Work of God

          St. Benedict tells us in his Rule "to prefer nothing to the work of God".  We also know  that the primary ministry of Benedictines is this work of God.  What is this work of God?  The work of God is our prayer life of the Liturgy of the Hours and also our Lectio Divina.  Benedictines take this work of God very seriously, it is our life-long commitment. 

          The other day I arrived early for the Liturgy of the Hours and was able to see the sisters assemble. One sister, in her 90's, was pushing a wheelchair sister into the chapel. The wheelchair sister was pushing the walker of the helper ahead of the wheelchair. I am always struck by the consistency of the infirmary sisters coming to the liturgy of the hours.The rest of the community eventually gathered.This is the same in the early hours of the morning or at the other prayer times during the day. 

          

          Beside the morning prayer time and evening time, we have two other times during the day, one at noon and one in the evening. Lectio Divina, or praying with the Scriptures, is done privately by each of us during the day.

          What is the Liturgy of the Hours? It is the Divine Office and consists in singing a hymn, praying a selection of Psalms, reading of Scripture, a sung Canticle, the Our Father and a closing prayer. In the morning, the Canticle of Zachary is sung and in the evening, it is the Canticle of Mary. General Intercessions are prayed in the evening, praying for the needs in the world and timely intentions among us. We always have prayer intentions from people on our liturgy board in the hallway that are posted regularly.The word "Liturgy" means "the work of the people."  Here at prayer the work of the people becomes the work of God.  God receives our work and gives it back a hundred fold!

          A quote I discovered recently from the book of Wisdom says:  "Desire therefore my words; long for them and you shall be instructed."  Wisdom 6:11.

          Sr. Barbara Woeste, OSB

November Reflection

This is November—gray, drizzling, chilly, depressing.

I wish it were May—sunny, dazzling, warm, uplifting.

Uh oh, whatever happened to my favorite poem by e.e. cummings?

             i thank You God for most this amazing

             day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth

day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing

breathing any—lifted from the no

of all nothing—human merely being

doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of ears awake and

now the eyes of eyes are opened)

           

How could I doubt that God is here in the gray drizzle of November, any less than in the dazzling warmth of May? 

May the dark dormancy of winter bring the vibrant life of spring.

May each of us enjoy the darkness, the quiet, the down time now, and the light and chatter of spring to come.

God is here. We are God’s beloved in every time, in every temperature and every color.

AMEN.

                          Sr. Nancy Kordenbrock, OSB

BENEDICTINE ALL SAINTS DAY!

     On this day, in my distant past, we celebrated this day, November 13^th, as the “Feast of Benedictine All Saints.”  That was a special day for us Benedictines. After all, there are over 1500 years of women and men Benedictines who have passed on to eternal life over that time. hat would have been countless Saints, canonized or not. St. Paul says, we are all saints of God. Now, of course they are not celebrated separately, but included with the whole Communion of Saints on All Saints Day, and individually through-out the year. 

     St. Benedict & St. Scholastica provided a Gospel way of life for us that has endured through-out the ages for, not only the women and men monastics, but also for the oblates who live out the same charism in their everyday lives. “Preferring nothing to Christ, and allowing Christ to lead us all to life everlasting.” (H.R. Ch. 72:11-12) Christ is our Guide and Leader on this Way.

     How does Christ form and transform us into his disciples?  Just as Jesus did the disciples in Galilee some 2000 years ago.  In his book, Jesus the Gift of Love, Jean Vanier sums up his method: 

Jesus formed these men and women not in a formal way by teaching ideas, skills, or giving them classes in Scripture, but he formed and transformed them by living with them, walking with them, being a model for them.

He loved them and they loved him so naturally they learned from him, to do things as he did them.  He taught them how to live the good news, how to trust the Father and to read the signs of God in all the little events of each day. 

He showed them that faith is trust in God, not ideas about God, and that this faith and trust grow day by day through all that is beautiful as well as through all that is painful, all that reveals our weakness and poverty.He showed them that trust is like a dialogue, a communion between hearts that is continually deepening.

Jesus gave them an example of how to live, how to love, how to welcome the poor, how to become a friend of the powerless, how to be with women and men and with strangers, even the Roman troops, how to be with sinners, tax collectors, and victims of prostitution.

They saw how Jesus lived, simply and poorly, open to each moment and to each situation, open to the will of the Father, and how he was moved and motivated not by a codified, written law, but by the law of love, the love of each person in need. 

  

    Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus formed and transformed the disciples. Filled with that same Spirit we continue that way of life today in our communities and in our homes. Jesus gave us the Spirit as a guarantee of his accompanying us on our journey to the kingdom. In Christ we are formed and transformed into the Communion of Saints with all God’s people and all creation.   ALLELUIA! 

         Sr. Mary Tewes, OSB

Visiting Kentucky's Death Row

          On the day of posting this blog, November 6, 2019, I am visiting the men on Kentucky’s Death Row at the State Penitentiary in Eddyville along with seven other religious women and one man, representing 6 religious communities. A group of us (Religious Communities Against the Death Penalty) have participated in this annual event almost every year since 1997. Our commitment to this practice began with awareness and the need to witness to the value of all life in opposition to the culture of death pervasive in our society.

           At the present time there are twenty-eight men and one woman under the sentence of death in Kentucky. I rejoiced when I just now checked the list online to see that one man whom we have visited for years has been resentenced. Usually “resentenced” means he is now serving “life without possibility of parole” which certainly satisfies the requirements of justice for him and safety for society. According to the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, ninety-seven persons have been sentenced to death in Kentucky. They report that fifty of those sentences have been reversed on appeal or post-conviction.

          Only three men have been executed since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1976 after a hiatus of several years in which the state tried (but failed) to ensure that it was administered fairly. The last execution was eleven years ago of a man who rejected the appeals to which he was entitled and chose to be executed as soon as possible. Many of us see this as a form of state assisted suicide.

          In 2010 a judge ordered a stay of executions in Kentucky while attorneys argued over, among issues, protocols involving drugs used during lethal injection. This has not yet been resolved and, thankfully, there does not seem to be any motivation for resolution at this time. It is our hope and prayer that Kentucky will soon pass legislation to abolish the death penalty and rely upon the other sentencing options to administer appropriate justice to victims and offenders.

          So today we will pray and visit with some men whom we have known for over twenty years even though we see them only once a year. Some are newcomers; our latest friend came in 2014. Usually twelve to sixteen come over to the chapel/visiting room to be with us. We often celebrate Mass with their regular chaplain; today we are glad to have our own Glenmary Father John Rausch preside. It is an awesome experience to pray with men who so sincerely lay their souls bare to God’s mercy and beg for grace upon all persons they have touched in their lives, especially their victims and all who suffer violence.

         After Mass we sit in twos and threes to share what’s new in our lives, our hopes and concerns for about 30-40 minutes. We have come to know about their families and their backgrounds and to appreciate their personalities and their gifts. They always express their profound gratitude to us for coming the distance and for our letting them know that we love and respect them as our brothers in God’s family. They always remind us, more by their example than their words that, “No one deserves to be judged by the worst thing s/he ever did.”

          Sr. Dorothy Schuette, OSB