong, that what He’s asking of me isn’t quite the right thing because…

That person was unkind to me, first, so she deserves my retaliatory words.

Or, I had a really bad day, and I’m grumpy, so I should be allowed to be unkind.

Or, I work hard for my money, so I should be allowed to spend it however I want, even though I could be a better steward with my resources.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Maybe you know the feeling, too.

And I know the feeling of frustration that comes from a person making excuses to me for their behavior, so I can only imagine how God must feel when I stand there with excuse after excuse for why I shouldn’t have to live by the rules. Luckily for me, God is Infinite Love and Infinite Grace, so instead of getting angry with me and smiting me and banishing me, I imagine that my stubborn refusal to get with the program just makes God sad… because God sees in me true Potential – God sees in me all that I am capable of if only… if only I would surrender myself fully to Him. If only I would embrace that grace… if only I would stand on the promises of God, then I would be able to move beyond the Fall and maybe, just maybe, glimpse Redemption.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 2 :: Eve And Adam written by Sister Maxine

I clearly recall the first essay that I wrote that pleased me. It was preceded by tons of writing that did not. But what made the essay pleasing to me wasn’t that it was perfect (it was far from perfect….). It was that I managed, at long last, to adequately express what I was thinking and feeling. Through it all, I learned that the act of creation has beauty and power and pain and joy.

When I read the creation accounts in Genesis, I can only imagine how God must have felt. In the first creation story (Gn 1:2-3), God brings forth order from chaos and shapes the universe. Each day, God creates something new. Creation nears its high point on the sixth day, with land animals and humanity, and reaches its apex on the seventh day, with the sabbath. On the last day, I imagine that God breathes a sigh of relief and satisfaction and thinks about creating pizza as a way to celebrate.

When I read the second creation account (Gn 2:4ff) which introduces us to Adam and Eve, I see God at work once again. But the story line is different—and foreboding. The story begins with God making a man out of earth and reaches its high point with God’s last act of creation, a woman. There is only one thing that God forbids the humans to do – to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Everything else in the garden is theirs to enjoy.

At this point, the writer in me is like, “Things are NOT going to go well for the humans.” Maybe I’m projecting my own human weakness, but I can almost taste the apples from that tree.

What am I to do with these two stories – one that speaks of the intrinsic goodness of creation and the other, of the potential for tough challenges and temptations along the way. For me, there is comfort in knowing that God hasn’t yet written the final word on the story of creation. I am part of that story. By living with the compassion, love, and integrity that Jesus models, I seek to shape a story of hope for all of creation.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 1 :: Creation written by Regina

But the earth became chaos and emptiness, and darkness came over the face of the Deep – yet the Spirit of God was brooding over the surface of the waters. — Genesis 1:2

A few years ago I was on vacation at Lake George with my then-husband. We had a boat, and on a beautiful, clear day we were skipping along the top of the lake without a care in the world, until I started to have a panic attack. Seemingly out of nowhere, I felt like the water of the lake would swallow me up, down, down, down into the Deep.

Maybe you know that feeling, like the water, the world, your job, your responsibilities are so chaotic, so tumultuous, that you’re going to be swallowed entirely. You think to yourself, “I can’t go on like this! There must be a change!” You cry out to God, “Save me! Hear my cry!”

The Psalmist knows that feeling. In Psalm 130 he writes, “Out of the depths I cry to you, God! God, hear my voice!” John Rutter, the British composer, set this Psalm to music as part of his Requiem. Take a listen.

Whenever I listen to it, I think of the Creation story, of the tehom, chaotic and formless, and how it is the very Source of Life, the ruach Elohim , the Breath, the Spirit of God that calls forth life from within the chaos, and life Becomes.

And so it is with us, in our own chaotic and sometimes formless lives, that we cry out to God from our own Deep and the Spirit of God comes to us and calls forth Something New. Where we knew pain and devastation, there is a spark of joy and creation.

A great criticism of the so-called “holiday season” is that there is too much chaos, too much to do, too many responsibilities and too often we don’t stop enough to truly enjoy it. As we enter into Advent fully on this first day of December, I could tell you exactly the same thing. I could tell you to cull your to-do list and rethink your commitments and tell you to stop and smell the poinsetta. Or, you could do what I’m learning to do:

Embrace the tehom.

In the chaos, feel the Breath of God upon you, stirring you to life, bringing you into Becoming, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

I have always been fascinated with icons and iconography. I love the colors, the gold leaf, the aliveness, and the mystery of icons! It is a great blessing to have one of my own IHM Sisters as an iconographer because I get to hang around her studio, learn from her, and be in the presence of sacred art!

During our Fall Fundraiser, Sister Nancy Lee graciously allowed the A Nun’s Life film crew into her studio where she explained how icons are made and what they mean.
We did an 8-part series of videos which are available for free here and on the A Nun’s Life Youtube Channel. Part I is below and the others you can find at anunslife.org/iconography.

Part I: Becoming and Iconographer

Visit at anunslife.org/iconography for all 8 videos!

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

Happy Advent! Throughout the world many parishes have begun fully using the new Roman Missal with the start of the new church year yesterday. So how did it go for you?

At the parish I went to (I was away from my home church during the Thanksgiving holiday), the experience was a bit mixed. I was very excited to experience this new moment but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Turns out that the changing of the words was indeed an interesting experience with some members using the new translation (there were copies for everyone) and others just responding with the former translation. In addition some were not responding at all which is a problem no matter what translation is used! I faithfully followed the instructions in my booklet but I have to say I missed a few correct responses because the rhythm of the former translation just came so naturally! All in all, it wasn’t a big shocker. It was the community at prayer and worship.

As we proceed with the implementations of the new translation of the Roman Missal, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the last word either for the liturgy or for the Church as a whole. While I am displeased with some of the wording (some new, some which was retained), I have to remember that no translation is equal to the Word, and no translation is finally determinative of who we are, what are theology should/should not be, how we are to be in the world. The final word resides alone in Jesus the Christ. This commitment to the Word of God, along with the treasure of the Catholic faith, impels us to be people of Gospel love, of social justice, of compassion, and of prayer. And just as the beatitudes are right along side the woes in Luke’s Gospel, we must be on guard against being judgmental towards one another, against complacency, and against collusion with unjust and anti-Gospel behavior and systems. It is this commitment that must ring true in every choice of words — liturgical or otherwise.

The words that did stand out to me at yesterday’s liturgy were not those of the new or old translation but those of faith. The liturgy at the parish I went to began not with a restlessness over the new translation but with the announcement that a baby would be baptized. The welcoming and the sacrament of baptism put in bold relief what the liturgy is really about. Yes, the words are important, but a commitment to Jesus Christ in and through the community of faith is at the very top. With a few humble gestures and poignant words, in the little bundle of life of a child, we remembered who we are and whose we are.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving here in the United States. But everywhere at anytime we can give thanks. So, on this day, for what are you thankful? What or who fills you with gratitude?

What was said to the rose that made it open
was said to me here in my chest.

What was told the Cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was

whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever

was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them

so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is

being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that’s happening here.

The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,

in love with the one to whom every that belongs!

Poem by Rumi, a 13th c. Persian Muslim poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic
Translation by Coleman Barks

Saint Cecilia by Ellen Chavez de Leitner

Today is the feast day of Saint Cecilia! Although we know little about Cecilia’s life, she remains an inspiration and ever-popular saint in our Catholic faith. She is known particularly for being a patron saint of music. Here’s why:

The Acta of Cecilia includes the following: “While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.” (source)

Here at A Nun’s Life, we have a great fondness for Saint Cecilia. Many of our podcasts open with the song “Bits and Pieces” which features Saint Cecilia prominently. The song is written and song by the fabulous folk group, Wild Carrot. Here’s the first verse and chorus:

Bits and Pieces
(Pamela Temple; © 1998 Chocolate Dog Music (BMI))

I’ve got a box crammed with pictures of places I’ve been
and my backpack is worn at the seams.
I’ve got letters written in foreign tongues from friends who think
my tongue’s a foreign tongue too.
Stories, yeah, I’ve got some of those
Tell me how much time can you spare
I’ve seen profiles in purple suns and weavers in the mountains
I’ve held the hands of hard­lived lives

And I’ve got Bits & Pieces, Bits & Pieces
I’ve gathered
I want them to sew themselves together
While I sleep
And I call on St. Cecelia
St. Cecelia
Send me, send me
a song …

So in honor of Saint Cecilia we invite you to share a verse or two of your favorite song which you sing in your heart out of love for God!

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone). Just go to aNunsLife.org/live.

Sunday’s liturgy was beautiful as our church welcomed catechumens and candidates who are moving toward full communion with the Catholic Church. As a sponsor, I had the awesome privilege of sitting in front with my person. As I knelt during the Eucharistic prayer, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the liturgy, of common prayer among the People of God, and of Christ’s presence in and among us.

And then I realized that this would be the last time I celebrated Mass this way. My parish community and every Roman Catholic Church in the English-speaking world will begin to use a revised translation of the Mass at the next Sunday liturgy which coincides with Advent and the new Church year.

Although I’ve experienced the English translation of the Mass my whole life, using the vernacular (the language of the people instead of Latin) is a relatively new experience — as in only about 40 years old. Since then, scholars have learned much about the experience of the celebrating the Mass in English as well about translations from the original Latin.

“This new translation will employ the best of what we have learned about translation and liturgical language in two generations of celebrating the Liturgy in the vernacular. It will provide an opportunity to reflect ever more deeply on the eucharistic celebration that lies at the heart of the Church’s life.

In accord with the rules for translation established by the Holy See, the revised translation follows the style of the original Latin texts more closely, including concrete images, repetition, parallelisms, and rhythm. The English used in the Mass texts is more formal and dignified in style. Where possible, the texts follow the language of Scripture and include many poetic images. In addition, the third edition contains prayers for the celebration of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Masses and prayers for various needs and intentions, and some updated and revised rubrics (or instructions) for the celebration of the Mass. (source: Ten Questions on the Roman Missal by the USCCB)

Like many Catholics, I am not sure what to expect from this third translation of the Roman Missal. I am looking forward to the emphasis on the language of Scripture and use of poetic images. While I like the familiar languages and images of the current translation, I am excited by a renewal of intentionality at Mass because we will each have a heightened awareness of what we are saying and doing as we learn how to pray in a new way together. At the same time, I am disappointed that a more rigorous formality has been introduced and that there is still pieces of language that are exclusive of women (“for us men and for our salvation”) and images of God that are overwhelmingly masculine. If indeed we are moving closer to Scripture then we in fact should be including along with Father and King the many different images of God including that of Mother, Lion, Lover, Baker Woman, Sower, and many more. I hope and pray that parish leaders will carefully implement Roman Missal 3.0 and at the same time be sensitive to necessary adaptations.

For now and for this week, however, I will cherish my last Mass with the current Roman Missal. Roman Missal 2.0, you’ve been my constant companion. I have celebrated with you, cried with you, and witnessed some of the most beautiful landmarks of my Catholic life with you. You were there when my siblings married their spouses, my nephews were baptized, and my parents renewed their vows. You were there when my friends became Catholic or were ordained or got married or when we celebrated their Mass of Resurrection. You were there when my IHM sisters celebrated Jubilee and when I professed my vows as an IHM Sister. I am grateful for you, Mass 2.0. Goodbye.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone). Just go to aNunsLife.org/live. Also we’ll give an update on the Fall FUN!raiser and announce the winner of the Grand Prize iPad 2!

I am fascinated with a newly published letter that Madonna (the artist and performer) wrote when she was twenty years old. The letter (courtesy of the website Letters of Note) is addressed to film director Stephen Lewicki as a sort of “résumé” for the lead role in his film A Certain Sacrifice. She mentions how she wanted to be a movie star or a nun, and how, after trying things out, she decided to pursue a music career.

… and, after a bunch of interesting stuff about her life, the letter concludes …

Initially I was a bit miffed that Madonna compared being a nun to a disease, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the comparison represents a fine bit of discernment. Madonna recognized that trying out life as a nun led her to “dis-ease”, that is, a lack of ease in her own life, a feeling of being “not at peace” or “out of sync”.

Thank God Madonna did recognize that “dis-ease” because she was then able to open herself up to another calling as a singer-songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur! She is hands down one of the greatest artists of our time. Granted, I would gladly take Madonna as one of my nuns, but I am nonetheless delighted that she followed her calling and gifted the world with her art.

How do you negotiate the sense of “ease” and “dis-ease” in your own life?

