Well it has been a week since I last added anything. This week seemed to fly by. Today we celebrated the Annunciation. (The feast was moved due to Easter). It is an important day to think about listening to what God is calling each of us to in our lives each day. Sometimes those calls are profoundly life changing but most of the time they are daily calls to change our lives and our actions in little ways. This listening to God's call is a central aspect of our monastic life and as a vocation director, is central to the work I do each day.

The picture above (of St. Benedict as a young man) is a great reminder of that call to listen. This picture (given to me by Sister Micaela when I entered the novitiate) hangs in my office directly across from my desk. It is the first thing I see each time I look up from whatever work I am doing and is a wonderful reminder from Benedict to listen each and every day.

This morning at mass Sister Susan added a wonderful reflection to our worship aid and I thought I would end today with sharing this poem with you.

The Gift of Encounter by; Eleanor McNichol, SSJ Life is filled with promises With so many options for each of us, That in the living of it, we often move and choose at random. And then, one day along the way, there is an encounter A meeting A chance A choice An opportunity for living life In a deeper, fuller way than ever before. One knows the moment. One recognizes that instant When another sees the dream in us And with gentle urgings invites us to let it be To risk it all and to let it come into being.

May you open your heart to those urgings this day. Peace

Easter Sunday

The Lord has indeed risen ALLELUIA!

Well another wonderful Triduum has come to an end. This morning we celebrated Easter Sunday with a wonderful liturgy in the choir chapel. It was yet another glorious liturgy. To conclude my video selections, I decided that I would end with several clips of our monastic schola. They did a wonderful job of providing the music for each of our liturgical celebrations. God has truly blessed our community in so many ways! May God bless you and your families this Easter season.

Gloria

Schola

Easter Dance

Here are two Slide Shows of various pictures I took from the Organ Loft over the course of the last few days. Click on the words "View all images". This will link you to a site to view them individually. Peace.

Easter Vigil

This is the day the Lord has made -

Let us rejoice and be glad!

Abraham and Isaac - Sisters Sharon and Mary

Exodus - Sister Susan

Sr. Micaela

African Gospel Book Procession - Sr. Presentatia

Procession After Blessing of the Water

May you all have a joyful and blessed Easter Season.

Good Friday

This is the wood of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.

Come let us worship.

Sr. Molly Canting Psalm

Entrance for the Passion is the video above and a Scene from the Passion is the video below. Sisters Mary Theresa, Sharon, Mary Ann, Mary Agnes, Marcia, Bridget, Marie Louise, Joan (lector) and Mary Elizabeth (Christ)

Entrance for Veneration: Sisters Elizabeth, Martha, Mary Grace, Mary, Lou, Alberta, Barbara (Sorry it is sideways)

Holy Thursday

"During Holy Week each year, we enter most deeply into the foundation of our Christian faith - the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus. As we revisit the events of that final tumultuous week in his life, we are plunged by memory and ritual into the mystery that reveals and defines the meaning of his existence and of our own. His story is our story and what happened to him is the pattern for what is happening and will happen to us." (taken from Living With Christ) Over the next couple days, I will share video clips to give you glimpses into some of the liturgical events here at the monastery. After Easter, I will add a slide show with photos from those liturgical events. I hope you enjoy them.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum

Veneremur cernui,

Et antiquum documentum

Novo cedat ritui

Praestet fides supplementum

Sensuum defectui

Come adore this wondrous presence

Bow to Christ the source of grace

Here is kept the ancient promise

Of God's earthly dwelling place

Sight is blind before God's glory

Faith alone may see God's face

Presenting the Holy Oils - Sr. Rosemary, Sr. Sharon, Sr. Angela

Cantors - Sr. Molly, Sr. Elizabeth, Sr. Susan

Mandatum - Sr. Anne, Sr. Mary Margaret, Sr. Micaela, Fr. Meinrad

Procession to place of reposition

Busy Week

Sister Anne, Jen, Sister Marcia, Sister Barbara, myself

Well it has been almost a full week since I last posted and many things have occured. On Friday I facilitated a junior retreat for LeBlond High School on "The Road to Emmaus". It was a full day retreat and went very well.

Friday night, a friend of the community, Jen, came to stay the night in the guest area. A group of us played Mad Gab (Bible addition). If you haven't played this game, you really need to find it. The basic premise is to read what is written on the card and your team tries to guess what the phrase is (see picture) it is harder than it looks but lots of laughs!

