Yesterday we celebrated the great Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. As a belated but still-applicable tribute, enjoy a reflection one of our Sisters recently wrote about her experience contemplating this great mystery with the help of a famous icon …
Read MoreFrom the very beginning of our history, human beings have been gardeners: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” (Gen. 2:15)
Read MoreThe monstrance is an eloquent symbol of our Blessed Mother, the woman of the Magnificat, whose whole being magnifies the Lord and shows Him forth to the world. But who supported and enabled her to do so, if not St. Joseph, with his humble service, his faithful love, his strong arms?
Read MoreTo round off our series of blog posts on Sr. Isabel Maria’s First Profession, we’re sharing the reflection that Sister wrote for her Profession Mass booklet. It’s a lovely meditation on the meaning of her Baptismal name, Holly, and we hope you find it as meaningful as we did!
Read More“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations …” (Matthew 28:19)
How can I fulfill these last words of our Lord if I live cloistered in a monastery? I think all men and women called to contemplative life have to wrestle with the question - I know I did.
Read MoreBefore it becomes “old news”, we wanted to share with you the lovely reflection that Sister wrote for her Profession program …
Read MoreThe poem our Sisters chose to illustrate this year is Edwin Muir’s beautiful and thought-provoking meditation on the kingdom parable of the weeds and wheat (or, in this case, the corn and tares).
Read MoreThe next room in our tour of the Holy Family Wing isn’t really a “room” at all - but it is a very cherished part of our new community spaces nonetheless. The portico (covered porch), which extends its cloister walkway “arms” around the entire new wing, has become a popular site for prayer, recreation, and simply enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.
Read MoreNow that the Holy Family Wing is becoming a part of daily life here at St. Joseph’s, we wanted to share with you a little more about the significance of these new community spaces - plus some “candid camera” shots of the different rooms in use!
Read MoreA palpable air of expectancy and excitement hovers around the crowd. These Passover pilgrims, gathered near the gates of Jerusalem, are awaiting more this year than just the annual festivities. As they converse among themselves, their eyes frequently turn to the road leading up to the city. What do you think? Will He come to the feast?
Read MoreTwo Gentiles, two Galilean fishermen, and one Galilean carpenter-turned-Rabbi are standing on a hilltop just outside the city, slightly away from the surging crowds. The two Jews gesture towards the Greeks, who stand with awkward yet expectant eyes fixed on the Rabbi.
Read MoreAt this late hour, restless Jerusalem is finally beginning to quiet herself. One by one, the lamps shining in windows are extinguished as the inhabitants of the Holy City turn in for the night. Yet in one large, villa-like house, the glow from the upstairs window remains undimmed. Within, a most extraordinary conversation is taking place.
Read MoreThese monologues were written by Sister the year before she entered the monastery. She hopes they will help you in your own meditation and prayer on this day dedicated to accompanying Christ in His sufferings. May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ be ever in our hearts!
Read MoreAt the last supper, Jesus offered up His Body and Blood in sacrifice “for you” (see Luke 22:19). I allow those two little words to echo in my own heart: for me … Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection … for me. The Gospel accounts of Christ’s Passion give us seven sayings or seven “words” that Jesus spoke from the Cross, and I hear the “for you” spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper re-echoed there.
Read MoreSt. Augustine is famous for saying, among other things, that the New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old revealed in the New … Several years ago, I first came upon what was for me a particularly poignant foreshadowing of Christ’s Passion, hidden within the depths of the Book of Leviticus.
Read MoreThe arms and heart of Jesus Crucified are wide open to receive us all. It is good to be here with Mary, so good. Yet how can we be glad, how can we lift up songs of rejoicing, here of all places? What place can joy possibly have on Calvary?
Read MoreIn God’s infinite generosity and love, He gives us the dignity of “making up for what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, on behalf of His body, the Church” by the sufferings of our lives. Nothing is wasted! The first person to share in the sufferings of Christ was His Mother Mary. As we ponder the Passion and seek to be united with Jesus, Mary’s Mother-heart gives us a unique entryway into the sufferings of Christ.
Read MoreA number of Psalms are particularly applicable to the Passion and Death of Our Lord. They contain some of the more poignant descriptions of physical, psychological, and spiritual suffering, as well as powerful prayers of trust and even prophecies of specific elements of the Passion narrative. The most famous of these is, of course, Psalm 22.
Read MoreIn His infinite mercy, God has come down to our level in Jesus Christ, embracing human weakness in order to win for us the graces – and give us an example to imitate – in every challenge we face. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Passion, where He chooses to exercise His omnipotence precisely through weakness.
Read MoreWherever you fall on the “Lenten preparedness” spectrum, we have an opportunity for you to enter more deeply into the spirit of this season: a new blog series entitled Ponder His Passion! Each Friday of Lent, beginning a week from today, we will share a brief reflection on Our Lord’s Passion, written by one of the Sisters.
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