Thank you for your patience

I’m working on fixing a problem with the theme in Internet Explorer.  Thank you for your patience if the site is a bit wonky over the next day or so while I work on the problem.

Update:  Finally fixed.  Thanks for your patience.

Friday Community Highlight: Santa Rita Abbey

This week’s Community Highlight is:

Don’t be fooled by the minimalist look of the nun’s website.  This Cistercian community has a wealth of information about their life and about their prayer.  Be sure to click on every link, because there are links on sub-pages that you won’t see otherwise, and those sub-sites have the best information.

Some highlights include:

• The link, Spiritual Craft, has some wonderful information on Lectio as practiced by the nuns.  There are four pages under Spiritual Craft, so be sure to check all of them.
• Under Monastic Life, the nuns talk about the Gifts of their day to day life.  In talking about the Gift of Community, they say, “We have come to seek God. In that shared belief and longing we are deeply bonded. But we are not clones of one another. God has picked our sisters for us. Each is an instrument of the Spirit, the Spirit who is drawing each individually and all as a community into the baffling mystery of God.”  Is there a more perfect way to describe the life of community?
• Under Vocations, I liked that they include as one of the requirements for their life “A well-developed sense of humor”.  Many people seem to have this view of nuns a dour, overly serious women.  I know from experience that nothing could be further than the truth.  Most nuns I’ve met are joyous women who take each day as it comes with love and humor.
• Finally, if you are interested in a Retreat, the nuns have accommodations.

Visit the website of the Cistercian Nuns of Santa Rita Abbey.

Wednesday Discernment Link: Spiritual Direction

This week’s discernment link comes to us from the Diocese of Ottawa’s website. Their website is minimal, to say the least, but it has some bright kernels of information in it.

One of those kernels is a page about Spiritual Direction and Vocational Discernment. It’s a plain text page and a bit hard to read because it goes the full width of the page, but print it out to read it if it’s too difficult on the screen.

Many websites recommend spiritual direction for those discerning vocations, but they rarely talk about why, like it’s just intuitively obvious. This page talks about they why of spiritual direction.

After you read it, come back and tell me your opinions. Share some of your experiences of spiritual direction for the other folks reading here. Share the pros and cons, the good and the ugly.

Video Monday: Dominican Nun Investiture

The Dominican Nuns of Lockport, LA, allowed a news crew to come in and film the investiture of one of their new nuns. This is from the news report. It’s a beautiful video. I hope you enjoy it.

Friday Community Highlight: Carmel of Reno

A Carmelite community reformed in the spirit of Vatican II, the Carmel of Reno was begun in 1954 as a foundation from the Indianapolis Carmel. “This stage of our journey was well in place when four years later, the Second Vatican Council opened, calling the whole Church to renewal. Over the next years, and even now, we continue to pray, study and work to incorporate these teachings into our lived experience.”

As Carmelites, of course, their life centers around prayer.  The sisters spend two hours a day in solitary prayer as well as having time for spiritual reading and study.  They have two retreat days each month (for which I believe they have a hermitage set aside), and a week of retreat each year in addition to the community retreat.

The Divine Office is also a centerpiece of the sister’s daily life.  Their chapel is open, and they often have members of the surrounding community join them for Morning and Evening prayers.  They also sponsor contemplative prayer groups for the community, which the sisters facilitate.

Initially supporting themselves with a small printshop, the work of the Carmel has broadened over the years into the sell of their own line of greeting cards designed by the sisters.  Creativity seems to flow within this Carmel, with artists and musicians among the sisters helping to support their life of prayer and contemplation.

The Carmel of Reno’s website is extensive, and you can learn a quite a bit about their life and about each sister individually.  I encourage all of you who feel called to a contemplative vocation to give them a look.  Even if you aren’t called to their lifestyle, check out the webpage anyway.  I’ve looked at and read many, many community websites, and very few really make you feel like you’ve come away with a real knowledge of their life.  This one does.

Wednesday Discerntment Link: A Guide to Religious Ministries

Previously only a print document, often called the Blue Book, Religious Ministries has expanded to a website.

Religious Ministries is probably the most comprehensive listing of Roman Catholic religious communties in the United States.  They list not only those communities that have an on-line presence, but all communities in the US.  Listings include “diocesan vocation offices, religious communities active in the United States, lay ministry organizations, secular institutes, associate societies, religious study opportunities and retreat centers.”

Religious Ministries has been helpful to me not only when I was discerning, but in also trying to keep this website up to date.  So, go take a look.  You can also get a copy of the book.  They are often distributed for free through your local diocesan vocation office, or you can contact the publishers directly to get a copy if you prefer a hard copy.

Catholic Vocation Profile: Franciscan Sister Renee Mirkes

Catholic Vocation Profile: Franciscan Sister Renee Mirkes

Friday Community Highlight – Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

This week’s highlighted community is:

The Sisters of St. Joseph  were founded in the early 1600’s and then refounded in 1807 after the French Revolution, during which convents in France were suppressed.  The first sisters came to the United States in 1836, to a small town near St. Louis, called Carondelet.  They now have provinces established in Missouri, New York, Minnesota and California.  Today, the sister’s ministries include teaching, parish work, health care, retreat work and spiritual direction; they also conduct outreach centers.

Click on the logo above to visit their website.  Be sure to read the many Sister stories on their site.

Wednesday Discernment Link: Phatmass

While the site isn’t technically about discernment, they do have a fairly active vocation section in the forums.  This site caters mostly to the younger crowd, but I’ve heard you can find a few folks over 30 there.

I know I have some Phatmassers who read here.  Want to tell us a bit more about your site, particularly your vocation forum?

Tuesday Book Review – Opening to God

I’m starting a new feature this week, Tuesday book review. For now, these will be books that I have personally read and found useful, but I will be soliciting book reviews from others in the future. I also invite you all to comment with your own reviews of these books, whether positive or negative. The whole point here is to provide those discerning with information to help them on their path.

Today’s book selection is:

This was one of the very first books that was recommended to me when I first began discerning. I was still learning to pray and to be still with God.

The information here is very basic. It’s for those who are just starting out on their journey and need some grounding in basic techniques. I still have this book (although a much older version of it) and I still refer to it from time to time when I seem stumped. Sometimes when your prayer life just doesn’t seem to be working, going back to the basics helps.

The author, Fr. Thomas Green, is a Jesuit and a spiritual director. I’ve read a number of his books on prayer and discernment, and you’ll see them later in the Tuesday Book Review Series. I must say that I’ve never read one of his books that I didn’t find spiritually renewing and uplifting. While his approach to prayer doesn’t necessarily fit everyone, I do know that it helped me tremendously in learning to be quiet and be still with God.

Disclosure: the above book link is an affiliate link (meaning I make a portion of any books purchased through that link). If you prefer a non-affiliate link, go here.