Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always, well usually, a very pretty time of year in northern KY. Today, The sky is bright blue; the air is close to 40; leaves, though nearly gone, have a bit of color. Best of all, I just saw, for the first time, a hawk sitting in the grass finishing off lunch. Usually, I see them in the air looking for prey.

Thanksgiving is also a time when I remember my parents who were married on this date in St. Bernard's Abbey Church in Cullman, AL. On that day, the abbot told them "to send one back." I am grateful I'm the one who entered this community of Benedictine women. I've never regretted that decision.

May each of you have a very happy Thanksgiving as you gather with family and friends.

Sr. Mary Catherine Wenstrup

November 2020

 

    It has been years since November has topped my list as a favorite month. The trees without their crowns, left unadorned stand out in stark beauty. Shades of brown replace much of the landscape. It is often a quiet month, with fewer distractions (well, with recent elections, maybe not this year). The simplicity of physical surroundings draws one to a deeper connection with the Holy. November lends itself to reflecting on the essentials of life and the importance of relationships tops the list. The month is bookended with remembrance of deceased loved ones at the beginning and ends with Thanksgiving, a time of gratitude for the persons in one’s life.

    However, this November is like no other.  What occurred at the end of October provided an interesting challenge for the community. Due to a positive COVID-19 case our main kitchen staff were quarantined. This meant we were on our own for all the meals! Many of us have had the experience of cooking for 4-6, but cooking for 35 plus is another type of experience! It was heartwarming how many in the community volunteered and helped in myriads of ways. The food was plentiful, varied and delicious and no one has lost weight! (though some of us wish we did!). We are also most grateful to a generous benefactor who provided several evening meals from local restaurants.

    This year the celebration of Thanksgiving, too, will be different. As is true for so many, there will be no guests or visiting with family at the Monastery. What rejoicing there will be when this pandemic is over. The promise of a vaccine does give hope for life beyond the virus.  In the meantime, during this November of 2020 my daily reflections are on gratitude and the many blessings in my life that have multiplied.

    Our community continues to pray daily for those suffering from COVID-19 and those isolated from family members.  We are grateful for all the blessings we have received from our friends and family. 

                                        Sister Aileen Bankemper

Cats and God's love for us

           In late October Sr. Dorothy and I moved from a house on the western edge of the monastery property to the monastery itself. The move went well with the gracious and generous help of our maintenance men, Paul Rodgers and Tony Jarman and Srs. Mary Catherine, Cathy and Christa. The sisters at the monastery welcomed us with open arms. The only drawback for me was that this is the first time since 1992 there has not been a cat in my life.

              

          In 1992 when we were living in a house in downtown Covington, we adopted two kittens, brother and sister:  butterscotch and white named Cheddar and black and white named Chutney. Chutney died at age 10 when we were still in Covington and Cheddar died at age 19 going on 20 when we were living at St. Marys. A friend asked if we would consider adopting a diva cat who had been adopted by her daughter and who had to be returned to the foster parent because she blocked the house’s kitten from using the litter box! So we adopted Drina, a British short-haired cat with the attitude of Queen Victoria. On our original visit to see Drina, another little funny-looking kitten came running up to us. That was Diana, a grey and white Selkirk Rex, who clearly wanted to go home with us and a month later we returned for her.

           

          My experience with these four cats has led me to two reflection points. The first one struck me when Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI. Many news outlets reported that he was a cat lover and that the administrators in the Vatican wanted him to stop feeding homeless cats in Vatican City. I wanted to write him a letter suggesting that as Pope in these times, he would be relating to the People of God not as a shepherd to the sheep but as a cat herder trying to lead a bunch of cats to salvation. Or a cat whisperer like Jackson Galaxy helping humans adjust themselves to the inclinations of the cats in their lives. 

          Sheep are fairly docile compared to cats. Sheep will follow; cats won’t. If you are in a relationship with a cat, you love it deeply for its “catness.” Getting a cat to trust you is a lot of work and that’s the point. However much you say to the cat, “It’s for your own good,” the cat will insist that you prove it and even then it won’t be convinced. Cats show an aptitude for free will even more than human beings.

            
          Later as I edged closer to becoming a crazy cat lady (but never really crossing the line), I realized that my love for the cats in my life was like God’s love for us. Catherine of Siena says to God in one of her prayers to the Trinity, “You rested your sight on the beauty of your creature, whom you, as mad … with love, fell in love with … and acted as if you were drunk with love, infatuated by your creature.” God does not love us for our potential perfection as human beings; God delights in us and deeply loves us for who we are—human beings imperfect as we are. Very much like my love for the cats in my life—delight in their “catness” and infatuated to the point that if there is a cat in the room, I may not pay attention to anything else.

            Now as Thanksgiving draws near, I give thanks for the cats that have been in my life who have helped me love the natural and animal world around me, who have made me a better person coming closer to being able to love as God loves. And I give thanks for God’s delight and love for me and all the other People of God.

                              Sr. Deborah Harmeling, OSB

Fog and Thanksgiving?

         Fog fascinates me. It is as mysterious as it is real. My fascination began with the children's book FOG MAGIC by Julia L. Sauer that I used to read each year to the class I was teaching. From then on, I enjoyed a walk in the fog when it would appear. Our monastery, situated on the hill overlooking the Ohio River, often experiences fog in the morning, Recently, the fog encased the monastery so much so that one could not see even the building that was a stone's throw away.  Seeing only grey looking out the windows, I whispered, "Thank you God for your creativity. Thank you for the colors of our world." 

       That fog inspired this blog about thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, our  American holiday, is a wonderful tradition. A day family and friends gather to give thanks for God's blessings. But, to be thankful is not just a one day thing. It is an attitude. It is a positive way of thinking and acting. A smile, a kindness extended, a word that encourages, a simple "thank you." Those two little words most often return to the sender.

