It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...Easter?

Snow on Palm Sunday = Snow Rabbits!

Hosanna to the Son of David!

Merry Christmas!

Tree of Jesse

Blessings Times 3

We joyfully welcome our third postulant!

Smile!

What if sanctity was as simple...or maybe even as difficult as a smile?  Think about it: at work you often run into someone you know dislikes you or whom you dislike and you smile at them! Why? Because God dwells in them. Our founder St. Arnold taught us to smile at one another as we pass in the hallways: greeting the Trinity dwelling within the other.

Or what if you gave God your best smile when you are depressed or angry—that's virtue. It not only increases seratonin but brings to your mind God within you, helping you to go beyond how you are feeling. Our bedridden Sister always says: “Keep smiling—for him.” She never stops smiling and I know she suffers.  So maybe holiness can be as easy (or as hard) as smiling.

All is Grace

Congratulations to our newest postulant!

O Holy Spirit, make me aware of the grandeur and dignity, glory and splendor of the God who dwells within me. Make me belong to him, live for him, and serve him in a spirit of awed reverence and humble devotion. Amen.

Following Jesus, by Fr. Jack Farley, SVD

Response to Christ is our Christian vocation. This call is a personal relationship. Primarily, it is not I who am seeking the Lord, but the Lord is seeking me. The purpose of spirituality is to let myself be found. Catherine of Siena expressed this in a unique way. She said: “God is running after you day and night as if God has nothing else to do than be occupied with you.” Can I imagine such a God who has nothing better to do than chase after me day and night?

Can I imagine such a God whose primary interest is to run after me? If I can convert myself to that God, my life will blossom. God is deeply, passionately in love with each of us. Jesus told us nothing more important than this. It is now for us to let this reality penetrate our whole being. God loves me now, as I am, not as I would like to be. Sometimes we prefer to believe that we love God rather than that God loves us.

Today, take time for prayer, time to connect with God's intense, loving presence: around, within, all over us. Prayer simply means: to think about God and to love God at the same time. It is important for us to be open to God's presence, alert to God's call, God's amazing invitation to discipleship, friendship, commitment.

A Special Day

It began...
With a small, quiet voice: "Come, follow Me."
"You are mine. I have chosen you."

It continued...
With a response: "Yes, Lord, I will follow."
"Where you lead, I will go."

It is growing...

With a leap of faith,

A step across the cloister boundary.

Congratulations to our newest Sister!

She entered as a postulant on September 8.

Pray for her!

"You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride, 

an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed." 

Song of Songs 4:12