Walking contemplative

Kathleen OwensCCR, Center for Clergy Renewal (CCR), Pastors' Stories, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Submitted by Kathleen Owens (she/her), Manager of Clergy Programming and Communications for the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery. “I don’t know if burned out is the right word,” reflects Julane Nease when recalling what led her to apply to Contemplative Renewal Immersions, “but I was feeling the stress of my call. There’d been a lot of difficulties that had happened within the life of the people in the congregation.” When she arrived for her first immersion in July 2021, she realized she was not alone. “I remember at that first session being struck at how emotional it …

Nancy Enderle’s Homily from March 15, 2026

Nancy EnderleHomilies, Sunday Assembly Leave a Comment

It isn’t always the case that the scripture passages for a particular Sunday intersect in such interesting ways – but such is the case for this, the 4th Sunday in Lent. The readings in 1 Samuel, Ephesians, and the Gospel of John all seem to point in the direction of deepening our understanding and recognition of how God works in the world and in our hearts, and how we might respond as followers of this gracious, challenging, engaging God. In 1 Samuel, we learn that even Yahweh’s chosen spokesperson, the prophet Samuel, fails to understand what God is up to …

March phenology

Sylvia MarekCare for the Earth, Friends of Wisdom Prairie, Phenology 3 Comments

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 this month. 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. No month ends or begins overnight. Events can be a few weeks early or late. “For, …

Jim Penczykowski’s Homily from March 8, 2026

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Those of us of a certain age will remember a bumper sticker with the initials W.W.J.D.?  What Would Jesus Do? It was a way of prodding people to think about their actions, their behavior as if Jesus were confronted by the day to day issues we all face. I think of this gospel passage in this way. No other Christian scriptural source suggests that Jesus ever had a mission to Samaria. He had a mission in Galilee. He had a mission in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. In all likelihood this gospel writer had a community that included Samaritan converts …

Leora Weitzman’s Homily from March 1, 2026

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The serpent in the wilderness is a reference to Numbers 21. The refugees from Egypt, already weary from their long wilderness migration, have been denied passage through Edom and are dejectedly detouring around it. They’ve been eating nothing but manna for ages, and they’re beginning, not for the first time, to question their leadership and the wisdom of leaving Egypt. If St. Benedict had been around, he might kindly have warned them that grumbling divides and corrodes community and that the journey to freedom requires patient acceptance of hardships. But any divine attempt to warn the people verbally through Moses …

Sister Lynne Smith’s Homily for Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Lynne Smith, OSBHomilies Leave a Comment

Joel’s words of alarm caught my attention in our readings for this evening.. Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm; something is seriously wrong.           So many people in our world today live in a state of alarm. Day and night, sirens go off in Ukraine in spite of peace talks and in Gaza in spite of the ceasefire. Many people live in emergency situations in Sudan, in Iran in our own cities where people are afraid to leave their homes. The pastors from Minneapolis who were here for the CCR cohort 6 immersion in January spoke of living with a …

Renewing rhythms

Renewing rhythms

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCCR, Center for Clergy Renewal (CCR), Pastors' Stories Leave a Comment

Submitted by Kathleen Owens (she/her), Manager of Clergy Programming and Communications for the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery Christy Suffecool was one of the first pastors to come for a Deep Breath retreat when the ministry began in the fall of 2023. Her first Deep Breath retreat in November 2023, led to another in November 2024, and another in November 2025. Thinking back to when she heard about the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery in 2023, Christy remembers, “… I was fried. I did what I thought was self-care, but it really wasn’t taking …

Wayne Sigelko’s Homily from Feb. 1, 2026

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One of my now deceased homily mentors, the Capuchin Alexis Luzi once wrote: There are three ways with which to proceed with Matthew’s eight Beatitudes. Some preachers choose to give time and attention to each Beatitude in one and the same homily. Jamming all eight into one homily makes for a very lengthy homily. What’s more, it violates a golden rule of homiletics: “One idea — one sermon! Two ideas — two sermons!” Some choose to give the Beatitudes separate treatment by means of eight separate homilies. That’s a good way to proceed. Or the preacher can search for the …

Hidden Glimmers

Hidden Glimmers: Weaving Contemplative Photography and Haiku Art Exhibit Reception

Janet NeurauterArt exhibits, Poetry 1 Comment

In Holy Wisdom’s new art exhibit, local photographer Sandy Wojtal-Weber and poet David McKee bring their individual work together in a very personal way. Knowing each other since the early 1990s, the collaboration was inevitable. Hidden Glimmers will feature 23 of Sandy’s photographs enhanced by David’s haiku. “We are of the same mind,” they said. “We simply use different mediums.” “For me, it’s all about paying attention,” said Sandy. “The world lets me in and my eyes and mind are in the same place at the same time. With my lens I capture the stillness. It takes my breath away.” …

February phenology

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Friends of Wisdom Prairie, Phenology 5 Comments

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 this month. 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. “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without …