February is over

February 28-- Last day of the shortest month of the year.

                   2--Groundhog saw his shadow—winter yet.

                   2 --Presentation of the Lord; Candlemas Day

Simeon and Anna meet the “Light of the World.”

               12--Abraham Lincoln’s birthday—abolished slavery; preserved the Union.

               14—Ash Wednesday. Lent begins.  We return to dust

               14—Valentine Day.  We offer tokens of love to others.

               14—Gunshots, screaming, pandemonium.

                         High school students and teachers are killed. 17 in all.

                         Others wounded.

                         Troubled teen uses an automatic attack rifle to get the attention he lacked.

Where is the blame—easy access to guns, lax gun control laws, mental illness, inability to take a stand?

Who will step to the plate to do something about this tragedy?

Teens march on Florida’s capitol to say “NO MORE.”

Teens take the initiative to march around our area’s high schools to support their brother and sister teens. To seek a solution.

Who is listening? Does anyone hear the cry of these young people?

    22—George Washington’s birthday—the Father of our Country.

         -- spring-like weather comes

         --A beautiful day of snow interrupts but, doesn’t last.

         --RAIN , rain, and more rain!  The Ohio River floods. 

Many are affected.  Many reach out to help. 

                     Many look on awe-struck by the sight.

            The daffodil and tulip bulbs break through.  Spring is near.

            The old weeping willow on the Monastery grounds is turning yellow-green.

            February is over.

      Sr. Kathleen Ryan, OSB

February Musings

     Outside my second floor window, a pervasive grayness chills the landscape with its bone-bare trees and swirling snow.  It evokes an unsolicited, fleeting feeling like that of being in Narnia, where it was “always winter, but never Christmas”.  Out of nowhere comes a phrase from the baccalaureate speaker at my college graduation many years ago: “You are the children of winter.”

      That is all I remember of the speech.  Most likely, the speaker encouraged us to meet the challenges that lay ahead and reminded us that it would not be an easy future that awaited us.  Wise decisions, hope, and trust in God would help us make a difference. 

      Now, the necessity of hope and informed action is more crucial than ever as the volume and speed of human and environmental crises mount.  While the advances of technology, medicine, psychology and science grow, so do drug problems, weapons of destruction, slavery and domination.  And the curse and saving grace is that we are all in this together. 

      As the Spirit hovers over the land and waters, seeking those who will listen and hear....  let us pray and carry one another. 

       During these random musings, a beautifully bright, small and fragile redbird has alighted on the top limb of a tree on the hillside.  It flits here and there, with its mate nearby.  I am reluctant to leave.  How can it stand the cold?   Thank you, God, for this little gift.  I need it today. 

                        Sr. Sharon Portwood, OSB