Beyond the Bloom

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Submitted by Janet Neurauter (she/her),Mission Advancement Consultant Join us Friday, November 14, 2025, from 6:00-8:00 pm for the opening reception of Beyond the Bloom, featuring work by Maron Massey. This exhibit will be available for viewing November 5, 2025 – February 3, 2026. Some of Maron Massey’s first memories are of creating art with her family. “My mom, dad, and siblings were always making art together. We were constantly working on projects – even the ones from the ‘Highlights’ magazine for children!” By the time she was a senior in high school, she was allowed to create her own independent …

Embracing humility in a world where “image” is everything

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Submitted by Everline Jeruto, OSB (she/her),Benedictine Women of MadisonReprinted from Oblate News In today’s world, everything is dominated by screens with images of people’s lives that have been carefully planned, from the posed photographs posted on Instagram to the rehearsed dance moves on TikTok. In the era of images, personal branding is the trend, and people have a habit of showing a perfect life. With so much comparison and the need to appear perfect, humility is a rare thing but a basic quality that can keep us from being lost in a shallow world. And it keeps us from believing …

Pam Shellberg’s Homily from Oct. 19, 2025

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This morning’s gospel reading from Luke is tremendously difficult and would be so much better dealt with in a classroom or a formal bible study. And even in those spaces we’d be in for a hard slog. Many biblical commentators consider it one of the most difficult parables. My clergy friends say, “this gospel doesn’t preach.” So today we, like Jacob, are going to really wrestle with the Holy One. We will probably all walk out limping. But if we let the parable do its work, we might leave with a blessing, too. Parables were Jesus’ way of “teaching” – …

Unguarded

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCCR, Center for Clergy Renewal (CCR), Pastors' Stories, Uncategorized 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 Michael Anderson stumbled across the Center for Clergy Renewal (CCR) while on a personal retreat at Holy Wisdom Monastery. His interest in CCR led to joining the fourth cohort of Contemplative Renewal Immersions. In the Immersion he found “people who were speaking the same language.” Reflecting on his first immersion in the summer of 2023, Michael says, “What I experienced was no less than the presence of the risen Christ standing among us, breathing peace. It couldn’t be anything …

Rex Piercy’s Homily from Oct. 12, 2025

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Last month marked fifty years since my ordination.  I’ve been doing this for a long time! As I prepared this homily it occurred to me that I have been preaching for even longer. I think my first attempt was on a so-called “Youth Sunday” in my hometown Iowa church as a high school kid. And, Lord, have mercy, I had a student parish assignment during my seminary years in Dubuque. Those gentle souls in McGregor, Iowa must have been very patient and tolerant with their wet-behind-the-ears, twenty something preacher. Over the years of my ministry, first in United Methodist churches in …

Terry Larson’s Homily from Oct. 5, 2025

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Biblical scholars have pointed out that the words I just read from Luke’s gospel are a combination of the Q source image of mustard seed faith and the fig tree image in Mark’s gospel which Luke changes into the largess of the mulberry tree. So I’m going to take Luke’s freeing spirit of literary license to explode that image of the mustard seed faith Jesus gives us into the theme of Jesus calling us to a mustard seed life. A mustard seed life entails an understanding that small things matter, small actions matter; small, small details of our daily life …

A new family at Lost Lake

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Submitted by David Kelley (he/him), Friends of Wisdom Prairie It’s early spring. Tendrils of mist dance like sprites on the water. The lake’s surface is smooth like polished silver. Several ducks skim silently like shadows in the fog. This is Lost Lake, a relic of the glaciers, which covered much of Wisconsin until 10,000 years ago. Lost Lake is nestled in prairie and woodland just west of Holy Wisdom Monastery. You hike along the trail, which meanders around the lake. To your right oak trees rise like pillars, leaves rustling in the spring breeze. On your left emergent vegetation creates …

The monastic library’s doors are open

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A few steps down the curving hall beyond the Oratory on the lower level of the monastery building, the library is open for use by all members of our communities and guests. It houses over 5,000 books on monasticism, liturgy, ecumenism, biblical studies and spirituality with emphasis on ecospirituality, contemplation and the divine feminine. In addition, we have several specialized sections. The Friends of Wisdom Prairie collection gathers popular works on ecology and nature, including field guides to flora and fauna that might be spotted while exploring the land. Magazines from Oneing to Orion and from Tablet to Time are …

October phenology

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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. October phenology “Now is the time of the illuminated woods. They have a sense of sunshine even on a …

Presence

Holy Wisdom MonasteryPastors' Stories, Uncategorized 2 Comments

Ryan Wallace does not remember how he first heard about the Contemplative Renewal Immersions at Holy Wisdom Monastery in late 2019. He was already interested in contemplative practices and looking for a way to sustain his ministry. As he remembers, “I was in my early 30s and thinking this is what I plan to do forever. And I know that if I’m going to keep doing this, I’m going to need a way to approach ministry that will be sustainable through my entire career.” As part of the second cohort, Ryan was among those that had to navigate the pandemic …