Confession: An Act of Honesty and Courage

Confession is an act of honesty and courage;

an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin,

to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God. 

It is an act of the prodigal son who returns to his Father

and is welcomed by him with the kiss of peace.

Blessed John Paul II

Homily, San Antonio, 1987

in Pope John Paul II, His Essential Wisdom

The Path to God

...the path to God passes through our own reality, through observation of our thoughts, through proper dealing with the passions, and through an ascetical practice that will train us for openness to God.  It is a spirituality from below that the monks teach us, a spirituality that has the courage to look upon everything that is in us and offer it to God.  They invite us to take the path of humility, on which we ascend to God by climbing down into our own reality.  The model is Jesus himself, who came down from heaen to carry us up to God as his brothers and sisters.  For Paul too this is our way:  only those people who have first gone down can ascend to God (see Eph. 4:9-10).

We will come to God only on a path that goes through sincere self-encounter, through listening to our thoughts and feelings, to our dreams, to our body, our concrete lives, and our relationships with other people.  And God will transform everything that we hold out to him, until the image of Jesus Christ shines out in us too, the image that God has pictured to himself of every single one of us and that can irradicate the world only in and through us.  All the pains that the monks have taken in their asceticism have no other aim but to make this unique image of God appear in this world without distortion.

The monks wish to pass on to us today their optimism, their confidence that we can work on ourselves, that we are not incurably abandoned to our predispositions or our education or the current social situation, but that it's worthwhile to form ourselves through asceticism until the image of God shines out undeimmed from us, and until the unique word that God speaks through every oe of us rings out clearly in our world.

The dignity of every individual who was formed by God in a unique way and in each of whom God speaks a different word, peculiar to you and me, is the reason why the monks invite us to the ascetical life.  We should and can work on ourselves.  We can find our true self -- and we will find God, who in prayer and contemplation heals our deepest wounds and silences the longing of our hearts.

from Heaven Begins Within You:  Wisdom from the Desert Fathers

by Anselm Gruen, OSB

Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect

Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater

vester caelestis perfectus est

("Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect")

Jesus Christ

(Matthew 5:48)

The heavenly Father is God.  He can't be better.

You and I can be better all the time -- so much so that  we can grow in goodness until we die.

The very word "perfect" comes from two Latin words -- per ("through") and facere ("to make").  Perfect, then, means we're made all the way through towhat we're supposed to be. 

We're not there yet.  The journey requires constancy and fortitude.

The perfection demanded of us by Christ is only possible with His help.  It becomes our constant goal to be united with Christ.  St. Paul, who as a Pharisee had longed to master perfection found that in Christ alone he could be made perfect.

This is our goal too, so that in the end, we are able to say with Paul, "It is no longer I who lives, but it's Christ who lives in me" (Galations 2:20).

When that Father who is pefect can see Christ made in and through us, then perfection will be ours.  And on the day of days, we hope to hear Him say:  "Come in; I see my son in you."

from Latin Sayings for Spiritual Growth

by Archabbot Lambert Reilly, OSB

I have called you friends...

I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father...(from John 15:12-17)

I have called you friends.  Wow!  These words of Jesus are not only for his apostles and disciples, they are for us.  In taking on our humanity, Jesus showed how much we are loved by God.  And it's a personal relationship God desires with us. 

How is your relationship with God?  How far has it gone form duty, i.e. going to Mass on Sunday and saying morning and night prayers because that's what I'm supposed to do, to a vibrant relationship?  Jesus wants to enter our lives.  We just need to open the door of our hearts and let Him in. 

Have you opened your door to Him?  How do you spend time with Jesus?  Do you attend daily Mass when it's possible, have special devotions that are part of your day (i.e. Rosary, Liturgy of the Hours, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Stations of the Cross), offer up short prayers through out the day, spend time in Eucharistic adoration, read and pray with the Scriptures, take time for spiritual reading? 

Take stock of your spiritual life today and see if Jesus has a special place or do you just "squeeze" Him in.

Do not be afraid!

Do not be afraid!

Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. 

He alone can give full meaning to life,

he alone is the center of history. 

Live by him!

~ Blessed John Paul II

Speech to Youth

Czech Republic

1997

God: The Only Thing That Satisfies

Our hunger for possession is never satisfied if we direct it only to earthly things.  However many things we own, this cannot quench our deepest longing for rest and contentment, for harmony with ourselves.  Hence the New Testament transforms this desire by pointing us to an inner possession:  to the pearl of great price, to the treasure buried in the field.  We can find immearuable riches in ourselves, in our soul, when we find God and all the possibilities God has given us.  And when we turn toward this inner wealth, our striving for external possessions will not become immoderate.

from Heaven Begins Within You:  Wisdom from the Desert Fathers

by Anselm Gruen

Pentecost Immersion Experience

Our Pentecost Immersion Experience, May 25-28, allows women ages 16-38, an opportunity to experience our day-to-day monastic life from the inside out.  Following our full round of prayer and work, you have the opportunity to “try-on” our vocation. 

Participants join us for The Liturgy of the Hours, meals with table reading, assist with some of the aspects of day-to-day work (or, as we like to refer to it, as our love made manifest), times of recreation with the community, have time for spiritual reading and personal prayer, attend talks on the monastic life as well as the opportunity to visit privately with the prioress and vocation director. 

For more information and/or to sign up, email Sr. Mary Clare at vocations@stemma.org or call 724-610-7586.  We look forward to having you with us!

Note:  Please see side bar for other upcoming Immersion Experiences!