The Garden Is Coming - Part 2
One full month just passed, and a lot of things are changing in the garden. The tomatoes, peppers, carrots, corn, lettuce, peas, radishes, potatoes—everything is growing. I am amazed at the miracle of life. I feel like a little child observing in wonder the project the teacher instructed us to do. “Ask your mom for a glass container, add a wet cotton ball.
Has Everything Changed Since Covid? ...by Sr. Julian
Since the Covid pandemic has eased somewhat, I hear often “Everything has changed since Covid. ” Do you hear that too? Sometimes it seems almost like a lament. And I begin to think about what has changed. People are traveling again. They were traveling less during Covid, but since 2023 people have begun to travel more and more regularly. I am not sure if the post-Covid pandemic travel is back to pre-Covid ‘normal,’ but travel has certainly increased.
Read the full post: Has Everything Changed Since Covid? ...by Sr. Julian
Awareness ...by Sr. Monika
I was born into this world both as the person God created and to become the person God intends me to be. The process of becoming is dynamic and ongoing throughout a lifetime. I am a person with a particular set of genes and characteristics inherited from my parents.
Retreat Time ...by Sr. Dorothy
Each year, usually in June, our community takes a retreat together. We don’t go anywhere—we just stay here at the monastery. But retreat time is different from ordinary time. This year we are having eight days of silence, which most of us look forward to. We eat in silence and spend our days, each of us, alone in silence.
The Garden Is Coming ...by Sr. Paz Vital
Sr. Angela had some tomato and pepper seeds that she collected when she was doing research and presenting her scientific results in different places around the world. Last year she planted some of these mysterious seeds (she doesn’t know what kind of peppers or tomatoes they were and where exactly she collected them). I also received some of these mysterious seeds and planted them. Only three beautiful tomato plants showed up and two pepper plants.
Read the full post: The Garden Is Coming ...by Sr. Paz Vital
The Language of Spoons ....by Sr. Anna-Camille
The very first regular work I did at the monastery was helping with dishes. I started with drying and putting away. We have an industrial type of dish washer, so you have to prove yourself on the drying, and then move on to the scrubbing of pots and pans (the Helper job) before you are taught to use the dishwasher. So, my first job was learning where everything in the kitchen was put.
Read the full post: The Language of Spoons ....by Sr. Anna-Camille
A Cat in the Monastery ...by Sr. Julian
A few years ago now, a lovely little cat appeared at our back door. She was thin but beautiful. We knew she was a tabby, but I had never heard of a brown mackerel tabby. Was this a fish cat or a cat fish (but not really a catfish)? With light-filled emerald eyes, she looked up at us from the bush she was hiding in and said “Feed me. ” We began to feed her.
Getting Fired Up ....by Sr. Monika
Sunday, May 19 is Pentecost in the Christian tradition. It is a solemnity marking the day the believers, who were shivering in fear, received the Holy Spirit. On that day the Spirit descended upon the believers as tongues of fire, and did they ever get fired up!--even to the point of praising God in various languages that everyone understood. Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask instead, ‘What makes you come alive?’ and go DO THAT.
Don't Give Up ....by Sr. Dorothy
In early May, a group of eight Tibetan monks stayed for several days at The Priory Spirituality Center. They had dinner with our St. Placid Sisters on Sunday evening, and though most of them had minimal English, there was plenty of good will and a bit of conversation. Tibetan monks enjoy a meal with St.
NRVC / RFC Regional Meeting ....by Sr. Paz
Three exciting days at St. Placid Priory: From April 30 to May 2, fifteen sisters’ vocation and formation directors from the Pacific Northwest area came together to pray, celebrate, learn and collaborate together. Sr. Mary Pat Garvin, RSM and Sr. Diane Tomkinson, OSF joined us for a presentation via Zoom. We were honored with the presence of Sr. Debbie Borneman, SS. C. M.
Read the full post: NRVC / RFC Regional Meeting ....by Sr. Paz
