Luke House: serving the hungry with the help of faith communities

Car McGinleyJustice Leave a Comment

As part of our mission to weave prayer, hospitality, justice and care for the earth into a shared way of life, we strive to live ever more deeply into diversity, inclusivity and equity so that all may be one. With the leadership of the Holy Wisdom Monastery’s Sunday Assembly, donors and volunteers, together we provided more than $4,480 in support of Luke House and their 60-120 weekly guests. Feeding the hungry Luke House provides nutritious and balanced meals to Madison’s most in-need residents – the homeless and hungry.  Through the Luke House community meal program, Holy Wisdom was able to share …

Welcome and Humane Treatment of Arriving Migrants

Mary David Walgenbach, OSBJustice Leave a Comment

“As monastics, we strive to listen to the longings of the world ‘with the ear of our heart.’” Sometimes this means letting ourselves be torn open to recognize our own complicity in the pain and alienation of others because of personal choices we have made to benefit from systems of exclusion. If we let ourselves be opened, we will recognize the power we have to overcome the fear that separates us from one another. Then we can believe the vision set out by Jesus, who made room for everyone at the table.” –Wisdom From the Tradition: A Statement of North …

Agridulce or bittersweet

Paz Vital, OSBJustice, Living in Community Leave a Comment

My experience at the Hispanic Summer Program (HSP) in Dallas was agridulce or bitter-sweet. It was dulce-sweet because I was able to be around people who look like me. My teachers and most of my fellow students looked like me and spoke Spanish like me. I was able to speak Spanish. I was able to worship in my native language. It was very natural for all of us to go back and forth speaking Spanglish. We shared common stories and experiences. The topics of our classes were all about Latin@theology and the way Latin@s express our religiosity. It was very …

Sisters at Holy Wisdom endorse statement from LCWR on gun violence

Holy Wisdom MonasteryJustice, Sunday Assembly Leave a Comment

The Benedictine sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery endorse the following statement from Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR): Mourning is Not Enough: LCWR Calls for Action to Prevent Gun Violence February 23, 2018 On February 14 a very troubled 19-year-old took an AR-15 assault rifle to Marjory Stoneman High School and opened fire killing 14 students and three staff members. The shooting was a horrible tragedy that has become all too familiar to students, teachers, and parents across the country. The heartbreak in Parkland, Florida is far too common. A recent study of World Health Organization data published in the American …

2016 Benedictine Retreat

Meet Sister Helen Prejean and Sister Marya Grathwohl

Car McGinleyJustice, Oblates 1 Comment

By Sue Pearson In these fractious times when many are leading lives of not-so-quiet desperation, we need to heed those who remind us that All Life is One Sacred Wholeness: We are All Connected. The Oblates of Holy Wisdom Monastery are delighted to welcome Sisters Helen Prejean and Marya Grathwohl, who will be conducting this retreat. They will explore the twin themes of care for the earth and people, especially our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. This event is also open to the public. Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, will highlight her work with prisoners on death row, with victims’ families and …

Spring 2014 update from Vera Court Neighborhood Center

Mike Sweitzer-BeckmanJustice, Sunday Assembly Leave a Comment

Holy Wisdom Monastery encourages donations to support the programs at the Vera Court Neighborhood Center. A collection is taken to support VCNC every third Sunday of the month at Sunday Assembly. These donations are then passed on in full to VCNC. Recently, VCNC shared this update on their programs and how donations are helping their programs. Click here to download the PDF update. If you are interested in learning more about VCNC, please visit their website: http://www.veracourt.org/. To learn more about programs at VCNC, contact Patrick at 608-246-8372 or patricks@veracourt.org.

Holy Wisdom Monastery continues support of Vera Court Neighborhood Center

Mike Sweitzer-BeckmanJustice, Main Leave a Comment

The Sunday Assembly community at Holy Wisdom Monastery has been collecting and bundling donations for the Vera Court Neighborhood Center since 2007. This is an important aspect of living out the justice portion of the sisters’ mission, supporting a neighborhood community center on Madison’s north side. Patrick Schrank, the fund and program development director at VCNC writes: “Holy Wisdom Sunday Assembly Members: Thank you again for your continued support of Vera Court Neighborhood Center. This summer we have been able to serve more than 85 children and teens in our summer camps. Thank you for your contributions which make our work …

Interfaith Platform on Humane Immigration Reform

Holy Wisdom MonasteryJustice Leave a Comment

The Benedictine Women of Madison signed on to this statement on immigration reform, along with over 500 other national organizations, denominations, local congregations, dioceses, and other religious orders.  This statement was put together by the Immigration and Refugee Policy department at Church World Service. As our diverse faith traditions teach us to welcome our brothers and sisters with love and compassion— regardless of their place of birth—we call on the Administration and Congress to enact humane and equitable immigration reform. We call for immigration reform because each day in our congregations, service programs, health-care facilities, and schools we witness the human consequences of …

“Piti piti na rive” – The Journey of the What If? Foundation

Mike Sweitzer-BeckmanBenedictine Bridge, Justice Leave a Comment

The sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery have befriended many neighbors over the years in the Fox Bluff neighborhood on the north side of Lake Mendota.  Along the way, they got to know the Trost family: Frederick, the former President and Conference Minister of the UCC’s Wisconsin Conference; Louise, a former employee of the sisters at St. Benedict Center; and one of their five children, Margaret. The Trost home, where Margaret spent her college summers and grad-school years, was near Lost Lake.  Margaret’s parents were and continue to be great admirers of the sisters and the Rule of St. Benedict.  Margaret …