Abbey of Saint Walburga

The Graces of a New Year

2012-01-07T15:45:00.002-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The New Year is a time to see where we have grown in life and where we can grow in life; and we shouldn’t take it lightly. We only have so much time in life and we don’t know when our day will come. When it’s our time we can’t say, “Wait a minute I have to finish a few things.” We should take care each day.

In the monastery, at noon time we have a little bit of time to reflect on the morning and in the also evening we have a little time to reflect on the afternoon before we go to bed. In that way if we’re very truthful, we can really asses our lives and grow. We don’t become holy in one moment,( unless we’re martyred!) Our life is a continual dying and rising; and the fruits of our life will give evidence of how that’s happening. It takes many days of a continual turning. We have to continue turning towards God and to desire virtue in our life.

Perhaps it would be good for you to ask yourself, “What virtue do I need to work on this year?” Take it seriously and hold onto it, asking yourself how you can live out the virtue. In that way you can be sure that you will grow.

O Wisdom, Come!

2011-12-17T11:17:00.003-07:00

A reflection on the O Antiphon for December 17, by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Today we have the first of the great ‘O Antiphons’. The O Antiphons are what prepare us for the King, as everyday they give you something of His attributes. What expectations were laid on Jesus! We see what was expected of Him, the Messiah, in the O Antiphons. In today’s O Antiphon it says, “O Wisdom, who didst come from the mouth of the most High, reaching from end to end, and disposing all things sweetly and mightily, come and teach us the way of prudence.”
We pray during Saturday Lauds from the book of Wisdom, “Give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne and do not reject me from among thy servants, for I am thy slave and the son of thy maidservant… for even if one is perfect among the sons of men, yet without the wisdom that comes from thee, he will be regarded as nothing… send her forth from your holy heavens and from the throne of your glory send her that she may be with me and toil…”(Wisdom 9:1ff) I like how it says, “and toil”. Why? Wisdom isn’t achieved by just sitting back and saying, “Give me wisdom”. No, we work at wisdom. We work at knowing what God wants from us.
St Benedict tells us to keep our eyes on eternity. That precept helps us gain wisdom for we realize that our decisions have eternal consequences. We can’t fool ourselves and say they don’t. It’s prudence to know why we do the things we do. And all we do must be done with love. If anything we do is without love, it is worth nothing. Every decision we make, somehow, if it is of God, is inspired with love. So as St. Benedict tells us, let us “run and do now what will profit us forever.”

Losing Your Life for Christ

2011-11-17T15:51:00.002-07:00

On November 14, 2011, we celebrated the feast of All Benedictine Souls. Below is a reflection on the Gospel reading for that feast (Mt 16: 24-28), given to the nuns of the Abbey, by Mother Maria- Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel today when we heard “He who loses his life for my sake will find it,” I thought, “Well, how do you lose your life?” I know when I lose something, it’s basically because I’m not paying attention to it. I’m not keeping my focus on it-- something else has caught my focus. Something greater has caught my attention.

Christ must be greater. He must catch our attention, to the point where, we’re not worried about ourselves. I’m not looking for my glory; I’m looking for his. Even my faults give Him glory because of His mercy. His mercy is His greatest attribute. He owes us nothing, absolutely nothing. And we owe him everything; we are his subjects. What a gift from the King: He will take care of all things if we are focused on him.

I was wondering as I mentally went through the list of the sisters who are now buried in our cemetery: what would be the advice of each one of them? What would they want to tell me before I join them? What would they say, in order to bring to perfection this monastic life? I think it would be, “Lose yourself. Immerse yourself in the life of God—in the light of God. His life will become your life.” That’s the key. When you’re married, you’re one, and if you really live as one you will love what that person loves, and do all things for the good of the other person. And in return, the other person does it for you. But in our life: everything for Christ, for His glory. Thus, we have nothing to worry about... but that takes trust.

I will finish here with a quote from The Words of Life by Bl. Columba Marmion:

“ He who gives himself to God renounces everything. He comes to God with all that he has, all that he is. “Behold, I come.” And he offers all this to God, keeping nothing back. This is what it means to be a living sacrifice, to offer a holocaust. This tradition we make of everything in the joyful simplicity of our love, is extremely pleasing to God, because it has the true character of a holocaust which, according to St Thomas, consists in offering to God all that we have. By this immolation we acknowledge that God is the first principle of all things. We lay down at His feet all that we have received from Him. We offer ourselves up entirely in order that all that we are and all that we have may return to Him.
Oh God, infinite being, who art very beatitude, what an immense and inestimable grace thou dost give to thy poor creatures in calling them to be, with the Son of thy love, acceptable sacrifices, holy consecrated to the glory of thy majesty... This is the perfection of the virtue of the poverty of life. It is perfect hope to have lost all created joy and to lean on God alone. Let us try to love our dear savior with all our heart, for all is in that. The days, months, and years succeed one another, and nothing remains but God, and what we do for Him.”

Learning How to Pray from the Rosary

2011-10-20T14:48:00.002-06:00

A meditation on the Holy Rosary by Mother Maria- Michael Newe, OSB.

We learn from the rosary that we all have mysteries in our lives and we have to pray through them. The rosary is a longer prayer-- it’s one that we have to meditate on and it has repetition. Our own lives have repetition as well. And like with the rosary we have to meditate on the mysteries of our lives, pray through them and live them in order to somehow come to light with them.

I was thinking this morning of the joyful mysteries of Mary—they’re joyful until Christ comes! Then she has to have a whole new way of looking at everything. By bearing Christ she has united her life with Him; and with Him she bears sorrow, but joyfully. When you think of the Holy Spirit, what do you think of? Isn’t it light, happiness, insight, energy, all those things that speak of God? That’s what Mary was full of—full of grace, full of life. That’s the only way to approach life because the Spirit lifts us up and enables us to carry what God asks of us. Thus we discover that the mysteries of suffering in our own lives really are joyful mysteries.

I’m not sure Mary would have called the mystery on the 'Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple' joyful while she was living on earth, and yet it became joyful, when she looked at it from a different level. When she searched for Jesus with Joseph she wasn’t happy, thinking of wonderful things. The first thing out of her mouth when she finds Him is: “What have you done? Your father and I have been looking for you!” She didn’t say, “Oh, it’s okay.” It was a question: “How could you do this? You know what it cost us.” Jesus was pretty calm about it: “Did you not know I must be in my Father's house?” Then we hear that Mary took all of these things and pondered them in her heart. That’s what we’re called to do as well: there is a joyful side and it’s our duty to find it and to live it!

Jesus Teaches Us Lectio

2011-09-14T10:22:00.003-06:00

A reflection for the Gospel reading for Saturday, September 10, 2011 (Luke 6:43-49) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In today's Gospel, I noticed the invitation to lectio divina in Jesus' teaching on building on solid rock. He says, "I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them." This coming, listening, and acting on His words is the whole process of lectio.

You come to Him of your own free will, it's a choice. Now, you can stand there with Him, but if you don't listen to Him it's not going to help a whole lot. You have to have your heart open to listen. Listen to His words, for those are what give life. They will challenge you and cause you to dig deep. Finally, if you don't act on what you hear, you've buried your treasure. You have to invest His word in you and act on it.

In that way, you will have dug deeply for a foundation on rock. That rock is Christ and His Church. There will be no good fruit without a good foundation and without a deep setting in of the roots.

Transfiguration: Union With God's Will

2011-08-10T16:25:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the Feast of the Transfiguration by Mother Maria -Michael Newe, OSB.

Today, on the feast of the Transfiguration, I was thinking of Jesus’ prayer in the Gospel of John: “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17: 3-4) That glorification through the accomplishment of the Father’s works is what happens on the Transfiguration. Jesus is given the will of the Father through Moses and Elijah. He is given how He is to fulfill the Prophecies and the Law, the Law of Love. “Now glorify me Father with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:5) You see a glimpse of that glory in the Transfiguration. I think that the perfect glory is to be in perfect union with God. That is heaven. It’s very difficult; but the one thing that transfigures us the most is giving up our own will. That is transfiguring because it crucifies us. And yet it places us in the very heart of God, because then we are most like His Son—who layed down everything in order to glorify His Father.

The only thing that really hinders our union with God is our self will. That is the one thing St. Benedict tells us to root out, to get rid of. Have a good sense, through self-knowledge when self-will creeps in and turns you away from the right way. In order to be one with Christ, we must be one with His will. Our ‘yes’ to Christ must be pure and it will transfigure us if we persevere. Christ too had to persevere. He had to say at the end, while He was on the Cross, “It is accomplished.” I hope those are the words that ring out when we die, “It is accomplished,” and then we shall be fully transfigured.

Forgiven in the Father's Arms

2011-07-09T15:20:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading (Gen 46: 1-7, 28-30) for Friday, July 8, 2011 by Mother Maria Micael New, OSB.

Every Friday, the Liturgy reminds us of our call to conversion. We begin with Matins praying Psalm 106: “They [the Israelites] scorned the land of promise, they had no faith in His word, they complained inside their tents, and would not listen to the voice of the Lord…. They worshipped the idols of the nations and these became a snare to entrap them, they even offered their own sons and daughters in sacrifice to demons…” That’s getting pretty low! Listen to how God responds in the Psalm: “Time after time He rescued them… He paid heed to their distress so often as He heard their cry.” What a God! That is unbelievable that He would continually pay heed to their distress inspite of all they continued to do. In Lauds, we pray the canticle of Isaiah which says, “Turn to Me and be safe all you ends of the earth for I am God, there is no other.” (Is 45:22) Why can He act such? Because He is God. A little later in Lauds, we pray the antiphon that reads, “I have come to call sinners.” (cf Mt 9:13)

How perfectly the first Mass reading goes with this message of conversion, where we hear, “As soon as Joseph saw his father, he flung himself on his neck and wept a long time in his arms.” Isn’t that the perfect image of prayer—the son in his father’s arms? When speaking of prayer, St. Benedict has in his Rule: “If someone chooses to pray privately, he may simply go in and pray, not in a loud voice, but with tears and heartfelt devotion.”(RB 52) Doesn’t that match the image of Joseph in his father’s arms? With tears and heartfelt devotion. That should be our prayer, especially on a Friday. The Church has never stopped teaching that we should often reflect on the suffering and death of Christ for our sins. Every Friday should have a penitential aspect to it. We should take to heart what a Friday means. The sacrifices we make should come from our appreciation for the death of Christ. Give a little something to Christ during the day.

Time after time He’s rescued each one of us. None of us is innocent. I’m sorry if you think you are because then you don’t get to be in the Father’s arms the way we see that Joseph is. Rather, be grateful that you are in a position of being forgiven. And in your turn, forgive others. If we can live that way, we shall be in perfect peace the rest of our lives.

Encouragement Opens Us to the Holy Spirit

2011-06-11T09:56:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB.

“They had strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith saying, ‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.’”

(Acts 14:22)

In the Emmaus story we hear something similar when Christ says, “It was necessary for Christ to suffer.” We hear so often about the necessity of suffering; but we always go through suffering in order to come to the Resurrection. It can’t just end in death; suffering has to come to a rising, and that comes through encouragement. That beautiful word we sing all through the Easter season is, “Alleluia”. That ‘alleluia’ is the door to eternity. It gives the sense of looking far beyond what is just before us. And it teaches us. It’s a word of encouragement. You can’t say ‘alleluia’ without some sense of joy. It has to be joyful, a crying out to eternity. It is saying to the One who is to come, “I believe.”

Often in the spiritual life we feel like Christ has left us, yet He says, “I am going away, but I will come back to you.” These words of Christ give us confidence that it is normal in the spiritual life to feel like He is not there. We do not always feel like He is right before us because our faith needs to be tested. We have to encourage one another when we see the other in a moment of testing. We have to be Christ to one another. That is the assurance that He is with us always—not only in the Eucharist but also in one another. Be aware of the ways you can encourage one another. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas. Barnabas was called the son of encouragement. It was in that way that he opened the door greatly to the Holy Spirit

Grateful Hearts

2011-05-06T16:11:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Looking at our blessings really cultivates a heart of gratitude, as we know that the source of every blessing is our Heavenly Father. It seems to me that all things that point to eternity are blessings from God, and it is His joy to care for us, if we but ask Him. I believe that it is the asking that is the key.

