Oblates of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Ill., blog about Benedictine values, prayer and life.
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 30th, 2009
In recent months I’ve noticed a repeated theme in the psalms: a conviction that God’s justice is intact, no matter the circumstances. The psalmist might speak amid exile, the destruction of God’s own city, being subjected to death threats, being abandoned by neighbors and friends . . . and though sometimes the voice of lament [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 25th, 2009
Christmas reflections and poems from the Sisters will give you plenty to ponder at the start of this holy week. Blessings from the Benedictine Sisters!
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 21st, 2009
One morning, a year or so ago, as I stood in the Communion line I looked up to see a person receiving the cup—a person whom I do not like and rarely agree with…on anything. As I smirked my dislike in his direction, I heard a still small voice murmur, “You’re going to spend eternity [...]
Posted in Benedictine Oblates, Benedictine values, News, Uncategorized on Dec 17th, 2009
Recently, in thanks for a small contribution to “Home of Hope India” (which helps neglected, abused and abandoned girls in Southern India), I received a wonderful gift: a copy of In Due Season: A Catholic Life–autographed, no less, by its author, Paul Wilkes. (He is also executive director of “Home of Hope India.”)
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 16th, 2009
I’m not sure if you can buy them anymore–those magic 8 balls that looked like miniature bowling balls with a tiny water-filled window atop them, a different message on each side of the 8-sided shape. The messages were responses to a question you were supposed to pose to the magic 8 ball, before turning it [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 9th, 2009
Last night I read Psalm 79–one of the psalms of the day, and one of the psalms that call for God’s wrath upon the “heathen” (KJV) who’ve defiled the temple and killed many people of the covenant.