It was two years ago last month that the sisters and coworkers at Holy Wisdom Monastery began to move into the new, ‘green’ building. I can still remember the first time I visited this building. It was for my job interview, and I received a tour later that day. I was in awe with all the natural light, the pristine walls with feminine curves, and all the places to gather for socializing and living out the sisters’ call to hospitality. I was quite pleased when they called back to offer me the job! One of the reasons I enjoy coordinating …
Lynne Smith's Homily from August 28, 2011 on Matthew 16:21-28
Lynne Smith, OSB, delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly on August 28, 2011. The Gospel reading for the day was Matthew 16:21-28. Imagine what Peter’s thoughts might have been after this exchange with Jesus. “But I love you. I don’t want you to suffer or die. Besides, you are the Messiah. You are supposed to free us from the Romans – not be killed yourself. Bad things shouldn’t happen to good people, let alone to you, the Messiah. If they kill YOU, what will they do to ME? If YOU are put to death, what hope is there for …
Mary David Walgenbach, OSB in the New York Times today: If I Were President …
Have you ever wondered what Holy Wisdom Monastery’s prioress, Mary David Walgenbach, OSB, would do if she were president? Now you can find out, courtesy of the “If I Were President …” piece in today’s Sunday Review of the New York Times. Click here to visit their site and then click on Mary David’s photo.
Leora Weitzman's Homily from Sunday Assembly on August 21, 2011: Not Always So
The following homily was delivered by Leora Weitzman at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on August 21, 2011. The readings from the common lectionary for the day included Isaiah 51:1-6, Romans 12:1-8 and Matthew 16:13-20. The essence of Buddhism, I once read, can be expressed in two words: Not … Always … So. A lot of things are not always so in today’s readings. In Isaiah, what was desert… becomes garden. The earth itself, and the heavens… will one day vanish. Despite this, salvation… is forever. Salvation may look, from time to time, like gardens, or like life on …
Beekeeping and Blessings
There are things I will miss about Holy Wisdom when I leave here. I will miss the cardinals that sing the Liturgy of the Hours back and forth to each other in the pines as I rinse lettuce in the upper garden. I will miss pulling out the horsetails from the roof garden and hearing Paul talk about his love of the Prairie. I will miss the pioneer camaraderie that has developed among the women I stay with, the shared jokes and laughter. I will miss the order and the rhythm of my days here — the mystic feeling of the …
Resilience
“Resilience” is the topic of the class we take at Holy Wisdom 3 days a week. The class, with the participation of Sister Lynne, is led by a woman who has made a special study of this topic in her life. The class is held after we have spent a couple of hours usually doing outdoor work in the hot sun. It is a welcome respite, with its cool air conditioning and a pitcher of water in the center of table flanked by whatever baked good our teacher is proffering that class time. Our teacher, Donna, is an excellent baker, …
Broken, Breathing, and Healing on the Contemplative Path
Love breathes us into being moment by moment, breath by breath, no matter how broken we are. This is one of the most important messages that I’ve received from Jim Finley during the half dozen retreats I’ve attended with him over the past 11 years. The first silent retreat I attended with Finley was entitled “The Four Noble Truths for Christians.” It was the beginning of the new millennium and I was in my year of formation as an oblate at what is now known as Holy Wisdom Monastery. The topic of Finley’s retreat intrigued me because I had become …
Interview with James Finley about Thomas Merton
When did you first meet Thomas Merton? In my home growing up, I was exposed to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. My mother was a devout Roman Catholic, and she taught me how to pray to deal with my alcoholic father. In 9th grade, I attended a Catholic high school in Akron, Ohio, and one of the Holy Cross brothers talked about monasteries. He mentioned Thomas Merton. That day I went to the school library, and they had The Sign of Jonas. When I opened the book, I saw his entry on December 13, 1946, “For myself, I have only one desire, …
Resilience in Daily Living
As part of the Volunteer in Community program this summer, Donna Carnes taught a class on resilence. Below are her reflections on the experience. When Sister Mary David Walgenbach and I talked in March about what topic I’d like to focus on while ‘teaching’ a class to the summer volunteers, I said without hesitation, ‘Resilience in Daily Living,‘ and she replied without skipping a beat: ‘perfect!’ The ease of our connection made me think: genesis is good! The hours spent with the young women and Sister Lynne Smith affirmed the value of the subject, and the wealth of experience and feeling that each …
Saving the Land and Hearing Great Music Make for an Outstanding Double-header at the Prairie Rhapsody Benefit Concert
By Jacob Stockinger, former music reviewer for The Capital Times Excerpts reprinted with permission from his July 19, 2011 blog It would be hard to imagine a better way to meld classical music and land conservation than the Prairie Rhapsody benefit concert . . . at the Holy Wisdom Monastery . . . The musical performers were period musicians Madison-based keyboardist Trevor Stephenson, who played the fortepiano, and several musicians from Chicago: violinist Brandi Berry, cellist Anna Steinhoff and soprano Emily Birsan. Several things made the event, which included light dinner and desserts plus wine and other beverages, a success. …