Sometimes we even question whether God is listening to our prayers; it may seem as if nothing is happening. Our society of "instant everything" helps to promote a mindset of urgency for just about everything. But what does scripture have to say about this subject? The prophet Habakkuk is where I often turn to remind myself that God is never late:

Then the Lord answered me and said, "Write the vision down and inscribe it on tablets to be easily read. For the vision is for its appointed time, it hastens towards its end and it will not lie; although it takes some time, wait for it, for come it certainly will before too long."

(Hab. 2:2ff)

"Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2) Let us embrace all the wonders in our own lives, and respond by that conversion of life that makes us realize that we are each somehow the "prodigal child" whom God is longing to embrace for all eternity. "Wait for it, for come it certainly will..."

May our hearts grown wide through gratitude, and deepen in us the celebration of our Lord's life, passion, and glorious Resurrection, during this Easter Season and throughout the whole year.

Religious Vows: A Covenant With God

2011-04-19T14:49:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for April 14, 2011 (Gen 17:3-9), by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB.

In the first reading from the book of Genesis it says, “When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him, ‘My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations, no longer shall you be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations.’” There’s so much similarity with this section of Genesis and our own vows. We do prostrate ourselves before we make vows. We need to. We need to be humble before God. It’s God calling us. We could not be sustained in this life without His grace.

The reading goes on to say, “God also said to Abraham, ‘On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.’” This part reminds me of what we hear in Chapter 73 of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Are you hastening toward your heavenly home? Then with Christ’s help, keep this little rule that we have written for beginners. After that, you can set out for the loftier summits of the teachings and virtues we mentioned above. And under God’s protection, you will reach them.” I like the encouragement we’re left with. I love that St. Benedict has that confidence, not only for those who were living with him, but for the future, for all who would live the Rule. If you are sincere, you truly pray, you prostrate yourself before God in your heart, you will receive the grace to live this “little Rule for beginners.” St. Benedict believed in the future generations. God believes in the future generations!

Each one in vows has made a covenant. We will follow this rule. What a wonderful gift. When we realize that God believes in us, it inspires us to want to do even better, because God has called us forward, not backward. We live looking at eternity: at Him. That should give us all the confidence we need to keep taking one step after another. Forward.

As we enter Holy Week we begin to prepare our hearts, mostly the ear of our heart, making sure it’s ready to be attentive. You aren’t going to hear anything old. You’re going to hear everything new. You’ve never been at the place that’s coming. You’ve never been to where God is calling you. It’s the first time; and if it’s the first time, it’s with joy that we embrace it.

Freedom of the Spirit

2011-03-30T09:55:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the Mass readings for March 29, 2011 (Daniel 3:25, 34-43 and Mt. 18:21-35) by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB. The first reading today gives us a good ‘gate’ to go through to read the Gospel. It should open our hearts to ask the question, “How are we following Christ?” It says, “Do not let us be put to shame but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.” How do we feel when we put another to shame, when we hold them so fast that they go away feeling just chopped down? Are we dealing with them in kindness and great mercy? And yet we go to God fully expecting great kindness and mercy in whatever we do; and we receive it! I think a great deal of how we receive God’s mercy has to do with our own way of dealing with other people. Healing will come if we open ourselves to others. So often we carry around many wounds, but if we don’t recognize them, we keep visiting them and then visiting them on others. I don’t think people can be happy until there is a sense of forgiveness and a letting go. When we carry around things that have hurt us deeply we can’t help but to keep striking out. But if we can learn to let go the day will come when we have the experience of true joy, when we experience the lightness of the Spirit; when we can freely forgive another and there’s not anything in us angry. That’s the sign of having been truly forgiven ourselves. That’s the joy nobody can take away from you. Nothing can hurt you when you’re so free in spirit that way and so freely given to others.

The Healing Season of Lent

2011-03-11T09:13:00.001-07:00

A reflection on the season of lent by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Lent is a time of great healing. We all carry wounds from way back and sometimes we ourselves become the wounds of another person. By what we say, what we do, the way we push other people’s buttons, we can become the visible wounds of another. The other, then, reacts to us from a past that isn’t there. If we are that wounded person, we must work to discover why we react so strongly to certain words, actions, etc. And having discovered the initial wound, if we don’t forgive that moment, it will follow us. It will show its face in those we meet everywhere reminding us of a hurt or pain that seemed very unjust and we do not want to let go of for justice’s sake.

This lent, let it be a time of healing so that you can return to the beauty of your baptism; that time before any of those wounds ever happened and you held within you the perfect life of God. At baptism, we held that life unmarred, breathed into us as when Adam was first brought to life. That same breath was breathed into us, and we began to breathe. But then pollution came in and the purifying of that pollution is difficult. What happens when things are polluted? They need to be filtered to come back to their purity.

Be aware of your own wounded-ness. Be aware of the things that hurt. This lent, take in a special way, the steps you need to let go of those wounds so that you can become more pure in your lives. Write them down, specifically take them with you and forgive them. Thus you will not only loosen yourself, but you will also loosen somebody else.

We too have the power to forgive. What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, until you unbind it! What you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, you won’t be dragging it up. Leave on earth what belongs to earth: sin. Bury it. Give it a moment to be done with and be free. What frees you and what frees me is forgiveness; not only that I’m forgiven, but I in turn forgive. And when a hurt happens again, the first thing I must do is forgive. Stand before it and choose to forgive.

Filled With God's Abundance

2011-02-09T09:58:00.001-07:00

A reflection on the beginning of the book of Genesis (read in Mass this week) by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB.

As we hear the story of creation I find that what it speaks so much of is the abundance of God. It says: “Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. And so it happened.” I think God took such delight in creation with each one of us singly in mind. He would have done all creation and died for you if you were the only one to live. And He created all with such perfect delight, to fill it with everything of Himself, to bring forth that life and beauty.

Blessed—everything is blessed by God. There is nothing of His creation that cannot hold His blessing, unless this blessing is rejected, purposely rejected. All beauty is for you; everything in abundance, for you. God so delights when we say thank you for the abundance flows. Abundance flows in His footsteps. The psalmist says: “The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the Holy place where the Most High dwells.” It’s not a creek, it’s a river and it’s flowing in abundance, overflowing the banks. Everything of God overflows.

Sin alone shrivels up life and withholds abundance. When we are full of sin, we turn in on ourselves and shrivel up; but when we flow with grace it’s abundant and so are we. You bear fruit in abundance when you’re in God.

Listen With the Ears of Your Heart

2011-01-22T16:14:00.002-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was thinking today about the enlightenment of the heart. Without the heart, your mind will become cold in prayer. The heart has to warm the mind’s thought of Christ. It must also guide how we work together for we are one body in Christ. Prayer must be of the heart. The mind of course gives information to the heart, but we must pray with the heart. It was Christ’s heart that was pierced and poured forth for us. The heart is the place we refer to as where the soul abides.
If we don’t put heart and soul into our life, we won’t be able to feel for the people we work with, we won’t be able to have compassion on them. Have you ever been talking to somebody and seen them go cold as if their mind took over and they didn’t let their heart be a part of it? St. Benedict tells us to listen with the ears of our heart. Can we listen to one another with the ears of our heart? By doing that we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit.

Not of the World

2011-01-08T15:29:00.002-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria -Michael Newe, OSB.

In one of our intercessions this morning we said, “Without surrendering Your divinity, You wondrously took on our humanity.” It’s so true that as He never lost His divinity, He never was of the world. His ways were different than the world’s ways and He never lost that sense. He valued something much different from what the world values.
In one way, man loves to complicate everything and God is so extremely simple. Man scoffs at the simplicity of God. It’s as if the more complicated we make it, the more we make it accessible only to the elite, the more we’re “god”. But God tells us that the more we make it accessible to the least of our brethren, the more we become like God.
Simplicity. Simplicity of life, simplicity of desires, simplicity in the way we see things. What are your values? Are they different than those of the world? Do you value the things of heaven rather than those things of earth? What do you value in people? We must remember that like Christ, we are in the world, but not of the world.

Listening

2010-12-16T10:28:00.002-07:00

A reflection on the Mass readings for December 16, 2010 (Isaiah 54:1-10; Luke 7:24-30), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel today we hear about John the Baptist and at the end of the Gospel we hear, “But the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.” It makes you wonder-- what did they go out to hear? Did they go out in order to condemn? Did they go with a mindset of saying, “If John is from God, does he have something to say to me?” Or did they think they had all of God’s words and that was enough? And so we return to the idea of listening, of an openness of heart, of asking, “What does God really have to say to me?”
When I was listening this morning during lectio, I heard, from the first Mass reading “Enlarge the space for your tent, spread out your tent cloths unsparingly; lengthen your ropes and make firm your stakes. For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left…” That is an incredible promise! Live with that promise, live in full expectation of God’s promises. At the same time, though, we have to live our vows and promises to Him. God is always overflowing with gifts, but we have to do our part too.
A few verses later in the reading from Isaiah it says, “Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you.” That is God’s word to us. His peace is not to be shaken, if we settle into it. Knowledge leads to peace—knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of others—because in that knowledge we recognize God’s gifts to us and God’s gifts to others. We know that God doesn’t fall short in giving us gifts. We must recognize them and also when they’re called forth from us to use them. That recognition is so important to be able to hold the gifts humbly. We have a lot of gifts, there’s no doubt, and God will call them forth at His choice. It’s not for us to say, “God, these are my gifts, here now use them.” Rather, it’s for God to say, “You have this gift, could you give it to us?” In that way we humbly serve and we don’t become proud because it has been called forth from us.

Advent in Our Hearts

2010-11-29T14:51:00.002-07:00

A reflection on a reading by St. Charles Borromeo by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB.

The readings from this morning’s office of matins are so rich. It says in the second matins reading: “Beloved now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace, and reconciliation, the great season of Advent.” Sometimes reconciliation isn’t always about everybody on the outside of us, but it’s about reconciling with ourselves within, being at peace with ourselves, accepting and loving who we are, so that we can love and accept others.

Sometimes, also, inner turmoil is not bad. There should be a little inner turmoil in the sense that we shouldn’t be satisfied with where we are all the time. There should be enough tension in our life to pull us forward; but with joy. And we shouldn’t go digging up old things that make us angry and mad about our life. Sometimes the reconciliation involves coming to peace with our own history, our own being and saying: “This is how God made me or allowed me to be formed.” Each one of us is beginning from the core of goodness that God has seen in us and wants to blossom like an olive branch, like the almond tree, like any tree that bears fruit.

The reading goes on to say, “The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to His presence He will come at any hour and moment to dwell spiritually in our hearts bringing with Him the riches of His grace.” What an incredible paragraph! For that very reason, we should be more aware of keeping silence in Advent. It’s a silence that simply ponders. It’s one that is not heavy, but light with a waiting. And we should ask ourselves what the obstacles are that prevent His presence. Sometimes it’s as simple as chattering, little things that keep us away from the thoughts that are the seeds of good. During this season, let’s be responsible to be quieter in our hearts and in our expression of ourselves.

In Heaven I am Espoused to Him

2010-11-12T15:11:00.004-07:00

On November 1, 2010, the Feast of All Saints, two of our sisters gave their entire lives to Christ in Solemn Profession. Placing their hands in the hands of their abbess, Mother Maria Michael, Sr. Immaculata and Sr. Maria-Josepha, joyfully pronounced their solemn vows to Almighty God before Archbishop Charles Chaput and an assembly of about 100 people. During the ceremony, they received the insignia of a bride of Christ: the cuculla (choir robe of the monastery), double veil, ring, and wreathe. May their hearts always overflow with the Love of Christ and may He keep them undefiled in His love! The following is an excerpt from an exhortation given by Mother Maria- Michael to the two sisters the night before their solemn profession.

