Madison College group members enjoy the Holy Wisdom Monastery grounds by snowshoe. Holy Wisdom Monastery is working with Redfeather Snowshoes to offer registered meeting or retreat guests at Holy Wisdom Monastery the ability to get outside and snowshoe on our 130 acres of land. This winter Holy Wisdom Monastery purchased 11 pairs of Redfeather Conquest snowshoes that will be free for meeting and retreat guests to use. Contact Amanda Conway at 608-836-1631, x100 or aconway@benedictinewomen.org if you are interested in bringing a group to Holy Wisdom Monastery this winter. Contact Monica Jefcoat at 608-836-1631, x158, or mjefcoat@benedictinewomen.org if you are interested in coming …
Opportunity knocks! Direct your IRA charitable rollover to Holy Wisdom
The IRA Charitable Rollover provision now allows individuals who have reached age 70½ to donate up to $100,000 to charitable organizations directly from their Individual Retirement Account (IRA), without treating the qualifying charitable distribution as taxable income. This is a great opportunity for individuals in their 70s to plan their charitable giving every year. A qualifying IRA rollover gift can count toward taking the annual required minimum distribution. This direct rollover provision first appeared in the Pension Protection Act in 2006 as a temporary measure. On December 18, 2015, Congress passed the PATH Act (Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes) making the provision permanent. The …
Being Christ to each other
Since Rosy’s homily on June 12, 2016, I’ve been pondering the meaning of the incarnation. The Rule of Benedict teaches us to see Christ in one another and to receive one another as Christ. It takes a lifetime to explore what it means to us that God came to us in the flesh. This past month I have had occasions to notice the significance of the incarnation in everyday life. Missionary Benedictine Sister Marie Songmun from the Daegu priory in South Korea visited us for a week in June. I feel a special kinship with her because she arrived here …
Update on sustainable building operation at Holy Wisdom
by Mark Hanson, director of sustainable services, Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc Update, February 24, 2016: Last November, the Holy Wisdom community decided to begin a new phase of living sustainably. Specifically, we decided to begin using the monastery and retreat and guest house as a living laboratory during the winter of 2015/2016. That included adjusting some temperatures lower during the winter months in different spaces and measuring the impact on energy use and cost. We said that we would monitor the results and report the findings as the monthly bills came in. We have been monitoring the results and …
New opportunities in Sunday Assembly
by Joyce Wodka, Sunday Assembly Council chair One of the duties of the Sunday Assembly Council is to oversee and participate in the work of the committees that carry out the mission, vision and aims of Sunday Assembly. At the winter general meeting that was open to all participants of Sunday Assembly, the Council shared information on some of the great programs that are happening at the monastery. Through these informational meetings, the Council was not only able to present information and recruit volunteers to help in some of the new ministries, but to also brainstorm with some of the …
A call to justice: Benedictine perspectives on listening, right relationships and public witness
The Oblate retreat, February 19-21, 2016, brought together 66 Oblates of Holy Wisdom, women and men from near and far, to learn from the sisters about the ways justice is expressed in Benedictine life through listening, right relationships and public witness. The following reflections come from a presentation given by Joanne Kollasch, OSB, on February 19, 2016 (pictured above). Today if you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart. —Prologue, Rule of Benedict There are many ways to hear God’s voice if we are silent and listening, if we are able to “welcome one another with the courtesy of love.” …
Having a hard time with the psalms
At the monastery we pray the psalms three times a day during the Liturgy of the Hours. At morning and evening prayer, we pray two psalms each, one singing and another recited, at midday we recite a psalm. This is a total of five psalms a day, which is a lot for me. Since I can remember, back in Mexico, I used to attend mass every single Sunday and I never heard a psalm that asked God for the punishment of the wicked or to kill and banish my enemies from the earth. When I first moved to Houston and …
Viviendo momentos difíciles con los salmos
En el monasterio rezamos los salmos tres veces al día durante la Liturgia de las Horas. En la oración de la Mañana y en la oración de la tarde, oramos dos salmos cada vez, uno cantado y otro recitado. En la oración de mediodía recitamos un salmo. Esto nos da un total de cinco salmos al día, lo cual es demasiado para mí. Desde que puedo recordar, todos los domingos asistía a misa con mi familia en México y nunca escuché un solo salmo que pidiera a Dios por el castigo de la gente mala o que pidiera la muerte …
Building community through shared Benedictine values
Sister Joanne will be quick to tell you that Benedictine spirituality does not exist in the abstract. It only comes alive as people embody it. It is learned and passed on person to person through relationships. Having lived this life for over sixty years, Joanne embodies the Benedictine values of the monastery in her unique way. Joanne is passionate about passing on the Benedictine way of life to everyone with whom she comes into contact. You have probably experienced the values of hospitality, respect, simplicity and beauty through Joanne. She embodies Benedictine values in the way she greets guests, in …
Winter preparations
It has been two months since I arrived to Holy Wisdom Monastery. I moved here because I wanted to change. I am not sure if the changing process has already started or not, but I am preparing myself. I am preparing the same way we prepare the land for winter. It is the advent of my life, the expectant waiting and preparing for the new, the birth of a new life. There is a lot of excitement here at the monastery because winter is coming. We finished the work at the garden. First, we cleaned the garden—there are no more …