What insight started percolating as you read Madonna’s words and thought about her life calling?

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Join A Nun’s Life community tonight for prayer at aNunsLife.org/live at 6 p.m. CT (your time zone) Come a bit early or stay a bit late and chat with us in the chat room!

** Final Day of A Nun’s Life FUN!raiser! We’re at $9,919 and need less than $1,000 by the end of today! Please consider kicking in $10 — if each of us does, we’ll be sure to make it! Plus you just might win an iPad 2 too! Plus tonight at our Ask Sister podcast we’ll be giving away 3 fabulous giveaways for folks in the chat room! Donate now at http://anunslife.org/donate

9 Saints Novena – Saint Joseph – by Bcoop

Saint Joseph and Christ Child icon by Michael O'Brien from Ontario Canada (www.studiobrien.com)

Reflection: Day 9 – Saint Joseph
Joseph of Nazareth is one of those hidden people in the Bible, but he played a big part in the lives of Jesus and Mary. He only appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, first as an entry in the genealogy of Jesus and a link to King David’s line. He is mentioned as the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus. He was a carpenter in Nazareth. Matthew pictures him as a man who hears an angel’s message and protects his family from Herod’s wrath. Later, Luke tells the story about 12 year old Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple and his parents’ search for him. Then Joseph disappears from the scene.

Perhaps the most important statement about Joseph in the Gospels is that he was a “just man”. That is, a person of integrity, of compassion, who is upright, sincere, and true. A person who lives in and for God, who is wise and learned in the Torah. Luke tells us that Jesus “grew in body and in wisdom, gaining favor with God and other people”. (Lk 2:52) I think he learned this along with carpentry at Joseph’s side.

Prayer:

Pray with us, Saint Joseph,

• patron of the Universal Church, teach us to walk in the Way of Jesus.
• patron of workers, help us to provide meaningful employment and adequate wages to all.
• refugee from Herod’s hatred, help us to be compassionate and open to those in trouble.
• father of your family, bless our families and teach us to live in love.
• teacher and guide for the child Jesus, help us to guide and support each other on life’s way.

Suggested Reading:

• The Bible

Join A Nun’s Life Community in the LAST DAY OF THE FUNDRAISER! We are close to our goal of $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

8 Saints Novena – Father Augustus Tolton – by Audra

Reflection: I would like to introduce you all to a good spiritual friend of mine: Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first African American priest in the United States.

Augustus Tolton was born a slave in 1854 in rural, Missouri. He was baptized a Catholic at St. Peter’s Church in Brush Creek, Missouri. His father died right before serving in the Civil War. Wanting a better life for her children, Augustus’ mother escaped slavery with her three children forty miles east to Quincy, Illinois. There Augustus would find his calling as a Catholic Priest.

However, since he was black, no seminary in the United States would accept him. He was sent to the Propaganda Fide in Rome where he studied with seminarians from all over the world. As soon as he was ordained he asked to be placed as a missionary in Africa, but instead, he was sent back to his home parish in Quincy.

No matter where he went, his deep baritone voice would be heard by people of different cultures together in the same church. The other priests became jealous of Fr. Tolton’s popularity and made it impossible for him to stay in Quincy. Deeply heartbroken Fr. Tolton accepted his new mission in Chicago. There, he raised funds to build a church for the African American community. While funds were being raised, “the good Father Gus” as people called him, ministered all over the Chicago ghetto. Unfortunately, Fr. Tolton never got to see his church finished as he died of a heat stoke at the age 43.

Fr. Gus was truly a servant of God as he preserved time and time again. He once wrote to St. Katherine Drexel, “I shall work and pull at it as long as God gives me life for I am beginning to see that I have powers and principalities to resist anywhere and everywhere I go.” Even though Fr. Gus’ church was never finished, his spiritual legacy lives on in those who hear his story. He is a role model for all who are in the minority to follow God no matter the cost.

Prayer:  ”O God, we give you thanks for your servant and priest, Father Augustus Tolton, who labored among us in times of contradiction, times that were both beautiful and paradoxical. His ministry helped lay the foundation for a truly Catholic gathering in faith in our time. We stand in the shadow of his ministry. May his life continue to inspire us and imbue us with that confidence and hope that will forge a new evangelization for the Church we love.” (from the Canonization Prayer)

Suggested Reading:

• A Biography of Fr. Gus by Fr. Roy Bauer
• Support Fr. Gus’ cause for canonization

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

7 Saints Novena – Dorothy Day – by Bcoop

Reflection: Dorothy Day (born: November 8, 1897; died: November 29, 1980)

Dorothy Day on picket line with farm workers in Lamont, California, 1973

I wonder how Dorothy feels about being “nominated for official sainthood”? She is reputed to have said: “Don’t call me a saint. I don’t want to be dismissed so easily.” Saints do run the danger of being “photoshopped” – all their quirks and warts smoothed away until they appear as bland as marshmallows. That might be more difficult to do with Dorothy.

Dorothy’s whole life was marked by concern for the injustices of society and the plight of destitute people. She spent her life joining charity and justice. As she said: “There was a great question in my mind. Why was so much done in remedying social evils instead of avoiding them in the first place? . . . Where were the saints to try to change the social order, not just to minister to the slaves but to do away with slavery?” (Long Loneliness, p. 45)

Dorothy’s first job as a journalist was with the New York Call, a socialist newspaper. Her reporter colleagues were socialists, communists, labour organizers for the American Federation of Labour and the Industrial Workers of the World and various free thinkers and anarchists opposed to conscription and the entry of the United States into World War I.

The labour movement, socialist ideas, and her own experiences of hardship had a strong influence on Dorothy’s commitment to social justice. At the same time, she was searching for some inner connection with the God who was enticing her. Brought up in a nominally Protestant home, Dorothy was drawn to the ritual of the Catholic Church.

In 1927 Dorothy’s daughter, Tamar, was born and was baptized in the Catholic Church. Dorothy said: “I did not want my child to flounder as I had often floundered. I wanted to believe, and I wanted my child to believe, and if belonging to a Church would give her so inestimable a grace as faith in God, and the companionable love of the Saints, then the thing to do was to have her baptized a Catholic.”

Dorothy’s interest in religion, as well as the birth of Tamar, led to the break-up of her common-law marriage. This freed her to be received into the Catholic Church and started her on a search to bring together her faith and her social values.

In 1932 Dorothy met Peter Maurin and the Catholic Worker was born. These communities still work to fulfil these words of Dorothy: “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”

Prayer:  Help us dear Dorothy, to overcome our fear with love, our selfishness with compassion, and our anger with peace.

Suggested Reading:

• Main website for the Catholic Worker
• Social Justice Teachings, Catholic Worker House in Oklahoma City

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

6 Saints Novena – Latin American Martyrs – by Marla

Reflection: Wherever great evil thrives, great saints are made. Evil, as in Latin America from forever until today, kills and steals and destroys. It is horrific, but predictable.

Saints like Archbishop Oscar Romero learn great lessons and turn their lives around; Romero himself was martyred for repeatedly calling on the Salvadoran government to love the poor instead of killing them.

The six Jesuit priests along with their cook and her daughter were murdered in their home by US-backed Salvadoran forces in 1989 were guilty of preaching peace and caring for the poorest of the poor.

When the Salvadoran government killed people who spoke up against injustice and left them to rot on the streets, with the understanding that anyone who moved the bodies would be subject to the same treatment, the Four Churchwomen chose to honor the corporal works of mercy taught by the Catholic Church and buried the dead anyway. Just before the three nuns, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, Maryknoll Sister Ita Ford, and Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, along with lay missioner Jean Donovan were murdered and left in a shallow grave, Clarke wondered aloud to her friends, “I know death is coming. Will I be faithful?”

These and other saints from that evil time and place spoke truth to power—even to US power who gave money to the evil Salvadoran armies—and nothing is harder to do when death is chasing you down.

Prayer:  Dear Creator, may we, like the Latin American Martyrs, be willing to have our eyes opened and our lives changed. May we ask daily, as Maura Clarke asked on the eve of her murder, “Will I be faithful?” With the other churchwomen, may we be willing to live our faith without fear of reprisal. And with the spirit of all Latin American martyrs and saints, may we be bold enough to speak truth to power even when the truth will cost us. Bless us with your love of justice.

Suggested Reading:

• Companions of Jesus: The Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador by Jon Sobrino
• Salvador by Joan Didion
• Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of Americas by James Hodge and Linda Cooper
• Salvador Witness: The Life and Calling of Jean Donovan by Ana Carrigan

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

5 Saints Novena – Saint Dominic Guzman – by Bcoop

Reflection: While almost everyone knows and loves Francis of Assisi, few are familiar with his contemporary, Dominic de Guzman. Dominic was born about 1170 in Caleruega, a small village in Spain. I could write a biography but you can get that from Google. Instead I’d like to tell you why I love this man.

As a student Dominic needed and treasured his books. This was before the invention of the printing press so they were laboriously made by hand and couldn’t be replaced at a local book store. When famine struck, Dominic sold his precious books to feed the poor.

He opened himself to the unknown when he saw a need for change. He left what he knew and was comfortable with, and entered into uncertainty to discern the path God was calling him to.

Dominic was cheerful. When he and Francis met I imagine them having some good laughs about wolves and birds, among other things.

Dominic lived outside of “boxes”. He blended and brought things, and people, together rather than separating them.

Perhaps this could be summed up best by what I wrote in my Journal so many years ago:
I think of Dominic – a man of joy and prayer, a man who treasured his friends, and in their common passion for living and preaching the Gospel, deepened in relationship to become “Family”.

Simon Tugwell wrote:

“The faith of God in people makes, every now and then, a person come true.
And then a heart is rhythmed to the very beat of God,
a mind to truth, and a mouth to gospel,
wooing the matter of man to God.”

Prayer:

Joyful Friar
Patient Teacher
Grace-filled Preacher
Gospel man of prayer
Pray for us and walk with us in God’s Way.

Suggested Reading:

• Early Dominicans from Classics of Western Spirituality
• International Dominican website
• Reflections on readings, resources, etc
• Bcoop’s Journal of my pilgrimage to the lands of Dominic)

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

3 Saints Novena – Saint Francis of Assisi – by Audra

Reflection: Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the most popular saints ever. There have been hundreds of books, several movies and one Broadway play done on this twelfth century saint. But for me, what makes the cool points go through the roof is that Saint Francis has his own comic book- and not just any comic book a Marvel comic book. Yes, that’s right. The kings of the comic books wrote a comic book about Saint Francis.

Francis Berandone was born into the middle class but always dreamt of being a knight. He fought in the Perugian War but was captured and put in prison for a year. It was while he was in prison that Francis first began to experience the hints of how God was calling him. In prison, Francis saw how the very men he had respected and served valiantly with were now fighting each other for food. Instead of joining them, he found that he felt joy when he gave food to the other prisoners.

When freed, Francis returned to his partying ways — and was really good at it. When fights between the pope and German princes broke out, he again was lured back to his dream to be a knight. Francis purchased the finest armor and rode with other soldiers to defend the Church. But one night before the war, God told Francis in a dream to return to Assisi. A would-be knight turning away from a fight was more than Francis’ family could bear and they were embarrassed by him. So one day Francis went to Mount Subasio to pray. He didn’t hear God’s voice but felt freer just by praying. Francis prayed intensely for a year but still couldn’t hear God’s voice. Then one day while walking he came upon a leper. At first Francis was scared, but then he felt overwhelmed with compassion and reached out and gave the leper a hug.

Later on, Francis went to the San Damiano church to pray in front of the Crucifix. Suddenly Jesus came alive and told Francis to “rebuild my church.” Francis took this to heart, and did his best to sell his merchant father’s bolts of clothes for building supplies. Unimpressed, his father found out and took him straight to the bishop. Francis’ father asked for the clothes back. Francis obliged, and right then and there took off all of his clothes in front of everyone. This marked Francis’ choice to leave behind all the expectations of his family and his own expectations and follow God.

A few days later Francis’ friend Bernardo asked to join him. Eventually more men joined them. Seeing the numbers grow Francis went to the Pope to ask if he would start a new religious order. The Pope said no, but that night he had a dream that Francis was able to rebuild the church. The next day the Pope gave Francis his blessing.

When Francis returned to Assisi, his friend Clare — yes, THE Clare — came to him asking to join his new order. Francis was hesitant at first, but then told Clare that she could live under the same laws as the Friars. The Poor Clares were born!