In one of the last songs that you will sing tomorrow, you will say: “What I longed for, now I see, what I hoped for I now possess, in heaven I am espoused to Him whom on earth I loved with all my heart.” That is your call. Love Him with your whole heart and nothing less, each day of your life; because that’s what it takes to be faithful. That’s what it takes to be married. You must keep Him before you always, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in riches and in poverty. This community will embrace you; you, in turn, embrace this community as the Body of Christ. We will serve one another mindfully. We who are finally professed know that we have to struggle once and a while and yet we delight in this life. It’s our real deepest joy, or we wouldn’t be here. And so we extend that love to you. Tomorrow you will be firmly planted in stability in this community, and we will love and honor you as members of this community. We share in the holiness of one another. We share tomorrow in your gift. Keep us in mind and we in turn will pray for you with joy. So as you take this step, we take it with you. You’re not alone in this. And Christ awaits you.

Top picture: Sr. Immaculata and Sr. Maria-Josepha, after receiving the ring and wreathe, sing, "He has espoused me with His ring and like a bride adorned me with a crown."

Botom picture: Sr. Immaculata, Mother Maria-Michael and Sr. Maria-Josepha seen wearing their double veils and cucullas.

Living With One Another

2010-10-23T15:32:00.001-06:00

A reflection on the Gospel reading for Saturday, October 23, 2010 (Luke 13:1-9) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel today it says, “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none, so cut it down, why should it exhaust the soil?” Jesus is saying, “Why should it deplete what others need to grow?” How do we not deplete things? St. Benedict has the answer is Chapter 72 of his rule which focuses on how to build each other up: “Let the monks practice this zeal with the most ardent love, namely that in honor they forerun one another. Let them bear their infirmities whether of body or mind with the utmost patience. Let them vie with one another in obedience. Let no one follow what he thinks useful to himself, but rather to another. Let them practice fraternal charity with a chaste heart. Let them fear God and love their abbot with a sincere and humble affection. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ and may He lead us all together to life everlasting.” It’s good to read this chapter over and over again, especially where it says, “Let them bear their infirmities.” We’re all weak. We all bear infirmities of one another; and we all need a good word here and there. That is why St. Benedict, in his rule, says to the cellarer that the best gift is a good word, for a good word will feed your heart.

Thirsting for God's Will

2010-10-19T15:18:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for October 14, 2010 (Ephesians 1:1-10) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In this morning’s first reading we heard: “Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the holy ones who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus.” When I heard this I thought so much of the will of God. The passage continues: “He has made known to us the mystery of His will in accord with His favor that He set forth in Him as a plan for the fullness of times to sum up all things in Christ in Heaven and on earth.” It’s that will of God, that mystery, that struck me. In our lives there comes a point when we so long to know God’s will-- when it’s so deep in us that all we care is to do His will and we actually thirst for it. Your soul really thirsts, it’s so tangible. It’s a holy place to be because you want to let go of all things to know Him and His will and the power of His love. Nothing else matters.

When we do that, there’s a real fire, a real fountain of God within us. It’s not that He always reveals what is His will but He assures us to trust. That’s the power-- trust. Trust Him. He loves us. He desires only our good. I don’t think we can give greater glory to God than to put our hands in His and say, “I trust you.”

Being Grateful

2010-09-28T15:32:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for Monday, September 27, 2010 (Job 1:6-22) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We heard in Job today of how Job had so much and evil comes and says to God, “That’s because you do so much good for him; of course he’s not going to blaspheme you or say anything bad.” Then all is taken away; and Job simply says, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” The passage continues: “In all this Job did not sin nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.” When things like that happen to us, are we as respectful? Do I sit there and complain to God or do I simply say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord”? Do I do my best to abide in what God has given me not running away, but sitting in it, letting myself be in it because there is value in suffering? There is value in sharing the Cross. Christ has gone through every single thing in His Heart. He knows the suffering and by suffering we know better the Heart of Christ.

This morning in Vigils we prayed, “You renew the face of the earth.” I think that’s what Monday says, “You renew the face of the earth.” We go through creation again. We are re-created. Life is exciting when we live as a new creation. Live in God’s presence no matter what happens. Never disrespect what He has given or forget all that He has done. If we always keep in mind all that God has done for us, how could we not be grateful?

The Inspiration of the Saints

2010-09-17T15:23:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the feast of St. Hildegard, September 17th, by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

When we read of the lives of the saints we realize that they didn’t have easy lives. Over and over again we are reminded of how the saints struggled to be faithful. It wasn’t as if things didn’t come in their way and disrupt their lives. We read of the troubles of St. Hildegard. Her life was difficult. How discouraged she could have become; but she didn’t let that happen. It was her prayer life, one filled with hope and trust in God, trusting that God is there for each one of us, that enabled her to get through it. I once received a card from an older sister that said, “The Cross will not break you it will make you stronger.” That is true and it was true for St. Hildegard. When we read the saints it’s important to focus on the fact that they didn’t sit in their misery but went on.
Another inspiring example is our Holy Father Pope Benedict. People have compared the Holy Father with John Paul II saying that he doesn’t have the pizzazz of John Paul II and all many other things. But he doesn’t let that stop him from doing what is right, nor does he let it discourage him in God’s word. He goes on. What a great witness for all of us. He goes on like all the saints. Do the same!

God is Faithful

2010-08-29T14:55:00.001-06:00

A reflection given to the nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga on the monastic life by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

What I keep thinking about is God’s faithfulness. Sometimes with the construction going on around us, we find it difficult, we can get worn out with all the noise all the happenings going on, and it disrupts our life and takes a little bit of energy out of us. Even then we can think of God’s fidelity. When we are tired and things aren’t going quite right, or maybe we even feel like we aren’t praying like we should or we aren’t living as faithful as we used to when things were nice and quiet, what can spur us on is that God delights more in our desire to love Him, our desire to be faithful, our desire to pursue Him, our desire to sing to Him when we’re struggling with it. What is it when all is going well? What is it to do everything well when everything is going our way? I think it gives more glory to God when we simply get up every morning and do it again; when we strive to serve Him and strive to serve one another.

I think St. Benedict also would want us to strive to do things together, for one another. St. Benedict says in the Rule that one shouldn’t take another under their wing and protect them, because it causes discomfort in the community. We should really trust that God and the Holy Spirit are our protector. We should instead lift up and encourage others to live the life fully, with all its stretches, all its tensions, all the things we struggle with. They’re good for us. There’s a saying that goes: if it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger. Not only that, it’ll strengthen our love. Love is what needs to be strengthened. Love is the only thing that makes us do this—love for Christ Jesus. We have to prefer Him to everything else, even our own opinions our own personal way of doing things. We have to love one another.

We send a message of love and peace when we don’t look for our own pleasure, but somebody else’s. That’s true charity. Be aware of one another. Be aware of their needs. Be aware of what it means to really care. Let’s join together and pray for the good of one another and purposefully love one another.

Remembering Sr. Angelika

2010-08-18T15:06:00.006-06:00

On August 13, 2010, our beloved Sr. Angelika died at the age of 91 after a 13 year battle with leukemia. She entered the Benedictine Abbey of St Walburg in Eichstatt, Germany at the young age of 16 and was a model of fidelity to her vows and to Christ. A soul well loved by her community and all who met her, we are confident that she has now received her eternal reward in heaven. The following is part of the eulogy given by Mother Maria-Michael Newe after Sr. Angelika's funeral Mass.

Let me just say a few short words about Sr. Angelika because gathered together you will each carry a piece of her and a portion of you has already been brought to heaven with her. And I think that’s an important aspect—we are the body of Christ and part of that is already becoming the victorious Christ.

Sr. Angelika Maria Fackler was born on April 27, 1919 in the village of Gosheim near Bavaria. She was the third of eight children, so she knew family life. Sr. Benedicta, as you well know, is her blood sister and entered Eichstatt before her in 1932, and in 1934 was sent to Canyon City in Colorado and there she served the monks. Well Sr. Angelika, watching her older sister, thought, “Ah, there’s something I want to do too.” She heard the call of God as well and so entered religion in St. Walburg in Eichstatt in 1935 and she made her first profession on May 4, 1938 and she was given the name Angelika—which she lived up to beautifully.

In 1941, Sr. Angelika and several other nuns from Eichstatt and around that area were stationed at a hospital for wounded soldiers. There she helped to do the cooking and the caring for these men. She was told, “You need to go and care for the men who have been hurt in war.” She said when she got there it wasn’t men, it was boys. She said they were 17 to 19 and 20 and at night you could hear them crying as they were dying. She and other sisters would go down to where they were in their beds and hold their hand and stand with them almost all night sometimes and pray with them so that they could die with someone there. The boys often thought it was their mother there with them. How appropriate. She took the stand of a mother by her son, helping him to die. That was a remarkable part of her life. She was a woman who loved and loved deeply.
In 1950, Sr. Angelika was sent to the United States where she joined the St. Walburga Benedictines working for the monks of St. Vincent’s Archabbey and Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She loved this work where she served in the dining room. She served other monks. And she loved to encourage them. They would always come to her—you hear this from the monks of yore— as young monks and pour out their heart to her about how hard it was, how difficult it was. And she would tell them, “Oh come on. Gather it up. You can make it. Pray, ask for God’s help and I’ll pray with you.” And she simply encouraged them in the life. It was said that many a monk and seminarian stayed because she and other sisters prayed for them and encouraged them to seek God in the life and not themselves. What a beautiful part of her life.

In 1976, Sr. Angelika came to our Abbey of St. Walburga. We did dishes for many years together. And I learned a lot about just silently working. She was one who really lived the Rule. She didn’t talk a lot. In fact, she only said good things. One of the sisters was reminding us of how when anything would happen, very often her response was, “O my dear,” and that was it, she just went on.

In 1980, with Mother Maria-Thomas as superior, she was chosen to be the prioress. She served this call beautifully for many, many years. And she encouraged us in the same way that she encouraged the young monks. One of the sisters was saying this morning that you would go to her with a problem and she would sit there and listen very intently and she would give you an answer and you would say, “How did you know that?” All she would say was, “I had experience.” She learned by her experience. And she learned to love. One of the things that Mother Maria-Thomas was saying was that when Mother Maria-Thomas was in Germany and she was asked to come over to the United States, she was a little nervous and one of the sisters in Germany told her, “Sr. Angelika is there. She’s a very faithful and trustworthy sister. You’ll be able to lean on her.” What a mark of respect and love.

One of the things that came out in her own life is that she loved St. Gertrude of Helfta and through her writings, she said that’s when she came to learn how to live the daily life in and out in a holy way. She said she was praying one day and said, “God what is my word in life? What would you like me to pray?” And she said there came to her, immediately within her, the word, “Yes. Yes is your prayer word.” That’s how she lived. Everything that came, she said “yes” to God’s will. That is the mark of a monk, a true monk who seeks God in everything.

And she lived this even to her death. Three days before she died she was sitting in her bed and all she said was, “This is my last ‘Yes’”. She said, “I want to do this for God. Whatever He sends: ‘Yes’”. How holy is that. That is something each one of us can take in our own lives. Do we say yes to what comes from the hand of God? She said it as a child of God.

She’s a person who lived full of zeal. I think she lived that up to two months ago when she started really feeling her age and her illness. And that’s one of the marks of a monk, the good zeal of a monk. She lived fully loving life because it was God’s gift. Life should be lived joyfully. It is God’s gift. Life is precious, because we don’t have it forever. This is the one place we live fully in faith because when we die it is simply in knowing. Here it is not knowing but believing.

