Journal

2015 Journal

Nature is putting on her nicest finery in leaf and bloom in celebration of the Paschal Season.  Everything speaks of joy!  This past week our joy was overflowing with the visit of our  Mary-Ellen of Wrentham on Easter Monday and the arrival of Nettie on Tuesday.  So we had abundant celebration with a wonderful supper together and much reminiscing of past visits.  Here's a group shot of us all: Then on Thursday, we had our annual picnic which our Springtime chaplain, Fr. Matthew and our good friend, Julie Swain throw for us.  Julie brings her two "pups" with her:  Luke and Seurat.  They are search and rescue dogs that Julie has trained -- and totally lovable.  Luke is really four...

2015 Journal

Happy Easter! All of us here send our love and prayers for a most blessed and joyous season to all. Spring has definitely come to the high desert here in Sonoita. Banks of purple and yellow iris wave greetings in the sonoran winds that come at this time of the year. Almost all the trees have greened out, except for the pecan, which is a bit more timid about the cooler mornings. But it won't be long. Our forsythia have long since bloomed and our pear and plum trees, too. Such a hopeful, vibrant time of year. It is hard to believe that Lent is over and we are in the Paschal Season. Sometimes time seems to fly like the wind...

2015 Journal

Hello, friends! Since our last entry we have been visited by many angels and we'd like to share our joy with you. The first angel to visit us was our dear Pastor Bill of St. Theresa's Parish and Our Lady of the Angels Mission. We celebrated at two tables!       The next angel to drop by was our beloved friend of many years, Fr. Ed from Green Valley.  It had been a while since we had seen him last, so our joy was running over to have him celebrate Mass and visit with us. ...

2015 Journal

Our Christmas Chronicle Here we are approaching the last day of the Christmas Season, and we want to share with you our Christmas Chronicle in a little different format this time: in pictures!  It all started with Christmas tree decorating ... and moved on to the refectory ...         Meanwhile in the kitchen, cooks were busy creating all sorts of wonderful Christmas treats to fill our table ...             and Pam, and Theresa our Observer, put up the Christmas lights ... [caption...

2014 Journal

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT This evening we light our final Advent Candle, a candle of fulfillment. The fullness of time has come. During this Advent Season, we have tried to respond in love to the divine spark in each person, each circumstance, all creation. We have trodden the Way, who is none other than the person of Jesus, this way that is the path of love. We have surrendered in trust and gentle abandon to a God whose being is joy. And now this week, as we prepare to celebrate once more the earthly coming of Jesus into his creation, a time of fulfillment. The flame of this candle announces that God will fulfill all that he has ordained for...

2014 Journal

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT The third Sunday of Advent - the Sunday of joy. Rejoice, we hear. Let yourself BE glad tidings. It has been said, joy is the echo of God's life in us. In these days of opening out to our God who fills every atom of creation with his presence, these days of quiet openness to an all- embracing God, may it be our joy to respond with all the faith of our being, so that God's joy may echo from our heart and fill the world. As we light this third candle, may we enter on the way of joy, a way of trust and gentle abandon to the one who makes the stars shine for...

2014 Journal

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT You might say that this week of Advent is a journey into knowing the way on which we walk. If we are on a journey, it is important to know where we wish to go and which path to take. Sunday's liturgy cries out in the first reading to prepare the way. Clear the obstacles, for the one who is coming is mightier than all and he IS the Way. As we light this second candle, may he who is our way, make straight the path of our lives. And like Mary, may it be our deepest desire to respond as she did, "Oh, let it be done to me as you say!" that our joy...

2014 Journal

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT Come. In days to come... O come, Emmanuel. We will hear this cry of the human heart for God many times throughout the liturgy in these days of Advent. Why still the cry if the actual physical coming of God into our world in the person of Jesus is already accomplished? Perhaps because, among other reasons, Jesus' coming was to forge a path to the secret recesses of our own hearts, to open our eyes to the deifying light that fills all creation with it's spark of the divine. To show us the path on which to walk, the path of love. God is here, we breathe him, we shine with his presence, as does everything...

2014 Journal

Happy and blessed Thanksgiving to one and all! From our monastic family here we send out our warmest wishes for a day of family, friends and a celebration of all God's good gifts! We have just finished our Thanksgiving Feast provided by our dear friend and dentist Dr. Escobar. We hope all of you have had a wonderful day.Today also happens to be our Sister Clare's birthday and instead of a birthday cake, she had pumpkin pie. She is not complaining. Our brothers of the monastery of Erlac joined us for our festive meal as well as Sr. Denise of our monastery of Wrentham, MA. It has been a lovely, happy day. We are still in the afterglow of our...

2014 Journal

We are back!! And just in time to wish you a very Happy Halloween. Our jack-o-lanterns have all been carved by Cathy and Hannah and were lit after Vigils so that we could enjoy them while it is dark. Our friend, Leroy, each year gives us pumpkins in honor of the day. We hope that it will be a joyous and safe day for all. Autumn has been inching closer and closer these past two weeks. First it was the Goldfields that blanketed the surrounding hillsides and now the trees are showing off their yellows and golds. It has been a very long time since there was such a profusion of goldfields. To see them is to understand how they...