A few comic book days later, Francis witnessed the battle of the crusades and decided to speak with the sultan to stop the war. Francis gained the respect of the Sultan and was given a pennant so he could safely travel to all of the holy places of Jesus’ life.

After the trip, Francis came back to find his order … umm… not in order. They forced him to write rules other than the Gospels to live by. So Francis did what he always did when he needed to pray: he headed for the hills. Like Jesus, Francis spent much time in prayer in mountains. There on Mount La Verna he received the Stigmata. He became an instant celebrity as people heard about these extraordinary marks of  holiness. Over the next two years Francis’ health deteriorated. As he lay on the death bed Francis said, “Praise the Lord, for our Sister, death whom none can escape. My soul is at peace. I am prepared to meet her. Welcome Sister Death.” Francis died on October 3, 1226.

Saint Francis to me is an everyday, working person’s type of saint. He was also crazy. Crazy for God that is. I wish I can be that type of crazy. He didn’t care if you were man, woman or beast — you were a child of God and worthy of love. I think that’s why he is also the patron saint of animals. They were his sisters and brothers too.

Prayer: A very popular Prayer NOT written by Saint Francis but is something he would say: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Suggested Reading:

• “Francis, Brother of the Universe” Comic Book by Marvel
  
• Life of Saint Francis of Assisi by Saint Bonaventure

** Be sure to join in today’s Litany of the Pets at 6 p.m. Central Time followed by the first ever PAWCAST featuring the pets of A Nun’s Life Community! Click here for more info on the Litany of Pets and Pawcast!

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

2 Saints Novena – Theresa Maxis Duchemin and Louis Florent Gillet – by Sister Julie

Reflection: Saints take many forms, canonical and otherwise. In today’s novena we celebrate all the saints who have gone before us “marked with the sign of faith,” those who may not be canonized but who have had a profound influence on our lives. Today we honor two such saints, founders of the religious congregations of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

While general superior of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Theresa Maxis Duchemin met the Redemptorist missionary Louis Florent Gillet, who was seeking women religious for schools in the still new State of Michigan. After much discernment, Theresa agreed to help Gillet found a new congregation in Monroe. On November 10, 1845, Theresa along with Charlotte Schaaf and Therese Renaud, became  the first members of a new religious community dedicated to education in the frontier land of Michigan.

In January 1846, they opened St. Mary’s Academy in Monroe. As the community and mission grew, Father Gillet was forced to leave and return to Europe in 1847. Though flourishing, the community struggled to deal with Louis’ departure and their struggle worsened with a sudden separation from Theresa. Theresa was caught in the middle of a jurisdictional dispute about the congregation between the bishops of Philadelphia and Detroit. The bishop of Detroit held Theresa responsible, deposed her as General Superior, and sent her to the Pennsylvania foundation, which later became a separate branch of the congregation. Despite these trials, the new community persisted in its Redemptorist spirit of humility, simplicity, and zeal.

Theresa and Louis’s legacy of courage, peace and service to the poor continues in now three IHM congregations of Monroe, Michigan, Immaculata, Pennsylvania, and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Prayer: We pray that we might tap into God’s gifts to each of us of courage, peace, and service, even when it seems the struggles and trials that we bear are too much. We trust with Theresa and Louis, that God will bring all our efforts to good.

“May the same faith and hope and courage of those loved ones who are ‘dwelling now in Light—yet ever near’ inspire us to continue bravely and earnestly the glorious work so nobly begun.” (Mother Theresa McGivney, IHM, November 10, 1945)

Suggested Reading:

• Paths of Daring, Deeds of Hope: Letters by and about Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin by Sister Margaret Gannon, IHM (Published in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1992)
• Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan (Syracuse University Press, 1995)
• Also, be sure to spend time with the icons of Louis and Theresa by Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM, iconographer

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

2 Saints Novena – Josephine Bakhita – by Sister Maxine

Reflection:  St. Josephine Bakhita shows us that forgiveness and freedom walk hand in hand. Kidnapped into slavery as young girl in Sudan, Bakhita was sold and re-sold in African slave markets. The name, Bakhita, meaning “Fortunate One,” was given to her by her kidnappers. 

 Bakhita faced great physical, spiritual, and emotional adversity during her enslavement. But even  these experiences could not destroy the seeds of hope and transformation that lived in Bakhita.

Eventually, Bakhita was purchased by a family that, by the standards of the times, treated her kindly. She later moved to Italy with the family, and there she met the Canossian Daughters of Charity. With them, she began her journey into the Catholic faith and was baptized. The sisters were among those who helped Bakhita, baptized as “Josephine,” achieve her freedom, and soon she entered the congregation.

 St. Josephine forgave her kidnappers and captors. They had caused enormous pain in her life, yet she chose forgiveness. In doing so, she rejected hate, anger, fear, and revenge—emotions that, in themselves, enslave people and rob their capacity for joy.In forgiving others, St. Josephine chose freedom, and in her freedom, she found joy.

Prayer:  Walk with us, St. Josephine Bakhita, at times when we feel unable to forgive others. Help us find our way through the pain we’ve experienced. Help us open ourselves to transformation. Free us from that which can enslave us. Walk with us into a new place of joy.

Suggested Reading:

• http://www.canossiansisters.org.au/about/bakhita.html 
• http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_giuseppina-bakhita_en.html   

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

1Saints Novena – Mary our Sister – by “Bcoop”

Reflection: With an elevated title like “Mother of God”, we might forget that Mary was a young Jewish girl from Palestine. She lived in a Country dominated by a foreign power, knew the violence of occupation, of fear, of anger at injustice, and probably joined in lamenting the slowness of Israel’s God in rescuing the people. Mary spent her days doing the routine stuff of life, like going to the village well to draw water for her family or learning to cook as her mother did. She went to the Temple as the Law of Moses prescribed. She learned to listen to what was in her heart. One day, she became pregnant with new life and we all know where that led. We might think that because she was Jesus’ mother she is elevated beyond anything we might aspire to. But when Jesus praises her, it is because she had open ears and a responsive heart to God’s Word.

Like Mary we are pregnant with God’s own life. We are called to give birth to that life in our world and our circumstances. Mary shows us the way in her example of hearing God’s Word and acting with it.

Prayer: Be our companion on this journey dear sister Mary. Teach us the ways of wisdom as you taught your son Torah. Encourage us by your strength, inspire us by your attentiveness, and be our midwife in witnessing to Christ in our life.

Suggested Reading:

• Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Elizabeth A. Johnson
• Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture by Elizabeth A Johnson
• Miryam of Judah: Witness in Truth and Tradition by Ann Johnson

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

Idon’t know if saints ever did stand-up comedy, or if the Scripture writers ever LOL’d at what they wrote. But they do show us that there’s a connection between faith, humor, happiness and transformation. It’s what Father James Martin writes about in his new book Between Heaven and Mirth.

Sister Julie and I are delighted that Father Martin will join us for a live podcast on All Saints Day! It’s part of our very first A Nun’s Life Fun!raiser. We’ll talk with him about saints and the role of humor in the spiritual life. Join us in the live chat room during the podcast, which begins at 2 pm Central, to ask questions and share your best spiritual humor! Check out the sidebar to the right for more info about events during the Fun!raiser!

In the meantime, if you need a spiritual boost, check out this video clip of Father Martin sharing a joke with journalist Sally Quinn.

We hope you can join us for the podcast with Father Martin and for other fun and one-of-a-kind events during our nine-day Fun!raiser. A Nun’s Life Ministry relies on gifts from readers and listeners like you, who make these podcasts and this ministry possible. We encourage you to support this ministry that strives to promote religious life and to encourage people in living their calling. Please consider a one-time gift or a monthly gift to support the ministry. Thank you!

When I taught catechism to 5th and 6th graders, it was inevitable that there would be lots of giggling and mock-scandalized looks when reference was made to the word hell. It’s a legit word which means something all together different from something based on a Dante novel or creepy horror film.

In it’s basic form hell is “a place or state of turmoil or destruction” (Merriam-Webster), and in terms of faith, hell is “the state of complete separation from God for all eternity; it is experienced by those who decide to reject God” (see Loyola Press for more on Catholic basics).

We often use the term hell in colloquial ways, for example, when we say our day was hell or our office desk looks like hell, both of which refer to the basic definition of hell. We the living may also refer to hell as a present reality where we feel in a state of separation from God — not permanent or complete but serious and threatening nonetheless.

Once in a while those two worlds of hell collide. I’ve been meditating a lot on the passage from Matthew 12:43-45 where the unclean spirit is evicted from a person, goes out to find another home but can’t so returns back to the same person only to find everything neat and tidy. The nasty spirit then brings buddies “more wicked than itself.”

Sometimes being in a space that is “hell” (untidy, messy, disorganized) can lead to the other kind of “hell” where we are lured away from God. I find that when I have stuff all around me (stacks of papers or books, to-do lists, laundry, correspondence, etc.) or too much stuff (do I really need 17 sweatshirts?) I can get quite distracted from my focus on my relationship with God and my participation in God’s mission. I can feel myself saying, “Just a minute, God, let me just get this out of the way first.” And of course that “just a minute” might last a half hour, a day, a month, and can sometimes lead to a whole lifetime of “just minute”.

So what do we do? How do get the hell out of our daily life? How do we simplify, order, reduce, make peace with, etc., the swirl around us that can lure us into saying, “just a minute!” to God?

While not always successful, here are some of the things I do or at least aspire to do!

1. Reduce sweatshirt inventory. I’m a nun, not a sports team promoter! I try to keep clothing, books, etc. to a reasonable minimum. There is no hard and fast rule for this and each person has to find that line of enough v. too much.
2. Beg, borrow, and … share. Do I really need to own my own copy of the latest bestseller from my favorite author? No, no I do not. I’m getting better at making use of online resources, borrowing stuff from my sisters and family and friends, using online movie rental programs, etc. In turn, I try to share what I have so that others can also keep a handle on any looming hell.
3. Discern the finer things in life. Reminding oneself of what one’s priorities and true values are can be really helpful in making choices to reduce all manner of hell. So for example, I do enjoy a good cup of coffee. So even though I’m out and about a lot, I try to keep buying stuff to a minimum and save myself (and my budget) for that one amazing cup of coffee. That’s a small example, but the same works for how we make choices about our life and how we engage in relationships. Is this what I really want to be about?
4. Embrace the space. The temptation is great to fill up clean space with more junk — and this holds true for our physical space, emotional space, and spiritual space. Herein lies the apt observations of Matthew too. We get all of our stuff cleaned up, admire our effort, and then proceed to say, “Now I’ll just add this in because it looks great in this new space …” and so on. We’ve got to find ways to own our new space and tend to it diligently and regularly so that we don’t just open the door and let a bunch of gansta spirits take over again. I try to have my “space maintenance” time in the morning and at night — it includes solitude/silence, tidying up my living space, addressing and letting go of aggravations over which I have no control, and truly being at peace with the space and with myself!
5. Hit the road. Sometimes we need a reprieve from the hell that we have created or that is threatening to overtake us. On a day-to-day basis I might go and sit in a quiet place outside or in a stairwell or something. When I am in need of more, I might spend the day at the park or go on retreat, or hang out with my family, or read a wildly engaging novel. These are good times for rest and recovery so that we can be re-energized to head back into the thick of things with a new mindset, some creative ideas, and a grounding in our deepest self with God.

Ever try any of these things? What other steps work for you?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

We are grateful for today’s guest blog post by Marg, in honor of World Food Day yesterday!

“You’re so fat!” is a high compliment in cultures where food is scarce. In 21st century America, that same sentence could land you in a pile of trouble. Clearly, food is an elemental, complex, emotionally loaded topic in both its absence and its abundance! In the Old Testament, the Jews, a people living in a desert, envisioned heaven as a place of plenty. Isaiah, describing the time after the end of time, says:

On this mountain [Zion], the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples A feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. — Isaiah, 25:6

I sit here with my far-too-ample gut, smelling the wonderful supper that Karol is making for us, and I think about that quotation. It’s about God satisfying all our wants…not just satisfying them, but providing the finest of the fine for those who are faithful. In making his point, Isaiah focused on real food, beyond the reach of most people of his time, but food that provided a substantial, universally understandable metaphor.

Breaking Bread with Friends

No matter how good the food, however, eating alone is not much fun. My elderly great-aunt essentially lost interest in eating because she was lonely. When she had company, her appetite returned. Sharing food with someone you care for is a strong defense against loneliness. The Last Supper is the quintessential model of Jesus providing the finest of sustenance – his own body and blood – and sharing it with his friends. Sharing food with good friends expresses love and builds community. In a totally different context, consider the following story as another example of how sharing food can build community, even among strangers.