       Eucharist is thanksgiving at its utmost. The Scripture readings for Thanksgiving Day Mass are filled with the blessings of God. In the reading from Sirach, "we bless the God who has done wondrous things on earth" and ask "that God grant us joy of heart, peace and goodness that endures."

     The Responsorial Psalm picks up the theme with the words, "The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and compassionate to all God's works."  In Paul's first Letter to the Corinthians he tells them to "thank God for the grace bestowed on them in Jesus Christ which enriches them in every way.  God is faithful!"

      In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells  the man who was cured of possession to "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his kindness has done for you."

     Cultivating an "attitude of gratitude" can open our eyes to see how many times a day God blesses us. Thankfulness gets us "out of the fog" to see the beauty in each person and each experience we have.Thankfulness does become more than a one day thing. More than just a once a year celebration.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL YEAR LONG!

     Sr. Kathleen Ryan, OSB

Attitude of Gratitude

       As yet another snow storm approaches I am trying mightily to maintain or hone my “attitude of gratitude.” 

        One of my favorite poems by e.e. cummings begins “i thank You God for most this amazing day…” I have always tried to keep that thought through the events of each day. I often continue the line in my mind with the other things for which I thank God. Some days it’s easier to do than others. 

       I had knee replacement surgery at the end of January and throughout my recovery I was always grateful for the nurses, aides, therapists and others who cared for me at the hospital but most especially in our infirmary. To know that I could get help when I needed it (or before I even knew I needed it) was a real blessing. For all those loving people I am forever thankful. 

       As my sister battles cancer and the side effects of chemotherapy, I have to work harder to be grateful. Seeing her suffering and the uncertainty of the outcomes of the severe treatments is teaching me that my gratitude must widen to include the difficult and sad. Knowing that there is a greater plan than my own gives me hope. I wish for only good times but try to be open to what happens now as well as what I hope for. 

       I encourage you to join me in saying, “i thank You God for most this amazing day” and …

       Sr. Nancy Kordenbrock, OSB

Thanksgiving, Eucharist and Community

       Annually Americans observe Thanksgiving as "a public celebration of divine goodness"  (Webster) as did our forbears, the Pilgrims in New England, many years ago.
        Now as a Benedictine community we celebrate the Eucharist regularly and recall that the Greek word, "eucharist," means "gratitude, thanksgiving." From experience we know that gratitude nourishes community life because it feeds our soul daily. So, by living "community" gratefully every day eucharist happens all year round. 
   Sr. Martha Walther, OSB

Thanksgiving 2013

     Reflecting on Thanksgiving of course brings me to how grateful I am living in this country. Despite its problems it has provided a rather soft life and since I am a wimp I feel terribly blessed as I am sure many others do as well. i cannot imagine living anywhere else.

     So as I compiled my long list of thanks that I am sure resembles yours I paused at technology. For it enables us to enter the lives of persons and peoples living at great distances.We see those suffering great traumas of war and disasters, famine and disease. I am grateful. It gives me another way to be Christ to my neighbor.I usually think of Jesus in terms of kindness, charity, forgiveness, etc. But Jesus suffers. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, “How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a mother bird collects her young under her wings.”(Luke 13) I can be part of that Jesus as well and ever more so thanks to our many media sources.  Please join me in celebrating that we are one.

     For another take on gratitude I invite you to revisit Sr. Aileen's blog posted July 17,2013.

     Enjoy the holidays.   Sr. Mary Rabe, OSB

Amazing Day

     It’s another hot and humid day here in Kentucky. “I don’t do humidity.” That’s my mantra! That’s also my whine for today.

     I realize how small that sounds and wish I were more noble, but I’m stuck with myself to a certain extent. No one can change me but me. How many times have I heard that or said that before?

     All morning I’ve been remembering the first line of my favorite poem by e.e. cummings: “i thank you, god, for most this amazing day.” No matter the weather, the work, the people, the feelings, this is an amazing day. I’m here and I’m part of the day. What will I do with it? Will I truly thank God for it?

     Join me in thinking about and appreciating the many gifts this day brings. Not all gifts are really positive; many are crosses we bear or difficulties we try to understand. All of them are gifts from God.

     “We thank you, God, for most this amazing day…”

               Sr. Nancy Kordenbrock, OSB

Cultivate Gratitude and Thanksgiving

     In the past on Thanksgiving Day, I would spontaneously journal pages naming people and events that filled my heart with a deep sense of gratitude and joy. My Benedictine family, my familial family, friends, happy celebrations and the goodness and beauty of the creation were all recorded in joyful detail. These are items which most folks include in their list of gratefulness.
     Recently in reading some excerpts of noted theologian Henri Nouwen's writings on gratitude, a whole new dimension of gratitude as a discipline to be cultivated on a daily basis reopened to me. A gratitude which involves praising God for all events in our lives including painful and adverse happenings, which have formed and shaped us into the beings we are today. Nouwen's teaching on this revolves around the fact that God's sanctifying grace is what gifts us, prunes us, and reshapes us to the point where we can say everything is grace. Without acceptance of this grace a daily basis and relying completely on it, we will never become truly fruitful and fulfilled members of the Body of Christ.

     Benedictine brother David Steindle-Rast is another author who has extensive writings and teaching on gratefulness as an attitude where we never take life for granted, always aware of God's grace working with us. The website, http://www.gratefulness.org has many added thoughts and suggestions on the attitude of gratitude.
     In conclusion: let us give thanks to the Lord of goodness for God is lasting love. Ps. 107.
                                                               Sr. Joan Gripshover, OSB