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What could a children’s book, the writings of Richard Rohr, and Benedictine simplicity have in common?  Barb Abbott, oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery, helped us weave these connections today at our final Women’s Lenten Lunch. We gathered for midday prayer and a delicious meal created in part from local produce (including apples grown here at the monastery). In true Benedictine style, a meditative reading was offered during the meal, including excerpts  like these from Radical Grace, by Richard Rohr:  “Soul knowledge sends you in the opposite direction from consumerism. It’s not addition that makes one holy but subtraction: gripping the illusions, …

Another wonderful experience today in our third Women’s Lenten Lunch. Thank you to Carol Kretschman who served as reader during lunch, to Chef Barbara Wright who served us a simple and delicious noon meal, to Claudia Greco who offered us the opportunity to listen to our life through the shared experience of lectio divina, and to all the women present who took time to listen and share from the heart. Claudia framed our conversations in the opening lines of the Rule of Benedict: “Listen carefully, my child, to these words. Listen with the ear of your heart.” She shared a …

Our Women’s Lenten Lunch speaker today, Carole Kretschman, focused on stability, balance and silence – opening the door to “stilling the wandering heart” (Joan Chittister) enough to make space for God. Carole helped us explore monastic stability in light of these thoughts from Jan Richardson, In the Sanctuary of Women: The monastic vow of stability recognizes that in committing ourselves to a particular place and staying rooted despite changes around and within us, we grow in a way that is different than if we are constantly on the move. Carole invited us to develop a sense of stability that might be …