For 16 years, [Joe Cahn], the self-appointed “Commissioner of Tailgating” has traveled to stadium parking lots around the country, sampling food and making friends. “I call it the original Facebook….Here, when you want to friend somebody, you give them food. On the Internet, when you want to friend somebody, you push a button. What’s more fun?”

“The difference between friends and acquaintances is our friends come into our kitchen. Our acquaintances stay in the living room, waiting to get served. Our friends walk in with their spoon and take stuff out of the pot.”

Joe Cahn, Quoted by Glenn Yoder in The Boston Globe, October 12, 2011, p. G-35

Sharing food is not a uniquely human trait. I’ve seen a flock of cedar waxwings perched on a bough passing berries from one to another until each gets something to eat. Interspecies sharing may be an even less common phenomenon, but take a look at this video clip for an interesting example.

So this is my “Irish Stew” of thoughts about food. What thoughts do you have about sharing food…with friends, with strangers, in different contexts? What are your feelings? There are a multitude of possibilities!

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

We are grateful for today’s guest blog post by Kerri Leigh Power

Sister Julie’s recent post about crosses made me think of the small silver crucifix that I bought while in New Mexico last year, at one of the many roadside shrines that we visited. I love this little cross – it reminds me of our trip and the excitement and reverence that I felt visiting these sacred sites where so many had come before me to find stillness, comfort and connection to God.

Yet I rarely wear the cross in my daily life, and I wondered why. I think it has to do with a reluctance to display my faith openly. How would my cross be interpreted by others? What assumptions would they make about my ideas and beliefs? Do I want to answer questions, to invite strangers to categorize me based on their own understanding of what that tiny cross signifies?

And then I thought of another wonderful trip, our visit to Turkey last spring. Although Turkey is officially a secular country, the presence of Islam permeated our experience as Western visitors. No matter what city we were in, the Islamic call to prayer was a daily companion — waking us in the morning, accompanying us on our walks through town, and usually the last thing we heard as we drifted off to sleep. In every mosque we encountered Muslim pilgrims, men and woman, praying openly and with a complete absence of self consciousness.

It was the first time I had been in a country where faith is so much a part of the daily breath of life. And while I know there is infinite complexity below the surface of what I saw, I still envied the easy presence of spiritual practice. I envied the men and women I watched from my hotel window at 6:30 one morning, walking through dark rainy streets towards the golden light of the mosque. I envied the women I saw praying at the tomb of the poet and mystic philosopher Mevlâna (Rumi), oblivious to the stream of people passing behind them, their hands cupped towards their chests, their focus turned inwards.

I don’t think my faith needs to be always on display, like a piece of jewelry, but I would like it to be such a comfortable part of my daily life that I’m at ease expressing it before others, whether they understand it or not. I’m not sure how to do this though, and it’s something I continue to explore.

Do you ever find it hard to express your faith openly? What inspires you to do so?

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Join the nuns tonight at 6 p.m. CST with a live prayer broadcast from the IHM campus in Monroe, Michigan, with a special NL community member guest and DJ!

The other day, my gardener friend Fran gave me the last tomato of the season from her garden. Tonight, when the festival of Sukkot begins, I’m going to celebrate that tomato, a symbol of abundance.

Sukkot is an annual festival that began in ancient Israel as a thanksgiving to God for the Fall harvest. It also commemorates the forty years that the Jewish people lived in the wilderness after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. Sukkot means “huts” or “booths” in Hebrew. The word brings to my mind an image of humble dwellings of a people in transition, a people whose true home was in God.

In solidarity with the Jewish community, I’ll give thanks for a bountiful harvest. Not only for the tomatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce and many other great things that came from Fran’s garden. But also for the joys of friendship and the recognition that God is with me in all seasons.

So tonight, cheers for the tomato! What comes to mind for you as a symbol of thanksgiving for the Fall harvest in your life?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

This past weekend Sister Maxine and I had congregational meeting — IHM Sisters and Associates gathered in person and via the Internet to pray and talk about our life together. Coming up in January we will be electing a new leadership team (each religious community does this ever 4-6 years) and so we wanted time together as a community to discern and discuss what will be needed for and from the leaders who will be elected in January.

What amazes me about religious life, and in particular my IHM life, is that we are very intentional about making decisions together, truly discerning how the Spirit is calling us, and being willing to hang in there with each other even when it’s tough. In our elections for a new leadership team, we don’t send out head-hunters or gather up a search committee, or start campaigns and platforms. Instead, true to our life as Catholic sisters and nuns today, we gather the whole community together to pray, discern, discuss, and pray some more.

We believe that community governance, founded on Jesus’ presence in
our midst and on our love and respect for one another, enables us more
fully to live the gospel and to proclaim the reign of God.

“We are committed, therefore, to governance which expresses

• faith in Jesus Christ,
• love of one another,
• respect for the individual,
• participation and collaboration,
• corporate decisions and actions.” (from our IHM Constitutions)

I don’t think I ever would have thought this type of corporate decision-making was possible prior to my becoming a nun. I’d just never seen this kind of thing done before. Seriously — a group of 200+ people coming together, valuing each person’s voice, open to the Spirit of God, and making big decisions together. Whoa!

Granted, we hit bumps in the road on occasion — after all, there’s that little thing I like to call our human condition that enters in! But what never ceases to amaze me is that we hang in there together. We don’t throw up our hands and leave the table. We stick it out, trusting that by the grace of God, we will make it through and end up in a good place — even if we can’t see it at the moment.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

Molly of Audramo

Happy Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi! We celebrate this day mindful of all of God’s good creation. One of my nuns sent me the lyrics of a new hymn that was composed for the Humane Society by Pastor Carolyn Gillette of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. The Humane Society is running a contest inviting people to take the lyrics and create a video performance that will then be featured on humansociety.org. Click here for a PDF of the lyrics and sheet music.

The lyrics of this beautiful hymn are our prayer of thanksgiving this day for Saint Francis and all of creation.

O God, Your Creatures Fill the Earth

Ameraucana Max of LeeAnn and Stan

O God, your creatures fill the earth with wonder and delight,
And every living thing has worth and beauty in your sight.
So playful dolphins dance and swim;
Your sheep bow down and graze.
Your songbirds share a morning hymn
To offer you their praise.
You made the pets we welcome in—
They’re wondrous blessings, too.

Button of Kbart and Marg

With paws and whiskers, wings and fins,
They offer praise to you.
O Lord, you call us to embrace
These creatures in our care.
May we show kindness, love and grace
To all pets everywhere.
You made the creatures on each farm;
You know the things they need.
May they grow healthy, safe from harm,
And safe from human greed.

Chloe the Convent Cat reenacting the bible verses of the lion laying down with the lamb

Just as a shepherd loves the sheep,
You know their joy, their pain.
Lord, bless the animals we keep;
May all farms be humane.
Your creatures live in every land;
They fill the sky and sea.
O Lord, you give us your command
To love them tenderly.
We’re called to have dominion here—
To care for them always.
By loving creatures you hold dear,
We offer you our praise.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

Today’s liturgical readings call us to remember and to live today the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. We all know the gist of the story. A traveler is violently attacked and left for dead, passersby avoid the person, but then the least likely of them stops and tenderly cares for the person.

We tend to call anyone who helps a stranger a “good samaritan” which is certainly true to this story but there is also a deeper meaning which the last verse of the story calls us to remember:

Who is neighbor? The one who showed mercy, compassion.

Lest we only allow the story of the Good Samaritan to fill us with warm fuzzies, God calls us to live mercy and compassion, to reach out to others and to ourselves with mercy and compassion. There is yet a further meaning of these words which the prophet Zephaniah brings to the fore:

The word of God came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says God: Render true judgements, show compassion and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. (Zephaniah 7:8-10)

Mercy and compassion are the mark of true justice — not a vengeful justice that takes life for life, violence for violence — but one that shows kindness and respect, one that feels deeply for all involved, one that uses wisdom and relies on the grace of God.

Our response must be three-fold:

1. Pray and reflect on the words of Scripture.
2. Consider how the Spirit is calling us to look at this in our own life — in how we treat ourselves and how we treat others — indeed our whole disposition to life and the world around us!
3. Act. Don’t just think about how this is such a nice idea. Incarnate it.

I’ve learned the all-too-difficult lesson that when you ask God to help you with something like putting your actions where your mouth is, God obliges! Just not necessarily the way I would have liked it. Still, we are called to follow through, to keep pursuing the good that God has stirred within us.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to express our beliefs publicly after Sister Maxine’s post yesterday about billboard morality. Though a billboard is truly an awesome way to declare one’s faith and values, the cross is the “typical” visual way we do this on a day to day basis.

Too often the cross has been reduced to mere fashion accessory (not that fashion is a bad thing) or an all too familiar Christian image that barely registers on our spiritual radar. It sometimes takes a very unusual depiction or placement of the cross to make us think twice about what the cross means. For me, that unusual moment came in the form of a giant 198-foot steel cross off Highway 57. “The Cross of the Crossways” is apparently the world’s largest cross and it is located right here in the midwest in Effingham, Illinois.

Thrusting heavenward out of easy-to-reach flat farmland, the cross seems even bigger than it already is … The massive slab into which it’s anchored is awash in piped-in church music and surrounded by monuments for each of the Ten Commandments, which deliver inspirational audio homilies at the touch of a button.” (source)

I’ll tell you, that cross not only took my breath away for it’s sheer magnitude but also for the amazing witness value. Maybe it was built for that person driving down the highway and who is in a rough space and in need of a sign … imagine the shock as this cross appears on the horizon.

One might think that as a nun, I’d have more opportunities to see crosses and crucifixes. But being on mission in the midst of the worlds means I experience life just like other folks do. But “hidden” crosses are all around us! “Hidden” crosses are those glimpses we have where a couple tree branches randomly form a cross, an architectural pattern forms a cross, etc. Here’s a photo I took while in Avila over the summer. Do you see the cross? I remember reading somewhere that Saint Francis of Assisi would always see these “hidden” crosses all over the place and use the opportunity to say a quick prayer. I am going to try the same!

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Join A Nun’s Life Community and the nuns for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone).

The saints as CEO? Picture this: Saint Francis of Assisi advising financial officers, or Catherine of Siena offering conflict resolution inservices. About 15 years ago author Laurie Beth Jones came out with Jesus, CEO (Hyperion, 1996) followed six years later by Jesus, Entrepreneur (Crown Business, 2002) and a smattering of other applications of Jesus to the business world and everyday life.

Now, we’ve got the saints weighing in! I just read a review by Philip Delves Broughton for the Los Angeles Times about the new book Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership by authors Ruma Bose and Lou Faust.

Broughton says that the authors lay out eight principles based on the life and work of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

1. dream it simple, say it strong
2. to get to the angels, deal with the devil
3. wait, then pick your moment
4. embrace the power of doubt
5. discover the joy of discipline
6. communicate in a language people understand
7. pay attention to the janitor
8. use the power of silence

These are definitely worth pondering, though beyond these thoughts, Broughton’s values the brevity of the book. In the end he writes:

“[T]o get a real sense of the joys and travails of Mother Teresa as CEO, I recommend her private writings, which show how lonely it was at the top.”

While I don’t know what it’s like at the top, I concur 100% that the writings of Mother Teresa and the saints themselves is what will really help us in not only our business life but also everyday life as well. My saint of choice (which probably comes as no surprise) is Saint Teresa of Avila.  Reading her writings as well as those of other saints like Mother Teresa give us a sense of the person and her interior life from the inside out — rather than from the outside in which often happens when we read about a saint rather than reading the saint herself which, I might add, also means walking with that saint and praying with her.

What have you learned from walking with Mother Teresa or another saint? How does that help you in your professional life or personal life?

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Join ministry business partners Sister Maxine and Sister Julie and A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone).

The words of the centurion from today’s gospel story are echoed in every Mass … “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
(Luke 7:6-7; also Matthew 8:8)

One Sunday morning, however, I heard these familiar words in an altogether new and shocking way. During the mass, it came time for the assembly’s response to the presider’s words, “happy are we who are called to this banquet.” I responded with the rest of the community, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed.”  As I said these words, my mind filled with images from the gospel story of the centurion who sought out Jesus to ask him to heal his faithful servant who was at home “ill and about to die.” When Jesus heard this he prepared to go at once, but the centurion said, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof … but say the word and let my servant be healed.”