"Pray for those who mistreat you"

---------------------------------- "A Drop in the Bucket"

Saturday was a pretty quiet day with bell practice as the only major activity. I started to feel a cold coming on so I just stayed in my room and started taking cold medicine. By Sunday morning my voice started to give out and my sinuses were clogged. I was the fourth person in my living group to come down with a cold this week. We try to stay in our rooms but there is only so much you can do. Each of us has different symptoms: some no voice, some coughing, some sinuses, some aches and fevers, etc. Mine is mostly sinus problems. Irritating but not terrible.

Sunday afternoon I spent some time with a Confirmation group from Topeka which ended up being a nice afternoon. Luckily the cold medicine worked and I was able to give them the tours of the monastery and talk a bit about church history.

Today was another busy day. This morning I went into Kansas City and gave a vocation talk prior to the diocesan Chrism mass. It was a nice gathering of high school students, their campus ministers, seminarians, Fr. Mitchel and myself. The morning consisted of a talk about evangelization, an explaination of the Chrism mass and a sharing about vocations. After the morning events, we all went upstairs together and attended the Chrism mass. The church was full and most of the priests from the diocese were in attendance for it is at this mass that the diocesan priests renew their promises. The mass had a beautiful choir with wonderful brass (which I love to listen to) unfortunately I still do not have my singing voice back so I had to be content with listening. Which actually is very pleasant in and of itself! So all in all a good day.

From here we begin our final preparations for the Triduum. It is my favorite Liturgical season of all and the liturgies here at the Mount are outstanding. Say some prayers for our Liturgist Susan who is having to adjust around all those catching colds. It is stressful enough planning the liturgies, assigning roles to each of the sisters and practicing so the liturgies are well done without all of us getting sick on her. She does a great job and we are lucky to have her skill and dedication.

May the cold and flu season soon end and may your final preparations for Easter be filled with peace.

Friends

My first group of friends we were all born within 2 months of each other and lived on the same alley.

Jennifer Gross, Amy Gilbronson, myself and Amy Konick

Longest friendship Julie Werp Matten

We met in line the first day of kindergarten and are still friends today!

This Lent, I have been spending considerable time in prayer with the scripture passages that refer to the time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. One theme that keeps coming up for me is the role of the Christ's friends in the events that took place. At times they were confident and supportive. At times they were doubtful and scared. At times they were heartbroken and desperate and at times they were overjoyed and filled with hope. It was his friends who shared his last meal and it was his friends who stood at the foot of the cross as he took his last breath. And when Christ rose from the dead it was to his friends that Christ returned to continue sharing the good news.

These reflections have then led me to reflect on all the marvelous people in life who I have been blessed to call friends. In these last few days of Lent it is for all of them that I pray and I offer this blessing from John O'Donohue.

May you be blessed with good friends. May you learn to be a good friend to yourself. May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where there is great love, warmth, feeling and forgiveness. May this change you. May it transfigure that which is negative, distant or cold in you. May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship and affinity of belonging. May you treasure your friends. May you be good to them and may you be there for them; may they bring you all the blessings, challenges, truth, and light that you need for your journey. May you never be isolated. May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam cara (soul friend).

We All Can Pray

This morning I received news about this precious young angel. Abby is the daughter of an old friend of mine and her brain tumor has recently returned. The first time was in 2005 and now once again this precious thing will have to go through some major treatment. I ask all of you to please add Abby and her family to your prayers - they need all the prayer support they can get.

These are two prayers that may help if you are unable to find the words.

St. Gerard, who, like the Savior, loved children so tenderly and by your prayers freed many from disease and even death, listen to us who are pleading for this sick child, Abby. We thank God for the great gift of this child and ask Him to restore her to health. This favor, we beg of you through your love for all children and mothers. Amen.

Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest your weary ones. Bless your dying ones. Soothe your suffering ones. Pity your afflicted ones. Shield your joyous ones. And for all your love's sake. Amen. Saint Augustine May the angels surround and hold Abby and her family close.

Celebration!

Well today was a wonderful day. Four times a year our entire community gathers for a weekend community meeting. These meetings deal with many things but give all of us an opportunity to hear important information together, to discuss our present and to plan for our future. As a community, we discuss important information with all present and everyone is given a chance to speak on topics that come to the floor.

Today we discussed many things, but one of the most exciting was the approval for Sister Barbara Smith to make Final Monastic Profession! She will be making profession on April 27. What a joyous occasion that will be. It is so exciting for all of us.

In celebration, many of the sisters gathered this evening in our game room to celebrate the joyful news with Sister Barbara. While lots of activities took place - the most amusing was the Benedictine ping pong game - it was done as a community! I have attached 2 video clips. The first one is a slower more refined version of the new game. The second clip is with fewer people and thus a bit faster paced and a bit more dangerous!

What a great evening and what joy for our community! We are so blessed to have Sister Barabara as part of our monastic community.