Sister Joanne Kollasch, OSB | 1930-2025 MIDDLETON – Sister Joanne, age 95, died peacefully at Sauk Prairie Hospital on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. Joanne was born on September 24, 1930, the seventh of nine children to Charles R. and Anna M. (Laubenthal) Kollasch in Whittemore, Iowa. She attended the parish school, Presentation Academy, graduating in 1948. Four years later, a time she often referred to as her “social maturing,” she entered the Sisters of Saint Benedict, Sioux City, Iowa. Because the community was in the process of moving the motherhouse to Madison, Wis., the sisters determined her novitiate would be …
January phenology
By Sylvia Marek Phenology is a science focused on observing and recording biological events from year to year and their relationships to the change of seasons and climate. These are the “normal” phenology events we expect to see here and in the Madison area in January. We would love to hear about what you are seeing on the grounds of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Please comment on this post with what you are observing, where at Holy Wisdom and the date you observed the event. January Phenology for Holy Wisdom “Go softly on your way. Learn to be a gentle people …
Max Harris’s Homily from Nov. 30, 2025
I begin with a story. It’s a true story, told to me by a trustworthy woman who many years ago, when she was still a child, was briefly traumatized by the 24th chapter of Matthew’s gospel, part of which I have just read to you. Both her family and her church understood the heart of this chapter to describe what has come to be known as the Rapture Theory: Then two will be in the field; One will be taken and one will be left. Two will be grinding meal together; One will be taken and one will be left. …
Rex Piercy’s Homily from Dec. 21, 2025
O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today. (Phillips Brooks, 1868) I have to admit it. I’ve always been sort of a curmudgeon when it comes to Christmas. You can ask my children and the various congregations I served over the years. My curmudgeonly-ness is not directed at the holy day per se, but what has been done to it culturally. There’s always too much glitter and tinsel and hype for my taste, starting way too soon. Those year-round Christmas stores literally elevate my blood pressure should …
Leora Weitzman’s Christmas Eve Homily, Dec. 24, 2025
Christmas Eve 2025 ∙ Isaiah 9:2–7 ∙ Titus 2:11–14, 3:4–7 ∙ Luke 2: 1–20 ∙ December 24, 2025 It was night. Darkness enfolded the world in its wings. The earth and plants gave off their nocturnal fragrance. The fragrance entered the nostrils of a flock of sheep, sheltering in the folds of a hillside just outside Bethlehem. The sheep followed the fragrance of the forage, and shepherds followed the footfalls of the sheep. The shepherds were three, one for each watch of the night. And the first watch began. A hush hung over the hills. Hunting hyenas howled in the …
Awareness
Submitted by Kathleen Owens (she/her), Manager of Clergy Programming and Communications for the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery James Salimes was struggling with disillusionment when he heard about the Contemplative Renewal Immersions at Holy Wisdom Monastery. As part of his disillusionment, he left ministry as a non-denominational pastor and started serving as a chaplain. James entered the immersions hopeful the experience would help him “work through my disillusion, but with an open mind to see where it would lead me.” As a part of the fourth cohort of Contemplative Renewal Immersions, he found a community of pastors …
December phenology
By Sylvia Marek Phenology is the science of observing and recording plant and animal activities from year to year and their relationship to season and climate. The following Madison area observations are from notes I have kept over the years. We would love to hear about your observations here at Holy Wisdom. Please comment on this post what, where, and the date of your observations. December Phenology “I heard a bird sing in the dark of December. A magical thing and sweet to remember.” –Oliver Hereford December, a …
Thanksgiving Message – Gratitude and Reflection
Dear Holy Wisdom Community, The Thanksgiving season gently reminds us of the important practice of gratitude. Yet gratitude can be a challenging emotion during this time in the world and during a holiday that has a complicated history. We have much to be grateful for at Holy Wisdom. We are blessed daily by our guests, our shared mission, the prairie, the sisters and one another. As those of you who attended the Annual Meeting in October know, we have much to be thankful for – our vital and growing organization is thriving. Yet this is a time in the world …
Jim Penczykowski’s Homily from Nov. 23, 2025
The apocalyptic literature in the scripture readings of recent Sundays caused me to recall a children’s song I heard on many long car trips, “Are we there yet?” “Are we there yet?” “How much farther do we have to go?” Well, we are at our destination, the last Sunday of the liturgical year. We call it the Sunday of the Fulfillment. Thanks to AI, I learned the meaning of “fulfillment”. In business, fulfillment is the complete process of receiving, processing, and delivering a customer’s order to their specified location. It encompasses all steps from when a customer places …
Wayne Sigelko’s Homily from Nov. 2, 2025
When the wall between the worlds is too firm, too close. When it seems all solidity and sharp edges. When every morning you wake as if flattened against it, its forbidding presence fairly pressing the breath from you all over again. Then may you be given a glimpse of how weak the wall and how strong what stirs on the other side, breathing with you and blessing you still, forever bound to you but freeing you into this living, nto this world so much wider than you ever knew. Jan Richardson: God of the Living-A Blessing from The Cure for …