Pathways to wisdom

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Living in Community, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

“Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily $1000 loan today discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate. To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets …

4 sisters gathered around deep dish pizza

Milestones

Rosy Kandathil, OSBLetters home, Living in Community 13 Comments

I was turning 40. There was no avoiding it, but for the weeks leading up to my birthday I tried not to indulge a creeping sense of dread. Although I could laugh over the prospect of having to check the “40 and over” survey box, I also felt anxious about crossing a threshold into middle age. There is something about milestones that force reflection, self-assessment, and in my case—mild depression. What had I accomplished with my life? I would be turning 40 at a monastery, with nothing to my name. All the accomplishments of a legal career built during my …

Awakening to Advent

Denise West, OSBFar from home, Living in Community 13 Comments

There is such a thing as an Advent calendar, which counts down the days until Christmas. During Advent, Christians look forward to the birth of Jesus. Until recently, this was pretty much the sum total of my understanding of Advent. Observing the season is not part of my tradition–growing up, I didn’t even go to church for Christmas or Easter. If Advent was observed at my current home church, I must not have been tuning in. This year signs of Advent are unmistakable. Paz and I helped create the Advent wreath for Sunday Assembly, we set out the Advent prayer …

Becoming a sister - Sisters Joanne, Rosy, Mary David and Lynne and larger community at Rosy's first monastic profession

It takes a village to raise a vocation to monastic life

Mary David Walgenbach, OSBHomilies, Living in Community, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

Homily for the First Monastic Profession of Rosy Kandathil September 20, 2015 Texts: Sirach 51:12-20 Acts 4: 32-37 Mark 9:30-37 Stories can move people to live differently. Stories do this because our own experiences easily resonate with them. Our reflections on Scripture stories are an investment of time and energy in coming to know who we are, where we are going and who we are going with. This is part of the discovery process that Thomas Merton speaks of: finding yourself within God’s conception of yourself. Rosy chose today’s readings as an expression of her coming to know God in …