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. ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The flowering pear has gone by, but this is what it looks like in its glory. It has gone by because it began too early. While the rest of the country was shivering and shoveling, we were already in our springtime flowers. Right now, as you saw last time, we are falling in love all over again with the iris.
Dear Friends, We wish you a happy new year. We thought you would like to see one of Sr Esther's masterpieces. Since her work has been featured on the website, she has received a number of commissions, and we love this one. it is--guess whom? of course, St Francis. Sister does not produce her artwork in bulk. The person who is ordering is means something to her art, and she needs to know what is important to that individual. In this case, the wife of a soon-to-be graduate of divinity school wanted to give her husband in image of his favorite saint. She specified that she was not Catholic--as if that mattered. Who does not love St Francis? And speaking...
