Women and Children: The Center of Our Concern in the Reign of God Mark 10:2-16 “Some Pharisees approached Jesus and, as a test, asked, ‘Is it permissible for husbands to divorce wives?’” This question is a test, or better, a trap. Legislating morality was tricky business then and it still is today. Defining things like marriage, advocating regulation for things like fertility and justifying things like poverty leads into a quagmire that can get a prophet, a politician or even a homilist into big trouble. The Pharisees do indeed seek to lay this kind of trap for Jesus. Earlier in …
Wayne Sigelko's Homily from September 30, 2012
I absolutely love this reading from the Book of Numbers. First of all, the People of God are doing what they always do in Numbers, and if we’re really honest about it the People of God have done throughout their history. They’re whining! After all God has done, the escape from slavery in Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and watching an army bent on their slaughter being swallowed up in it. Being given water to drink from a rock and manna to eat from the sky. God’s People respond to all of this with, “God, Really, no meat? You couldn’t …
Scripture Commentary for September 30, 2012 by Arthur H. Cash
PROPER 21 September 30, 2012 FIRST READING Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 The Book of Esther is a fiction that probably was passed off as history. It seems likely it was written to give an Israelite meaning to an ancient pagan feast of Purim that the people had been celebrating. The story tells how Esther, the young queen of King Ahasurerus (Xerxes I) and her uncle-guardian Mordecai saved their people from a plan to wipe out all the Jews in the vast Persian empire. Behind the story is the ancient enmity between the Amelekites and the Jews (I Kings Ch. 15). …
Scripture Commentary for September 23, 2012 by Arthur H. Cash
PROPER 20f September 23, 2012 FIRST READING Proverbs 31:10-31 This acrostic poem appears at the end of Proverbs. I don’t know why our bishops would include it unless they wanted to give people like me a chance to object. Alas, I fear their motives were other. The reading brings to mind a late relative of mine, a woman who shall be nameless: “At our church, we had a women’s group studying women in the Bible. We decided that the Bible says women should be subordinate to men, and we like it that way.” This is not my idea of wisdom. …
Feeding the Spirit and the Body at Holy Wisdom Monastery
by Barbara Wright, chef and kitchen manager For most of us food plays many important roles in our lives. It defines our culture and brings our families and friends together. Eating gives us pleasure, comfort and can entertain us as well. One of food’s most important roles is to provide us sustenance, to nourish our bodies, to give us the energy we need to accomplish what we do in our lives and to make us healthy and fit. Food provides a rich profusion of experiences for our senses and adds to our daily topic of conversation. As the chef at …
Manual Labor in the Monastery
Saint Benedict writes that monks are really monks when they live by the labor of their hands. (Rule of Benedict, Chapter 48). Manual labor is an important part of Benedictine life. It helps to keep us grounded and in touch with all who work by the labor of their hands. At Holy Wisdom Monastery our primary manual labor during the summer takes place in the vegetable garden. Learn more about Benedictine Life at Holy Wisdom Monastery, including manual labor by visiting our website or contacting Sister Lynne Smith, 608-831-9305.
Scholastica Sustainers Group Launched at Holy Wisdom Monastery
By Sister Mary David Walgenbach and Mike Sweitzer-Beckman This hot summer has dried up the prairie at the monastery, and we are doing our best to keep up with the uncontrollable heat. We’re fortunate to have several people helping to maintain the prairie: a couple participants in our annual Volunteer in Community program this past summer, two new participants in Benedictine Sojourners, a few dedicated volunteers that come every week, and our longtime groundskeeper, Paul Boutwell. The dry heat we’ve been enduring for the last month reminds me of the story of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of Saint Benedict …
Sungold Tomato Sauce Recipe
Holy Wisdom Monastery chef Barbara Wright distributed this recipe during her cooking demonstration this fall. Enjoy! Sungold Tomato Sauce Ingredients: 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 quart tomatoes, cut in chunks, stems removed 1 large garlic clove, minced ¼ tsp. sugar Salt and pepper to taste Handful of fresh basil leaves Cooking Directions: Heat olive oil until hot, but not smoking. Add tomatoes, garlic and salt. Shake the pan as they sizzle. Flatten with spoon as tomatoes cook to release their juices. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, shaking pan as needed. Reduce sauce by half, about 15 minutes. Taste. Add sugar …
Scripture Commentary for September 16, 2012 by Arthur H. Cash
PROPER 19 September 16, 2012 FIRST READING Proverbs 1:20-33 In the passage we hear today, Wisdom is represented as a woman, as she is also in the apochraphal book of Sirach (also called, Ecclesiasticus). Wisdom preaches at the city gates, where judicial courts are held and businesses are conducted. The meaning of the metaphor is that wisdom is available to any who seek it, a theme which is carried to the end of our reading. We are hearing a poem, though I don’t think the printed version given to you will show that. In the new Revised Standard Version, it …
Scripture Commentary for September 9, 2012
PROPER 18 September 9, 2012 FIRST READING Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 Today and the next two Sundays, our Old Testament reading will be from the Book of Proverbs. This is a collection of wisdom sayings and poems compiled in the years after the return from the Babylonian exile. Many of the collected sayings were already ancient, and some are traceable to the wisdom literature of ancient Egypt. No doubt the Israelites admired Egyptian culture, but by the time the collection was made, the saying of Egyptian origin had become integral to the culture of Judeah. Proverbs has been described as …