The Road to Eternal Life by Michael Casey, OSB, is filled with gems. One line that struck me today is, “Monastic life, spiritual life is all about becoming a learner, a disciple.”
In school to become teachers, we were taught that we needed to be – and create – life-long learners. This is a goal that we seek to accomplish with every child. It’s why we teach! Read more
Wednesday last week was one of those days where you want to go home, go back to bed and start over. (I sometime think if we could get a free restarts in life it would be great. Then again, maybe not – it might end up being a rewind of what just happened. 
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(BTW, this photo is of last year’s class.)
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night … nor lack of electricity … stays these Benedictines from prayer. 
Earlier this week, huge storms crashed over our heads as we prayed Lauds in the chapel. Great strikes of lightning, deafening booms of thunder and sheets of rain filled the air around us. “The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth.” (Psalm 77) Read more
Last night, following the Easter Vigil, we spoke for the first time since Holy Thursday.
The Triduum is our most sacred time of year. We walk with Jesus’ apostles through the days of terror and loss. We go into silence to deepen our contemplation. Read more
If you think the kids are the only ones who love snow days, you’re not a teacher.
Today started off like any school day: I got up, did Lectio Divina (spiritual reading), laid out my clothes and packed my backpack for school. Then I thought, I better check to see if school has been canceled. The snow looked heavy and the forecast was bad. Nope, school was still on. Read more
Each Lent we pick one book as our Lenten read. This year I chose Make Time for Yourself: It’s your Time by Abbot Primate Notker Wolf.
This paragraph really struck me: “We cannot isolate ourselves from the tempo of our world, but in the midst of this pressure we must look ways of finding ‘our’ time. Life requires time.” Read more
I’ve written about my youngest sister, MacKenzie, before. She is my bio sister, and an incredibly important part of my life. She’s beloved by my new family of Benedictine Sisters, too!
MacKenzie participated in the Special Olympics’ district basketball competition yesterday in Eldridge, Iowa. Eldridge is a small town about 30 minutes from the monastery. It was a wonderful event! Read more
Each month my Benedictine Sisters devote a day to silent prayer. They observe silence, spend time in reflection and engage in private prayer on the first Wednesday of every month. It’s heaven! Read more
If you’ve ever wondered how a community of Catholic Sisters celebrates Christmas, I know how you feel. I used to wonder too!
My community of monastic Benedictine Sisters has its own traditions which I am happy to share. (I’m not sure how apostolic communities celebrate, or if they even gather together on Christmas Day. They don’t live in community as monastics do. In fact, they often live far away from the Motherhouse. As a monastic community, we live together and celebrate holy days together.) Read more
Last week I went home for Thanksgiving. I left after Lauds on Thanksgiving morning. It was a lot of fun to see my three nephews! Zachary shared about his first year in college, Alex shared about his first job and Noah shared about his first year in high school. We had a lot of firsts! Read more
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