September-October 2011
Vol. 107:3
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ISSN 0038-7592
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Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
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From Sister Pat
Congregation of
Benedictine Sisters
of Perpetual Adoration
Dear Friends,
There is a mellowness about the autumn season of the
year when the intensity of the summer sun begins to
wane. Mornings and evenings are cooler. Jackets and
sweaters are brought out of storage. From chimneys, smoke tendrils snake
their way into the atmosphere. The earth is shifting into another gear.
In our own more mellow moments we, too, can find ourselves shifting into
another gear, a space of deeper personal reflection. These are the moments
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when God graces us with an insight about a past event in our life that has
shaped us for better or worse. A moment when we made a choice that was
either life-giving or death-dealing. In the mellow moment we are held in the
embrace of the event long enough to discover at least some of the truth of its
impact on and meaning for our life.
Jesus took time for his share of mellow moments when he went off by
himself to pray or when he let the disciples go on ahead without him. He
downshifted for a while in order to connect with his father in a more conscious way so that he might know the Father’s will and be strengthened to
do it.
I believe God invites and welcomes the opportunity to enter into mellow
moments with us. When we put aside the demands of everyday life long
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enough to connect with the One who dwells deep within our being we come
to know forgiveness, acceptance, and peace. From there it is further blessing
to pass those gifts on to others.
In the Lord Jesus,
Sr. Pat Nyquist, OSB
Prioress General
Who We Are
The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are a contemporary monastic community with a distinctive dedication to the Eucharist. We serve the Church through our
contemplative prayer, and witness to God’s presence in our world through community
life, hospitality, and a ministry of the word in ways uniquely appropriate to each of our
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Volume 107:3
September-October 2011
FEATURES
3
Harvest of Justice
11
SR. LENORA BLACK, OSB
3
5
The Prodigal’s Brother
SCOTT COVERDALE
12
MARY S. SHERIDAN
7
The Still Life
SR. BEDE LUETKEMEYER, OSB
11
9
Mother of Sorrows
SR. JEANETTE VON HERMANN, OSB
15
Ordinary?
GERRY KEIRNAN
What the Years Teach Us
KATHARINE NUTT
Front Cover: Piotr Bizior, Bizior
Photography, www.bizior.com
12
Days and Hours
DEPARTMENTS
From Sr. Pat
From the Editor
Book Reviews .................... 16
Community ....................... 18
11
STAFF: Lenora Black, OSB, editor; Reparata Hopp, OSB; Dawn Annette Mills, OSB; Kelley Baldwin; M. Bede
Luetkemeyer, OSB; Jeanette von Herrmann, OSB; Kathleen Clare Lahl, OSB, and Mary S. Sheridan.
ART AND PHOTO CREDITS: Michael Rieger FEMA, p. 2; Wikimedia Commons, pp. 3, 10; Adrian van Leen, p. 4;
Simona Balint, p. 4; Alicia Jo McMahan, p. 4; Rembrandt 1669, p. 5; Giovanni Ambrogio Figino, 1608, p. 7; Hope
Rodenborn, OSB, p. 9; Leroy Skalstad, p. 11; Mike Gieson, p. 11; Adriaen Isenbrant 16th Century, p. 12; El Greco
1590s, p.14; Roger Kirby, p. 15; Andrea Kratzenberg, p. 16; Ruth Starman, OSB, p. 18; Lenora Black, OSB, pp. 18, 21;
Monica Pinho, p. 18; Mary Glidewell, p. 19; Josetta Grant, OSB, p. 19; Sophia Becker, OSB, p. 19; Lynn Marie D’Souza,
OSB, p. 21; Kelley Baldwin, p. 22 (BC).
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FROM THE EDITOR
Perspective: “the capacity to view things in their true
relations or relative importance.” With this harvest issue
of Spirit&Life is an invitation to consider the past year
and also the past ten years, as we commemorate the tenth
anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is a
good time to take stock. What was most important to us
immediately following those attacks ten years ago? What
is most important to us now, and is there a connection?
As I write this on the Fourth of July, while we are thanking God for our freedom, I am aware of the murder and
mayhem only a few hours’ drive south of Tucson, across
the border. Our Mexican neighbors live in fear of warring
drug cartels, while on our side of the border, the level of
verbal violence escalates nationwide.
The past year’s earthquakes and nuclear disaster, floods
and wildfires, may have numbed us to the ongoing
suffering accompanying them. We need to remember our
first feelings when disaster strikes, when we are suddenly
reminded of our own vulnerability. Instinctively, most of
us will reach out to those in need, at least in our hearts.
Many will generously offer themselves personally to help
where they can. Others may write a check or text a
donation on their cell phone, responding as best they can.
“Human kind / Cannot bear very much reality,”1 Those
first few days after disaster strikes are precious and
deserve to be embraced, with all their raw pain. If our
physical body does not feel appropriate pain when
injured or ailing, we are in trouble. When we, as members
of a community—members of Christ’s Body—cease to
feel pain at the suffering of other members, we are in
trouble. Numbness to their suffering leads to growing
insensitivity on our part, and withdrawal into our own
safe little cocoon.
We may assure ourselves that our values and our hearts
are in the right places, but, as with muscles, values and
hearts lose their tone when not exercised. In the words of
motivational speaker and writer, Denis Waitley, “You
must look within for value, but must look beyond for
perspective.” “Looking beyond” includes past, present, and
future. We need to be aware of where we stand here and
now, in relation to those around us, as we look back to
harvest the lessons of experience. Only with that perspective can we look ahead and set our course with confidence.
When even members of our legislative bodies increasingly resort to insults, name-calling and wild accusations
in preference to civil negotiation, we have a right to ask if
this is any better than bullying in the schoolyard and
fisticuffs in the street. These are serious times, with lifeand-death issues on the table for discussion and decision,
but where are the caring and respectful sharing these
issues deserve? This insensitivity has not turned violent
out of the blue. Caught up in heated political rhetoric, we
become part of the problem when we don’t keep our
perspective on what is at stake.
Since September 11, 2001, we have lived in a climate of
fear, whether we want to admit it or not. Some contend
that this fear has been deliberately exploited by others
who are in authority, to gain power and control over
those with lesser power. What is unarguable, is that fear is
at the root of violence, as well as the result of violence.
We have to somehow interrupt that vicious cycle. Each
one of us can make changes in our personal, one-to-one
relationships for a start. If we truly respect one another,
can we show that more often in our behavior? Can we
civilize our uncivil language and demand the same from
our public officials? Can we risk showing compassion or
responding gently when another is in distress? We can—
and it’s high time to do it! É
Sr. Lenora Black, OSB
1
2
September-October 2011
T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, “Burnt Norton” I, Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1943, p. 14.
Harvest of Justice
SR. LENORA BLACK, OSB
The harvest of justice is sown in peace for
those who cultivate peace. James 3:18.
P
eace and justice are inseparable, but we hear
little thoughtful discussion about their relationship. Perhaps this is due to a negative
impression of justice. The word may conjure up
somber images of black-robed judges, courtrooms, a
summons for jury duty—or blind Lady Justice with
her scales and sword. Courtrooms are more often
associated with controversy than they are with peace.
In an individualistic environment where people are
more concerned about their personal rights than the
rights of others, contention is inevitable.
Justice is a concept that urgently needs pondering if
we are to become peacemakers. Secular or legal
justice is essential for a well-functioning society, and
to the degree that people honestly bring their concerns before the court and receive a fair resolution,
peace should be enhanced. This secular justice
deserves our support, but it has limitations.