These were the words that we were now saying, and I prayed for the humility and the faith of the centurion.  I was feeling pretty miserable that day and not worthy of much of anything.  As the community finished the response, a most unusual thing happened. There was a split second silence, and then the words “BE HEALED” rang through the church.  I wondered if what I heard was the voice of God.  It sounded like an old woman’s voice – crackling and somewhat shrill.  It wasn’t probably so different from the disciples’ experiences of the heavens splitting open and the voice of God issuing forth. 

And then I saw her, not God, but an elderly woman leaning precariously over the front pew, her hand gripping a cane. I had seen her before and knew that she was hard of hearing and seeing. Throughout the mass, this woman was always out of sync with the songs and responses.  By the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, I had all but forgotten the constant echo. But it was she who had uttered the words “Be healed.” Because she was just a few seconds behind the rest of the assembly, we only caught the last two words of her sentence, “… but only the say the word and I shall BE HEALED.”

For me, the voice of God was very much revealed through this woman.  These last two words became for me the beginning of a profound understanding of myself and God. I just utter the words out “I am unworthy to receive you” and without missing a beat, God answers, “Be healed.”

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone). The nuns will be joining you from the NL studio!

"Out of Many, One: A Community Art Project” by Muriel Stockdale; For more information go to: http://tinyurl.com/outofmany1

Loving God, hear our prayer today as we work to move toward wholeness. Help us to repair the ravages of hate. Help us to bring together rather than to tear apart. In the spirit of Jesus help us replace the clenched fist with the open hand of solidarity. Help us to build inclusive community where we understand that we need each other for wholeness. Out of many, we are one. Amen.

~ from the IHM Sisters

Blackbelt of the Catholic News Scrum, Audra Turnbull guest blogs about her experience on the A Nun’s Life Media Team for World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain.

I have a confession to make: when I was invited to go to Spain with Sister Julie, Sister Max and Melba, I tried to read about Saint Teresa of Avila but I failed. I never found the time to read any of her books. I was just going to have to go into Avila with an open heart.

Convent Door at the Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila

Our plane touched down in Madrid, Spain at around 7 o’clock in the morning and we immediately drove to Avila. After checking into our hotel room we decided to go into town and take a look around. We ended up spending the entire day inside Avila’s famous medieval walls. As we walked around it became apparent to me that I would have no trouble learning about Teresa of Avila — her influence and spirit was everywhere. Over the next couple days we toured many “Teresa sites”.

We walked through the door of the first convent she entered. I sat outside that door and pondered at how nervous, scared, calm and excited she must have been that day. At that moment I was starting to become a little bit closer to her.

Saint Joseph the Tattletale at the Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila

As we walked through the museum we came upon a scary-looking-to-me statue of Saint Joseph. Legend had it that Saint Teresa told the statue to keep watch of the convent while she was away founding other convents. When she came back Saint Joseph would tell her if any of the nuns misbehaved. I really liked how this saint ran her convents.

We then toured a church that was built on the site where she was born. As I walked through I thought that she must have been a VERY holy person to have a church like this built in her honor. Then hit me- she was holy because of one thing: she loved God with all her heart. This love let her be open to whatever God was calling her to do. I think this is the greatest lesson Teresa taught me.

Countless times I thanked God for showing me this great saint in this way- walking in her footsteps while hearing stories from the people who loved her. That was exactly how the early Christians learned about God.

So I want to thank Saint Teresa for being so gracious in letting me walk in her shoes for a couple of days. I also want to thank Sister Julie and Sister Max for telling me her stories. And of course Melba, for teaching me how to get into a media scrum.

Audra is a professional weather girl for a radio station in western Illinois. She is also an avid polka fan and sometimes author of the blog theawkwardcatholic.blogspot.com.

Words of wisdom from writer and guest blogger, Kbart. We’ve all been in that space where we react to a situation, and Kbart offers some ideas for bringing our reactions into the context of prayer and finding a new way to respond.

“Help!” is a prayer that is always answered. It doesn’t matter how you pray—with your head bowed in silence, or crying out in grief, or dancing. Churches are good for prayer, but so are garages and cars and mountains and showers and dance floors. Years ago I wrote an essay that began, “Some people think that God is in the details, but I have come to believe that God is in the bathroom.”

—From: Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott.
New York: Riverhead Books, 2006.

For a few weeks now, I have been struggling with comments that expressed, from my perspective, a very regressive Catholic (with a CAPITAL C) view. I was able to ignore a few, but their views stayed with me no matter how hard I tried to skim over them. And I was totally unprepared for the spiritual explosion they caused that blew my personal religious closet door wide open. Out crashed the stuff that has always bothered me about being Catholic, and all the things that I remember my Gramma Cleo saying would happen to me if I didn’t obey the teachings of the Church.

So I backed away for a few days to try and sort out what was going on with me. Just a few comments had made me react, and I was angry, hurting, and sad. And worse, I was not strong enough in my own faith to be able to responsively comment back to this voice with something that might dust off their views with fresh air. And now here were all these closet things on the floor that I had to deal with. I have been thinking about all this while walking our dog Button; going to and from work each day; during quiet times when I thought I was doing nothing; and especially at night when trying to get to sleep. And while I don’t consider these spontaneously combusted conversations prayers – I think God does.

I am a big believer that God sends messages in whatever way you will hear the message most clearly. Several days later, I picked-up Anne Lamott’s Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, at the Library where I work. I had never read anything by Anne Lamott but knew others who had really enjoyed her writing. And while our Library has most of her books, this one pretty much leapt from the shelf and into my arms. Lamott is funny, serious, spiritual, questioning, searching and all of these at once. As a writer myself I could feel her struggle to find the right way to express a particular thing she was feeling or going through. I could hear her voice clearly as I read, and her words were speaking directly to me.

I would never have thought that my internal conversations were a prayer for help, but after reading Lamott, I know that’s what they are. And in the process of dealing with the spilled contents of my spiritual closet, I have begun to process what things need to be in the closet and what can be thrown away. The things in my spiritual closet will never be neatly stacked on shelves or hung up in an orderly fashion, and I will continue to “collect” things that make sense to me spiritually. My spiritual self is not clean and shiny, and I have dents and scrapes. But on some level I know that I am loved by God and that God is responsible for the gifts in my life. Not all gifts are easy to accept, but it is within that acceptance that we grow in our spiritual journeys. A couple of weeks ago I could only react to something that bothered me deeply. Having been shaken up, I am now learning that sometimes the best response is to laugh, and move beyond, because, as Lamott says: “Laughter is carbonated holiness.”

Has there been a time in your life that you have found yourself REACTING to something that has distressed you deeply? What was it that helped you get to a place that you could respond and laugh?

Happy Feast of the Assumption! A Nun’s Life community member Marla Thurman wrote today’s blog post in honor of the feast day.

Assumption of Mary (14th c.) housed in Ávila Cathedral museum; photo by Lawrence OP on Flickr

I was directing a retreat for 22 college students when Pope John Paul II died. The theme of our retreat was “I Hope You Dance,” and suddenly everyone stopped rejoicing and became somber. I allowed a couple of hours for sadness, but then I pushed on with the joyful tone of the retreat.

“Should we be having a good time?” a student asked.

“If we believe what we say we believe, yes,” I told her. “If we truly believe that Heaven is the reward for those that do good, and if we believe that Heaven is amazing and beautiful, of course we should be having a good time! The pope is in Heaven experiencing more joy than he ever did on this earth. We should be celebrating!”

The feast of the Assumption of Mary is about just that. Sometimes referred to as “Mary’s Heavenly Birthday,” the Assumption is when we celebrate that Mary’s body and soul were taken up into heaven. Most Church discussion on the Assumption, which was not official Church doctrine until 1950, says that Mary actually died here on earth before being assumed, but it is “okay” with the Church to believe she never died. The issue isn’t forced because Church leaders know it is more important for us to understand where she ended up. To celebrate Mary’s entrance into Heaven is only right. No other person deserved Heaven more.

The custom of celebrating that transition from earthly life to everlasting life is what makes sense for Catholics as a hopeful people. When my best friend died of inflammatory breast cancer in 2001, a prayer card at her funeral read:

Marianne Tillman
Born September 30, 1949
Born to Eternal Life August 1, 2001

I see these announcements at most funerals now. As Catholics, we do hope for a life after this one, we do hope in Heaven. And if we believe that Heaven is joy, how could we not celebrate going there? When we lose those we love and are filled with grief, can we not also rejoice in the belief that they truly are in a happier, more beautiful place?

The Assumption of Mary has many theological implications, most far beyond my ken, but I acknowledge the feast with thanksgiving that there is, indeed, something more for all of us after this life, and it is a wonderful thing to hope for. While no one wants to rush, a “heavenly birthday” can only be awesome.

"We get these backpacks if we go? I'm TOTALLY there!"

World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain, is just around the corner and we’re a little fixated on our preparations both spiritually and logistically! From which Teresa of Avila book to bring to finding WIFI from which to do live broadcasts, we are on a mission.

And that mission includes YOU! That’s right, you. First, a bit about our crazy awesome mission: We’re going to connect with young people and religious (i.e., sisters, monks, nuns, friars, abbesses, ordained religious, priors, etc.)  from all over the world, listen to their stories, and bring them back here to A Nun’s Life as well as to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and whoever will listen ( … Hi Mom! … ).

We’ll be interviewing people on the street, at various WYD venues, and wherever we meet them, and we’ll be asking them about their experiences at WYD and also about calling and what it means to them live into their calling.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help us prepare by telling us what you want to know from the folks we encounter and about the places we go. Give us a sense of questions and topics you’d like us to bring up.

Here’s what you do:

1. Write your name, email, and website (if you have one) in the comment section below (for people who subscribe to our blog posts by email, you must first go to our website at http://anunslife.org/2011/08/08/nuns-in-spain-day-1/).
2. Tell us what you’d like us to talk about, ask questions about, or explore whilst in Spain and at WYD.

Now don’t be shy. You may always read but never write in, or you may be terrified of the certain fame that will accompany posting on a nunly website, but rest assured, your identity is safe with us and your soul is safe with God.

Bring it on!

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone). This will be an adventure prayer experience, at least for us, because we will be testing for the first time our Spain Studio, that is, a backpack’s worth of broadcast equipment!

We welcome Kerri Leigh Power to the A Nun’s Life blog today as our guest blogger for today. What strikes you as you reflect on these words?

Years ago, when I was at a crossroads with my career and unsure where to go next, I read the classic book What Colour is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles. I went through all the exercises — wrote inventories of my skills, prioritized my interests, drew circles to see where it all intersected.

I stared at the lists and diagrams till they gave me a headache, trying to discern my next steps as though reading a mysterious rune. While at the time it gave me some needed focus, it’s all a blur now.

But one part of the book has stayed with me over the years. It was a line in the epilogue, where Nelson Bolles made what he called “some random comments about your first mission in life.” There he declared that our shared mission was “to stand hour by hour in the conscious presence of God.”

I was in my twenties, and I had never heard those words before or anything like them. They rolled over me like waves — “hour… by… hour” in the “presence… of… God.”

It’s amazing how a few words that we read or hear can speak to something within us that has slumbered for a lifetime, waiting for that gentle touch, that invitation to awaken.

I felt instinctively that the man who wrote those words had a relationship with God that permeated every aspect of his life. And I wanted to know — what was it to stand in the presence of God? What was it to be immersed in it, imbued with it, like a flower absorbing particles of light from the Sun?

My fledgling faith has taken a long time to develop. Now, ten years later, I find myself at a similar crossroads (life itself seems to come in repeating waves.) And I know that I don’t want God to be an epilogue in my story. I want God to be the main event.

But like career planning, it’s something I need to think about over and over again. I still ask myself most days — how can I stand hour by hour in the presence of God? I forget God so easily, at the first sign of pain or unhappiness. I forget to ask for help. I forget to pray.

And then, in a moment of grace, I remember, and it’s as if by simply remembering, a space opens up and I again feel imbued with the possibility of light. Maybe for now, remembering is enough.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone)

Guest blogger Regina Heater writes of fish and prayer and Magis in honor of the Feast of Saint Ignatius which was this past Sunday. Saint Ignatius is a great companion for those who are drawn to deepening their spirituality and who are discerning their life’s path.

Inigo the Fish

I am a big Ignatius fan, although I didn’t know very much about him until last winter when I read the book The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Fr. James Martin.

I’m such a big fan, I named my fish Inigo. This is my fish: (OK, I also named him Inigo after Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride. But he’s a Betta, a Fighting Fish, so Inigo fits him well, as both of his namesakes are warriors. But I digress.)

