The book of Samuel opens with a beautiful and powerful story of the Lord God remembering Hannah, and she gave birth to Samuel. “Hannah was very distressed since she was childless. She went to the temple and prayed in her bitterness, and made a vow, promising: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity Read more »
When I was a sophomore in high school, we had an assignment to memorize a bible verse. I chose this verse because it was short and easy to remember. We were living in a new house, and the words connected naturally to my life. Over time, the verse took on deeper meaning. In a world Read more »
As the holidays end and a new year begins I find myself thinking about invitations. There are invitations to dinner, to celebrate special occasions, and meetings. Sometimes we receive an invitation to reconnect with someone we’ve loss touch with in the busyness of life. Sometimes an invitation is the beginning of a relationship or experience Read more »
We are in a season of gifts, given and received. Thanksgiving Day kicked it off, then the next major celebrations of Hanukkah and Christmas pick up the same theme. Jewish tradition celebrates a major victory centered on the temple, while for Christians, Christmas celebrates the unimaginable gift of God becoming human. For me personally, this Read more »
Every year we submit our statistics to the Catholic (Kenedy) Directory, the respected source for a list of Catholic nonprofit organizations. This year the Conference of Bishops requested that our statistics include the number of hermits, if any. St. Benedict discusses briefly the types of monastics in chapter 2 of his Rule. First are those Read more »
On December 8 we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. When I worked in parish ministry, some people thought of this feast as the conception of Jesus. No, this feast celebrates the conception of Mary in her mother’s womb. By God’s special privilege to Mary and to us, Mary was conceived without Read more »
Advent is the time of patient waiting, preparation and reflective considerations of the comings of Christ – the past, the present and the future. This Advent my mind continually finds its way dwelling on Mary and Joseph going from inn to inn without finding shelter. Not finding one, they end up at a stable, and, Read more »
The United Nations are currently gathered in Brazil discussing climate changes and its impact on planet earth, home to over 8.2 billion people. The effects of climate change are having devastating impacts on the lives of hundreds of millions of peoples, causing whole nations to lose their homeland due to rising temperatures, melting glaciers, severe Read more »
This past weekend the Oblates of St. Walburg Monastery were invited to participate in the Annual Retreat and Renewal weekend. Over the past several years, those who could, gather for the weekend, some staying overnight at the Guest House and others joining in the sessions in the Lower Level meeting room. Sr. Dorothy Schuette had Read more »
My parents died in the mid-1980’s. It became time for us eight children to clear out the house. We used a lottery system to ease the hardships of some decisions. On one of my turns I chose the paperback book “The Pocket Book of Ogden Nash”. In case you are not familiar with him, he Read more »