There is another kind of justice—one that leads
more surely to peace. Peacemaking is not just an
option we can ignore. We are committed to it by our
baptism, but how do we become peacemakers in our
day to day living? Walter Burghardt, SJ, a theologian
who spent his long life preaching, teaching, and
writing, is a help here. In his last years he devoted his
efforts to helping priests “preach the just Word.” He
carefully distinguished between secular or “legal”
justice and biblical justice. The justice on which our
legal system depends stems largely from English
common law, while biblical justice depends on a
1
covenant
relationship
with God.
In Micah 6:8 the
prophet asked
Israel, “What does the Lord require of you but to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly
with your God?” Micah, according to Burghardt, was
not concerned primarily with an ethical or legal
requirement that every person receive dispassionately what he or she deserved—a traditional definition of justice. “Biblical justice embraces all that, but
goes beyond it . . . the Israelite lived in a world where
‘to live’ was to be united with others by bonds of
family or by covenant relationships. . .”
Biblical justice is fidelity to relationships that stem
from a covenant . . . When are people just? When
they are in right relation in every aspect of their
lives . . . toward their God, toward their sisters and
brothers, toward the whole of created reality.1
Eighteen years ago, the American Catholic bishops
wrote the following in a statement called The Harvest
of Justice Is Sown in Peace. Their words seem even
more urgent today:
At home and abroad, we see the terrible human
and moral costs of violence. In regional wars, in
crime and terrorism, in ecological devastation
and economic injustice, in abortion and renewed
dependence on capital punishment, we see the
tragic consequences of a growing lack of respect
http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/~dewolf/homily.htm
September-October 2011
3
for human life. We cannot really be peacemakers around the
world unless we seek to protect the lives and dignity of the vulnerable in our midst. We must stand up for human life wherever it is
threatened. This is the essence of our consistent life ethic and the
starting point for genuine peacemaking 2
After ten long years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and untold
thousands of women, men and children killed or terribly wounded,
we have to take a long look at the losses. We are also painfully aware
of the disordered state of our immigration policies and their high
cost, humanly and economically. Are we in right relationship with
God over our treatment of our neighbors? In a culture of consumption and waste that threatens our very life on the
In right relationship...
planet, are we in right
relationship with creation?
toward
God,
toward our sisters and brothers,
and all...
created reality.
2
In 1965, Pope Paul VI
personally challenged the
United Nations General
Assembly: “If you want
peace, work for justice!”
What does the work of
peacemaking and healing
look like in our day? And
how can each of us become
more effective peacemakers?
Biblical justice points us in
the right direction. We can
work on our relationships,
one by one. “Love kindness,”
urges Micah. Since our
relationships include God,
other people, and all of
creation, the field is wide
open. Genuine kindness
does not forget justice, nor
can justice be biblical
without kindness. Kindness
is contagious. By a kind word or
gesture that improves someone
else’s day, we feel better, and the
beneficiary of our kindness may
reach out to someone else. Spread
the infection!
“Walk humbly with your God.” If
we are in the habit of acting
independently, “going it alone,”
this is a reminder to consider
including God in our best efforts.
God is already involved, always
present, and it is simple courtesy
to acknowledge that fact. Making
grand resolutions that are never
put into action is not enough.
God is waiting for us to start
walking. É
“Justice will bring
about peace;
right will produce
calm and security.”
Isaiah 32:17 (NAB)
A Reflection of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on the Tenth Anniversary of The Challenge of Peace. November 17,
1993.
4
September-October 2011
The Prodigal’s Brother
MARY S. SHERIDAN
I
n the media as well as the Bible, it seems,
“there will be more rejoicing in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Lk
15:7). And this, it appears, is exactly what has happened to the brother of the Prodigal Son. If anyone
has gotten bad press, it is he.
The story is a familiar one, and we should not lose
sight of the fact that it was told for a purpose: as
part of the discourse of Jesus on the joy of finding
what was lost—a sheep, a coin, a son (Lk 15:1-31)—
and as part of Jesus’s justifying to the Pharisees his
ministry to the lost (Lk 15:1). Only incidentally is
the focus on the angry response of the older, obedient son who cannot welcome his brother home.
Traditionally, the Prodigal’s brother has been used as
an example of hard-heartedness and self-righteousness, an image of the Pharisees. If the father can
forgive his errant son and welcome him back, we
think, how can the son refuse? Instead of chewing
on his jealousy, he could be feasting on the fatted
calf. We are told not to emulate him, to open our
arms to the repentant. We are told not to be him, to
know that we are sinners, and to trust that God will
always welcome us home. If we identify with the
Prodigal and not his brother, we will be OK. But that
is not always possible. I suspect that, for many who
hear the story, there is a sad identification with the
brother who seems to have been overlooked.
There are many ways to interpret the family dynamics in this story. Children and adult children often
believe that parents favor one over the other; sibling
rivalry is as old as Cain and Abel. Family roles often,
and unfairly, designate one child as “the good one”
and one as “the bad.” This is unhealthy and con-
stricting for both
of them, and for
the family as a
whole; reality
is far more
complex than
that. But it is
also true that,
in many
families, there is a “lost” or errant child who is the
focus of parental attention, and a loyal, dutiful child
who does the work and stays in the shadows.
One can see this clearly, especially when parents age.
They long for the return or reform of the lost child,
and talk incessantly about him or her to anyone who
will listen. That includes the one who visits them in
the nursing home every day, or changes their bed
linen yet again at home, or does their shopping every
week. It is human nature to take for granted what we
have, and to yearn for what we don’t. It is human
nature to look at the drama of the troubled, and
overlook the steady, quiet, faithful help at hand. This
is thin comfort to the one who fulfills the caretaking
role.
For a moment, let us assume that the Prodigal’s
brother is justified in what he says. He has worked
hard in the field. He has swallowed hard and done
whatever his father wanted. He would never have
dreamed of saying to his father, “I can’t wait for you
to die. Give me my inheritance now.” His father—
who might have been glad to give him a goat or even
a calf, had he thought of it—has never made the
offer. Nor has the Prodigal’s brother wanted to step
out of the shadows and ask.
If there is trouble between the brothers, standard
September-October 2011
5
psychological advice would be for the Prodigal’s
brother to look at himself first. This is always good
advice. Has his refusal to ask for a goat come from
pride, from a secret view of himself as victim or as
better than his brother? Has he been reluctant to give
up his role as the “good child,” and reluctant to give
up his view of the prodigal as “bad”? Is he frightened
that the estate will be divided between them again on
his father’s death? Is he self-indulgently nursing hurt
feelings?
Next, he should look at his brother, and try to develop empathy. What childhood and adult experiences led the Prodigal to leave? Were the fallen
women really that much fun? What did it take for
him to come back? What has it been like for him to
be the “bad child,” living with a “goody two-shoes”?
What will it take for them to truly reconcile, to start
life on a more equal and less stereotyped footing?
The problem between the siblings, however, is not at
the root of the Prodigal brother’s complaint. He is
speaking of injustice in the way that his father has
treated him. It is possible that he has misjudged his
father—or not. Again, the Prodigal’s brother must
examine his own perception of the situation, open to
the idea that he may be wrong. Or, he may be right.
Although parents are warned not to play favorites,
they do, for a variety of reasons.1 The results are
often long-lasting hurt and resentment, both of the
parent and of the apparently favored child. A quick
look at internet discussion sites reveals both that this
is a common problem, and a painful one. There is a
certain comfort in knowing that.
What does the follower of Christ do when con-
fronted with injustice in the family? I don’t believe
that God wants us to minimize our feelings or to
trivialize the problem. “Life is unfair—and then you
die” is not a particularly helpful response, nor a
particularly Christian one. We know little about life
within the Holy Family at Nazareth, but we do know
about Jesus’ approach to injustice.2
The way of Jesus is always that of forgiveness, making peace, and the patient bearing of injury. It is the
way of love, seeking the best for the other and leaving behind even resentment to which we may have a
right. Dorothy Day said, “As for ourselves, yes, we
must be meek, bear injustice, malice, rash judgment.
