In these days of growing environmental consciousness, we hear a lot about “going green”. It’s a way of knowing what’s good for the planet and what’s good for us humans too, while putting that knowledge into practice. Recycling, composting, and conserving resources are the little things that have a big collective impact.

Here in our Benedictine monastery, we’ve also gone green. Liturgically green, that is! We’ve just launched into “Ordinary Time” after fifty days of the Easter season, and it’s a very fine place to be.

What makes “going green” so good? Well, as with the environment, it’s the little things of everyday life that we do: our little duties, acts of love and efforts to live prayerfully. All the while, we trust that it will have a big spiritual impact when done in faith, when done for and in Christ!

Here’s one good sign of a monastic vocation: you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty! Well, alright—while there may be more to monasticism than sporting dirt under your fingernails, it is still a great feeling to dive into a little gardening project as a group of sisters working side by side.

St. Benedict did say, after all, that monks “live by the labor of their hands” (Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 48). But we never go it alone! Two shovel the compost, two pull the weeds… and before you know it, the work is finished. At the end of the work period, we look around and say, “Wow! God is good!”

A few high-fives and a quick change later, you can find us side by side again—chanting the divine praises in church. Shoulder to shoulder we go to God, supporting each other along the way. For we strive to love him as individuals, to be sure, but rejoice that we can do it all together!

Where is heaven? This was a question that a theology teacher recently posed to the sisters in formation here at St. Scholastica Priory. An interesting question, indeed!

As the solemnity of the Ascension approaches, many of us have our gazes “heavenward”, thinking about “the things above” (Col 3:2), just as the apostles gazed at the sky on that dramatic day of our Lord’s return to the Father. This Scripture does give us a little clue about our relationship to heaven—Jesus floated not just away or out of sight, but upward! Truly, the realm of God is quite above and beyond us.

Whether we believe that heaven is another place, a different dimension, or simply “within us” (Lk 17:21), we can be sure of one thing: it is beyond our ability to access without the grace and aid of God. It is his own abode, and wherever it may be we can be sure that it is where God undoubtedly is, without shadow or restraint or any taint of evil. May he in his great mercy bring us all to that blessed place!

Looking toward the future is a pretty common thing. What will my life be like next week, next month, next year? And then there are the bigger questions, the “meaning of life” questions that rumble around in the heart or subconscious mind, feeding the low-level anxiety that we often carry around without realizing it.

Perhaps the biggest spiritual question, the most fundamental, bedrock-of-existence question might be: does God love me? Does he even notice that I exist? We walk through this world seemingly alone, perhaps with others who love us to greater or lesser extents like family or friends, but in the end we feel strangely alone.

So it seems.

“I am with you always, until the end of time,” Our Lord said to his disciples (Mt 28:20, cf. Is 41:10). Because we too are his disciples, we too can know that he is with us always. Not sometime in the future, but now. Today! God, the perfect fulfillment of our happiness, the one who sustains us in life, only hopes that we will feel his constant love by focusing on his presence in the present moment. It is he who supports us, who lovingly arranges everything that happens in our lives.

This is the answer to that “fundamental question”! If “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8), and if he is with us, then we can live with him in his love now, today!

 

Here we are in the Easter season—50 full days to soak in the rays of Resurrection grace! It is a blessed time to feel the power of God’s divine life surging within us in an entirely new way.

Well, what does the Resurrection have to do with the concept of vocation? Sometimes it seems as though we have been discerning forever, whatever the life choice in question might be. What religious community to enter, what mission work to sign up for, what to study, who to marry—all of these options weigh heavily upon us, day after day.

A keen observer once said: there is a danger of “paralysis by analysis”. At a time when we feel as immobile as our Lord himself was as he hung on the cross, we can remember that there is hope, there is life after the “death” of indecision! God’s plan is already in progress in us, even when we feel stagnant. Sometimes thinking less, praying more and observing God’s providence in our lives is the way to put our faith and trust into action. For in the end, whatever our path may be, it is Resurrection life, eternal life that God has in store for us!

As spring approaches and school graduations appear in the horizon, many young people are beginning to look to the future. Or perhaps a budding career has not blossomed, or a tragedy in life has brought priorities into question. “What’s next?” you might be asking yourself. Even more importantly, you might be asking that same question of God.

“Lord, what should I do with my life?”  When a thousand possible paths seem to present themselves, Pope Francis provides great insight into the discernment of a vocation. In his message for the 2018 World Day of Vocations, he says:

“The Lord’s call—let it be said at the outset—is not as clear-cut as any of those things we can hear, see or touch in our daily experience. God comes silently and discreetly, without imposing on our freedom. Thus it can happen that his voice is drowned out by the many worries and concerns that fill our minds and hearts.

We need, then, to learn how to listen carefully to his word and the story of his life, but also to be attentive to the details of our own daily lives, in order to learn how to view things with the eyes of faith, and to keep ourselves open to the surprises of the Spirit.”

Listening and perceiving God’s quiet voice in prayer and in daily events, then, is the first step to following God’s will!

 

Our Lady is front and center today, as we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation! We unabashedly boast of this beautiful maiden and mother of Christ, knowing full well that she would never promote herself. All the more reason to praise her!

We laud Mary today for accepting the largest mission of God given to anyone of the human race: to bear in her womb the Son of God, and to be utterly united with Jesus in his own mission of salvation. Only a woman as lowly and trusting as she could give a “yes” as tremendous as hers!

The Annunciation is also a beautiful day to remember the humility of the angels. Even in this image from Fra Angelico, Gabriel bows to a mere human being with honor and reverence. True, the angels knew that someday Mary would be elevated to become their Queen, and yet how fitting it is for these celestial creatures to be adorned with the virtue of humility which is the hallmark of God himself.

Pray for us, humble souls and angels adorning the courts of heaven, that we may one day join your ranks!

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph! Saints and sinners alike are devoted to this patron of the universal Church, and rightfully so. As the guardian of the holy family, he certainly had experience enough in his own life to now faithfully guard and guide us all.

Indeed, St. Joseph can identify with a great number of struggles that the rest of us encounter—scandal, confusion, exile, poverty, and the list goes on. Here was a man who, guided by light and grace, overcame obstacles and defied the odds to fulfill the divine will.

St. Joseph gives hope to those who come after him in our own earthly journey, for his God is our God. Pray for us, St. Joseph, that we may come to rejoice with you in heaven!

There is a beautiful snowfall today in Petersham, with flakes rushing to the ground with gusto. The white of snow is a perennial reminder of the purity of God, a purity that we search for in a special way during Lent.

“Purify me from my sins, then I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” says the Psalmist in Psalm 50. It requires faith to believe in the cleansing power of God, and yet this belief brings with it a supernatural peace of heart that is proof enough. “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5)!

As the muddy landscape is “made new” with a fresh coat of crystalline purity, so too do we ask God to give us a new beginning in our hearts, a new start with the renewal of his grace and forgiveness.

Every morning at Lauds the twin Benedictine communities here in Petersham pray Psalm 50, often called the Miserere. This is translated into English as “have mercy”, a plea we send up to God each day, and most likely many times a day! While this psalm is a central part of our morning liturgy all year round, it seems to harmonize well with the themes we highlight in Lent.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning…” (Lam 3:22-23). This stunning reality is the springboard we use for our daily repentance; God’s mercy gives us the courage to admit our sinfulness and live in humility of heart. 

Perhaps this Lent we can pray for new hearts: hearts of humility, hearts of mercy, hearts of ardent love—in short, the heart of Christ!