Sunday, October 4, 2009
Roman Squirrels
When I sat on the hill overlooking the farm field in the photo, I heard a noise in the tall pines and thought it was squirrels because it came from the top of the trees. Interested in what Roman squirrels would look like, I got up to see. Roman squirrels look like peacocks: there were three big birds in two trees moving from branch to branch.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Like A Tree Planted Beside The Flowing Waters
Testimonies of Faith
Four Benedictine Oblates took to the podium this afternoon telling their personal stories of what brought them to their monasteries and to the Benedictine journey. They came from the United States, Brazil, Vietnam and Nigeria. They were breathtaking and humbling stories, journeys through challenge and pain into community and joy and faith. One person summed up her journey with these words: "God saved my life, gave me life, renewed my life". We heard of the challenges politics and violence created for fledgling monasteries in Vietnam, and the strength and joy of those living in and affiliated with four thriving monasteries now. In his reflections on these witnesses to Benedictine faith, Dom Henry O'Shea commented on the "chink in the armour" of their and our lives through which grace and love can flow to identify and heal our personal and community wounds and needs. The Rule of Benedict is a vehicle through which comes grace, service, healing, openness to other people and ideas, all carried on a wave of prayer and community experience. It gives birth to humility, prayer, purification of our motives in the ground of our prayer, which is Christ.
Day 2--A word about our daily rhythm.
Our days begin with breakfast from 7:30, followed by lauds and Eucharist, talks a break with time to chat with others, perhaps another meeting and finally lunch at 1:00 (feasts as per Mary Fran's Photo --plus wine on every table!) More talks in the afternoon with time for a breif siesta, group meetings, Vespers at 7:15 and dinner at 8:00 (anotheer hardship feast). We then carry on with various other activities during the evening and for the very hardy ones, Compline at 10:45. At the moment Mary Fran is doing her stretching and I of course am working! The weather is beautiful and we are surrounded by rising green lawns and groves of trees, blue skies by day and clear stars of heaven by night. The time, the place and the people we will cherish for a long time to come. Deo Gratias!
Four Benedictine Oblates took to the podium this afternoon telling their personal stories of what brought them to their monasteries and to the Benedictine journey. They came from the United States, Brazil, Vietnam and Nigeria. They were breathtaking and humbling stories, journeys through challenge and pain into community and joy and faith. One person summed up her journey with these words: "God saved my life, gave me life, renewed my life". We heard of the challenges politics and violence created for fledgling monasteries in Vietnam, and the strength and joy of those living in and affiliated with four thriving monasteries now. In his reflections on these witnesses to Benedictine faith, Dom Henry O'Shea commented on the "chink in the armour" of their and our lives through which grace and love can flow to identify and heal our personal and community wounds and needs. The Rule of Benedict is a vehicle through which comes grace, service, healing, openness to other people and ideas, all carried on a wave of prayer and community experience. It gives birth to humility, prayer, purification of our motives in the ground of our prayer, which is Christ.
Day 2--A word about our daily rhythm.
Our days begin with breakfast from 7:30, followed by lauds and Eucharist, talks a break with time to chat with others, perhaps another meeting and finally lunch at 1:00 (feasts as per Mary Fran's Photo --plus wine on every table!) More talks in the afternoon with time for a breif siesta, group meetings, Vespers at 7:15 and dinner at 8:00 (anotheer hardship feast). We then carry on with various other activities during the evening and for the very hardy ones, Compline at 10:45. At the moment Mary Fran is doing her stretching and I of course am working! The weather is beautiful and we are surrounded by rising green lawns and groves of trees, blue skies by day and clear stars of heaven by night. The time, the place and the people we will cherish for a long time to come. Deo Gratias!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Forty of us gathered at the airport before we were bussed to the Salesianum. I knew I wasn't in Minnesota when I saw palm trees, fan-shaped pines, and 12-foot-tall grasses along the highway.
Dom Henry O'Shea, OSB, Glenstal Abbey, Ireland in his opening address to the congress emphasized that our ties are to the abbeys we have affiliated ourselves with, not the congress. The congress is not a jamboree for oblates. It provides an opportunity to experience unity in diversity. He hoped that we spend our time getting to know oblates from countries other than our own.
He changed the schedule, cancelling compline so we travellers could rest: "Too much religion is not good."
Pilgrims Gather
After a couple of days of quiet with time to stroll through the beautiful grounds of the Salesianum, the pace picked up today with the arrival of over 200 delegates from across the world. There has been joy, discovery and celebration as old friendships are newed and new ones are made. We began with Vespers and the procession of the Word through the complex to the amphitheatre where we have our meetings. Then the fun began. Fr. Henry O'Shea thankfully has a wonderful sense of humour as he announced a number of changes to our program. The translators would not be able to make it until later because of a transportation strike in Rome, the original presider of Vespers got his dates mixed up so someone else stepped in and unfortunately Abbot Primate Wolf was feeling unwell so Fr. Henry had to step--and we still hadn't gotten to dinner time. The good news is that he may be able to join us tomorrow. Even with all these adjustments there is anticipation of "listening carefully", praying, learning and celebrating together. On a much sadder notes a delegate from Montserrat who first name is Marie, died as she was travelling to the Congress. Please pray for her and those who love her.
We hold our community in our prayers.
We hold our community in our prayers.
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