There’s one last thing I want to read. And I want to read this because this is the perfect definition of a monk. It is from the Prologue of St. Benedict. It says,

And the Lord seeking his own laborer in the multitude of the people, to whom he addresses the foregoing admonition, says again, "Who is the man that loves life? Who desires many good days in order to enjoy good things?" Shouldst thou hearing this make answer, "I am he," God says to thee, "If thou will have true and everlasting life, keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from words of deceit. Forsake evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it. And when you shall have done these things my eyes shall be upon you and my ears shall be open to your prayers and before you shall call upon me I will say, ‘Lo here I am.’”

That is how she lived: “Lo here I am.” And what did she hear: “Veni sponsa Christi. Come my beloved, my beautiful one, come.”

Experiencing Christ's Transfiguration

2010-08-06T14:48:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the Feast of the Transfiguration by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

This morning at Mass, we heard the account of what happened at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28b-36): “Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up a mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” We also prayed this morning in Lauds, “The unfolding of your word gives light.” (Ps 119) In the Transfiguration we see that as God's Word unfolded, the glory became radiant.

It doesn’t say how long the apostles were asleep. We don’t know how long Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were conversing. It could have been half a day, it could have been a whole day. But we do know that Jesus’ glory was apparent at this moment. And what were they talking about? His exodus. It reminds one of His passion and the cross. How humble Jesus was. It was through the law (represented by Moses) and the prophets (represented by Elijah) that He saw how He would accomplish saving mankind. But without that, He may have been discouraged. So powerful was His death that He had to be told of His resurrection too.

I think that’s true of us all. We need to be reminded that suffering is not a sign of God’s rejection, but a sign of His embrace. It is through suffering that our soul becomes as radiant as Christ. We all need encouragement. If Christ was encouraged, how much more do we need encouragement in those moments!

We heard in today’s second reading (2 Peter 1:16-19) how Peter experienced the Transfiguration when he says, “We possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Christ is that morning star.

The Love of St. Mary Magdalene

2010-07-23T15:43:00.002-06:00

A reflection for the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, (July 22), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The name of St. Mary Magdalene signifies by its very self conversion and love. In St.Mary Magdalene, it’s not her words that speak of love, it’s her actions. Everything about her actions show love. When she meets Christ without recognizing Him, He calls her, and she turns to Him. This is that coversion, that constant turning to Christ, which we are to imitate and which cleanses us. He keeps calling forth our desires which we don’t even know, and through that draws us ever closer to Himself.

So too for us as Benedictines, our life is not about what all we say but what we do. St. Benedict says that the abbot, “is to lead his disciples by a two-fold teaching. He must point out to them all that is good and holy more by example than by words.” The abbot is called first to do that, but it’s also the role of every sister. We lead by example. Your words really don’t mean anything if they don’t match your deeds.

We can thank St. Mary Magdalene for her wonderful and example and for this feast as she goes before us and shows us exactly what it means to love. Once she had Christ in her life, I don’t think she ever looked back at what she was and said, “O, woe is me, look at what I was!” Instead, I think she always said, “Look who I have!” Her love was so powerful that it overrode anything in her past. And she was possessed by Christ.

Suffering For Another

2010-07-09T15:31:00.003-06:00

A reflection for the first Mass reading from Wednesday, July 7, 2010 (Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8,12) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the first reading from Hosea today it says, “the more abundant his fruit the more altars he built, the more productive the land, the more sacred pillars he set up. Their heart is false, now they pay for their guilt. God shall break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars.” I think God is very kind in that way. He says "First I’ll take away the things that they’re adoring in the wrong way and see if I can correct them in that way, if I can stop them from pursuing the wrong things." It’s true that sometimes when we have so much abundance we forget the Giver.

At all times we should be persons of gratitude and thanksgiving—in good times and in bad. You don’t hear much in our world today about suffering for others, about doing things for the sake of another. I want to encourage people to have a willingness to suffer in the little things, because that’s what strengthens us for the big things. We live in a very selfish and narcissistic world where people say, “I deserve this. I deserve that. They have no right to do this me.” In some ways, yes, that’s true, but there should be a willingness to suffer for the sake of another. Even in community we know how important it is to suffer for another.

We need to live on a different level, on a spiritual level. If we don’t life becomes too heavy. If we don’t have a way of looking at life in a way that nourishes and encourages us, it just becomes too heavy. That’s why St. Benedict tells us to keep our eyes on eternity. Live knowing where you’re going, where your goals are. This earth isn’t our kingdom. So we don’t have to build it.

Suffering isn’t easy and self-pity parties quickly begin, but let the voice that encourages you come forward and say, “Remember who you’re doing this for.” We are doing it for Christ in each other. I know for myself that once I begin to do that I start feeling more encouraged and then I even want to suffer.

Later in the reading it says, “Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety, break up for yourselves a new field for it is time to seek the Lord, ‘til he come and rain down justice upon you.” Piety, a pious heart. A pious heart is one that keeps one’s vision, one’s focus on God. It’s a gift of the Holy Spirit. All virtues are gifts of the Holy Spirit. We need to pray for them. And when we ask they come in abundance like rain

The Strength of the Kind

2010-06-26T15:13:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the first Matins reading for Friday, June 25, 2010 (1 Sam 25:14-24, 28-39) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Today in the first reading at Matins we heard of Abigail’s intercession for her husband. How could we not see Abigail as a Christ like figure? She really gives the image of the suffering Christ in what she took upon herself because of her husband’s deeds. It says, “As soon as Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted from the ass, and falling prostrate on the ground before David, did him homage. As she fell at his feet she said, ‘My lord, let the blame be mine. Please let your handmaid speak to you and listen to the words of your handmaid. Please forgive the transgression of your handmaid, for the Lord shall certainly establish a lasting dynasty for my lord because your lordship is fighting the battles of the Lord and there is no evil to be found in you your whole life long.”

Kindness is an amazing ointment of healing—the kindness of the Lord flowing through us. I am becoming more and more in awe of people who are kind. Kindness is something we have to work at. Kindness is not for the weak. Kindness shows such deep strength.

When I see people who are continually kind, even in difficult situations, even when they could say something mean, I am in absolute awe. I know what that must feel like. We’ve all been in a situation when we’ve wanted to tell someone, “I want to show you what you’ve done. I want to show you that you’ve slashed me around.” But there are some people who reply to those who hurt them with kindness.

It reminds me of Christ being nailed to the Cross and saying, “Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” If we can imitate that example, we do so much for the world for healing. Think today about how you want to pay more attention to kindness—when you don’t feel like giving a kind word, give one. One small word can be such an ointment for another. And to tell you the truth it’s really more of an ointment for those who give it.

Holiness in Service

2010-06-18T16:13:00.001-06:00

A reflection based on the Mass readings for June 17, 2010 (Sir. 48-1-14; Mt. 6:7-15), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Would that we had the fire of Elijah, that we would pray as he did, that we would have the faith he did! In the Gospel today, it says, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” Where does forgiveness begin? With yourselves. Sometimes we carry along things that maybe we’ve been angry about for a while, or we feel so bad about ourselves that we tear others down in order to make ourselves feel better.

Real truth begins with understanding ourselves and letting go of our own opinion of ourselves. Sometimes we’re so full of an opinion of ourselves that we live trying to pick it up and make it look better than we think it is. But we have to ask, who cares? When we learn to live for others and forget ourselves we can be like Elijah. We won’t be so concerned about ourselves. So much of life is wasted on focusing on ourselves and making ourselves “holy”. But we become holy by focusing on others. By doing this we learn not to be selfish, we learn that an on-going conversion in our lives begins with forgetting yourself.

Work for others. Don’t worry about everyone else’s opinion of you. That really doesn’t matter in the long run. What matters is our fire of love for God through serving others. Draw a circle around your own two feet and then step out and move on. Don’t stand within that barrier and let that hold your feet fast from moving forward.

Life really is such a good blessing and such a gift. And if we live it that way, we won’t be so focused on our own personal sphere. The only thing we have to worry about in our lives is saying ‘yes’ to God and ‘no’ to ourselves. The rest will happen when we serve and love others. Never be afraid to serve another through very small deeds; every service we do for another helps us to grow beyond ourselves.

Keep Christ's Image In You

2010-06-01T16:22:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for June 1, 2010 (2 Pet 3:12-15a, 17-18) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Today we heard from second letter of St Peter, “Therefore Beloved, since we await these things be eager to be found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace. And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.” I think that’s an interesting image to consider the patience of our Lord as salvation. He awaits us; and with that, salvation comes.
The reading continues, “Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be lead into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.” You don’t hear the word stability very often in the Scriptures. Your own stability is that which is in you. What makes things unstable? When things rock they are unstable. When you back and forth constantly you become unstable. When you have to vacillate too much between the world and the Christian life you’re unstable. Where is your allegiance? Where are you truly sealed? Who is the image within you?
I think what has happened in the world is that people have chosen to change so much in order to fit into the world and are vacillating. We’re going much too far and aren’t staying firm in what is given to us.
In the monastery we make a vow of obedience. If we’ve vowed obedience and we’re asked to do something and instead stop and ask ourselves if we want to do what we’re told, we’re vacillating with the world. St. Benedict says in his chapter on obedience that as soon as a monk is asked to do something he is to drop everything immediately and do it. We aren’t supposed decide each time whether or not we’re going to obey. It should be a pattern in our life. It should be something that’s sealed within us, imprinted on us.
If we’re as soft as lead, then the world can constantly make its own imprint right all over Christ’s. Then it’s no longer Christ’s pure image, but one that is marred. When was Christ marred greatly? In His passion, when He was being killed for our sakes. That’s what sin does over and over again. It obliterates the image of Christ.
Who would wear a t-shirt with their own image on it? Wouldn’t you be embarrassed to walk around wearing your own image for everybody to see? That’s what sin does. It’s our own will, it’s our image. We’re preserving ourselves. We’re also staring at ourselves. That’s the image that we have within us when we’re soft as lead. And that’s why we go to confession—so that Christ can re-etch His face on our hearts. Ask yourself today: “Who am I really sealed with?”

One In Christ

2010-05-22T14:54:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the Gospel for Thursday May 20, 2010 (John 17:20-26) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In today’s Gospel we hear of something rather important. We hear of something Jesus particularly prayed for—the prayer that was deep within Him: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.” (Jn 17 :21-23) It could take a lifetime to understand that prayer!

One thing that I think is particularly good for us to hear right now is, “that they may be brought to perfection as one”. That is Christ’s deepest prayer. Who is going to be against that? Who has as his one goal to dismantle the love of Christ? All evil. Everything that divides is not of God because Jesus’ prayer is that we are one body in Him.

So we have to look at our own lives and find what things cause us not to be one body. Usually our divisions have to do with rivalries, jealousies, attachments, self-will-- anytime we do things our own way instead of looking for the good of another. We should look at our own lives and ask ourselves if we are being converted into the one body in Christ. Is that where our conversion lies?

Are we more concerned with looking good—being called holy before we are holy— than looking for the good of the whole? Sometimes that requires that we give another the place that shines. Sometimes we have to step back, even if someone else doesn’t do quite as well as we do, and give another the chance that they may need to feel more a part of the whole. We need to put the emphasis, as Christ tells us, not on what others do for us, but on what we do for others. If we are forgetting ourselves and doing for another, we are already stepping into oneness.

The Humility of Obedience

2010-05-08T14:50:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the Mass readings for Saturday, May 8, 2010 (Acts 16:1-10; John 15:18-21) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the first reading today we see how the church structure was first established. It says, “They handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem.”(Acts 16:3) It hasn’t changed. We are still obliged to respect and to do what we are asked by the Holy Father, the Cardinals, and Bishops.

