Fall! The obvious things that fall at this time of year are the leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs. The evolutionary advantage for this is to sever the leaves from the tree, which loose lots of water during a time of year when water is less available. Also when the water is frozen in the soil in winter, it cannot be taken up and therefore it is important for the plant to reduce water loss. In contrast, some plants from other parts of the world loose their leaves when it gets too hot in the summer and therefore less water …
Ecumenism and the Library
What is ecumenism? In the broadest sense it consists of ideas or proposals aimed at a greater unity among Christians. As a movement, ecumenism has been around for a long time. In the monastery library alone, I counted over fifty titles dealing with ecumenism and the ecumenical movement. The earliest title, A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517-1948 (Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill, editors) was published in 1953. The most recent title, “Because he was a German!”: Cardinal Bea and the Origins of Roman Catholic Engagement in the Ecumenical Movement (Jerome-Michael Vereb, CP) was published in 2006. In between …
Lynne Smith, OSB featured on A Nun’s Life podcast!
Last week I traveled to Chicago to speak to the Episcopal Service Corps about our ecumenical monastic community. On Thursday evening, September 29, 2011, I was invited by Sisters Julie Vieira, IHM (left) and Maxine Kollasch, IHM of anunslife.org to participate in their weekly podcast, Ask Sister. It was a wonderful opportunity to see Julie and Maxine in action, as well as to share with their listeners about my own call to become a Presbyterian (USA) minister and a sister with the Benedictine Women of Madison. We chatted about my initial discernment process to become ordained, the amazing opportunity to …
Leora Weitzman's Homily from September 25, 2011
Leora Weitzman delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on September 25, 2011. The readings that day from the common lectionary were Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32, Philippians 2:1-13, and Matthew 21:23-32. I’ve always identified with the first child – the one who resists but ultimately does the right thing. I’ve prided myself on reliability and follow-through. This week, I met my inner second child. On Monday, I rediscovered that I was scheduled to teach today from 9 to 6. Rediscovered because I did originally agree to the date; I just forgot to enter it in my planner, and …
Learning from the environment
When I was in formation for community life, Sr. Joanne would say to me on occasion, ”The environment will teach you.” At first, I took this as referring to the outdoor environment. I knew this to be true before I came to the monastery. To walk in the woods or in a park, to spend time working in the garden or simply sitting outside listening to the birds and crickets is healing for me. The sounds of nature calm me down when the noise of machinery or too many words have set me on edge. When I sit by Lost …
Jim Penczykowski's Homily from September 18, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Jim Penczykowski at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on September 18, 2011 – the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our scripture today invites us to examine some of our base instincts, some of the characteristics we find least attractive about ourselves. In our first reading from the Book of Jonah we have Yahweh in the role of “anger management counselor” utilizing the first documented example of Rational-Emotive Therapy. Anyone who has prayed the psalms is aware that some are replete with calls for Yahweh to wreak vengeance on the psalmist’s enemies. Some of …
Centering in the movement
(Originally posted: August 6, 2011) Here it is–my last day at Holy Wisdom Monastery and with the Benedictine Women of Madison. This morning we had our last morning walk between Oak House (where us volunteers are housed) to the monastery, admiring the black eye susans and the cup flowers along the way. Everything, from our last centering prayer and our last morning prayer times, to floating the rubber duckies in the baptismal font, seemed a little surreal since it felt as if we would be doing the same thing once again tomorrow. The last few days have been filled with spreading …
The Ecumenical Path
How does a person raised in a small Evangelical Protestant church become an oblate of a Benedictine monastery and a member of Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery? The journey is not as long as one might suppose, because these two seemingly-opposites of the Christian spectrum have a lot in common with each other. Both of them have a strong belief in ecumenism, a realization that all Christians should be able to worship together. I grew up in the Christian Church (a conservative relative of the Disciples of Christ denomination). When I was in high school, we learned that our …
Best Wishes, Jerrianne!
After 13 years with the Benedictine Women of Madison, Jerrianne Bland has announced her retirement for the end of this month. She has served in a variety of roles at Holy Wisdom Monastery—leading retreats, working in the Membership department recruiting new members of the monastic community, being a spiritual director and leading daily prayer. With her new free time, Jerrianne will be doing more kayaking, biking, yoga, and spending time with her family. We wish you the best Jerrianne! If you would like to send her your well wishes, please email Jerrianne.
Unless a seed dies…
(Originally posted: August 3, 2011) So here I am–hot, sweaty, slightly dehydrated, with dirt under my nails and an odd rash appearing on my arm. And I’m loving it! While the days have been a lot hotter than expected, we have done a lot of restoration work in the prairie, weeded, pruned, and picked in the garden and surrounding orchards, and lobbed off a fair amount of prairie wood brush. This afternoon a naturalist who started the monastery’s restoration project came to give us a tour. We picked various seeds both for replanting and also for sharing with other restoration projects around the area. While …