We must turn the other cheek, give up our cloak, go
a second mile.”3 When one has been injured in a
family context, this can call for heroic virtue. But
what is the alternative? Family conflicts fester over
the years, and flare at the most inopportune times,
while “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers
to dwell together in unity!” (Ps 133:1)
Turning the other cheek does not mean giving up
our wish for justice, but it determines the methods
we use to seek that justice. It means compassion,
always—towards the sibling, the parent, and oneself.
And part of compassion is to understand that each
actor in the family drama is doing the best that he or
she can do, under imperfect circumstances, even if it
doesn’t appear that way.
In the story of the Prodigal Son, it was the father
who went out to plead with the Prodigal’s brother.
We don’t know if he was able to soften the older
son’s heart. We don’t know if the brother went in to
the party grudgingly, or with true repentance or at
all. Sometimes the one who goes out to plead must
Continued on page 8
1
See, for example, Joshua D. Foster and Ilan Shrira, “When Parents Play Favorites,” Psychology Today blog, http://
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-narcissus-in-all-us/200901/when-parents-play-favorites.
2
This discussion is informed by “A Christian Response to Violence, Part I: ‘Love Your Enemy’ (Article 386),” Saint Mary’s Press,
http://www.smp.org/ResourcePage.cfm?Article=386.
3
Dorothy Day, “Love and Justice,” The Catholic Worker, July-August 1952. Downloaded from: http://www.catholicworker.org/
dorothyday/daytext.cfm?TextID=635&SearchTerm=kingdom%20of%20heaven.
6
September-October 2011
THE STILL LIFE
SR. BEDE LUETKEMEYER, OSB
I
n a recent conversation, a friend who was
looking forward to retiring from a successful
career bemoaned the fact that she had not been
able to live as a contemplative. When I assured her
that one could live as a contemplative even in the
market place, she rejoined, “Oh, but I wanted so
much to live a still life!” A still life! The phrase
immediately brings to mind the field of art. How to
define a still life? A short trip to Google and we find:
“A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects
which may be either natural (food, flowers, plants,
rocks, or shells) or man-made (drinking glasses,
books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on) in an
artificial setup.” From this description it is easy to
see that the number and variety of subjects give the
artist many options. In fact the word “inanimate”
covers an infinite array of subjects.
Lord can be heeded or disregarded. Blessed are we if
we arrive at that place of stillness which allows God,
the Artist, to shape and form us and bring us to the
beauty that is our destiny.
Obviously, the inanimate subjects of the artist do
not have to practice any asceticism in order to arrive
at stillness. It is the privilege of the painter to arrange the objects to be painted in whatever position
suits him or her and to place them in the best light
so that the desired features are accented. The genius
of the artist and his or her vision of the finished
work of art determines the details.
One of the results of their inner stillness was their
extraordinary appreciation for beauty, especially the
beauties of nature which reflect the divine beauty in
a way which only the spiritual eye can see. This same
beauty is reflected by the human soul which has
come to inner harmony, beauty being defined by
that harmony which is present where stillness reigns.
God, the artist, also has an infinite variety of subjects. Unlike inanimate objects, we humans have the
freedom to choose our own positions, our own
lights, and our own associations. We have the
privilege of “begging to be different” as we journey
towards God. The work of the Spirit in us and the
words of the Gospel which point out the way of the
Our ancestors in the desert were skilled in the
knowledge of human nature, and of the tendencies
and weaknesses that chose the wide and easy path. In
order to come to the stillness that God could use to
shape them as he desired with divine artistry, they
learned the virtue of hesychia–stillness, tranquility,
quietude. They learned by much practice to live a
“still life!” The importance of unceasing prayer took
the form of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus, Son of
God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By the constant
use of this prayer, they brought their minds into
their hearts and maintained a continual consciousness of the Divine Presence.
What do we know of real beauty? We get a clue from
the psalms where the “city of Zion” is often interpreted as the soul. “From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth” (Ps 50:2). The Spirit of Beauty
takes up residence in the soul perfect in harmony,
perfect in stillness. The human soul becomes the
perfect “still life” produced by the Artist who has
arranged the subject matter according to his own
genius.
September-October 2011
7
We are aware of an almost mystical beauty in persons who have allowed the hand of God to form and
shape their lives without interference. They are
aware, always, of the providence of the Father and
absorb the beauty that surrounds them because they
are empty of care. “If God clothes in such splendor
the grass of the field, which grows today and is
thrown on the fire tomorrow, how much more will
he provide for you!” (Lk 12:28).
To come to such surrender is the work of many
years, of long spiritual efforts. Having been deprived
of inner beauty and harmony through sin, it is only
through the life and sufferings of Jesus that all can
become one again. It was only through allowing his
own beauty to become deformed and lost in death
that he could restore us once again through his
Resurrection. “Fairer in beauty are you than the sons
of men; grace is poured out upon your lips, thus
God has blessed you forever!” (Ps 45:3).
To return to the definition of a “still life,” we note the
phrase “typically commonplace objects.” Typical
translates into ordinary, nothing special. The artist
prefers the commonplace and rejoices in transforming it into a thing of unusual and surprising beauty.
Such is our God who chose the lowly, as Paul reminds us in his First Letter to the Corinthians:
God chose those whom the world considers absurd
to shame the wise; God singled out the weak to
shame the strong. God chose the world’s lowborn
and despised, those who count for nothing, to
reduce to nothing those who were something; so
that no one might boast before God. God it is who
has given you life in Christ Jesus (1:27-30).
It all began in the garden when God designed his
first still life. Designed in God’s image and likeness,
the Master-Artist was well pleased with his handiwork. “It was good!” We are truly “God’s work of art”
(Eph 2:10). Chosen like Mary, the silent one, we are
meant to bring forth the beauty of the Word on
earth: beauty which is first of all in spiritual harmony, the inner unity of our souls in obedience to
their divine destiny as God’s children.
Only then can we look with humility and detachment on the external works of art, those that come
from the hands of God and those which human
artists create through the inspiration and urge to
imitate God in his creative power. No one sees better
in this regard than Gerard Manley Hopkins, the poet
who constantly exults spiritually in the beauties
around him: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”
It was St. Ignatius of Antioch who summed it all up
admirably in a few words: “He who truly possesses
the word of Jesus is able to hear his silence.” May we
be granted that gift: to look inward and see our soul
in its “ancient beauty” clothed with the Still Life of
the Spirit. É
The Prodigal’s Brother
Continued from page 6
be the adult child. Sometimes those words will be
met with denial or anger because parents are imperfect and limited by their own past experiences.
recognizing a cross that God has given us, to make
us better people. Some would say we must accept,
because within the cross is a lesson that God wants
us to learn.
In such cases, it may be that only prayer for acceptance is left. “Pray for those who persecute you,”
Jesus says, (Mt 5:44), perhaps because prayer softens
hearts—our own as well as that of the persecutor.
Acceptance does not mean condoning wrong, but
The Prodigal’s father says, “You are always with me,
and everything I have is yours,” (Lk 15:31). Whether
these seem like benefits or not, they are a grace for
the Prodigal’s brother, something to be treasured
when their father is gone. É
8
September-October 2011
What the Years
Teach Us
KATHARINE NUTT
A
ging may be a trial, but it does afford one a
special perspective. I review my journey of
ninety years, and I remember:
As a child, staying with grandparents, I became acquainted with the telephone. The farming community
enjoyed one line, shared by all. You could “listen in” any
time. From party lines to private ones and conference
calls, we progressed to today’s ever-present cell phones.
Truly the remarkable achievements in communication,
putting us in touch with the world, are 20th Century
highlights.