What we hear next in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows us how we are to practice the discernment of spirits. It says, “they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit to preach the message in the province of Asia.” (Acts 16:6) I’m sure they prayed about where to go. Most of us have had the experience when we’re trying to do something that’s not of God, there’s a kind of wall we run into and you feel odd as you realize that there’s something in you that really isn’t quite right. It’s when we turn away from that path that God confirms us. We have to first decide to follow the will of God and only then does God confirm us. God isn’t always going to first confirm us and then let us act. And I think that’s partly for our humility. It can be scary to act on what you believe is God’s will because you know you could be wrong. But the key is to be open to hearing from the Holy Spirit through our superiors and leaders when it is wrong. We must have an open and humble heart that God can correct. We all have to be in a position of humility and to be willing to accept obedience.

We don’t all have a glorious vision like St. Paul did with God’s agenda given to us. Who wouldn’t love that?

In the Gospel reading today we hear Jesus say, “If they kept my word they will also keep yours.” (John 15:20) Obedience again. When you know the word of God within you, when you have that relationship with Him, you will recognize the voice of Christ and you’ll obey. You will know the shepherd’s voice and follow

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

2010-04-24T15:12:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the Mass readings for Saturday, April 24, 2010 (Acts 9:31-41; Psalm 116; John 6:60-69), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In both of the readings today we have a sense of thanksgiving. In the first reading we have those who are given back life. In the Gospel we have those who are willing to become disciples of Christ, those who are willing to say ‘yes’ to Him whom they loved. And we see the response of thanksgiving to Christ.

The Psalms teach us how to pray and it is the responsorial psalm of today’s Mass that ties together our two readings. It says, “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?” When we look and see all the good God has done for us personally and collectively, we look to this psalm to teach us how to give thanks. The psalm continues, “the cup of salvation I will take up”. What is the cup of salvation? It is suffering and resurrection. We give thanks to God when we are able to fully accept the cup of salvation and all that it means for us—what salvation brings. It will bring suffering so that we may return to the Lord. The word ‘yes’ is held in that cup.

The next verse of the psalm is “I will call upon the name of the Lord... You have loosened my bonds.” Sometimes the things that hold us bound the most are our own selves. There are also things we hold onto that are inappropriate. We need detachment to live for God; and we especially need detachment from ourselves in order to rise above those things that hold us bound.

The following verse says, “To you I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.” This is the Eucharist. That’s the greatest thanksgiving there ever will be. Then again it says, “I will call upon the name of the Lord.” Call upon the name of the Lord night and day. He’s a father, he wants to come to our aid. He wants to lift us up. He wants to heal us. Call upon Him joyfully; call upon Him when you’re in trouble. Call upon Him just to be near Him. He’s a father—He loves us and He wants to embrace us in every way. What more could we ask for in life, what more?

Become an Alleluia for the World

2010-04-03T16:25:00.001-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Today is a good day to look back on our Lent, and ask ourselves, “What has become different within me? What has become tangibly resurrectional?”
Every Lent reveals something new within us. It brings forth the very core of our mission of our vocation and it brings forth fuller the picture of our life. We all have Lenten Resolutions; but do we have Easter Resolutions? Do we have a resolution to make Easter change our lives so that we can really become an ‘Alleluia’ for the world? We must live the joy of the Resurrection—nobody can take that joy from you. Evil will try. It will do its best to keep that stone rolled over the tomb so that you can’t come out. But you can—b y the power of the Resurrection. The Resurrection will roll back the past and open up to you the present moment. Live it.

A Simple Prayer

2010-03-27T16:37:00.004-06:00

A reflection on John 11:1-44 by Mother Maria- Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead we hear, “…the sisters said to Jesus, ‘Master the one whom you love is ill.” How simple. It reminded me of Mary at the wedding feast at Cana when she said, “They have no wine.” Nothing more was said. That was enough. That faith that brings concerns to the Master and says, “I believe. I’ll only present to you the situation. I’m not going to tell you what to do, how to do it or give you the list of other things.” No it’s so simple, it’s almost startling.

I saw that today when we bring the prayer of the Church to Christ. He loves His Bride, the Church. To say, Lord, “The one you love is ill.” And what does He say about it? “This illness is not to end in death, but it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” What confidence to hear those words. And I thought, yes, the Church is ill, that’s okay. It will at one point glorify God greatly, even through this illness. God can use anything for His glory-- even us! What a gift.

As we come to Holy Week, there isn't any greater time to bring the Church to the feet of Christ. How much it needs our prayers right now. I think there’s a great deal of discouragement in the Church, perhaps even in the Holy Father’s heart. That discouragement does not stop us from doing the right things, but it is a heavy weight and prayer can help to lighten that burden because we carry it with Christ. We are the Body of Christ; we do have power to change things.

Building With Christ

2010-03-17T16:37:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading (Is 65 :17-21) for March 15, 2010, by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

“Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness
in what I create;
Instead there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.”
In that last sentence from Isaiah we find a good guide for discerning many things in our lives. There can be sorrow, but we should always have a sense of joy and happiness even in our greatest struggles. We all know that evil can’t sustain happiness for more than two minutes. So a sustained joy tells us where God is-- and we have to be attentive to it.

The scripture passage says that there will be joy in what God creates. Well we create situations too and sometimes they don’t sustain us too well. By being attentive to the voice of God we learn where and what He creates and we learn what to choose. The scripture passage goes on to say, “They shall live in the houses they build.” O how true! Jesus also says in the Gospels, “He who listens to these words and abides by them shall be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock. The floods came, the winds blew and they beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon rock.” We all know there’s weather everywhere—inside and out. What we build, we do have to live in—whether it’s a house full of light or one with all the shades down so we don’t have to see anything.

What are we making with our lives? Is it built on rock? Is it built on faith? Is it built on Christ? Or do we have straw and sand? We all have a chance to build something within us. We are “co-creators” with God. You can build a house real quick and make it flimsy or you can take time and build it layer by layer. Build a house beautifully and stably. When something is a little twisted don’t just leave it; because when we build that way, that’s how we live. When we build well, with scripture, with Christ, with the sacraments, we’ll have a house that lasts.

Think today of what you are building within, with Christ, that you’ll get to live in.

Harden Not Your Hearts

2010-03-06T15:45:00.002-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

One of the themes that we face every morning is: “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” (Ps 95)* One of the ways our hearts can be hardened is when we no longer have compassion on others; when we can no longer feel the pain of another but rather we judge their intentions. When we can no longer see things from another person’s view is when we become hardened. We make it so that nothing will penetrate us and we walk along with our faces like flint—and what’s worse, our heart becomes like stone. It’s then that we lose the buoyancy of life. The Spirit cannot come in and break open our heart and make it beat for others and make it be one with Christ.

What are the different ways in which your heart may be tempted to become hard? What are the signals that tell you that you need to be careful to not continue going down a path? When Lent comes we need to stare at those things. We all need an Exodus experience, when we get out of our comfort zones, when we get out of the things that we just do without even thinking. We need to put thought into what we’re doing. Somewhere along the line we’re all going to be tempted or we’re all going to be brought to a place where we’re uncomfortable and we need to know what to do in those situations.

Who’s leading you? Is it yourself? Be wary if it is you. By working through prayer and the Holy Spirit over and over again, you will learn the voice of the Lord.

*The nuns sing Psalm 95 every morning in Lent for the invitatory psalm at Matins.

Learning From Relationships

2010-02-27T16:36:00.002-07:00

A reflection based on the first Mass reading from Friday, February 26, 2010 (Ezekiel 18: 21-28) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We heard from the prophet Ezekiel earlier this week, “Thus says the Lord God, if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him…” (Ezekiel 18: 21) That line, “None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him,” is a challenge for all of us. Very often when people have done something wrong to us, we want justice. We want everyone to know exactly what happened; let’s write it on the walls, a few billboards wouldn’t hurt! We want them to feel what they have done. God however, does not react this way to sin. Ultimately sin is against God; and he’s the one who’s the first to forgive, while we’re the ones who want a little bit of justice in there.

When we have a problem with somebody it’s not necessarily all their fault, but we sure would like to think it was. Every relationship has something to teach us. We’re not always 100 percent right. Therefore we have to have compassion. The “law” can sometimes become an idol for us. Yet we know from St. Benedict that it’s not the law that God looks at, but love. We have to look at our own principles. If everybody has to live by our own principles and we get mad and judge them when they don’t, then our principles have become a little idol. The more we live like that, the more rigid we become, the less we have life.

If we want to grow in our relationship with God, we need to look at our relationships with people and see how we can improve—not our neighbors but ourselves! We spend so much time trying to change our neighbor, and yet from living in community I ‘v learned that if you change yourself then the world about you will change. Change your vision and the world around you will become brighter. We are the ones blocking the sun. But we are also the ones who can be a conduit of the sun if we allow it.

Clothe the Naked

2010-02-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

A reflection on the Liturgy for Friday, February 19, 2010 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We prayed in the Benedictus Antiphon today: “When you meet those who are in need of clothing, do not turn away from them, for they are your brothers and sisters.” Clothe the naked when you see them. Do not turn your back on your own. If we can take those virtues when we see somebody, if we think they aren’t wearing the virtues we would like them to be wearing, clothe their nakedness with your heart. Clothe them with heartfelt charity. Clothe them with kindness. And then when you have done that “then you shall call and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help and He will say: Here I am.” (Is 58:9a) And that’s exactly right, He will say, “Here I am, directly before you, in the one you have clothed.” Remember that on a Friday, Christ was stripped.

Burying Christ In Your Heart

2010-02-17T16:31:00.003-07:00

A reflection given to the Community of nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In preparing for Lent, I would like to speak about burying the Alleluia.* Do it purposefully. Because I would like to propose to you that the Alleluia is Christ who we are burying in our hearts as on Holy Saturday. On Holy Saturday He goes into the depths of the netherworld to claim that which is His own. He goes to declare victory over that which has awaited healing. I would propose that you make this Lent one long Holy Saturday. We let Him into our hearts, into the areas which are dark, the areas in which we may not have let Him. We let Him into those areas which sin has rather ravaged. It may be just a portion of our hearts, there may be other areas that are full of light, but there may be an area in which we have not let Him. He wishes to be there. And as He went down into the netherworld, so He goes into our hearts and cries out His cry of victory, “I have come to save you from sin, from death!”

Let this be a new Lent. Draw Him deep into those areas of your heart. It is through penance that we open our eyes and our hearts. When we fast, hear Him say, “Take and eat the Bread of Life.” When we fast, He says, “Drink from the cup I drink. This is My Precious Blood.” He wants to save us.

I read over the vigils reading for Holy Saturday and I created a meditation with it. I want to give it to you and I want you to hear it as His invitation to you today:

**Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness… [The King] has gone to search for our first parent, He has gone to search for us, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. I will do it, be made clean. You may go, you have believed, let it be done for you. Follow Me.” Hear Him say, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” That is what this lent will be: let it be done to you according to your faith.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendents I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

That’s what I wish this Lent to be. Allow Him to be your Savior. He has already died and risen. Allow Christ to uncover those areas that need to be reformed, refashioned. Call to Him, and before you cry out He will answer, “I am here. I never left you.” Let that Alleluia ring in your heart. Be willing to sacrifice yourself. Forget yourself. Learn what it means to deny oneself in order to follow Christ. And then when we come to the first Alleluia of Easter, it is He who will sing it in you. It is He who rises anew. It is He who lifts you up to what you never believed you would be, but you already are, and He wishes to reveal it to you.

I wish everyone a Lent that is new, fresh, beautiful; one in which you allow Him to trim you. Don’t be afraid to see yourself. He already loves you, the whole of you. He only awaits you to recognize that. When you recognize that, there’s nothing you won’t do for the One who loves you beyond all love. It’s simply the call of the Bridegroom, “Arise my beloved and come.” Hear that this Lent.

*It is monastic tradition to “bury” the Alleluia for the season of Lent as a symbol of this period when the entire Church refrains from singing Alleluia. The Alleluia is “resurrected” on the Solemn Feast of Easter.

**All italicized text is from the vigils reading of Holy Saturday (The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co.: NY. 1976) , the rest is by Mother Maria-Michael.

