PROPER 17, Aug 28 – Sept 3 FIRST READING Jeremiah 2:4-13 The Lord, reports the prophet, is angry with the people. After all the good things he has done for them, they wander away from him. Historians say that apostasy was the major sin of the Jewish tribes before the Exile to Babylon, but he prophets who come after, seldom mention it. The passage was written in verse and appears as verse in the New Revised Standard Version. Some good poetry here. Look at that final metaphor: God is spoken of as living water, suggesting a bubbling and babbling …
Weeding, Watering and Harvesting
I spend a lot of my days in the vegetable garden. It is a good teacher. Some days I weed and that’s that – I am simply present to the plants right in front of me. A wonderful practice of learning to pay attention, I find. Some days this practice of being in the present moment unexpectedly calls attention to some weeding that wants to happen in me. It is as if from somewhere in the deep ground of my being a little more sun wants to give something in my life more clarity or purification. Good, and challenging… One …
Adult Spiritual Enrichment Opportunities at Holy Wisdom
Breakout sessions allow for a more intimate conversation during retreats and can lead to spiritual deepening. Photo by Sandy Wojtal-Weber. In late 2012, at the invitation of Sister Mary David Walgenbach and the Benedictine Women of Madison Board, a small group of volunteers started working as two committees to enhance the spiritual enrichment opportunities for adults at Holy Wisdom Monastery. The committees shared a common mission: to sponsor speakers and develop programs that would help deepen the spiritual life of members of Sunday Assembly as well as the broader Madison community. The two committees recently joined to become the Spiritual Deepening Council of Holy Wisdom …
Benedictine Hospitality in the Sisters’ Community
The sisters share their lives with Sojourners and Volunteers in Community who are exploring what it is like to live in community. Benedict tells us that guests bring blessings to the community. The sisters have been blessed by providing hospitality to a great variety of people over the years. Since the 1970s, in addition to our retreat and conference work, we have extended hospitality to women, men and families as guests within the sisters’ community. Refugee families from Guatemala, Vietnam, India and China lived in the monastery with us. This meant providing more than just a place to stay, but …
Volunteer Spotlight: Michael Belongie
Michael Belongie helps keep the monastery grounds looking groomed and well-tended. A long weekly drive hasn’t deterred Michael Belongie from volunteering at Holy Wisdom for the past 10 years. “The 96-mile round trip from Beaver Dam has proven more eye-opening and satisfying than 10 round-the-world trips I might have undertaken,” Michael related. Taking on tasks as varied as helping with controlled prairie burns, removing weeds from the gardens in front of the monastery and Retreat and Guest House, washing windows, taking out the trash and floor care keeps Michael busy when he’s here on Wednesdays. Prior to retiring from his …
Living Day to Day
Summer days at the monastery (l-r, top to bottom): work in the prairie, gathering for prayer in the oratory, time for solitude and mediation, for study, and for shared meals The monastery is quite a lively place this summer with volunteers as well as two visiting women religious from Spain living with us in community! This group, varying in numbers over the last two months, joined the sisters in the daily life of the monastery which is a rich flow of diversity and energy. Weekly volunteers join coworkers in the monastery building or on the grounds. Neighbors and oblates come for daily …
Holy Wisdom Monastery continues support of Vera Court Neighborhood Center
The Sunday Assembly community at Holy Wisdom Monastery has been collecting and bundling donations for the Vera Court Neighborhood Center since 2007. This is an important aspect of living out the justice portion of the sisters’ mission, supporting a neighborhood community center on Madison’s north side. Patrick Schrank, the fund and program development director at VCNC writes: “Holy Wisdom Sunday Assembly Members: Thank you again for your continued support of Vera Court Neighborhood Center. This summer we have been able to serve more than 85 children and teens in our summer camps. Thank you for your contributions which make our work …
Colleen Hartung's Homily from July 28, 2013
Luke 11, 1-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” “Truth or Dare?” Have you ever wonder, “what exactly is Jesus talking about here?” Every single day, in every single corner of this troubled planet, a hungry child asks and does not receive; a desperate cancer patient seeks and does not find; a homeless “bum” knocks and nobody opens the …
Holy Wisdom Monastery partners with Dane County on Care for the Earth efforts
Sister Mary David Walgenbach demonstrates the prairie seed-sowing technique used in the Wisdom Prairie Project. Holy Wisdom Monastery is pleased to share that its partnership with Dane County is growing. County Executive Joe Parisi joined us on Thursday, July 18 for a press conference to share the news that the county intends to buy a 60-acre portion of the sisters’ prairie so that it can remain in prairie into perpetuity. Prairie helps reduce the amount of run-off of pollutants (especially phosphorous) that would otherwise end up in Madison’s lakes. Dane County Supervisor Sharon Corrigan introduced a resolution at last night’s …
Patti LaCross' Homily from July 14, 2013
Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 1o:25-7 Were there any specific phrases or images that spoke to you from this rich feast of Scriptures? Maybe “God’s delight in prospering you?” Or, “the nearness of the word in your mouth and heart?” “The love you have for all the saints”, “the hope laid up for you”, the “joyful giving of thanks”, or the image of mercy shown by the Samaritan? Any number of phrases from today’s 3 SS might one that resonates for you; listen for it! You may be gifted with a soundtrack for the next few days. Is there anyone here who has not heard …