Meanwhile, we moved from home delivery of milk, ice
for refrigerators (it took a little card in the window);
washing clothes went from tubs to washing machines.
Heating fuel moved from coal, to oil, to gas. One routine
that did not change was that of mail delivery. It is the
same today as ninety years ago, street by street, door by
door.
My high school gym suit covered even my knees, as
modesty was the rule. There were no special sports for
girls. We walked everywhere. There were street cars, then
buses, but always trains for going to nearby communities.
In the 1930s, we were in the grasp of a terrible depression. The economy collapsed. Effects were worldwide.
For me, those several years proved unforgettable. It
seemed everybody suffered. Concern for relatives,
neighbors, and strangers invoked compassion everywhere as people shared and cared. We worried for the
black population whom we could not help because of
segregation. I have never again seen such reaching out as
was evidenced then. It was beautiful!
The depression of the ’30s stumbled into prosperous
times as we fulfilled our agreement with England to
supply personnel
and needed materials. The war spread,
even into Africa.
Before we officially
declared war, the draft
was enforced and we sent troops to many key locations.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, the war became global.
European surrenders came in May of 1945. In the Pacific,
the atomic bomb in its initial use devastated the cities of
Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It was President Truman, who
became president upon Roosevelt’s death in April of
1944, who authorized the attack. The horrendous effects
of that weapon were so devastating that the American
people, though relieved at war’s end, were aghast at the
loss of 250,000 lives and the incredible destruction of
property.
It was a short interval of peace. Previous attempts to
recognize a divided Korea were failing. We were called to
bring agreement between the communist North and the
“free” South. The war for us was neither won nor lost.
With Russia on the North, the United States on the
South, Korea eventually emerged as two units.
At least Korea provided us with some needed humor. The
delightful TV series, M*A*S*H*, depicted a military
hospital run by a very motley crew. It was human,
laughable, and believable, in its trials and tribulations.
The decade of the ’60s was a nightmare much of the
time. Three assassinations, all types of protests, and an
endless struggle of black people to gain rights as citizens.
Amid all this, a non-political culture developed and the
use of marijuana and other hallucinogenic substances
became common.
September-October 2011
9
Yet, amid all the turmoil, President Johnson signed both
a Civil Rights Act and a Civil Rights Voting Act, effectively giving black people citizenship at long last.
Other positive progress was accomplished. Scientists
were excited to realize the largeness of our universe—still
expanding. Space travel and missions soon occurred. We
put a man on the moon. When NASA’s space travelers
reported to us that our earth is very tiny—almost like a
“pea” in the vastness of space, this suggested that other
life must exist in this universe. Some day we shall meet
another planet with some new form of life.
There were other intriguing happenings. Vatican II
initiated significant reforms in Catholic worship. The
role of women was upgraded. Women began to be
welcomed in nearly all careers and in business as well.
Then came Vietnam, a vassal state. Russia tried to support communism in the North. The South wanted to be
free. The French were interested for a while, but withdrew, and when mediation failed, President Johnson
authorized air strikes. In 1964 and in 1965 there were
more than 500,000 American troops fighting in the
unforgiving, unyielding jungles.
It was a war we couldn’t win, and one that the United
States chose to ignore. Saigon fell. Those who had
watched the reports with misgivings were heavy-hearted
at what we saw on TV. Those last planes with troops and
refugees were already overloaded and couldn’t accommodate all who wished to flee.
The United States had taken pride in never having lost a
war—so why this one? It had to be the failure of the
military. The veterans were
ignored, neglected, insulted, and scorned. Still, it
is not the nature of Americans to harbor ill will. On
November 13, 1982, the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial recognized the 58,000
men and women who had
died or were declared missing in action. A deep scar on
our nation’s conscience began to heal!
September 11, 2001 witnessed the most shocking event in
our history. The two towers of the World Trade Center
10
September-October 2011
(targets once before) were bombed by hijacked planes
which left the towers on fire. Soon after, a portion of the
Pentagon was destroyed. A fourth plane crashed in
Pennsylvania when passengers wrestled with the hijackers.
The hijackers were found to be agents of the terrorist
organization, AlQuaeda, based in Afghanistan. Some
3000 innocent people were killed. Since then, forgiving
Muslims has been difficult for many Americans.
Presently we are searching for ways to end an economic
crisis all too like that of the 1930s. This one isn’t beautiful, though many Americans continue to aid suffering
people in this country and in disasters abroad. Support
tends to be less personal—money given online or
through corporations.
Our nation seems to be at odds with itself. There is a
large group of “right now” people who seem to be
concerned only with the latest gadgets that technology
offers. There isn’t easy friendship, generous caring; only
the now is of concern.
On the happier side are still the scientists, astronomers,
and people who want to see us continue to go forward—
not only to protect our planet Earth but to find a companion somewhere in this vast universe.
As I have been writing these memories, I have been
watching NASA’s final shuttle launch, ending the space
era after 135 missions. The astronauts are lively with
optimism and cheer. I’m convinced that space ventures
will continue. Our curiosity will spark desire and daring.
I find hope in the people challenged as astronauts and
evidenced by the myriad supporters of exploration.
May we remember that God has blessed humankind with
a precious gift of freedom of choice. May the choices be
made with wisdom and prayer. May there be a genuine
rebirth of freedom. May America exercise leadership,
tolerance and forgiveness, and embrace justice for other
faiths and cultures. Thus we would return to democratic
ideals. That is my prayer.
The years teach us much the days never knew.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
É
Dr. Katharine Nutt is a retired professor of history who last
taught at Northern Arizona University. She is also an active
Oblate of the Benedictine monastery in Tucson, Arizona.
Days and Hours
When I am old
when I am old and grey and have time to sit down
and to go slow
and to linger over morning tea
when I shake my grey head in wonder and
almost disbelief
I will ask:
did I really walk through all of those days and hours?
did I see them one-by-passing-one?
did I know that they were treasures?
Yes, old man, yes
Yes, I see them
Yes, I know them, days and hours
to be treasures
better than gold and diamonds
warm honey pouring sweetly into the sea
Yes, old man, I have known this since I was twenty
I have known this in dreams
known this in anguish, joy and beauty
I have seen the days and hours
I have stood in them as I have stood in mountain clouds
seen them swirl around me
felt their wetness on my face
and taken in their cool mist
as my own breath
So be at peace, old man
take time over morning tea
know that you have come to that place honestly
by means of days and hours
including this one here and now
Yes, old man
I knew them to be treasures
Scott Coverdale
September-October
September-October2011
2011
11
11
Mater Dolorosa
~
The Mother
of Sorrows
1
SR. JEANETTE VON HERRMANN, OSB
“A sword will also pierce your soul.”
Luke 2:35
A
first time mother, joyfully carrying her newborn son, comes to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Her intentions are faith-filled. She wishes to
observe the spiritual requirements of the Torah, and so
she presents her child to God, and asks for purification
for herself. It is a happy occasion and the parents come
in rejoicing.
As the family comes into the Temple, an elderly, righteous man by the name of Simeon greets them. Luke’s
Gospel tells us that the Holy Spirit rested on Simeon,
promising that he “would not see death until he had set
his eyes upon the Messiah.” Simeon takes the new baby,
and stirred by the Spirit, he recognizes Jesus as “The
Salvation … for all the nations.”
Both of the parents deeply ponder the meaning of this
declaration and prayer, and all too soon, Simeon explains himself and God’s plan. Suddenly, a shadow
moves over the pilgrimage to the Temple, the offering of
their first-born, and Simeon’s welcome. The message is
about future suffering and pain, especially for the Christ
and his Mother: “You see this child: he is destined for
the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be
a sign that is rejected. Also, a sword will pierce your own
1
soul, too, so that the secret thoughts of many
hearts may be laid bare.”
