Distractions

Everyone has to deal with distractions. They can be especially irksome when one expects to be in a distraction-free environment. But they can also provide for ample humor and a lesson that can sometimes be forgotten: in religious life a sense of humor is not just helpful….it is a necessity.

A sometimes idealized setting can be what people think a monastery should be. Visions are conjured up of beautiful medieval architecture, and focused, serene, deeply echoing silence broken only by exquisitely executed polyphonic chant. But in our East Tennessee hills, our current chapel is actually rather small and at our community prayer times it’s filled with our recto-tonal chant competing with sounds of the allergic reactions of coughs and sneezes, the dehumidifier pump, the hot water tank, the bathroom, the pitch pipe (keeping us on key)…and the cat in the cell just above the Chapel ceiling.

Gertrude (or Sunbeam as she’s known in cartoon land) is a creature of habit, as are nuns. She has learned our schedule well and often times her best play periods coincide with Lauds and Vespers. We can often tell precisely where she is in the cell and sometimes exactly what toy she’s gotten a hold of. It can be a challenge to keep a straight face singing “all you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord” as she’s galloping after a toy she’s just sent scraping across the floor at high speed.

Then we remember that we can smile and may smile and should smile at this little gift of feline paws thundering over our heads because this is how that animal praises the Lord - by being the cat she was designed to be. The hunter and stalker all rolled into a ball of cute fluff simply ‘playing’. Oh yes, and she’s chased her first squirrel off leash…another thing God designed her for. So…Go Gertrude, Go!

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What’s in a name? Everything. For our purposes, we will say that names count for everything. They tell us, among other things, precisely who we are praying for. A quick glance at the Bible indicates that God takes names very seriously. Think of Isaiah 43:1 "I have called you by name; you are mine." or Is 43:6 ff "Bring back my sons from afar...everyone who is named as mine, who I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Apply these words to priests and see the link between naming and possessing: being called and possessed by God! We are named because we are God`s. So too with priests. When we install a name plaque in the Mary, Mother of Priests, Tribute Garden we aren`t so much honoring individual men; we are honoring God, who called each of them to be his special possession, his anointed ones as priests.

Each name plaque, each name, each life, each vocation, each man is unique and different yet infinitely, personally precious in God`s eyes as his co-workers in his vineyard. Each name mounted is, as it were, a permanent prayer request "Remember me in your prayers, I beg you!" This "me" has a name. His name matters. Names count. The extra burdens priests carry in their lifelong imitation of Christ Crucified for the sake of others, demand our faithful and continuous prayer support.

Names count. The individual name can be unique, but his Cross is universally fashioned to follow the footsteps of the High Priest.

If you would like to pay tribute to a special priest you are grateful to God for; consider making a donation and submitting his name to the Mary, Mother of Priests, Garden. To learn more, visit this link.

PS Even if you are unable to donate, we will still pray for that priest. They all deserve our prayers!
https://nunsforpriests.org/mary-mother-of-priests-garden/
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Vocations News: Coping with COVID-19 and Come and Sees
Yes, 2020 has been quite a year. We managed to get in a couple visits with inquiring women before COVID became a byword and seeming harbinger of all that could go wrong with the year 2020. By lockdown in March it was hoped a few weeks would be sufficient to dispel the plague of 2020. Now, as fall approaches with lifts and more lock downs and Advent promises to arrive quickly, many wouldn’t be blamed for thinking things will never get back to ‘normal’. Even the phrase ‘new normal’ really can’t fit this strange culture of permanent distancing and sanitization. And yet...who really defines normal?
Take the normal process of discerning a vocation to the religious life. Correspondence, a building relationship, an in person visit or visits (Come and See) to experience a little bit of the life, further education and learning, entrance....etc. All the predictable steps that were standard now have a virus template to adapt to. And with our limited capacity to communicate via the internet in our neck of the woods, video meetings over a computer wouldn’t be just another strange hurdle to learn, they would be cost prohibitive given our data caps. You would think with this new COVID-19 ’normal’ that, between social distancing and communications obstacles, we would have to forego welcoming inquirers, candidates, and aspirants. But who really defines normal? God. He can work around EVERYTHING.
So this fall and God willing, into the new year as well, we’ve scheduled women for Come and See experiences, suitably adapted to the precautions of coronavirus. We plan on sharing lots of information and communication in both directions....just not any germs or viruses! It demands creativity, flexibility, and ingenuity. Perhaps we can add the live video stuff someday but for now, God’s providing! #sisterreginacomicstrip ...

How does the cat discern?

Yes, we are sort of sharing some of our news regarding how we are going to manage Come and See visits during COVID. But, thanks to the amazing qualities of fictional cartoons, we can do so all while respecting the privacy and discretion of the women discerning their possible religious vocations.

When you are lighting a fire with a match or a spark, you are careful not to expose the early flame to too much wind or it will go out. Gunther, however, has no such reservations. And he’s very discriminating about who can rub his ears. #sisterreginacomicstrip ...

We are never alone

This week we celebrate two great feasts, that of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael followed by the feast of our Guardian Angels. We’re never alone and God’s mighty hosts are always at our side to help us stay on the right path - the path to Heaven.

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