Listen Carefully

Listen carefully…

            Rule of Saint Benedict

       It is hard to write a blog today that will be made public without thinking about what is publicly taking place in our country. Yet two statements come to mind that I share with you. The first two words at the beginning of the Prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict are “Listen carefully.” Benedict goes on to instruct us to “listen with the ear of your heart.” That is usually easier said than done, especially if one is expected to withhold making a final judgment until all the talking and discernment are concluded and it is time to vote.

       I am also reminded of a statement made some years ago by Sr. Augusta M. Raabe, OSB, who wrote that “…discernment is the process by which a person distinguishes his (her) own inner promptings, and therefore, the source of his (her) motivation." We each know how difficult it can be to listen and name the source of what motivates us to act or not; to speak or not. For sure, it motivates me to pray for all involved.

     Sr. Mary Catherine Wenstrup, OSB

Has it really been this long?

        Recently I was requested by Sister Rosemary McCormick the community’s “roving reporter” for our in-house “Word Within” newsletter to write about my 15 year experience as a volunteer at the Women’s Federal Prison Camp in Lexington, Ky. The following is a summary adaptation of what I wrote.

         Over the years listening to the women’s stories at the prison – some horrific, has made an indelible impression on me. No one chooses to be born into an addicted family; or in a family in which abuse – physical, sexual, emotional had become a pattern; or in situations in which abject poverty was the norm. And yes, for some of the women their early lives were neither harsh nor dangerous. And yes, some women do have a real attitude! There is always a mixture of women in the groups that I conduct.

         How to be of help can be a huge challenge. I envy Jesus who looked directly into the person’s soul and knew what was needed! For me, it is listening, providing mental and emotional health education and most of all being attuned to the matters of their hearts – that seem to lead to a positive change.  

        Through the years I have met many remarkable women. Women who own up to the crime(s), take responsibility for their mistakes and use the opportunity in prison to reflect on their lives and begin making necessary changes. Many of them offer kindness and acceptance to the other inmates especially the newly arrived women in the Camp.

        Often, when people come to see me on the Monastery grounds they remark how sacred and holy this space is. This does not surprise me. I am surprised, though, at how often I have felt a sense of sacredness when meeting with the women at the Prison Camp. So often there is vulnerability and openness that makes the space feel holy, and at times, the workings of the Spirit feels palpable.

        I believed then as I do now that incarcerated women are underserved. Through the years I have experienced many challenges! Now seldom do I experience the feelings of dread and anxiety when I drive up the long driveway – but I continue to feel a sense of hope and gratitude when I leave the Camp.

        Sr. Aileen Bankemper, OSB

From Hearing to Listening to Healing

       Wed., 11/9  Overnight the primal scream that has been crying throughout the world found its voice in the United States. A significant part of the US population that has felt unheard and ignored for a long time forced the rest of the country to feel its pain. With seismic force, chasms that many did not know existed, were unearthed in the cities and countrysides of America. 

       After an election colored by name calling, harsh judgments, and false assumptions across the political spectrum, our country is left to deal with a pain, fear, and frustration similar to that which  has raised its head in many countries around the globe. From African countries with no stable government to England, from Arab Spring to Brexit, groups of people have been forcing those who hold the reins of power to pay attention to them. 

       The causes underlying this cacophony are probably multiple, but I’d guess a major one stems from the almost cataclysmic changes that have come to us in just one lifetime - communication, immigration, manufacturing, transportation……  As one commentator put it, it’s as powerful a change in society as the 19^th century industrial revolution. And who’s been hurt the most? The millions of people who have the fewest resources to cope.

       What now? During the election campaign, lines weren’t just drawn in the sand; ditches were dug. Bridges weren’t just dismantled; they were bombed. How does one move on from here?  How does healing and reconstruction begin? Who can lead? 

       This is where we come in, we, people of faith and good will. Our call is as seismic as the one that shook our country last night. We who believe in a power greater than a single individual - humanist, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Native American… - all of us are being challenged to reach out across all divides, old or new, to learn another’s reality. Painful as it is, we need to listen to another person’s truth, and try to understand why theirs is different from our own.  All of us are wounded in some way. We are frail and imperfect, but each of us has the power to heal another because we have the power to love. Listening is a form of loving. 

       As a Catholic Christian, I know that the God who lives within me lives within each person around me. I know that Jesus reached out across society’s dividing lines and touched the good within others who had been judged sinful or religiously unclean. I am called to imitate him, and, because at one time or another I have experienced it, I know a word or a touch can heal.

        On this 11/9 I am reminded of another 9/11 when our country was called to come together. Today and the days to come, we are called to put on a new mind, a mind that realizes our individual perspective is not always shared by others, but if we work at it, we can probably find common ground. Our forebears who wrote the constitution had a similar challenge. They succeeded. Can we? Then what?

       

Blessings on us all for the difficult journey ahead.
                       Sr. Colleen Winston, OSB