You can imagine the pain that entered Mary’s
heart that day, and that which came into the heart
of Joseph as well. Like any parents, they probably
were devastated by this message. The day ends
with the family returning to Nazareth, where “the
child grew to maturity, and was filled with wisdom; and God’s favor was with him” (Lk 2:3940). However, Simeon’s prophecy stayed in the
parents’ hearts. No doubt, Mary daily remembered it, looking for signs and events that would
lead to the predicted sorrows. Perhaps her suffering grew as the days went by without any more
knowledge of the future and without any solace
except her faith.
The Gospels record various sorrowful events in
Mary’s life. Simeon’s message was the first and by
no means the most painful. Christians over the
centuries have meditated on seven of these stories
and have prayed to Mary as the Sorrowful
The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on September 15th, a day after the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, and this
year, four days after the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the
Pentagon outside of Washington, DC, and United Flight 93 that crashed in western Pennsylvania.
12
September-October 2011
Mother. This image of Mary is particularly appealing
for parents. How painful it is for parents to hear that
their child is seriously sick, or has died. How difficult
it is to know that your child will struggle with challenges each day of life. Every good parent would take
that suffering on themselves rather than have their
child endure it. Mary was no different. Yes, her life
was also one of joy as she saw her son grow to
maturity as a good person, wise, caring, and holy.
However, she also knew not to be a “Pollyanna,”
since leading a life that proclaimed the Father’s
message was not destined to be an easy or pain free
one.
The second of Mary’s recorded sorrows is told in
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23. Joseph is the central figure
in this story. An angel of God, in a dream, tells
Joseph to take the child and his mother into the
safety of Egypt because Herod wishes to kill Jesus.
This sorrow is like the hardship of women immigrants who travel with small children into unknown
lands, or like mothers who are homeless and struggle
to provide for their children. Let us pray for young
displaced parents, for those fleeing oppression and
poverty, and for those who give up their own heritage and employment for the safety and future of
their children. Let us pray for the homeless, single
parents, who are without family to help them, and
for the children who often must act like adults at a
very young age.
The next “suffering parent” story (Lk 2:41-50)
recounts the days during which Jesus was lost to his
parents, but safe in the Temple. After the Passover
feast, when everyone is headed home, Mary and
Joseph also leave. They presume that the 12-year-old
Jesus is with relatives, but he isn’t. After hunting for
three days, they finally find him in the Temple.
Notice Mary and Joseph’s emotions: “overcome,”
“worried,” and “did not understand.” Meanwhile,
Jesus doesn’t understand either. Why were they
worried? Wasn’t he doing exactly what he was born
to do: the work of his Father? Doesn’t this sound like
typical teenagers who don’t understand the fuss
when their parents are worried because they are late
and haven’t called? Mary and Joseph were real
parents and understood the challenges of raising a
son at the brink of adulthood. Jesus was divine, but
he also was a growing boy, learning and maturing,
advancing in wisdom, stature and favor with the
Father and others.
Meanwhile, Mary continues to ponder all these
events in her heart. Her heart knows the love of God
and the goodness of her son, but it also struggles,
fears and hopes like all mothers and fathers. Surely,
Mary and Joseph seriously pondered how to parent
their son when they didn’t fully comprehend the
path he walked. Let us pray for parents, especially
parents of teenagers and young adults, who walk
with and guide their children while worrying about
them step-by-step and day-by-day. Let us pray for
those young people who are seeking to know their
mission in life, that they will have the assistance and
support they need even when parents are still pondering the meaning of their choices.
The next four sorrowful incidents in Mary’s life all
occur during the passion and death of her son: Jesus
on the way to Calvary (Lk 23:26-27); Jesus dies on
the cross (Jn 19:25-30); the body of Jesus is taken
from the cross (Mk 15:42-45); and the body of Jesus
is placed in the tomb (Jn 19:38-42). Except for the
passage in John’s Gospel, Mary is not mentioned
specifically in these passages. However, over the
centuries, Christian faith and art have recognized
that Mary’s loving heart could not have allowed her
to be any other place. No doubt, she was among the
other women who faithfully stayed with Jesus when
others abandoned him.
What could be more painful for a mother than to
watch her son suffer and be executed? Mary watches
as her son walks toward the place where he will be
killed, she stands by his cross giving what comfort
she can, perhaps she holds his broken body after his
death and walks with it to the tomb. This truly is the
September-October 2011
13
suffering that Simeon had
predicted those many years
before. This is the pain that any
parent experiences as a son or
daughter dies, be it from disease,
in war, or by accident. Let us
pray that, as Mary walked by her
son, she will also be present to
and comfort those who are
moving toward the last days and
hours of their lives, and that she
will accompany those who sit
with the sick and dying, praying
for healing or peaceful death.
John’s Gospel is the only one
that reports Jesus speaking with his mother from the
cross. Mary, along with several other women, is
standing there with the Beloved Disciple. Jesus tells
her, referring to the Beloved Disciple, “Woman, this
is your son.” Additionally, he says to the Beloved
Disciple, “This is your mother.” While this portrays
Jesus as the loving son who takes care of his mother
even as he dies, there is an additional message in this
passage. The disciple can be seen as an image of all
followers of Christ, and Mary can be interpreted as
the new Eve, the mother of all those who live in the
redeemed new creation. The dying Christ suggests
that his mother now watches over all Christians who
in turn can view her as the Mother of the Church, a
Church that looks toward eternal life but remains a
suffering Church in many lands at many times.
As we approach the tenth anniversary of September
11, 2001, let us remember all those families who
suffered as their innocent mothers, fathers, brothers,
sisters, or children died that day. Let us also pray for
all those who continue to be the victims of violence
for religious, political, cultural, racial, or various
other excuses.
Christians, remembering Jesus’ mother and her
sorrows, pray to her asking that she implore her son’s
help for them. One mother can understand the pain
14
September-October 2011
of another mother, and so Mary
knows the suffering of the
world’s mothers as they raise,
guard, teach, protect, and
inspire their children. Mary’s
love and devotion, her faithful
standing by her son, inspires us
also to remain with those we
love even when it is most
difficult. Let us pray to Mary,
asking for her prayers to her
son, so that each of us may
remain steadfast in the face of
suffering, ours and others’. May
we comfort the sorrowful, pray
with the dying, rise up against
violence, teach our children to love peace, and may
we reach out and offer solace to all in need. É
Thank You For Your
Will To Give
Your gift will support our
life of prayer, and our prayer
will be the gift we offer in
return, to support you and your
loved ones.
FORM OF BEQUEST FOR A WILL:
I give, devise, and bequeath to the Benedictine
Convent of Perpetual Adoration, 31970 State Highway P, Clyde, MO 64432-8100, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State
of Missouri ... (here state the amount of money
or description of the property willed).
Ordinary?
GERRY KEIRNAN
N
ow that we have finished the glorious season
of Easter and Pentecost, but have not yet
entered into the preparatory season of
Advent, where are we? We are in Ordinary time—a
time of green, of everydayness, of the lull of summer,
of longer days, of routine. Like the North Shore of
Oahu, a quiet rural area outside of Honolulu, there is
stillness upon the ocean. Many love this time of
snorkeling, kayaking, and long smooth swims. Others
long for the excitement of winter surf and crashing
waves. This is much like our lives, is it not?
Our Liturgical Year is precious, and we need this time
to savor the power of our redemption. We are in the
“is” time of “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will
come again.” How pleasant to hear him speaking the
Good News to us, to see his tremendous love for the
poor, sick, lonely, and lowly. To see him smiling at the
little ones climbing into his lap, and relaxing with a
good home cooked meal prepared by Martha. Scripture is filled with his ordinariness. Let’s take a look.