A Contemplative's Duty to the World

2010-02-06T15:05:00.003-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, from The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, (February 2, 2010), which traditionally is a day of prayer for religious and all who live the consecrated life.

Today we celebrate the consecrated life. I was thinking of the years Simeon and Anna spent attentively waiting for that which was promised to be fulfilled and I looked up a few quotes in Scripture about being attentive. One quote I found is from the Book of Job: “Be attentive, O Job, listen to Me. Be silent and I will speak.” We hear here of the attentive silence, not one that is snoring, but the one that is awake and alive and ready. Our spirits must be ever ready to receive Him.

Each day we are called to the Temple and we receive Him whom Simeon and Anna waited for. But we have a different waiting today—it’s for His second coming. And we must live in joyful hope because the world looks to us for that hope. So many people today have found that materialism is empty, it’s a consuming black hole that swallows up everything you have and leaves your soul parched. The world looks to the religious of our world who give witness to something far different, for we say “I await Him and His promises.”

I was reading the document of Vatican II on the Renewal of the Religious life about what we, as contemplative nuns, have to offer the world. It says, “The member of each [religious] community should recall above everything else that by their profession of the evangelical counsels they have given answer to a Divine call to live for God alone not only by dying to sin, but also by renouncing the world. They have handed over their entire lives to God’s service in an act of special consecration[…] Members of those communities which are totally dedicated to contemplation give themselves to God alone in solitude and silence and through constant prayer and ready penance[…] By their example they motivate His people and by imparting a hidden apostolic fruitfulness they make His people grow. Thus they are the glory of the Church and an overflowing fountain of heavenly graces.” That hidden apostolic fruitfulness we, as nuns, have to, in faith, believe. It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s so much easier to be able to see the fruits of your labors, but we have to live in faith.

God has chosen us and believes in us. He believes in us. He asks us to have faith in Him, but He was the first to have faith in us. It’s not an easy life and it doesn’t always show its beauty outwardly. Sometimes we are like Mary who Simeon told that a sword would pierce her heart. Sometimes it’s because we’ve suffered that others feel they can tell us of their sufferings and then we share in the sufferings of Christ. But not only that, we also share in the glory. We can’t forget that. We are the glory of God in the way He has made us in His image. The Father Himself loves us. And it’s the Father whom Christ wants us to know, love, and honor with everything in us. That’s what we give witness to. We let go of everything in order to hold Christ. That’s what this life calls us to—a chaste heart that holds Him. We offer Him everything we have and through that we lift the whole world to His Heart.

Receiving the Benedictine Habit

2010-01-30T14:43:00.004-07:00

On January 25, 2010, with great joy, we received Sr. Kathryn as a novice as she was clothed in the Benedictine habit. The novice’s habit is differentiated from that of a professed nun by a white veil and a shorter scapular. She will remain a novice for two years during which time she will discern her call more deeply with our community and prepare for professing temporary vows. The following is a reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe given to the community the night before the clothing ceremony.

A postulant who is ready to be clothed is one who has gone through a period when she’s discovered that life in the monastery isn’t exactly easy and yet it’s very fulfilling because it calls us to something greater than ourselves. A novice is changed in her appearance. She puts away the world and steps into community. She lays aside the things that she could rightly have before but no longer can because in a community all things belong to each other.

In the Rule of St Benedict it says, “Do not grant new comers to the monastic life an easy entry, but…. test the spirits to see if they are from God.” That’s one of those things a novice has had to do over her period of time with us--to discern what is of God and what is not. St Benedict says later in the Rule that the “concern must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials. The novice should be clearly told all the hardships and difficulties that will lead him to God.” St Benedict does not say away from God, but to God, because when things are difficult it’s not by leaving God but by going to God that we discover the source of the strength which God gives us to persevere.

A vocation isn’t something we decide we have. It’s a God-given gift. In clothing a new novice our community expresses that it has discerned that the novice is searching for God, and so is invited more fully into the life of the Abbey of St. Walburga. During this time of trial for her, she will be asked to truly live a life of conversion, obedience, and stability. All of these things will bring her to a point in her life in which she will discover that our greatest trials will be to live with our own weaknesses. For at first it will appear that it’s everybody else’s fault and then over a period of time, by the light of Christ, we are able to recognize that it’s harder to live with ourselves and our weaknesses-- it isn’t about everybody else. That discovery takes a lifetime, a lifetime of self-knowledge. And it takes courage. To live with one another, to forgive one another and to appreciate one another. That’s what will happen.

She is clothed now, and over a period of time, her soul will be clothed. That’s what we all hope for, that the virtues eventually take such root in our souls that our souls will be clothed with Christ. We are called to continually lay down or lives to “Prefer nothing to the Love of Christ.” A nun must have that goal before her. It must always be Christ, everything we do is in order to follow Christ. Obedience, stability, conversion can be difficult, but it is made sweet in Christ. In our heart we lay aside everything for Him.

Be Life-Giving

2010-01-23T14:43:00.003-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

In the Gospel we hear how Christ chose the twelve apostles. He knew who would betray Him but He didn't protect Himself. There are times when we can offend life by protecting ourselves. This can be done when we say something hurtful to somebody else before that person has the chance to say something to us-- times that we 'get' somebody before they 'get' us.

We can practice giving life by laying down our needs in little ways. For example, we can voluntarily fast. Food is a God-given right which we can sometimes give up and in that way share in the sufferings of others. By offering our own food, God can supply their souls with a greater food than what the body needs.

Lectio and Conversion

2010-01-16T16:35:00.004-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was reading the other day a book that was talking about how God's Word is ever fruitful. He spreads it to everybody, but it's our duty to be open. It's our duty to be the good soil that helps it to bear fruit. And God will ever give it to us. The power of Lectio Divina. I think that really is the central part of our conversion as Benedictine Nuns.

The reason why scripture so often hold healing is because it so often holds the human condition. We see ourselves in the people presented to us in the Bible. And every time we read the same story, we can see ourselves in something different because we are at a different place each time. Lectio really uncovers the depths of our own being and God's love for us. How do we react when God pours His love on us and we feel like we have nothing to give? Do we simply accept that we're totally loved and rejoice? God gives us confidence and we have to be confident in His ability to change within us what needs healing. I think that's the power of it all. That's why it's so important to use the Word of God. His power is in that Word to bring all that is necessary to help us to constantly convert to the truth of who we are. God is calling us to the holiness within us.

Carrying Christmas Into the New Year

2010-01-09T15:44:00.003-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Today is the last day of the Christmas Season and then we go into "Ordinary Time". But is it ever ordinary?

I was thinking this morning of how our weaknesses make us close to Christ. Every Christmas we encounter the Incarnation, but I hope we encounter it differently each time. And each time we also face our own weaknesses. Each season that we come upon and are able to accept our own humanity, we are able to understand what it means to be a 'woman among women' or a 'man among men'. We have our faults, we have our weaknesses, (as far as I know no one here is a god), and we share our human struggles and the deeper we understand our own human struggles, the greater will be our ability to see the wonder in each person, because each one struggles to be all they can. We have our days of when we're a little weaker and our days when we can step up and face our weaknesses and go on. God is with us through it all. He lifts us above our weaknesses because He lifts us in Himself. He has overcome all things. That should give us an even greater excitement for life because He will do all things for us.

If we can leave this Christmas Season with a greater understanding of our own weaknesses, then God has conquered within us. It's His gift to us and we can carry that grace on to this new year.

O Dayspring

2009-12-22T15:04:00.001-07:00

Yesterday during Vespers the Church sang the traditional great ‘O Antiphon’: 'O Dayspring,’ which calls for Christ, who is the Light to come. Below, Mother Maria-Michael offers a meditation on this beautiful antiphon.

O Oriens, O Dayspring

Light of truth.
Light of Divine grace.
Light of life.
Light of the world.
He who is wrapped in light as in a robe.
Light of glory.
Light of faith.
Light Divine.

There shall arise for you the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Come and save us. Bring to light what is hidden in darkness, that the shadows of death may flee and give way to the brightness of your everlasting presence deep within us.

Hearken to God's Voice

2009-12-05T16:40:00.003-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Earlier this week we heard in Mass: “The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 26) How will we know that He has spoken if we are not listening? And if we are not silent, how will we know that He is speaking? A monk is one who is continually listening; and silence is the fruit of listening. Silence is an atmosphere in which we are being attentive to what is within. Attentiveness also reminds me of the word ‘hearken!’ One who is hearkening is standing ready, waiting and listening.

Silence should not be overbearing. Our silence is an attentive listening. It’s not one that ‘s dreary, sad, and sore and therefore is not going to talk. It’s one that is hearkening, that’s alive, that is just waiting to hear what one has to say. Then that being the case, if a monk is one who is hearkening, listening, and attentive, then there is a quiet that comes.

How do we attain a peace that leaves us undisturbed and free of worldly anxieties? Ask yourself what you are listening to. What are the things that disturb you? What are the things that cause you to stop listening to God? I think narcissism is the iPod we stick in our ear and hear the repetition of what we have programmed to hear. That is my definition of a monastic iPod. You won’t hear anything of peace or His Word until you take that plug out and are attentive to what’s around you. In that way we will also be very attentive to each other. Everything in us should be an attitude of listening. We’re looking for His second coming, we’re in a mode of hearkening.

So this time of Advent it’s not a time of dreary silence, but one that’s awake and full of joy and can hardly wait to hear what is to come. He is no longer one who wants to reprove us but one who wants to call you to Himself. Listen to what He has to say.

Advent-- Longing For Christ

2009-11-28T15:58:00.004-07:00

Excerpts from a reflection on Advent given by Mother Maria-Michael Newe to the community of nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga.

Today is the end and the beginning; we stand on the threshold. We have a chance at a new beginning. At None* we finished the last prayer of the liturgical year. We've accomplished it, the marathon has happpened. We can hand the baton over now to the other hand and go again full of vigor. We have made it and that's the important part. The year is past and over. What have we gained? What have we put into this past year? And what do we go forward with? What are the things that we learned this year that we can take with us for the sake of all? And how do we begin Advent?

What are we doing today as we look to Advent? We pray, "The King shall come." In the beginning the focus is on the second coming. We need to realize that it hasn't happened yet. He will come again to take His reigh and we need to pray for all those who are tempeted not to allow His reign. We need to pray that those things that are not of God, those ways that do not speak of the reign of God, those things that tear people away from Him may be rejected by the people of God. We need to pray that the people of God will stand up for what is right-- stand up for life in every aspect of what that life means, especially eternal life. We must not become lukewarm to the fact that we must run the race. Not one of us is going to get out of having to choose life. Christ is LIfe, the Bread of Life, the Son of God, the Living Water. He is the King of Kings.

In preparing for Advent, I was looking at the First Letter of St. Peter. I see Peter as an apostle of love. He had to go through so many trials and be so humbled and yet he died full of love. He was able to die on a cross to follow the one he loved. He never let go of the one he loved. I think Christ delighted in the humility of Peter. He was a man who fell before his brethren and had to rise again-- it was Christ's life that picked him up. I think that what Peter says on mutual love is one of the most important parts of his letter because that is what evil is attacking right now-- our love for one another. "Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth, for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely, from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable gold but from imperishable seed through the living and abiding word of God." In the narcissistic world in which we live today, we need to look to our neighbor. That's why we live in community. Not only do we serve one another, but when when we serve one another, we serve the King. When we love one another, it's the King we love. We are the loving servants of the King of Kings.

St. Peter also says to keep yourself pure. This advent, work hard to keep yourself pure. Receive the sacraments with love. Let them build up what needs to be built up within you so that you may take your part in the Body of Christ. We need that from one another. We need the example of virtue. If you want to be listened to, listen to your sister. If you want to be loved, love your sister. Be an example that will lead others to good, because this is what's asked of you and you will be judged on this. Do what is in Scripture, for this is essential for eternal life.

