Holy Wisdom Monastery provides many ways for women and men to take part in the mission and vision of the sisters’ community. The oblates of Holy Wisdom Monastery are one group that shares in our mission and vision. The oblates are an intentional and ecumenical community of women and men in society. In a mutual relationship with the sisters, they seek God through the Benedictine tradition of a balanced life of prayer, work, leisure, and study. The oblate community provides its own leadership. The leadership circle attends to the on-going details of the life of the community. It chooses speakers …
Ecumenism, My Story
By Carolyn Heidemann, long-time friend and donor My first visit to Holy Wisdom Monastery (then St. Benedict Center) was the summer of 1966 when the Taizé Prayer Group, part of UW Campus Ministry, came out for a day of volleyball, worship and supper. Sister Joanne greeted us in her flowing habit. My most recent visit to Holy Wisdom Monastery was December 13, 2012, when a friend and I decided rather spontaneously to join the sisters and their guests for lunch. There was room at the table, Sister Joanne declared the dessert to be birthday cake and we were serenaded by …
Nature Notes Winter 2012-2013
After a warm, Saint Louis-like fall, full-blown winter weather came almost on the winter solstice. What a beautiful snow it was, except from the end of a snow shovel! After the drought last summer this snow is extraordinarily important to help replenish the moisture deficit in the soil. Despite the fifteen inches of snow, the sub soil is still exceedingly dry. It is impossible to tell whether this one event or the drought of last summer constitutes evidence of climate change, however, I feel that all of these increasingly frequent and out of the ordinary weather events must certainly be …
Scripture Commentary for January 20, 2013 by Arthur H. Cash
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY 20 January 2013 FIRST LESSON Isaiah 62: 1-5 The third Isaiah here sings the praises of the Jews returning from the Babylonian exile, asking that their greatness be recognized, not only by the world, but also by the Jews themselves. When you get home and rebuild your nation Isaiah tells them, you will emerge “a crown of beauty in the hand the Lord”. You yourselves will become a new people, and to symbolize that, God is going to change your names. Here I think the translators and editors of the New Revised Standard Version (from …
Patti LaCross' Homily from January 13, 2013
Baptism of Jesus January 13, 2013 Isaiah 43: 1-7 ; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3 :15-22 The Benedictine tradition of a silent pause after each of our Scripture readings, allows the words to resonate in our minds and hearts. Hopefully there will be a word or phrase that echoes for you throughout today, and maybe it will shape your week ahead. That experience – of the Word of God as a living thing – the Hebrews called dabar. This pairing of Isaiah 43 and Luke’s Gospel highlights one such phrase that powerfully proclaims God’s presence with us: Fear not! Fear …
Scripture Commentary for January 13, 2013 by Arthur H. Cash
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY: THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD 13 January 2013 FIRST LESSON Isaiah 43:1-7 To understand this prophetic verse by Second Isaiah, one must look at the previous chapter. God had allowed Babylon to conquer and enslave Israel as punishment for their failures to obey his laws. Now he is calling them home, promising safe passage through waters and fire. He has redeemed them. In this metaphor, God is spoken of as a man redeeming his kinsman from slavery by paying a price. The image includes the price paid, which is the vast areas of Egypt, Ethiopia, …
Celebrating a monastic anniversary
On January 6, 2013 Sister Mary David Walgenbach will celebrate the 52nd anniversary of her monastic profession. We join Sister Mary David in celebrating God’s faithful presence through all these years, and we give thanks for the gifts of stability and growth in monastic life. The Suscipe, a prayer which is sung as part of the monastic profession, continues to offer its blessing: Sustain me, O God, as you have promised, that I may live, and disappoint me not in my hope.
Joseph Wiesenfarth's Homily from January 6, 2013
Epiphany, 6 January 2012 Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12 In Matthew’s gospel both Jew and Gentile appear as, of course, does “the Word within a word, unable to speak a word,” Jesus the Savior, in Bethlehem. The Gentiles in the persons of the Magi “saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage.” To the extent that Herod does not and the Magi do actively live Isaiah’s words—“your light has come, and the glory of God has risen upon you”—the suggestion is that the advantages that once lay strictly with the Jews are …
Scripture Commentary for Epiphany, January 6, 2013 by Arthur H. Cash
The Epiphany 6 January 2013 FIRST LESSON Isaiah 60:1-6 Let me remind you that the book of Isaiah combines three parts. “First Isaiah,” as he is called today, was a brilliant court prophet who wrote before the Babylonian Exile (Chaps 1-39). “Second Isaiah” was one of the captives at Babylon, but knowing that his people would soon be released, he sang joyfully of their return, and in his allegory of the “suffering servant,” paid honor to those who had remained faithful during their enslavement (Chaps 40-55). By convention, scholars call the remainder (Chaps 56-66) “Third Isaiah,” though probably it is …
Scripture Commentary for January 3, 2013 by Arthur H. Cash
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY Jan 3, 2013 FIRST LESSON Jeremiah 1:4-10 The Book of Jeremiah, opens with an introduction to the prophet, who has carried on a ministry for forty years. Our lessons begins a section of twenty chapters in which we have the words of Jeremiah as dictated to or recorded by his young assistant, Baruch. Today we have Jeremiah’s account of his commissioning by the Lord. Earlier prophets, Samuel, Nathan, were political figures, not preachers and poets. But Jeremiah is commissioned to use words. True, a political function is not left out, for he is also told …