Mary was an ordinary young Jewish girl from a tiny
town. No grandeur there! Yet she was the one selected
to bear Christ, to nurse him, to kiss his scraped knees
and nurture him. Joseph was an ordinary young man,
a carpenter by trade. He was chosen to call God’s Son
his own. He protected this boy, taught him to work
with wood, took him on hikes, and camped and
pointed out the gifts of nature to the boy. Just a
normal family in Nazareth; they were nothing special.
Well, not quite.
This family was highly special in the way that counts.
They were not written up in the Jewish scrolls or
carved on Roman temples. They were not among the
“rich and famous.” No, their fame rested in one word,
“YES!” They responded to the invitations of God. As
Mother Teresa would say, we are “only pencils in the
hand of God.” Mary, Joseph, and Jesus accepted God’s
will for them and carried it out through thick and thin.
Above all, they knew they were the beloved of God.
Guess what? We are also his beloved, known from all
eternity, called into life and set on a path he has prepared for unique, ordinary, you and me! He desires
that we become yes-men and women, one and all!
“Come on! Give me a break,” you are saying. I am just a
regular guy who works on cars. Or a housewife who
takes care of kids, a home, a hubby, and listens for the
dryer to turn off in the night. Well, greasy Gus and
harried Hattie, you ARE God’s beloved! Honest. Look
in the mirror. You are ordinary. You do ordinary work.
You are not on the cover of magazines—and given
what’s there, maybe you don’t want to be. You are just a
normal guy or gal doing your best to say yes to God
and others. So am I. So are the Pope and the Mother
Teresas and St. Damiens of our time. After all, that is
how they became saints—by saying yes and doing their
best to carry it out. Read the life of St. Thérèse, the
Little Flower. She accepted all that each day presented
in a cloistered convent—the irritations, the humble
duties, and eventually the tuberculosis that led to her
death. She called it her Little Way to sanctity. She
simply said, “Yes.” She is now one of the most renowned saints of all time and a Doctor of the Church!
Read the life of Damien, our beloved Hawaii saint. He
accepted the call to minister in body and spirit to the
sick and hopeless people of Molokai, ultimately contracting the Hanson’s Disease (Leprosy) that killed
him. St. Thérèse, Mother Teresa, and Damien were not
born saints. They received the same graces we receive.
I truly believe they each merely got up each day, saw
the needs around them, said “Yes” to God, and got
moving.
We, as they, must know that we are God’s beloved. We
have to receive this love and choose to love him back.
September-October 2011
15
But to do that, we need prayer, time to get to know him. Father, Son, and
Spirit reside within us. He has promised he will always be with us. So why
not visit him throughout our ordinary day? We read his Word, the Bible;
it’s his love letter to us. As we frequent the Sacraments, they follow us from
birth to death. He is actively present in each of them. In fact, he is present
Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist! In the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he once more offers to the
Father the same sacrifice of Calvary. Furthermore, he asks us to join him.
Wow, what an invitation!
Yes, but what about the “other guys?” The kid down the street who does
drugs, and is a danger to the neighborhood? The pedophile? The “lady of
the night?” The CEO who makes money off the little guy? Yes, they are
God’s beloveds also. So are we when we gossip, cheat, lie, lust, envy, and
succumb to anger. That’s when we need to look to self and not to others.
We need to “cut them a break,” recognizing that we don’t know the pains
and challenges that life has sent them. We are ALL sinners. God does
expect our repentance, our turning away from whatever draws us away
from him. God loves each of us with unconditional love! He alone will
judge us and the “other guys.” We are not God, but with his grace we can
become more and more like him.
Once we know we are his loved ones, and love him in return, we begin to
shine on those around us. Gus and Hattie see that light, want it, and begin
their ordinary lives of being beloved.
Their kids will pick it up. The druggie
sees something he wants, seeks help,
and begins to shine, then passes it on.
Simple: “Love God; love others as he
loves you.” It’s just an “ordinary”
chain reaction. É
Gerry Keirnan is a retired teacher and community volunteer. She lives in
Waialua, HI, on Oahu’s North Shore. This article first appeared in The
Hawaiian Benedictine, a publication of the Benedictine Monastery of
Hawaii, and is reprinted with permission.
16
September-October 2011
B O O K
REVIEWS
THE AR
T OF D
YING AND LIVING:
ART
DYING
Lesso
ns fr
om SSaints
aints o
ime
essons
fro
off Our T
Time
ime, by Kerry
Walters, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2011,
250 pp, $20.00, pb.
It has been said that the time of youth and
good health is when one should cultivate the
resources, such as good relationships with
family and friends, that one will need in old
age and poor health. Kerry Walters takes this
one step further by suggesting the virtues
we should cultivate in preparation for dying.
By reviewing the lives of holy people of our
time, Walters identifies key virtues that will
help in the dying process, but which will also
help us to “live fulfilled.”
Those profiled in this book are not “plaster
saints.” Walters gives an honest look at their
struggles, showing how they developed
characteristics that made their dying, and
living, easier. Dying, Walters concludes, is a
“great test”—one which we all want to pass.
We prepare for this test, Walters says, by the
choices we make every day. No book can
teach us how to live or how to die. This book,
however, can play an important role in
reminding us that it’s not too soon to start
studying for that final exam.
Mary S. Sheridan
he Eme
rg
ing B
ib
lical
JUSTICE RISING; T
The
Emerg
rging
Bib
iblical
V isio
n , by John Heagle, Orbis Books,
ision
Maryknoll, NY, 2010, 182 pp, $22.00 pb.
Heagle calls us to a radical new definition
of justice. We are called to recognize charity
and compassion for what they are—which
is not necessarily justice. We are called to
confront our world view and to understand
what justice is meant to be, by careful
biblical and historical study and clear eyed
observation of the world.
Heagle describes many people who deserve
to be called “just.” Jesus is the foremost of
these. Heagle not only challenges us to
change our system as much as we can, but
gives us advice on creating a beloved
community and on pursuing peace. Anyone
interested in justice will find this book well
worth reading.
Shirleymae Flake Pajkos
THE COSMIC D
ANCE; An IIn
nv itat
io
n
DANCE;
itatio
ion
to E
xp
nc
ness
Exp
xpeer ie
ienc
ncee Our One
Oneness
ness, text by Joyce
Rupp, art by Mary Southard, Orbis Books,
Maryknoll, NY, 2002, 128 pp, $20.00 pb.
The authors do an exceptionally effective
job of seamlessly combining prose, poetry
and art to send their message of unity in
the cosmos. There is no hard sell of
environmental responsibility, but the
message comes through strongly and
lovingly. Almost immediately Rupp tells
us, “…the air I breath is the air that has
circled the globe and been drawn in and
out by people, creatures and vegetation in
lands and seas far away.”
As we proceed with Rupp’s often simple
encounters with her environment,
including living human souls, we feel
ourselves relaxing, often sinking into one
of the plentiful pastel pictures.
Rupp does not leave us entirely off the
hook, however. If we did not already sense
our unity with and responsibility for our
universe, she confronts us with the The
Eyes of Starving Children, written while
scraping leftovers from a parish dinner
into the disposal “…while the well-fed
burped, and the eyes of starving children,
with their bloated stomachs, watched my
every move….” Shirleymae Flake Pajkos
GR
ACE AB
OUNDS: A C
GRA
ABOUNDS:
Cal
alll tto
wakeen
al
o Awak
w Yo u r FFaa i t h
h, by Edith
Ree n eew
and R
Prendergast, RSC, Ave Maria Press, Notre
Dame, IN, 2011, 111 pp, $12.95 pb.
Edith Prendergast speaks of God
dwelling in a deep hole of our being. She
maintains that sometimes this “well”
becomes clogged with rocks, debris, and
silt that we must move to bring us closer
to our God. This detritis represents our
need to examine our priorities: are we
sensitive to the needs of others less
fortunate? Do we give not only from our
abundance, but from our very selves, to
forge unity in this materialistic world? Can
we overcome our slavish inclination to
selfishness (a form of enslavement), to
embrace the freedom of running to God?
