Global Ceasefire

The monastery peace pole which bears the message
"May Peace Prevail on Earth" in multiple languages

Our U.N. secretary general, Antonio Gutierres, does not hesitate to expand the definition of "war" to enemy attacks that have global consequences. He refers to armed conflicts, computerized attacks, viral attacks and less obvious ways in which an enemy will “‘war” against another for its own advantage! Recently he issued a call to action to the innumerable ongoing wars against individual countries, areas or systems to the newly acclaimed WAR, the novel Coronavirus 19. Antonio Gutierrez is calling for an immediate and global ceasefire to ALL war...war of every and any kind!

Why not a global ceasefire? Is it not true that the armed conflicts raging around our world affect all of us, and especially the most vulnerable—women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced...or those who become the displaced, the refugees, the separated, the dead and dying? There are so many devastated lives! We have already suffered indescribable losses to our tender, already fragile economies and we have abused and suffer from too much disrespect for Mother Earth, our very sustenance and life!  

Why not call a ceasefire globally?  

Can we lay down our military arms so that we might have healthy loving arms to protect our families and our neighbors—whether in Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Russia, Guatemala, China, the UK...Can we be sufficiently farsighted to know we are responsible for and able to protect the human family from devastation?

Thank you, Antonio Gutierres, for reminding us WHO we are and WHAT is happening to our delicate web of LIFE! 

You, as well as Pope Francis, ask us to pray against war of all kinds!

“Mary most holy, stir our consciences so that the enormous funds that are being invested in developing and stockpiling arms

will instead be spent on promoting effective research on how to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.  

Beloved Mother, help us realize that we are all members of one great family and to recognize the bond that unites us, so that

in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity, we can help to relieve countless situations of poverty and need. Make us strong in faith,

persevering in courage and service, and constant in prayer.” (Pope Francis)

Renée Domeier, OSB

Walking in Circles

The labyrinth at the monastery's Spirituality Center●Studium

One of my most beloved places at the monastery is the labyrinth behind the Spirituality Center. I’ve always had it all to myself, and I savor the slow walk to the center, the time to sit on the bench long enough to hear the chimes at least once and the slow walk back out. Sometimes the chimes remind me that it’s time to report back to the classroom, go to the chapel for noon prayer or go home and make supper. Still, the interlude has been good.

First winter and now the order to stay home have kept me away from that monastic walk, but I’ve found new ways to walk in a holy circle. Oblate friend Juliana Howard sent me some of her original Walking Psalms. I don’t know how to sing the melodies, but I typed the words on cards to tuck into my jacket pocket. In my neighborhood, there is a half mile loop right out my front door. I recite Juliana’s Psalms and find direction for my day and peace in my soul.

Palm Sunday was the first of the days in Holy Week when I wished the doors to my home church were not locked. At first I didn’t know what to do with my sadness and loneliness. Then I decided to take my Walking Psalms to the church parking lot and walk in a circle. As I walked the perimeter of the large parking lot, I prayed for my congregation, all those dear ones I look forward to seeing every Sunday. All alone, I named them out loud, thanked God for their friendship and support and prayed that they would be safe until we can worship and enjoy coffee, donuts and conversation again.

Marge Lundeen, OblSB

Home

Front view of Saint Benedict's Monastery

I read the letter my niece sent to her parents. I looked at my sister as I put it down; I was in shock. My niece, 19 years old, a sophomore in college, was pregnant. The letter began, “Dear Mom and Dad, I have been challenged with my Catholic faith since starting college.” She wrote about not going to church on a regular basis and not following the teachings she learned as a child. The next words were shocking: “I am pregnant.” Struggling with these words, all I could say to my sister was, “Oh my.” My niece asked, “Can I come home to live with you?”

Home is where she knew she would feel loved and supported. Home is where she knew she would be reminded of the faith she grew up with, getting back in touch with the values that holds her family together. Her baby is due in July; this happened last Thanksgiving. I love my niece, and I support her as she lives into this new life journey. Home is where she will be loved and supported. When I think of home, my heart goes in two directions. I am reminded of my childhood home and then of my current home here at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Home is where I feel loved and supported in my life vocation.

If you would like more information about Saint Benedict’s Monastery, please contact Sister Lisa Rose at lrose@csbsju.edu.

Lisa Rose, OSB

COVID-19

Buds on an apple tree, taken by Sister Karen Rose

I come to the crosswalk and need
not stop and look from side to side.
There is no traffic, no student joggers,
no cars coming in for the early shift,
but I hear bird songs I’ve never heard,
notice the drake calling for its mate
in the empty parking lot, watch rabbits
and squirrels race back and forth under
low hanging tree branches. Because
no longer is the early garbage truck
lifting at the dumpsters, I clearly hear
wind in the pines, far off cars whirring
down I-94 and can now hear clearly the
early morning tower bell notifying us—
prayer in five minutes.

Josue Behnen, OSB

Looking for Spring Flowers

Beautiful spring flowers, taken by Sister Carleen Schomer

This is the second day this week that I have gone for a walk expressly to find spring flowers. I just love those cute little purple squills, for example. Since I’ve walked St. Ben’s campus for years, I quickly made a mental list as to where to look. So, I headed straight toward HAB (Henrita Academic Building) because I remember a rather obscure spot near the ASB (Academic Services Building) where just one small bunch of grape hyacinth appears every spring. Sure enough! It was there! Lovely as ever!