Long for God. This season is about longing for the coming of Christ. Our whole focus is on the coming of Christ. Are we ready? Do we await Him? We should have a silence of anticipation. We live with our hearts focused on Christ, so there should be a special amount of silence because we're praying for His coming. In the silence of your heart during your work, sing the psalms of anticipation. Sing the hymns that we pray in the Office-- know them, let them come to your mind. Repeat: "Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Come! Please come to your people! Redeem us! Show us your love that we can show your love to one another." It's imperative that we live with fervor. Have some fire in what you do. Do it with purposefulness. Don't let lukewarmness be a part of your heart. Bring back the coals of the fire of love. How do you do that? Recognize what brings devotion in your life. Recognize the things that you love. God to those things that bring your heart to life-- visit them, sit with them, let them stir within you. Read the Scriptures, sing in your heart, chase evil away. Whatever it be that is leading you away from fervor, I beg of you, pray that the Blood of Christ may run over that and rejuvenate it and change it into the glory of God within you.

What Christ said in the book of Revelation, I say to you, "Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the Churches." This Advent, listen well!

*None is the third of the three Midday Offices that are prayed in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Learning the Language of God

2009-11-21T15:52:00.004-07:00

A reflection on the Gospel reading from Thursday, November 19th (Luke 19:41-44), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel it says, "As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it saying, 'If this day you only knew what makes for peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.'" I think there is a window open in which God comes to us and we can either accept or reject Him. The response we give is due to our attachments or detachments. Sometimes when we're so attached to something we can't even see what's right in front of our face. But when we're detached we can see things a lot better.

Detachment is really a key to peace. It's not detachment is the sense that we don't care anymore and say "whatever". That word is quickly becoming really disliked in public, because it gives the impression that you're forced to do something you don't want to do and your bitter about it. But when we're detached, we're willing to see where God is trying to come through and where Providence is trying to take hold of us, and we simply choose because of God and because we're open to His ways. They are peaceful persons who don't write every word in stone, who can bend and be flexible. When we live looking for God's ways in our lives, when we allow Him to come in and give us what we need, we will be persons of great peace, for whatever happens we will be trusting.

Jesus said, "But now it is hidden from your eyes." Attachment is like a concrete wall, once the concrete sets there's not a whole lot that can be done except to break it. I don't want to live that way. We each can learn about Providence. Learn God's language. How does He come to you? How does He present Himself to you? Learning the language of God is a joy!

Fighting Temptation

2009-11-14T14:46:00.001-07:00

A meditation on the first Mass reading from November 10th (Wisdom 2:23-3:9) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The first reading from the book of Wisdom is just a treasure chest. It says, “God formed man to be imperishable. The image of His own nature He made him, but by the envy of the devil, death entered the world/ and they who are in his possession experience it.” I don’t think it’s our imagination that when we come closer to God, it seems like everything goes wrong—every temptation runs head strong at us, whatever it be. Evil seems to know where to tickle. I believe that sometimes it’s just because of the envy of the devil: we are in the image of God, and the more we grow in that image, the more evil does everything to stop us or even just to take our eyes off of God. Evil says, “Well here let me plant this thing that I know really bugs you right in your face.” And it does bug us. It gets our whole attention, gets us upset and angry, and we lose sight of where were going. So in some way it’s good and it’s bad. It’s good because it tells us we are heading in the right direction (otherwise evil wouldn’t bother with us), but we need to fight temptation.
The reading goes on, “For if before men indeed they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality. Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed because God tried them and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He proved them and as sacrificial offerings He took them to Himself.” It says that He tried them and found them worthy—well everyone else tried them too, along with God! That’s the sacrificial offering He took to Himself. A sacrifice requires death. If it’s still living and kicking, it’s not sacrificed. But that’s what has to happen. Something dies and God takes it to Himself because it was an offering. Living with a view of offering things up is important. It’s not an old fashioned way of living. To truly take that and have that mind set is really a means of holiness for us because it does draw us to God; because we’re giving the things that we love. What is it to give your old trash away? To give the things you love and to offer them to God as a specific offering is dear and sweet to Him, as sweet smelling incense. Often other people can really try us, but we can’t focus on what the other person is doing to us. Evil will give up on us if he only pushes us closer to God. So if the things that are really bothering you, you continually offer to God, eventually evil will say, “This isn’t working. This is having real bad repercussions.” Just remember that. We have to take seriously that temptation is going to be in our lives because God will try us. The thing we can do for each other is to pray for one another and to have a compassionate heart. We don’t know how hard somebody else is fighting just to do what they’re supposed to do. That is a sacrifice, but it will bear fruit.

Striving for Perfection

2009-10-31T14:52:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Sometimes we're so impatient to be perfect even with our own selves. We want it done yesterday. Part of our own stability and perseverance has to do with the fact that we have to be stable in our perseverance. We have to go through it and not expect perfection so quickly. It's humiliating to be humble. It's in our nature to be want to be done with it so quickly that we don't have to deal with it anymore. And yet don't we find that when we think we've conquered our faults, out of the blue they pop up again?

When you find you're having a difficult time trying to change something in your life that you know you should change-- be patient. Don't give up quickly. If you see it creeping up again, simply persevere in your asking for help. Don't become discouraged. Only become discouraged if you don't care anymore. If you care, God will provide. And sometimes He doesn't allow it to go quickly for us, simply so that we can prove our love.

It's not in our looking good but in our desire to keep persevering through the difficulties, that we are pleasing to God. We have to learn not to worry if we don't look good in the eyes of the world. It doesn't matter what the world thinks. It's by far better to be stable and correct in our own ways.

What Are You Looking For?

2009-10-17T14:53:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for October 16, 2009 (Romans 4:1-8) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

When we heard the letter of St Paul to the Romans yesterday, that last sentence struck me: “Blessed the man whose sin the Lord does not record.” If the Lord is so gracious as to not record the sins of a man, can we be as gracious to ourselves? It’s good to repent and to know our sinfulness, but when the knowledge of our sins consumes us and we’re so busy recording everything we’ve done it weighs us down. And then we start recording others’ sins to alleviate our own sense of guilt.

The only way to stop that negativity is to start recording all that’s good. Start making a record of the good things you do. Start focusing on that. If we look for the good it will lift our hearts and the atmosphere we live in. We know that if we look for the bad we will find it. So equally, if we look for the good, we’ll find that too. That can be a lot of work; but it’s worth it. What are you looking for? What you look for you will find.

If you look for the good, you encourage the good. If you look for virtue you encourage virtue. If we lighten our own load, we will move along lighter.

Childlike Trust

2009-10-10T10:54:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

On October 3rd, we celebrated the feast of Blessed Columbia Marmion.* What strikes me most about him is that in every situation he was in, (and we know that the latter part of his life was very difficult as he was having to move his monks during World War I), he never once doubted that Christ was in the midst leading him. Isn’t that what we’re hearing constantly in the Gospels—that childlike trust in God? I was thinking about that clarity of children. I remember my sisters would tell me that they had to be very careful about what they said around their children because the kids got it quick, they knew exactly what was going on. I think that was because their hearts weren’t cluttered with themselves. They had a perception that was clear and pure because they weren’t so cluttered with their own opinions, nor with all the worries. Worries sometimes clutter our perception. But Jesus says, “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Give me those worries, I’ll carry them. Keep your perception clear by letting me be God for you. You don’t need to be God. I’ll be God.” I think those are really the best ingredients for a holy life. Let God be God and we’ll be the children; and we’ll simply follow His lead.

*Blessed Columbia Marmion (1858-1923) was a Benedictine Abbot in Belgium and became noted for his spiritual direction, writings, and retreats.

Being Content

2009-09-26T15:13:00.001-06:00

A reflection on the Mass readings for September 18, 2009 (1 Tim 6:2c-12; Luke 8:1-3) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In my reflections this morning, the word ‘contentment’ kept coming up. I first thought of this word in relation to what St. Benedict says in Chapter 7 of our Holy Rule where it reads: “The sixth degree of humility is that a monk be content with all that is mean and poor and in all that is enjoined on him esteem himself a sinful and unworthy laborer saying with the prophet ‘I have been brought to nothing and I knew it not. I have become as a beast before you and yet I am always with you.’” Anytime we compare ourselves it’s our own undoing. We will never be content when we compare because it’s always seeing the grass greener on the other side-- no matter what it is. If you’re wearing a sweater and someone else is wearing another, you can’t see your own as the other one must be nicer. But for one to be content, one really has to stop thinking of oneself-- to be selfless in what we’re doing.

This life is not easy but if we’re living only for ourselves it’s not going to get better. The ego grows by staring at it. To be content with what we have and what we do is really the key to living a life in peace. What I heard in my lectio today I found really “telling”. When I do my lectio I try to take a word from the First Reading of Mass and from the Gospel reading and put them together and see what they do. And today’s was really thought provoking as my word from the First Reading was, “be content,” and from the Gospel, “accompany Him.”

A Missed Opportunity

2009-09-15T15:46:00.002-06:00

A reflection on Exodus 32 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was reflecting on the scene in Exodus when Aaron is pressed by the Israelites to make a golden calf. What I think went wrong with Aaron is that he missed an opportunity of prayer. God wasn’t asking only Moses for a relationship. Aaron was just as responsible for a relationship with God. This relationship would have enabled him to God the Father when there was a problem, when there was trouble. There was a missed opportunity of hearing the voice of God. Instead he succumbed to fear as if God wasn’t there to protect him.

We have all been there in our own lives. You become the best mechanic when something breaks and there’s not mechanic around. Or when the community’s cooks are all sick you discover that you can make great sandwiches. If you aren’t stretched you don’t realize what gifts you have. We have to discover that God puts them there for us. But we do have to ask Him for help. And I think that’s the key, we have to ask. If we don’t run into those difficult times we won’t grow.

It all has to do with our relationship with God. Where do we go when there’s trouble? Do we fill ourselves up with many, many things so that we don’t have to face the problem? We first see the signs of running away when we find that we aren’t too eager to go to the chapel or we aren’t too eager to meet God in prayer. When we find ourselves doing that, the first place to run is to prayer.

Trust God. We don’t do anything on our own. Actually we’re kind of useless on our own. With God we can do all things, we can suffer all things, we can bear all things. Without Him, we’re empty. He’s the fullness that makes all things possible.

The Eight Beatitudes

2009-09-12T16:44:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the Gospel reading for Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (Luke 6:20-26), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The Beatitudes always have something new to say to us. In the Gospel it says: “Raising His eyes to His disciples, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are you who are poor for the Kingdom of God is yours.” You and I can ask ourselves, “How poor am I?” Do I really depend on God for all things or do I hoard some things just in case He doesn’t come through? I think it’s good to be prudent in life, but not to be so prudent that we leave nothing up to the Providence of God. To live that way is very important. We hear about this dependence on God in the Dialogues of St. Gregory (on the life of St. Benedict). The cellarer tried to save some food to make sure the monks had some and St. Benedict told him to give it all away. The next morning there was an abundance of food at the monastery door. This teaches us how to give fully of ourselves. Don’t hoard away a little of your own being. Pour yourself out in community, in family life. Then there will be an abundance at the door of your heart.

Later, Jesus says “Blessed are you who are hungry for you will be satisfied.” Well what do you hunger for most? What are the things that you desire at all times? If it’s that Christ be all in all, then you will be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who mourn for you will laugh.” This is a spirit we carry within us. Are you quick to have a smile for somebody? Are you quick to greet another? We only hand on what we have within us. And if Christ is in us we only hand on Christ. That’s it.

Letting Go of Self

2009-08-27T16:22:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel we hear Jesus say, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies it produes much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” So often we hear people say “I want to be fulfilled.” But what does that mean? I want my ego to be full. When we lay down our lives and no longer look to see that we are full, when we look totally to Christ, we will lose our lives, but in truth we gain it totally for eternal life.