Can we forgive others, and grant the more
difficult self-forgiveness?
Most importantly, can we recognize the
God within and accept God’s grace
moving us into a life of hope? In that hope
reside the most wondrous gifts a loving
God is waiting to share with us. Edith
Prendergast sheds light on the problem of
feeling distant from God, and also helps
us recognize what can overcome that
distance.
Shirleymae Flake Pajkos
GR
ACE RE
VISITED: E
pip
hanies fr
om
GRA
REVISITED:
Epip
piphanies
fro
pist M
o nk
a T
ppist
Mo
nk, by James Stephen
Trr a p
Behrens, OCSO, ACTA Publications,
Chicago, IL, 2011, 220 pp, $14.95 pb.
In this highly readable book, Fr. Behrens
combines two of his previous volumes,
Grace is Everywhere and Memories of
Grace, plus one of his essays from The
National Catholic Reporter. As with other
books of reminiscences and true life
stories that have been published recently,
Behrens seems to be telling us that God
brings grace into our lives through
commonplace events and the kindnesses
of others. Behrens’ focus in this book is
not so much on life in the Trappist
Monastery of the Holy Spirit at Conyers,
GA, where he made vows in 2005. Rather,
it includes memories of his family and
growing-up years, and his time as a parish
priest in Newark.
For those not familiar with Fr. Behrens’
writing, this is a good introduction. He is
also, however, a talented photographer,
and the book would have been enriched,
although made much more expensive, if
he had accompanied his essays with
photos.
Mary S. Sheridan
A LE
VER AND A PL
ACE T
O ST
AND:
LEVER
PLA
TO
STAND:
ont
e, the Ac t ive
T he C
Co
nteemplat
mplatiive Stanc
Stance,
Pr ay e r , by Richard Rohr, Paulist Press,
Mahwah, NJ, 2011, 111 pp, $15.00 pb.
Richard Rohr again offers deeply moving
and also practical insight into both a life
of prayer and the process of personal
development. He shows the interdependence of action and contemplation,
deftly pointing out the hazards of dualistic
thinking. He eloquently describes the
dangers of identifying with only part of
oneself, rather than the whole self, or of
defining ourselves by what we are not.
We can build effectively only on what we
are for, not just on what we are against.
Many activists become stuck in a
negativity that is self-defeating. As Rohr
says, “The best criticism of the bad is the
practice of the better.” Martin Luther King
taught that, “before you go out to witness
for justice, you have to make sure in your
heart that you could love and respect those
who disagreed with you.” Even Lenin came
to realize that something imposed by
domination and violence from above
creates the same response from below.
Rohr believes that hope “is the fruit of a
learned capacity to suffer wisely and
generously,” and this book invites serious
reflection in order that we may grow in
that capacity.
Sr. Lenora Black, OSB.
BEHA
VING IN PUBLIC: H
ow tto
o D
o
BEHAVING
Ho
Do
Chr
ist
ian E
thics
hrist
istian
Ethics
thics, by Nigel Biggar, Grand
Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 2011, 124 pp,
$16.00 pb.
In his latest book, Biggar, who is Regius
Professor of Theology at Oxford, tries to
steer a middle path in Christian ethics
between conservative/authoritarian and
liberal/secular approaches, with a
“common sense” look at the Church’s
message to the world. It is not a general
treatise on ethics, as the title would seem
to imply, nor is it prescriptive in details.
Rather, it suggests an openness to learning
from the “world,” while not compromising
the Good News of Christianity. This book
is intended for the serious reader,
especially one with a background in
philosophy.
Mary S. Sheridan
September-October 2011
17
Community
Tuc
son hosts annual Summer
ucson
Monastic Experience
This year’s Summer Monastic Experience hosted
ten women for a week. Although usually held at
the Clyde, Missouri, motherhouse, this year’s
event took place at the Tucson monastery because
of the renovations underway at Clyde.
“It was a bit different in Tucson because we don’t
have as much outdoor space to take advantage of
as we do in Clyde,” said Vocation Director Sr. Ruth
Elaine Starman, who traveled with Sr. Maria
Victoria Cutaia from Clyde for the week. “However, both communities are always
warm and welcoming to guests, so
the women still achieved a better
understanding of our Benedictine
lifestyle.”
➧
Participants, who ranged in age
from 18 to 45, joined the Sisters in
the daily Liturgy of the Hours,
Mass, and adoration, and received
information on vocation discernment and contemplative prayer.
They also enjoyed playing games,
and helped with community work such as food preparation,
gardening, and sewing.
Sr. Maria Victoria visits with Lucy
and Monica in this year’s Summer
Monastic Experience.
Making bread
together ➧
“They had the opportunity to learn what our total life in the
monastery is like. It’s spent in prayer, in work and in enjoying
each other in community,” Sr. Ruth Elaine said. “Many of the
participants wished the experience had been longer, and hope
to visit Clyde next year. Several expressed that participating in
Lauds and Vespers [Morning and Evening Prayer] was a
highlight, as well as hearing vocation stories and meeting with
other women on the same spiritual quest.”
In addition to the Summer Monastic Experience, several
vocation weekends are offered throughout the year, and
another week-long experience is offered at Spring Break. For
more information, please contact Sr. Ruth Elaine:
[email protected] or call (660) 944-2221.
Lucy and Beverley joined Sr. Lucia Anne Le, (center) for
some gardening and yard work.
18
September-October 2011
Community
Ear
th Day
Earth
The Tucson community midday prayer on Earth Day
included blessing a new tree, then proceeding around the
monastic grounds to bless other newly planted trees and
plants, as well as older trees and shrubs. “Tying our
Liturgy of the Hours with this blessing was a special way
to honor God’s bounty and treasured friendships,” said
Sister Ramona Varela, Tucson Prioress.
St. Gregory students visit
Cl
yde Monastery
Clyde
The second-grade class at St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic
School in Maryville, Missouri, visited the Clyde monastery as part of a
learning field trip. The
students toured the
grounds, including
the Marian Grotto,
and spoke with Sr.
Mary Sophia Becker
about religious life
and the Catholic faith.
Sister shares lo
ve of Eucharistic
love
Adoration
Writing a book led to a special
journey in May for Sister Joan
Ridley, OSB—a trip that led her
home. After the release of her book,
In the Presence: The Spirituality of
Eucharistic Adoration, she was
invited to speak at a variety of
locations throughout Louisiana,
where she had spent many years in
mission work before joining the
(left) Sister Lucia Ann Le takes a
moment to enjoy the new avocado tree
planted at the Tucson monastery in
April. It was a gift from dear friend
and cook, Rose Almaguer.
Sister Hope garners soap awards
Sist
op e R
o denb
or n, OSB
isteer H
Ho
Ro
nbo
OSB, received national awards
for best packaging and best of show in the “melt and
pour” category, at the 2011 Handcrafted Soapmakers
Guild 14th Annual Conference in Miami.
More than 310 small or cottage
business makers of soaps/cosmetics
attended the conference, representing
all 50 states and nine foreign countries. Members were asked to vote for
their choice of best soap in four
different categories.
Sister Hope’s soap is one of the many
items crafted by the Benedictine
Sisters to support their contemplative life. Their works
include altar breads, liturgical vestments, handcrafted
soaps and lotions, and a variety of other products
available online at www.monasterycreations.com
Benedictine Sisters.
“Some friends invited me to lead a morning of prayer in
Lake Charles for associate members of their religious
community, and it grew from there,” Sister Joan said.
