CHALLENGES
Most of us through challenging times at least once in our lives. Or perhaps more often. Times when we can’t seem to pull out of a bad cycle of events. It’s hard to deal with challenges, especially when we encounter a long string of them. So what do we do?
Fall 2024 Newsletter (4.5MB)
FAITH…OR FEAR?
From time to time each one of us can confront a dilemma: do we step out and act from a perspective of faith? Or do we instead act out of a sense
of fear? Occasionally the fear is telling us something important. Occasionally it is warning us that we’re about to lose our way, about to violate our commitment to the Lord.
IMAGE
As humans, we are the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in God’s image and likeness—and yet formed out of the dust of the earth. Our all too earthy dust only came to life when God blew his breath, his Spirit into us. That being so, we are not only important, but in some unnamed yet vital way, we bear ‘God-ness (so to speak) into the realm of creation.
TRAUMA
I’m sure that everyone reading this has heard of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. One of the immediate effects is fear. For those closely affected, fear of another random, irrational happening may linger for a long time, perhaps even for life. Grief is another aftereffect: we grieve for those we lost, for the injured, for others traumatized by any sudden, unexpected violent event.
TAKING TIME
What a great relief it was to be away from the responsibilities, from the nearly constant demands on my time and attention. I was just sitting. Just being. Just quietly grateful for the loveliness of God’s creation, for the priceless gift of quiet, of time, of empty space.
STILL PRAYING
What happens to us during our prayer time after we’ve been praying, day in and day out, for years? Perhaps we get tired. Or bored. Or just plain distracted, especially if we’re going through a busy time in our lives. If this happens to us—and it happens to all of us at some time or other—it may be that we misunderstand the nature of Christian prayer.
PRAYER, AGAIN
How often do we turn to prayer? When we are in crisis, or in any kind of need? Or are we able to bring our deepest fears, hopes, hurts, and dreams to God? Do we even believe it’s OK to do this?
PRAYING
Perhaps most of us learned as children to pray by way of the Our Father or Hail Mary or the Rosary, or the Divine Mercy chaplet. We were taught that this was how to pray. Perhaps we never were taught, never learned, anything beyond that—yet now that is not enough.
Forgetfulness seems to be a regular part of my life these days. I’ve simply forgotten that deeper, more important reality in the midst of the daily work and responsibilities. Mindfulness, or remembering, is a major understanding in the Benedictine tradition, and in early Christianity, as well as in Buddhism and other religions.
BEING LOST
“I just feel so lost. I thought this was the right place for me, but it clearly is not. I don’t know what to do.” The spiritual journey is a path that leads us by unfamiliar and at times fearful ways. It’s a journey that we can’t control, and we don’t always know what the future holds or where the path is taking us.
Order Sr. Elizabeth’s new book: Seasons in My Garden: Meditations from a Hermitage
Portland Press Herald:
Book review- ‘Seasons in My Garden’ reflects on growth and rootedness
Watch an interview with St. Elizabeth on her new book “Seasons in My Garden” on This is the Day on Catholic TV Network!
Watch the interview
Sr. Elizabeth’s essay “Standing Far Off” has been published in Forge Journal!
Sr. Elizabeth’s essay “Abundance” has been published in the online literary magazine Eclectica.
She has had another essay, “Goldenrod Days” recented printed in the journal Willow Review, and has just won the 2011 Willow Review prize for creative non-fiction.
Congratulations!