I could tell you all about Ignatius and why he’s awesome, but Fr. Jim has done that really well in a video from the Who Cares About the Saints series, so I’ll encourage you to watch the video for the basics about Ignatius.

There’s a lot of things I love about Ignatius, but I’ll share with you three things of Ignatian Spirituality that have particularly impacted me:

1. The concept of Magis.
Magis is doing more, the greater for God. At the heart of the Spiritual Exercises is this question: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ?” In other words, what have I done, what am I doing, and what more can I do? It’s never a question of comparison with others, or a quest to be superlative. It’s simply an encouragement to extend yourself for Christ.

2. Contemplative in Action/Practicality
I love the inherent balance in Ignatian Spirituality. There’s a time to pray, there’s a time to work, there’s a time to play. Ignatius encourages spiritual directors to adapt the Exercises to the needs of the retreatant.  And Ignatius understood that things take time, and failure happens. We’re not all Spiritual Superstars. Sometimes we have to take baby steps. And, Ignatius knew that not everyone was called to religious life; he wanted everyone to be able to seek, find, and experience God in their specific circumstance.

3. The Examen
I like to think of The Examen as a kind of “check yourself before you wreck yourself” practice. Francis Xavier encouraged Jesuits to prayer it twice a day – mid-day and before sleep. Ignatius has a suggested way for praying it, but with the advisement of Sister Kathie Budesky, IHM, the director of Visitation North Spirituality Center during this Ask Sister podcast, I’ve adapted it. Here’s how I pray the Examen at the end of the day.

For more detailed information and assistance in exploring the Ignatian Way, consider these resources:

• Ignatian Spirituality (from Loyola Press):
  http://ignatianspirituality.com/
• dotMagis blog:
  http://ignatianspirituality.com/dotmagis-blog/
• Picturing God: reader-submitted images of the Divine
  http://picturinggod.ignatianspirituality.com/
• 3-Minute Retreat:
  http://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreats-daily-online-prayer.htm
• Pray-As-You-Go from the Irish Jesuits:
  http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/ (This was how I first started praying the Scriptures each day. Be sure to also click on the “Review of the Day” which is a fantastic way to sort of “toe in” to the Examen.)
• Way of Ignatius (also from the Irish Jesuits):
  http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/wayofignatius.htm
• Other6: offers a way to share with others where you found God and where you need to find God each day.
  http://www.other6.com/

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone)

Today is one of IHM Congregational Feast Days … Saint Alphonsus of Liguori. We’ve invited our IHM Sister and A Nun’s Life friend Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM, to reflect with us on the life of this saint.

Alphonsus Liguori, the Saint we honor today: Nobleman, Lawyer, Hospital Minister, Preacher of Missions, Chaplain, Artist, Musician, Poet, Man of Letters, Mystic, Spiritual Director, Founder, Friend of the Poor, Moral Theologian, Superior General, Bishop, Saint and Doctor of the Church.  Obviously, Alphonsus was a very gifted person about whom each of us might want to know more.

Saint Alphonsus’ life extended through most of the eighteenth century (1696-1787).  Basically, he was committed to preaching missions, along with the Redemptorist Order that he founded, among the abandoned rural poor around Naples, Italy.

There is so much to say about this great man but in this reflection, I want to emphasize his friendship with the poor, who in turn befriended him leading him to a deep and transforming union with God.

“It is evident that fidelity to the promptings of the Spirit was what led St. Alphonsus to leave his world in order to assume that of the poor and most abandoned, just as it is fidelity to that same Spirit that has led some religious to choose to live among, with, for and out of the world of the poor. They embrace the physical, geographic, and human situation of the poor as a focus of their encounter with God.”

~ Jorge Colon Leon CSsR

In this context, says, Father Leon, the poor are seen as a theophany, for in them the transcendent God makes himself present, causing us to question our bourgeois attitudes, calling us to consider whether our ministry choices-personal, community, or worldwide are really in line with call of the Gospel. There is a strong link, insists Kevin Dowling, CSsR, between allowing ourselves to be called by the poor or evangelized by the poor and explicit, prophetic and liberating proclamation of the Gospel to the poor.

My own IHM congregation of Monroe, Michigan was founded by a Redemptorist priest, Father Louis Gillet CSsR.  His zeal for poor, educationally deprived girls challenged him to establish a Catholic school in 1845 on the River Raisin frontier in Monroe.  That school still exists today in the form of a consolidation referred to St. Mary Catholic Central.

But more than beginning a school for poor girls, Fr. Gillet, needed women religious to staff this school, so he thought, if I can’t find them, I will make them.  Thus, began the establishment of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1945.  Our charism explicitly calls us to serve the most abandoned wherever we find them.

So I ask myself and you, the reader, to ponder: In the light of the Gospel, in what ways can I be involved in action to break down the sense of isolation and alienation among the poor and marginalized in my area or situation?  How can I actively participate in poor people’s organizations and movements which focus on economic and political structures and systems? How can I personally live in unity with the poor from the faith perspective that we are one community in Christ? How can the Nunslife community as a group express some form of solidarity with the poor and marginalized?

The following is a link to all the 111 writings of St. Alphonsus which are available to the reader at no cost.  Though the eighteen century language might not be the readers’ style, the beauty of his words and mystical expressions of his deep love for God is quite profound.  Celebrate this great feast and treat yourself to some beautiful writings of a very talented and great saint.

~ Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM

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The Sisters are back in the NL Studio! Join them and the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone)

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Martha and invite you to enter into her story with our guest blogger and friend Marguerite ….

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Jan Vermeeer Van Delft, 1654-5

Among other things, Saint Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus, is the patroness of single laywomen, butlers, cooks, dietitians, servers, homemakers, innkeepers, travelers, and of the village of Villajoyosa, Spain, which annually celebrates a 250-year old festival commemorating Martha’s resucing the village from an attack by Berber pirates in 1538. According to legend, Martha came to the rescue of the townsfolk by causing a flash flood that wiped out the enemy fleet, thus preventing the corsairs from reaching the coast.

I’ve always admired Martha’s spunk in the Gospel stories found in Luke and John, even though I think that Martha often got the short end of the bargain, as when she asked Jesus to tell Mary to give her a hand in the kitchen, and Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part. Here’s Martha with a houseful of company, and who’s going to feed and take care of them if she doesn’t? On the other hand, what good Jewish woman who keeps a kosher house is going to let all those big fishermen muck about in her kitchen?

She wasn’t shy about making her feelings known, even to Jesus. When their brother Lazarus died, both Martha and her sister Mary were grief-stricken. But while Mary wept, Martha went out to meet Jesus when He arrived at their house, saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you what you ask.” (John 11:21,32)

And when Jesus arrives at the tomb of Lazarus and commands that it be opened, the ever practical Martha says, “Lord, he’s been in there for four days. There will be a stench!”
(John 11:39-40)

But have you ever wondered what happened to Martha, Mary, and Lazarus after the Resurrection?

Orthodox tradition says that Martha’s brother Lazarus was cast out of Jerusalem in the persecution against the Jerusalem Church following the martyrdom of St. Stephen. His sisters Mary and Martha fled Judea with him, assisting him in the proclaiming of the Gospel in various lands. The three later moved to Cyprus, where Lazarus became the first Bishop of Kition (modern Larnaca). According to this tradition, all three died in Cyprus.

Saint Martha and the Dragon

But there’s another story, this one from Provence. According to the 13^th century “Golden Legend,” around 48 A.D., Martha, Mary, and Lazarus left Judea and went to what is now France, and there they converted the people to the faith. Martha preached to the people, and she was “courteous and gracious to them.” Now, keep in mind that this is a legend, but one with an interesting lesson to it. According to Provençal tradition, after the ascension of our Lord, when the disciples were departed, Martha with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary and many others, were put into a ship without sail, oars, or rudder, which by the conduct of our Lord they came all to Marseilles, and after came to the territory of Aix, in Provence.

Saint Martha and the Tarasque, from a 15th century manuscript

The legend relates that Martha went to Tarascon on the Rhone River, where a terrible dragon, the Tarasque, lay hiding in the woods and lurking in the river, “perishing those that passed by and drowning ships.

At the behest of the people in the region, Martha went into the wood, and found Tarasque eating a man. She cast holy water on the dragon and showed to him the cross. Tarasque was overcome, and while he was standing “still as a sheep,” she bound him with her own girdle, and then he was slain with spears of the people.

According to the story, Martha and Mary lived out the rest of their days in Tarascon, and were daily occupied in daily prayers and in fasting, and thereafter gathered together a great convent of sisters and built a fair church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Martha’s tomb is located in the crypt of the local Collegiate Church in Tarascon.

I’m intrigued by the legend of Saint Martha and the Dragon. She did not slay the dragon, but rather incapacitated it by the sprinkling with holy water. My mother, my great-aunts, and my cousin Martha tamed many of their own personal dragons (and those of the family, too) by means of prayer and sprinkling with holy water and by the power of faith—and never missed serving up a good meal! I think that the Marthas of this world are still out there, taking care of people, facing down a variety of dragons, speaking their minds, and continuing the work of Jesus in a host of practical ways.

Who are the Marthas in your life, and how do they influence you?

Credits: Wikipedia: Saint Martha

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The Sisters are attending congregational meetings and will be podcasting from the IHM Mothership in Monroe, Michigan. Join them and the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your timezone)

We are honored to welcome again guest blogger and friend, Lisa Burke …

July 26th is, liturgically speaking, the feast of St. Ann and St. Joachim. Growing up it was a popular day to celebrate St. Ann with parish festivals and fireworks (the St. Ann feast in Hoboken, NJ is legendary). With a grandmother named Anne, it was also a day to give special thanks for her and to remember the ways in which she mirrored St. Ann(e).

Ten years ago when I relocated to the central part of New Jersey, I found myself at the Church of Saint Ann, the parish where I have since been a member. Each year the parish holds a preparatory novena for the feast that is a combination of the traditional novena and a parish renewal wherein a guest preacher – often a priest, not always – leads us in a series of reflections. When my work scheduled allowed me greater involvement in the nuts and bolts of parish life, the Novena Committee was the first activity I officially joined. Since then, I have had the standing privilege of “authoring” the daily general intercessions for the nine days of the novena. Having the opportunity to pre-pray the readings and themes of the novena has provided an additional layer of engagement with the feast that we celebrate today.

Catholics, for the most part, are probably pretty familiar with the Feast of the Holy Family that is celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas, a day set aside to honor the Holy Family into which Jesus was born, a family that provides a model for families today, regardless of their specific composition. But in reality, there was an earlier Holy Family of Nazareth, the family into which Mary, the immaculate conceived Mother of God was born, the family of Ann, Joachim, and Mary.

While it is common to relate to Ann and Joachim as the grandparents of Jesus and the parents of Mary, I think it is beneficial today, particularly in an era where diversity in the composition of families is more prominent and (unfortunately) sometimes more contested, to consider the first Holy Family of Nazareth.

Much of what we believe about Ann and Joachim comes to us through tradition based on the Protoevangelium (or Infancy Gospel) of St. James. In our minds, we understand Ann and Joachim to be somewhat older, perhaps around the age of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who tradition holds was the first cousin of Ann (or at least that is what I recall learning). So here we have the first Holy Family of Ann, Joachim, and Mary.

To understand the family, it is important to understand Ann and Joachim as individuals, as a couple, and as parents. Faithful, prayerful, devout. These three powerful adjectives tell us a lot about them. Trusting, confident, and hopeful. These three adjectives tell us a lot as well. But let’s think, too, about what we don’t often focus on, the preoccupations, concerns, and worries they must have had as they raised Mary and as they grew older. Clearly faith and, yes, spirituality (although that would not have been a common term at that time) were essential components of their lives. I can see them in my mind’s eyes participating the rituals and worship of the Jewish tradition on a regular basis. I can see them relying on the Scriptures of the Torah, and I can hear them engaging in the psalms as their way to connect with the Most Sacred G-d. I can imagine them working daily and toiling to sustain a home where G-d was all and all lived for G-d and one another. I can see Ann and Joachim raising their daughter to be a woman who would be betrothed to a man of G-d. Could they ever have imagined that she in fact would be the Spouse of G-d and bear in her own body the Savior of the World?

In that way, Ann and Joachim are beautiful models for parents and caregivers today. They provide us with real life people who dealt with all the unknowns life has to offer and faced the uncertainties of life with trust, faith, confidence, hope, and surrender.