Over the course of eight days, she spoke on the topic of
“Adoration and Monastic Life” to monks at St. Joseph
Abbey in Covington. She also visited the Archdiocesan
Spirituality Center in New Orleans to present “Adoration
and the Eucharistic Mission,” and spoke about Eucharistic adoration at several parishes in the Lafayette and
Houma-Thibodaux dioceses.
“Eucharistic prayer and adoration are
growing among people everywhere,” Sister
Joan said. “Anything I can do to foster that
is a privilege and a joy. A number of people
assisted in that effort in a wonderful way.”
September-October 2011
19
Summer Jubilees
It was a summer of jubilees as the Congregation honored three Sisters
for their years of monastic profession.
At the Tucson monastery, Sr. Mary Carmela Rall and Sr. Mary Pascaline Coff
celebrated 60 years of religious life on Trinity Sunday. Sr. Mary Cecilia Rose
Spreckelmeyer celebrated her golden jubilee on the Feast of the Body and Blood
of Christ. “All the Sisters in the community contributed in so many ways to make
these joyful days perfect,” said Sr. Ramona Varela, Tucson Prioress. “Friends and
relatives arrived from all over the United States. One relative said it was the best
family reunion they’ve ever had. The joy of it all made our hearts wonderfully
full.”
Sister Mary Carmela Rall
For teen-aged Ruth Eileen Rall from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, religious life was
not a priority. The young woman held a love for something different—art. “I had
always wanted to be an artist,” she said, “but God has designs, and . . . he called
me to follow him as a contemplative.”
Ruth entered the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in 1950, making her
first profession of vows as Sr. Mary Carmela on September 15, 1951. It was at the
monastery in Mundelein, Illinois, that her dream came true: art lessons, then
paintings and artwork for cards. That led to an opportunity to create stained
glass windows. In 1999, her life changed forever.
“I had the privilege of making an icon painting retreat,” she said. “It brought
together my artistic endeavors and my spirituality, my prayer.” Since then, she
has created beautiful icons for people around the nation.
“The most wonderful thing I’ve learned over the years is how to pray, how to
have a real relationship with God,” she said. “To believe that God is real, here
with us, with me, in me and working through me in everything I do. Most of all,
to believe in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.”
Her 60th jubilee “was a perfect day, renewing my vows in the presence of all the
lay people at Mass and my Sisters,” Sr. Mary Carmela said.
Sr. Mary Pascaline Coff
Margaret Mary Coff often stopped in at a church when making her way across
her home town of St. Louis. Her favorite spot? One where the Blessed Sacrament
was exposed daily. So it was natural that she was drawn to a community that
shared her devotion. She entered the Benedictine Sisters in 1949 and made her
first vows May 20, 1951, becoming Sr. Mary Pascaline.
“Monastic life was a surprise gift that unfolded over the years,” she said. “I have
loved its focus on inner and outer transformation . . . to ever deeper levels of
consciousness.” That focus led to an interest in interreligious monastic dialogue,
and her studies took her to the far reaches of the globe, including India, Korea,
Japan and the Philippines.
In 1976, she spent a year studying with the late Father Bede Griffiths, OSB,
whose ashram in southern India was a center for those interested in East-West
20
September-October 2011
Jubilee
RENEWAL OF VOWS
(Jubilarian) With deep gratitude, I (name ), received into
the Christian community on the
day of my baptism and further
committed to Jesus Christ by
my profession of vows many
years ago, now joyfully renew
my Benedictine vows of Stability, Conversatio and Obedience
according to the Rule of
Benedict and our Constitution.
I dedicate myself anew to the
lived expression of our charism
of Eucharistic Adoration as I
continue to strive for everlasting communion with God, supported always by the love and
loyalty of my Sisters in community, my relatives and friends.
The prioress responds:
God inspires all holy desires and
brings them to fulfillment. May
you continue to grow in good
zeal, seek ever greater purity in
prayer, and strive with ever
greater fervor to imitate Christ
who is the model for all
monastics. May God guide you
always by divine grace so that
you may fulfill your monastic
call with a faithful heart.
dialogue. In 1980, Sr. Pascaline received permission to cofound the Sisters’ Forest of Peace Osage+Monastery in Sand
Springs, Oklahoma. Until 2007, this forest monastery
ashram served as a place of retreat and refreshment for
people from around the world. Sr. Pascaline now lives at the
Tucson monastery where she celebrated her special day.
“It was a profound joy to celebrate my jubilee and the liturgy
of the Holy Trinity on this anniversary of our vows so many
years ago,” she said. “I am and shall be eternally grateful
for the Lord’s call to me to adore him and witness to his
unbelievable gift of Eucharist in this blessed community.”
Sister Mary Cecilia Rose Spreckelmeyer
Tall and stately Mary Cecilia often introduced herself as the
“long-stemmed rose from Texas.” So the
name of Sr. Mary Cecilia Rose was fitting
when she made her first monastic profession September 12, 1961.
Sr. Carmela Rall (left), Sr. Ramona Varela, and
Sr. Pascaline Coff
Before that day, she had packed a lifetime
worth of experiences into a few years.
After Catholic schools, she trained and
showed dachshunds, worked for a Jewish
newspaper, then was a professional
model and secretary.
However, devotion to the Eucharist
helped her realize a calling to religious
life. When a friend shared a Benedictine
Sisters’ booklet on Eucharistic Adoration,
something clicked. She knew her devotion to
the Eucharist would be at home there.
Sr. Cecilia Rose (left) and Sr. Pat Nyquist
entering chapel for Jubilee Mass
Sr. Cecilia Rose has lived at monasteries in Clyde and St.
Louis, Missouri; Tucson, Arizona; Mundelein, Illinois; and
San Diego, California. Her jobs have included manager and
bookkeeper of the altar bread department, leading retreats,
handling maintenance, driving, and shopping. She served as
librarian of the Clyde community for over 20 years, introducing electronic cataloging of books. She continues with
library work today at the Tucson monastery where she
makes her home.
“My heart sang for joy at all the love that was present—or
should I say—the Love of God that was there,” she said of
her jubilee. “How grateful I am for our Congregation, and
that it has been my life all these years.”
Sr. Pat (left) and Sr. Cecilia Rose renewing her vows
Summer Jubilees
We remember...
PERIODICALS
postage paid at Tucson, AZ
On this tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist
attacks, we remember all who lost their lives, those who
gave of themselves to help the living, and all whose lives
were changed forever by the tragedy.
Following is an excerpt from the prayer written
for a service commemorating the events of
September 11. It was composed by Lewis Williams,
the artist whose icon is featured here.
Our Mother of Sorrows,
In poverty we stand before you . . .
Here, where heaven and earth intersect,
We are held in a space between;
A place of sanctity and sanctuary.
This is the place of transformation,
The place we learn we are never alone,
Where we are carried in your loving embrace,
And sheltered safely in your womb . . .
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.
Adapted by Satish Kumar
from the Upanishads.
Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories update
There are new additions to the Clyde monastery every day, as
the Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories project reaches the final
stages. The elevators and stairways are going in, the delivery
ramp has been renovated to accommodate larger vehicles, and
the new entrance is beginning to take shape
The West Entrance/Porch is part of history now: the old
entrance steps that visitors and guests used to enter the main
building of our monastery have been removed, along with the
porch and columns.
(right) Here’s what it was like originally:
And finally, the
new entrance (left),
which will lead into
the monastery
Chapel with no
steps to climb.
And now (below right): Several pieces of the
façade and columns were salvaged and will be
reused elsewhere. The western face of the
building is smooth and will
receive new facing bricks to
mask the porch removal and
match the surrounding surfaces.
800 North Country Club Road • Tucson, AZ 85716-4583
www.spiritandlifemagazine.com • E-mail: [email protected]
Congregation website: www.benedictinesisters.org