Encouraged, I headed to the BAC (Benedict Arts Center) because daffodils/jonquils might already be in bloom between HCC (Haehn Campus Center) and BAC. Well, I found daffodils all right, and tulips, but most glorious were the grape hyacinths there. Can you imagine the beauty of yellow and purple all together in one bed? It will be lovely when the daffodils start blooming. They are in bud stage right now, too.

Still hopeful, I headed to Clemens Library where daffodils and tulips almost always grow beneath the trees between the library and the science building. Ah, yes, they, too, are still only buds. Spring so far has been slow, chilly and windy.

What about Lottie? Would there be tulips in front of this residence hall around the circle drive? No, not much evidence of flowers there. Disappointing.

Next I headed to the West Apartments where a variety of flowers appear near the dumpster on the back side. Daffodils and tulips were in early stages of bloom there, too, and I also spotted more grape hyacinths.

All in all, my walks were slightly disappointing, but I heard the cardinals whistling to one another, as well as chickadees or were they phoebes? Oh, and today was warmer, so I ventured behind the sisters’ garage to find my favorite—two little squills.

That’s hopeful, isn’t it?

Mary Jane Berger, OSB

Servant Leader

Then-Prioress Sister Michaela Hedican washing
the feet of the congregation on Holy Thursday in 2013

Holy Thursday is a time to tell stories. If you have ever been to a Seder, you know all the Old Testament is sung in the lilting and epic song "Dayenu." For most in our group, telling stories is difficult on a good day. Society doesn’t readily recognize the value of work done by the poor.

Could these women understand their stories were as important for us to hear as for them to tell?

Sending the poem “Singapore” by Mary Oliver, accompanied by John 13:1–35, and asking if these two pieces had meaning for their lives, the hope was for each to share some of their story. Oliver’s poem tells of meeting a woman cleaning a toilet in an airport restroom. Sensing the dignity of the woman doing her job, it showed Oliver how “light can shine out of a life.”

Carla, a pink-collar worker from the group, responded the next day. She was at home with her children due to the pandemic.

She didn’t say this to me, but I could tell by her enthusiasm she connected the Scripture of Jesus washing feet and the woman in the poem. Her actions were a joyful miracle. Carla washed her little girls’ feet and gave them pedicures. Pictures she shared showed laughter and love. Her job became a vocation. What I think happened was Carla felt the dignity of her job at the salon and how all work can be graced as she read about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. Somehow washing feet was raised to a new level of worth and her story could be told with pride and humility.

Maybe theologians wouldn’t describe it this way, but I believe her actions on Holy Thursday became her connection to Jesus as Servant Leader and her real Baptism.

Pat Pickett, OblSB

Poverty Perspective

The beginning of the
Mississippi River in Itasca State Park,
taken by Sister Laura Suhr

Coming up against the culture isn’t always easy. Some people liken it to swimming upstream or going against the tide. Most often, once in the water, it’s just easier to go with the flow so-to-speak. That is, unless the flow takes us too far out and we don’t even realize the danger we’re in. When the undertow comes and the waves are high, we find our feet are no longer on solid ground.


Heads up is about all we can manage and some days, if we are honest, all we can do is tread water.

When we do head on into the deep, it does not mean following any crowd just because they happen to be going in that direction. Going deep has a ring of intentionality and purpose to it.

Recently, I read about a saint who has gone before us. I like reading about our brothers and sisters in Christ who have fought the good fight and lived their lives authentically in Christ. No platform did they stand on, no audience did they sell their books to, no latest Bible study did they write, no video series did they create and no column did they write. Not that those are bad things, they just didn’t do that. They did not merely give voice to their faith walk…they spent their lives living it.

This particular saint I read about was Elizabeth Prout. She lived in England in the 1800’s during the Industrial Revolution. Her faith walk was deep and encompassed every inch of her five foot tall frame.

She did something about making the world in which she lived, better. What did she do about the poverty she encountered in the slums? She didn’t lead a march nor did she write the government to point out the problems. She did not run for office in order to change laws. She did something about it by moving in and living as one with the poor. She got others to do likewise and started a community that kept themselves alive through prayer, teaching and working beside those who worked in mills. The conditions in which they lived were so terrible that other believers surrounding them were not only suspicious of them, but opposed to them.

What did she have to say about it? “Lord, no matter how hard my life is, I am happy because I know You love me. I want to share that happiness with my brothers and sisters. And to reach them I must share their lives, work with them and teach them” (Elizabeth Prout).

Leviticus 25:35–36 says how we are to live: “Help the poor among you.”

The closest like-minded saint to Elizabeth Prout that I ever met was a little lady named Marina. She lived the command to love your neighbor as yourself well as she lived in a house that was owned by another who simply allowed her and her family to live there. She swept the dirt on her patio made of dirt. She used a broom made from tree branches nearby. Marina cooked upon the ground mixing food within a large metal tub which also served as the family bath. She often gave up her portion of a meal for another. Sleep she did upon a pile of clothing on a cot within the kitchen because she gave up her bed so that someone else may have a bed. It wasn’t until later that I realized for whom she gave it up. She gave it up for me.

When a neighbor woman in need stopped in, Marina gave her something to drink. When the man up the road who lived in a tin lean-to had no food, Marina gave him hers.

What did she have to say about poverty?

“Much will be expected to whom much is given (Luke 12:48). I’ve been given much.”

Amen.

Kathleen Kjolhaug, OblSB

This article was first published in Theology in the Trenches, a column written by Oblate Kathleen Kjolhaug. Posted with permission. Read more articles on her blog, Theology in the Trenches.