It’s really impossible to appreciate fully the Holy Family (of the New Covenant) who we celebrate at Christmas without getting to know better the first Holy Family of Nazareth, and it’s limited in meaning to honor the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus if we don’t recognize the Holy Family of today, the families in which we find ourselves, whether they are blood families, spirit families, religious families, or chosen families.

Today, join me in taking time to contemplate the family of Ann, Joachim, and Mary and what treasures of faith and wisdom that Holy Family offers me and you. Today, join me in considering how the Holy Family of Ann, Joachim, and Mary made possible – and in fact was essential to – the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Today, join me in thanking God for the Holy Family of Today, the many Holy Families, I have encountered in my own life. Today, join me in lifting up in prayer the rich diversity of families who comprise the one human family where all are made in the image and likeness of God and all are invited to “Love one another as I have loved you.”

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The Sisters are attending congregational meetings and will be podcasting from the IHM Mothership in Monroe, Michigan. Join them and the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST (your timezone)

Today’s blog post is from our friend Sister Hildegard Pleva, OSsR, a Redemptoristine contemplative nun from New York. You can find Sister Hildegard at the blog Contemplative Horizon.

In the final days of my first long private ten day retreat in the monastery, a retreat in preparation for being received into the novitiate, a note was slipped under my door. The prioress, Sr. Moira, was asking if I had a preference for my name in religion. In the past, sisters and nuns routinely had their named changed by their novice mistress or prioress sometimes with consultation and sometimes without. The names of saints, frequently those with significance for the charism of the congregation or order, would be substituted for their baptismal names. In addition, particularly in contemplative monastic orders, a predicate would be added to the name. The Little Flower had two predicates – Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face! In the mid-1960s the documents of the Second Vatican Council reiterated the primacy of our baptismal call therefore many sisters and nuns returned to the use of their baptismal name, the name by which they were called into the life of Christ Jesus.

Sr. Moira’s request to me was a very kind one. I had already given the issue some thought. I wrote back to her, “As if the name of Hildegard (my baptismal name) is not long enough, I would like to add ‘Magdalen of the Resurrection’ to my name if the space offered on whatever document has room enough.” On the last day of my ten day retreat my novice habit was blessed in the sacristy before Mass. The next morning I appeared in chapel wearing that habit (a burgundy jumper and white blouse) and the white veil of a novice (an option in our monastery) ready for Morning Prayer which was the setting for being received into the Novitiate. There followed a procession to the Formation Room (place for instruction during Novitiate) where a special blessing was given by the Prioress and the community.

Why Hildegard Magdalen of the Resurrection? I entered this monastery eleven years ago today. I looked upon Mary Magdalene as the patroness of the process of my formation and integration into this company of women. Evidence indicates that Mary Magdalene was a mature woman when she joined the company of Jesus. Her past has been the subject of great conjecture. But surely it was varied and unlike that of the other women who followed Jesus. I imagined that it took her a while to fit in. She would help me to ‘fit in.’ I was also influenced by the image of the Magdalene presented in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar. There is such a haunting quality to the words of her soliloquy, “I don’t know how to love him…” I was learning the contemplative monastic way of loving Jesus. In addition, my baptismal godmother’s name was Madeline. I was not given a middle name at baptism but when I entered a small Catholic girl’s academy for high school the sisters insisted that I have one and I chose Madeline. My godmother was a creative, joyful, generous woman who had achieved a great deal in her life while overcoming poverty, lack of formal education and personal strife. She too was a role model.

Each year I marvel at the frequent mention of Mary Magdalene in the Easter liturgies and in the Mass readings of the Easter Octave. This is a major contribution to the transformation of her reputation from that of repentant prostitute to the Apostle to the Apostles. It is unfortunate that her person as been conflated with that of the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany and the woman caught in adultery. Today, scholars agree that these are probably three separate people. That makes it so much more interesting!

I pray that Mary Magdalene will intercede for all women striving to make their way in the company of Jesus.

A guest blog post by friend and writer Kbart ….

“O Holy Ghost, sweet guest of my soul!
Abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in thee.”
From: Cardinal Spellman’s Prayer Book. New York, NY: Edward O’Toole Co., Inc. 1951.

A number of years ago, I used to work in downtown Boston. Each day at lunch, I would take a walk, and one of the stores I passed was “Matthew Sheehan’s Religious Articles.” I was curious about the shop but never made time to go in. So one day Marguerite came down to see me, and we walked past this shop, and we went in and checked out the store. It was pretty awesome, old and new at the same time. They sold Bibles for all denominations, religious books, statuary, rosaries, religious jewelry, church goods, and other religious articles. They also had a used section that featured, among other things, the old religious statues that I remember from my Catholic school days, and prayer books.

While poking around in this section, I stumbled upon this little red book called Cardinal Spellman’s Prayer Book, published in 1951. Paging through it, I found all those prayers I thought I had forgotten. I picked up the book and showed it to Marguerite, who told me who Cardinal Spellman was. I told her about the prayers, and then I put the book back. Without my knowing it, Marguerite went back and got the book and gave it to me for Christmas that year. When I opened that gift, I was happy to see it. There was something about that little book that calmed me when I picked it up, and Marguerite saw it.

I have never been much for prayers. Early on in life someone, well-meaning, tried to bring my sisters, brother and me up to be “good” Catholics – with a capital C. What that well-meaning person did was scare the living daylights out of us, to the point that we wanted nothing to do with prayers, Catholic symbols, rosaries, or Mass for a very long time. The idea of a “Holy Ghost” also scared the living daylights out of me, especially since our very devout and well-meaning grandmother assured us that this Ghost was ever-present and knew all about us. Life goes on, and while my sisters and brother may be spiritual, and possibly believe in a God, they would definitely NOT consider themselves Catholic. Me on the other hand, while I have tried to run away from being Catholic with a Capital C, I find that over the years, being catholic with a small c is something that keeps calling me.

This little prayer book is one I go back to every now and again. One of the first prayers I remember I looked up was the “Hail Mary,” because I couldn’t remember how it went. The second prayer was the “Memorare.” In the case of the “Memorare,” the remembered words brought me a sensation that had never happened before, and it calmed me, and I felt safe. The other thing was the book never referred to the “Holy Spirit,” but to the “Holy Ghost.” And now rather than scaring me, it makes me laugh. And I realize that as I proceed in my Spiritual journey, maybe I do stand a “ghost of a chance!”

In what ways do you feel the Spirit inside of you? Have there been times in your life when your own search for Spiritual understanding, with a capital S, has scared you? What have you done to overcome struggles to accept your own Spiritual path?

A guest blog post by friend and writer Marla H. Thurman

Has anyone else ever noticed that if Mary comes to visit, a person’s chances of becoming a saint increase exponentially?

The Blessed Mother has quite a history of seeking out the small and disenfranchised. She has appeared to children, to laborers in the fields, and to humble priests and nuns all over the world.

It should be no surprise, then, that in the thirteenth century Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patroness of the Carmelites, appeared to an 84 year old hermit who lived in the hollow of an oak tree.

And yet, people doubt the story of Simon Stock.

The meeting of the saint and the Mother of God is one disputed by church leaders. Perhaps there never was a Simon Stock, lately a saint. Maybe the story is just a tool the Carmelites used to encourage a devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Real or legend, Simon Stock is a beautiful example of how to live out one’s vocation. He prayed without ceasing. He was unconcerned with material goods. He devoted himself to being like Mary. When he and his Carmelite friars were persecuted by government and church officials, Simon turned in complete trust to Mary to save them all. And save them she did. Not only did they survive that earthly persecution, they received a promise from Our Lady herself that if they persevered in their vocations they would absolutely go to Heaven.

The promise still stands, not just for the Carmelites, but for any and all of us who listen to God’s call and respond to the best of our abilities. We can’t all see Mary, and we can’t all be canonized, but we can sincerely strive to be all God intended. Our Lady of Mount Carmel wouldn’t ask for less.

Note: Primetime, an ABC news magazine, had a story Wednesday, June 22 about Mary appearing at a Pennsylvania tree stump! Maybe she was looking for the next Simon Stock! Check out “The Miracle Mysteries” on Hulu from ABC

A guest blog post by friend and writer Lisa Burke, New Jersey

In the journey of Discernment (yes, discernment with a capital D) to figure out the big life questions, “Who am I called to be? How I am called to live the Who that God has made me? Where and in what ways I am called to serve and consecrate myself?” we can become surrounded by many inspiring role models and attractive ways of life. As we encounter people who have expanded their baptismal consecration through the profession of the evangelical counsels, namely poverty, chastity, and obedience, through religious life, we find ourselves often times wondering if we can live up to the example of Sister A, or Sister B, or Sister C. While seeking to replicate the good examples of people who inspire and motivate us is a beautiful thing, we need not seek to be or copy another person’s life. As St. Francis of Assisi said to his young followers as he lay on his death bed, “I have done what was mine to do. May Christ now teach you what you are to do.” Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said to a woman who lived life with multiple sclerosis, “What you can do, I cannot. What I can do, you cannot. But together we can do something beautiful for God.”

Both of these statements are profoundly powerful and liberating. The realization that each of us has our own unique call, our own identity in the heart of God, is a beautiful realization. It allows us to accept the opportunities for grace, transformation, service, and love that come to us each and every day, knowing that God has given us those encounters in order to live out what is ours to do.

Today the Church honors the life and call of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. I first “encountered” Kateri when I was a child. My middle sister is named Kathy, and while she was named for a paternal aunt of ours, my mother held Kateri as a kind of patron for her. Kateri was a Mohawk-Algonguin woman who lived 24 short years from 1656-1680. A beautiful young woman, her life was scarred with crosses from a very early age. Despite the difficulties she lived, Kateri sought to live God’s love at every moment. After having converted to Catholicism, she was ostracized and outcast by the non-Christian members of her community. She eventually moved to a community of Native American Christians in Quebec. There she lived a life of prayer, sacrifice and ministry to the infirm and elderly. One year before her death, she made a vow of chastity, an expression of her consecrated virginity. On April 17, 1680, Kateri, in the words of Catherine of Siena, “closed her eyes to this world and opened them to the next.” Her final words were, “Jesus, I love you!”

“Jesus, I love you!” is what our journeys of discernment are about, figuring out how God dreams for us to express most fully our love for God and experience most fully God’s love for us as we let our lives be poured out as bread and wine for a world that is hungry and thirsty for God. As many of in our community look to religious life and seek to identify the congregation/community to which they are called, the group of women (or men) among whom they can best live out their baptismal call and religious consecration, bear in mind that even when all or many members are engaged in the same or similar ministry or way of life, each of us still our own work to do.

As all of us, regardless of where we are in life, seek to live out God’s dream for us on a daily basis, I leave you with these words of John Henry Newman (Meditations & Devotions), which have always been a source of inspiration and encouragement to me as I have endeavored to discern both the big and small questions of my life’s journey.

God has created me to do him some definite service;
He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another.
I have my mission;
I never may know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
I have a part in a great work;
I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good, I shall do His work;
I shall be an angel of peace,
a preacher of truth in my own place,
while not intending it,
if I do but keep His commandments
and serve Him in my calling.

Our friend Father James Martin, SJ, sent us a link to a video from the newly released DVD, ”Who Cares about the Saints?” produced by Loyola Productions. This video is of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897).

Who is the Little Flower?
What does the life of a 19th-century Carmelite nun,
cossetted by her parents, nourished on a diet of overheated Catholic piety,
and cloistered for the last few years of her short life,
have to say to modern-day men and women?

SOURCE: Who Cares About the Saints? (Therese of Lisieux) from Loyola Productions

So, who is the Little Flower to you? What experiences have you had in getting to know her and praying with her?

Sister Maxine and Sister Julie are on the road and are blessed to have another talented write fill in for us on the blog. Thank you, Kbart, for this reflection on today’s scripture story about the woman healed by Jesus ….

Full disclosure – I have never finished reading the bible. Every time I start reading I get stuck on something, and I stop to try and figure it out. This of course means that I stop reading…for years, and then I pick the bible up and start reading again, only from a different place from before. The bad news is that I haven’t read the whole bible. The good news (no pun intended) is that when I do read a passage from the bible it stays with me.

A few days ago knowing that I was writing blog for today, Sister Julie sent me an email with the reading for today: Matthew 9:18-26. She also said “don’t have to use it, just an FYI in case you need an idea.” My internal voice kept saying: ‘you don’t have to use it; you don’t have to use it; you don’t have to use it.” But the thing about internal voices is that the button for volume control often goes missing. So of course I went to the darn bible, looked the reading up; read it; closed the book and immediately asked myself “what the heck am I going to do with this?”

The next morning at breakfast I told Marguerite about the email, the reading, and my struggle to “get it.” We talked about it and Marguerite, a gifted teacher, has a way of helping me interpret things in a way I can understand. But as with all good teachers, she leaves me off at the door with questions. And then it’s up to me whether or not I want to open the door to explore further. In this case my questions stemmed from the woman who followed Jesus to touch his cloak. What was it that made her do that: knowledge, belief, or faith?

I spent an hour going through three dictionaries (I am a librarian) checking the differences in the definitions of those three words and the synonyms of the same. And while knowledge is still on the paper – it is the other two that I am stuck with: belief and faith. That woman sought Jesus out in the crowd believing that Jesus would heal her. And when Jesus turned around and saw her he said “Courage, daughter. Your faith has healed you.” Matthew goes on to say “that very moment the woman was healed.”

I think about my own life and wonder if my own patchwork faith is as strong as that woman’s. Would the strength of my faith carry me into a crowd with the belief that just one touch would heal me? I respond by saying that each day “something” carries me into the day and helps me get through. That same “something” is with me when the moments are long and I can’t get out of my own way. “Something” is in the face of a little baby nephew when he smiles. And I believe for me that “something” is my faith in God. And even though I haven’t read the whole bible….”something” keeps me going back to start again. Maybe “something” isn’t about finishing, but adding to, and continuing as I move through my life with belief and faith.

Has your faith carried you into a crowd with the belief that you would be healed? Where did your faith come from? How do you keep your faith fresh, growing and strong?

Today we have a guest blog post from our friend Kbart ….

“I am not religious,” says my neighbor, as he hoes the rows between his beans and corn.

“Oh yes, you are,” I say to myself.
To plant a seed is an act of faith.
To collect compost is a response of gratitude to the creator.
To water, fertilize, and mulch the ground is an expression of religious responsibility.
To kneel down and pull weeds is prayer.
To harvest is to participate in the fullness and grace of the spirit.
To protect and replenish creation is to love God.

“I am not religious,” says my neighbor.
Yes, you are, I say.

From: Into the Wilderness: A Meditation Manual by Sara Moores Campbell. Boston, MA: Skinner House Books, Unitarian Universalist Association, 1990

I picked this book up in 1990 and the meditation above is by far one of my favorites. Given the season, we are already tasting the bursting flavors of fresh and locally grown greens, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, peas, and some herbs, such as the mints, oregano, and lemon balm. And there are so many more to look forward to!

Each week we try to get our weekly stash of locally grown from one of the many farmers’ markets we have in our area. I love being able to talk with and thank the growers of the bounty that is for sale. We are truly blessed each time a farmer is born, at whatever age that may be. And I taste all of their prayers in each bite of the fresh strawberry shortcake I enjoy. And I give thanks to all who had a “hand” in that creation of strawberry.

We are all gardeners in one way or another, be it through the planting of seeds or the planting of an idea. In either case, it is up to us to see the seed or idea through. Are you a “gardener” and if so, how does prayer find its way into your “strawberry?”

On this holy feast day we have a guest blogger, Regina Heater …

When I first went back to Mass – to the Easter Vigil – after a time when I was deeply, deeply wounded by people whom I trusted and loved and depended upon – I cried through most of the Eucharistic liturgy. It felt like coming home, and it felt like I just might heal after all.  And yet, as I went to receive Communion, at that Mass and the ones that followed, I would wonder – what exactly did I believe? Was I accepting Transubstantiation? Consubstantiation? Mere symbols? When I bowed with the priest, as the words triggered memories of bells rung by altar boys (how I wanted to ring those chimes!), what did I believe? Was it Christ? Was it bread? Was it blood? How could it be bread yet God? Doesn’t that defy physics? Does it matter? What did everyone around me believe?

And yet. I could not deny that there was something - something - Real and Present with me in the ritual. I used to think that what made Communion special was the community, gathered to commemorate together the Lord’s sacrifice.  I’ve participated in some beautiful rituals – con-celebrating the blessing of the elements, (the setting from the Iona Community is particularly wonderful), distributing the elements, singing the common songs (One Bread, One Body… Let Us Break Bread Together), celebrating World Communion Sunday with breads from many nations. Amazing, wonderful rituals.

And yet. In my heart, deep within my soul, I yearned for something more.  I learned in time that it is a combination of the gathered community and the Real Presence of Christ in our Eucharist that is the more I sought. It is knowing that our Eucharistic feast is merely a prelude for our experience of the Eucharist in the world.  At Mass, we experience the Real Presence of Christ; outside of Mass, we are Eucharist for the world. We aren’t merely bringing Christ to the world, we ARE the Presence of Christ to everyone we meet. We are holy and living sacrifices.  We are the bread, we are the cup, we are what brings nourishment and refreshment to the world. We are the instrument of grace to people around us, even as our commemoration of the Eucharist is a means of bringing grace to us. We are, literally and figuratively, the Body of Christ.

We sing a song at my church that begins with the Agnus Dei and transitions to a beautiful prayer about communion.  It is called “Lamb of God/Taste and See,” composed by Tom Kendzia. I often find myself humming it after Mass, sometimes through the week. It is a reminder to me to give thanks at all times, that God is Real and Present with me and with all those around me.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,
oh taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Let the lowly hear and be glad, let us glorify his name,
together let us praise God’s name.

Glorify the Lord with me, together let us praise his name;
from my fears God has set me free.

This week’s liturgical readings from Matthew are some of my favorites. The writers of the Gospel admonish us to not be harsh with others, because no one, including ourselves, is perfect. They remind us to treat others the way we’d like to be treated. And in today’s reading, they caution us to beware of “false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep, but underneath are ravenous wolves” (Mt 7:15).

My first inclination is to think of “false prophets” as those who misuse scripture to promote intolerance, narrow-mindedness, exclusivity and other qualities that aren’t life-giving. But when I think more expansively, I realize false prophets take a variety of forms.

A couple of my false prophets are an inclination to sacrifice sleep for work, even though I know of the importance of sleep, and a propensity to skip meals instead of making time for healthy eating.

When I think of even larger contexts, the false prophets that come to mind are ideas like: having a strong consumer-based economy is what’s best for us and the world, and there’s a pill or surgery for almost any human condition we consider undesirable. For today, in the spirit of Matthew, I’m going to try to be more conscious of the false prophets around me and the questions they raise for my life.

What are some of the false prophets that you encounter in life? What questions do they bring to mind for you?

Pentecost brings unexpected blessings … to say the least! On Sunday I went to church with my family and one of the threads in the sermon was about how the Spirit is especially close to us during those times when we feel broken. With the Spirit close by, breathing within us, we can find new life! Such a powerful message considering that these words were spoken before a church community who had lost its home in the 2008 floods in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and had for 2 years worshipped in several different places until a new home was found in late 2010.

Here’s what really blew me away. In the midst of the sermon, Simon my two-year-old nephew, who had been playing intensely with his new John Deere truck and must have heard the word “broken” a dozen times, looked up and said, “Broken.” It was terribly cute. But then he looked over to his father (my brother) and said, “Da-da fix?”

Simon (who was named after Simon Peter) had it totally right. He heard Scripture proclaimed, he heard the message, and he got it. He knew that his dad could fix whatever brokenness was being talked about because he’d experienced his dad’s handiwork before. My brother is an engineer and is a master at bringing broken or misfit toys, gadgets, and other random items to new life.

As Simon so aptly pointed out, you and I each have the responsibility of being part of the new life that is to emerge from our brokenness — our personal brokenness and our common brokenness. “Fixing” doesn’t mean slapping on some glue or painting over the problem; rather, it means being open to new life. If this church community had tried to glue and paint over their church building that had sat for days in a flood, it would have been in vain for all the destruction that had taken place. They grieved but did not remain in that space or place for long as they opened themselves to the Spirit who had drawn close indeed.

As Pentecost washes over us, consider what it means to be broken in your own life and also in our world. What does it mean for you to allow the Spirit to draw near and to be open to new life?

On this holy feast day of Pentecost, we have a guest blog post from our friend,
Regina Snyder Heater.

I don’t know about you, but the Holy Spirit was not given much time in my faith formation. The emphasis was on Jesus, and if you read the Creeds and the prayers of the Christian tradition, you’ll see there is precious little devoted to the enigmatic Holy Spirit (there are more mentions of Mary than the Spirit in our Common Prayers listed in the Compendium.) Even during my theological studies, the Spirit was not given much mention. (For example, it was only last year that I learned what a Paraclete is.)  It seems we only devote out attention to the Holy Spirit when it’s Pentecost and Confirmation (time to sing Veni, Sanctus Spiritus unless your choir/orchestra is up to O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe, BWV 34, (O eternal fire, o source of love) a glorious cantata by Bach).

There’s even confusion about whether the Spirit is Spirit or a Ghost, a She or a He or an It.  Perhaps it’s because the Spirit scares us, with wind and tongues of fire and promises of visions, which our mystical counterparts like Hildegard embraced with abandon, yet are frankly a little scary, at least in my mind.  And yet Hildegard really seemed to “get” the Holy Spirit, to the point that it makes me a little sad to think my own inhibitions perhaps get in the way of experiencing all that the Spirit offers to me in Christ.

In John 14, Jesus tell us “the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom Abba God will send in my name, will instruct you in everything and she will remind you of all that I told you.”  The Greek word used here, parakletas, means “one called to the side of” which is why this is also translated as Advocate and Counselor.  It’s interesting to me that the Holy Spirit is both called and sent. We can call upon the Holy Spirit to assist us in whatever we are facing, so that we might be animated and sanctified, that we might build the Church.   If we live in the Spirit – if we live an animated life – we will not only see visions of a world where the Kin-dom of God exists in the present, we will also know the Fruits of the Spirit: love (charity), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness and self-control.  Those are things I want in my life, and so I will sing with our friend Hildegard and all Christians on Pentecost:

Come Holy Spirit, creator, come/from your bright heavenly throne/come take possession of our souls/and make them all your own…

Other great contributions from Hildegard about the Holy Spirit:

You are called Comforter,
gift of the highest God,
found of life, fire, love,
and spiritual unction.

Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, bestowing life unto life,
moving in All.
You are the root of all creatures,
washing away all impurity,
scouring guilt,
and anointing wounds.
Thus you are luminous and praiseworthy, Life,
awakening, and re-awakening all that is.

Sister Theresa Coulter, IHM

Nothing can ever really take the edge off of the reality of death. Life is, and then it is not. Theresa is with us, and then one Sunday night, she is no longer here the way we have always known and loved her.

There is a song in our IHM tradition that speaks of our sisters who have died as “dwelling now in light, yet ever near.” In times like this, I have to trust the wisdom of my community and of my faith tradition because my plain old human emotions are not all that jubilant. I rather liked Theresa dwelling here and now. I loved her gentle spirit, determination, and courage to speak the truth. I like the Communion of Saints that are here with me, that I can rub shoulders with, revel in God’s mystery with, and share the bond of sisterhood with.

At the same time, I am a woman fiercely of the resurrection. I believe, as we read in yesterday’s Gospel, that God indeed desires peace for us, courage in times of challenge, and trust that God has already conquered the world! (John 16:33) For me, that conquering business does not mean overpowering the world, crushing it; rather it means that in all things — even persecution, suffering, and death — God is with us and has the final word. What is that word? Well, I think about Theresa, and I think of one word. Love.

"Elizabeth Greets Mary," part of Dark and Beautiful, An Exhibit of Paintings by Fr. Jim Hasse, SJ, at the Marian Library of the University of Dayton

Today is one of my most favorite feasts of the year: The Visitation which is proclaimed in Luke 1: 39-56.

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

My soul proclaims your greatness, O God,
and my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior.

For you have looked with favor
upon your lowly servant,
and from this day forward
all generations will call me blessed.

For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me,
and holy is your Name.

Your mercy reaches from age to age
for those who fear you.
You have shown strength with your arm;
and have scattered the proud in their conceit;

you have deposed the mighty from their thrones
and raised the lowly to high places.
You have filled the hungry with good things,
while you have sent the rich away empty.

You have come to the aid of Israel your servant,
mindful of your mercy—
the promise you made to our ancestors –
to Sarah and Abraham
and their descendants forever.

And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.

What is a significant moment of “visitation” in your own life? How did this experience lead to a “magnificat” of praise to God?