We can all know this in our heads, but how can we practice it in reality? St Benedict says that we should always look for the good of another first. When we do this we lay down a little bit of ourselves—that’s a little seed scattered. If we keep doing that, at the end of our life we’ll have a field of wheat.

I read somewhere that a martyr said that if you’re going to die for Christ you have to keep your eyes on the present moment exactly and not look too far ahead because it would scare you. That’s why they continually repeat the name of Jesus or some other prayer so that they’re not thinking of what it’s going to cost, but rather keeping their eyes on the goal. And so for us in everyday life, as we try to fulfill our own lives, if we keep thinking about ourselves then we’re constantly saying “I want, I want ,I want, I need, I need, I need.” While these wants and needs may be very valid, the extent towhich we keep thinking about them is the extent to which we have to fill them (and it goes to infinity). Rather, when we hear our ego clamoring: “Hey pay attention to me, you aren’t look at me long enough,” we should say, “That’s right, I’m going to look at Christ.”

That’s the only way we can let go of ourselves. We have to continually turn back, to convert to Christ. That’s a lifetime’s worth of work, but it begins with each moment.

Christ is All in All

2009-08-19T10:19:00.002-06:00

I have a prayer that I received when I entered the monastery that some of you may recognize. From my own experience this prayer one that simply becomes one’s life. You pray it when you’re young and then you become that prayer as you get older. There’s a whole different way of looking at it in the different stages of life. It’s about a continual letting go . It’s called the “Suscipe of St. Ignatius of Loyola”:

Take Lord and receive all:
my liberty, my memory,

my understanding, and my entire will.
You have given all to me, now I return it.
Give me only your love and your grace O Lord,

that is enough for me.
Grant me only these, Lord Jesus, and I shall desire nothing more.

I do believe that as we grow in the spiritual life there comes a day when we can honestly say that we desire nothing more than to know His will and to see Him. I think that’s pure gift, because we all have desires, we all have somewhere hidden ambitions that get uncovered throughout our life. And we discover how empty they are and how full He is. When we kneel before Him, giving all to Him and we receive all, that really is enough. It really is enough.

Conquering Self-Will

2009-08-01T16:28:00.000-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading from Thursday, July 30, (Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Earlier this week we heard in the reading from Exodus at Mass: “Moses did exactly as the Lord had commanded him.” (Ex 40:16) I was reading something the other night that said that God couldn’t give the Ten Commandments today it would have to be the five suggestions-- because first of all, man wouldn’t listen and secondly if God told him he had to do it, it would be the first thing he wouldn’t do. God would have to make the suggestions for him as if it was the person’s own will and would say “O, that’s exactly what I was thinking!”

Nobody likes to be told what to do. We’ve so softened ourselves today. Self-will has become a god. One of the fruits of self-will is complaining. Self-will, St. Benedict says, must be eradicated. It will lead us totally down the wrong path and obviously not one of obedience. All of it begins with the ego-- fulfilling my desires. And yet we’re supposed to be seeking God and His desires. Do we really want to hear what God has to say? Or are we more willingly to tell God what we think He should be saying—informing Him of what would be the better way to do things?

We can all get caught in this. From ancient days, we’ve had to struggle. We’ve had to struggle with the good and the bad. However, when we desire to do the good more and more it will eventually overcome… if we keep trying, if we persevere. The Rule of St. Benedict gives us the key, the means to accomplish this perseverance—we must prefer God to ourselves.

Providing a Place for Jesus

2009-07-25T16:08:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The one thing we can be sure of is that nothing can shake us if Christ is within us. Think of the Gospel reading when the apostles are in the boat with Jesus and a violent storm breaks out. The waves are swamping the boat and tossing it about but Jesus was in the boat sound asleep. He doesn't have the slightest worry about what's happening (I think He must have also been very tired!). If we can provide a place of peace within our hearts we always carry Him-- whether He's awake or asleep He is with us. He promised, "I am with you always until the end of time." (Mt 28:20) We need to be trusting and faithful. Listen to Christ within you and simply do what He tells you. It will never differ from the Gospels.

Don't Try to Be God

2009-07-07T15:59:00.001-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Sometimes in life, things happen that make us ask the question: “How can that be?” And when we try to take control of it, we can hear God asking us, “Do you trust me? Will you ask me to take care of it and then believe it will be taken care of?” I think we need truly to trust that God can handle our worries, that we don’t need to get our finger in every pie and try to take care of it ourselves. I love the saying Sr. Genevieve often uses: “I’m not God, I only work for Him.” We all need to remember that! We aren’t God and we shouldn’t try to be—it’s beyond our scope and abilities. If you want to stay nervous try and play God’s role. If you want to be calm then give it to God, He can handle it!

Last week we sung a responsory in matins that is just perfect to meditate on:

He who knows what good things to give to His children exhorts us to ask, to seek, and to knock. The more truly we believe, the more strongly we hope, and the more ardently we desire, the more generously we will receive. In our condition we will receive more by sighs than by speech, more by tears than by words.

Why is this true? Because it’s the heart that cries out. Nothing is greater than the desire of our hearts.

So what do you really desire? Ask and you shall receive… when it is for your very good. And if God says ‘no’ then it is for your very good. He can only say ‘no’ to those who really love Him. He can only guide you when you want to be guided. If you want to be guided, throw yourselves wholly into His service. Keep nothing back. For what keeps you back ties you down. You’re only free when you can freely do God’s will. His will is life.

Being True to Your 'Yes'

2009-06-20T16:20:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

“You are the salt of the earth.” (Mt. 5:13) Salt can be used for healing and our lives can bring great healing by being who we are and living it fully. I heard a similar message in the letter to the Corinthians where St. Paul says, “Our word to you is not ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ was not ‘yes’ and ‘no’... but ‘yes’ has been in Him.” (2 Cor 1:18f) 'Yes' implies an openness. When someone says ‘yes’ it’s as if the door has been open wide and there is a willingness to open to the Light, to see what is really there.

So much harm has been done by people saying they were one thing and then being another. This has happened in all kinds of areas in the Church, whether it be in persons of authority or in laity who aren’t faithful to the laws of the Church-- disregarding some of them as if they didn’t apply to them but to everybody else. Our faithfulness, our ‘yes’ to God is that first installment of the Spirit that will be brought to fruit by our opening ourselves fully to God, living in His presence, and being truly who we are called to be. We must be faithful, God will take care of the rest.

Living Now

2009-06-13T16:05:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the Gospel reading for June 8, 2009, (Mt. 5:1-12) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

When I read the Gospel of the Beatitudes earlier this week, what was rather striking to me was that it didn’t say: "blessed are those who were poor in spirit, blessed are those who had mourned, or blessed are those who were meek." No it says, “blessed are those who are...” That little active verb ‘are’. It’s the present moment that they’re doing it. They aren’t looking at the past and saying, “O gosh I was that way.” Nor are they looking in the future and saying, “Well maybe I could be that way.” No, they’re taking the present moment and being that way.

I think that this can show us that we are to live virtuously the present moment. That helps everybody. Sometimes it’s the past that holds us fast and we can’t break out of it. Why? Because we keep staring at it. It’s like we live with review mirrors on us. Or else we let patterns inhibit us. But when we can just see the present moment then we’re living in the face of God who is there present—that I AM.

If we look in the future-- well who can say anything about the future? We can’t say what’s going to be in the future. Often the future will cause fear. That’s why God tells us that if we worry about the present moment He will take care of the future. So if we can just live the present moment fully, I believe we’ll be persons of peace.

Who Do We Look To?

2009-06-06T15:03:00.001-06:00

A reflection on the Mass reading(Tobit 2:9-14) and the Matins reading (by St. Dorotheus) from Tuesday, June 2, 2009, by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the reading from Tobit earlier this week we saw how when Tobit was put to the test his “true character,” at first, came out. This reading was complimentary with our second Matin’s reading that same morning. The Matin's reading by St. Dorotheus talks about how every situation that comes up can be used for our advantage and we can grow in faith in every circumstance. Instead of blaming everybody else for what’s happening, look to yourself and see how you are reacting and what is going on within you. I was especially thinking of the point of when we are put the test who do we look to? Do we look to ourselves to save us, or to we look to God? There is so much to learn from our own reactions in life.

We can be much freer if we trust in God. The less we trust in God, the more anxious we’re going to become within. But the more we trust, the more we give God the room to act. He won’t act without our giving. The greater we put our trust in Him, the greater will be His acts.

Love One Another

2009-05-30T16:03:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

All throughout the Eastertide, we have been really exhorted by our Lord, “This is my commandment, love one another as I love you. “ In all the readings from the Acts of the Apostles which we’ve been listening to, we hear that the people were delighted with the exhortation. They thirsted to know what was right. They were ready to listen, to hear how they could fulfill the exhortation.

I think that this is what the Church is telling us too: look to learn of God. Learn of God from one another and above all, love one another. Non-violence doesn’t mean anything if we aren’t doing it out of love. We have to ask ourselves: do we draw a line where we say if such-and-such happens we won’t love anymore? And are we willing to challenge that; to constantly stretch the boundaries of our love until they reach eternity, until there is no boundary anymore? In the end, the only thing we’re going to be judged on is if we have loved. If we put that as our goal, we will want to keep learning of God.

Be Permanent in My Love

2009-05-17T09:43:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, May 17, 2009 (John 15:9-17) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We hear in the Gospel today: “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” In Spanish the word remain is “permanente”. Permanent. Hearing that gives this verse a whole different sense. It’s like a permanent marker--it doesn’t matter what you do it’s not coming out, so when you make that mark make sure you want it there. “Be permanent in my love,” says our Lord.

Later He says, “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love.” What an assurance! Love isn’t just a warm fuzzy feeling. It’s an actual doing, it’s an active verb—loving! And it means following the commandments. By doing that we’re sure we’re living in God’s love. There are days when we’re not feeling all warm and fuzzy and that’s when we put our mind to it and tell ourselves “I’m going to follow God’s law and by doing that I know I’m in His love.” By doing that we’re also remaining in the love of our community, our family, our Church.

Humility is Truth

2009-05-09T15:07:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I read the following verse this morning: “Beloved clothe yourselves with humility… humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5,6) Living that will take a lifetime; and yet we can begin today.

Humility is simply truth. And to live in the truth means you never deny the gifts in yourself and also you never deny the gifts in others. This is what it takes to live in 'right order'. If we practiced this, the world would live in right order. The world itself would be in peace if there were true humility.

Humility respects and humility doesn’t try to be what it is not. When we see that, we find freedom. Imagine if you didn’t have to live up to the expectations you think others have for you or the expectations you have for yourself. If you could simply be yourself and be at peace with that, God would be pleased, because your true self is God’s gift. That is who you are before God. And He rejoices when He sees you. To discover that makes you youthful at any age.

Living in the Light of the Resurrection

2009-04-25T15:40:00.001-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for Wednesday, April 22, 2008 (Acts 5:17-26) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles today, we can see the change in Peter from pre-Resurrection to post-Resurrection. Before, when Peter was faced with terror and fear he took off, he denied Jesus. This time, there’s no fear. He and John simply do as the angel bids them. We see the power that trust and faith in Christ Jesus have.

The difference in the disciple of the post-Resurrection era is that we know that evil can never over come us. It can test us, but it can never overcome us. By hanging on to that we live in the light of the Resurrection. It’s the time of the Holy Spirit. To be filled with that, to stand steadfast in the face of all evil, and to cling to Christ is the victory. If we can focus on that at this time we shall live without anxiety.

We need to keep focused on today. We don’t have tomorrow’s grace, so don’t stare at tomorrow. We only have today’s grace. Go ahead and stare at today, the present moment, for that’s where Christ is.

On Judging

2009-04-08T09:43:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I think we could all find ourselves a bit a fault at times for judging others. Yet, if we practice being in the presence of God at all times we won’t judge, we won’t have time. Most judgment comes from a past situation. So if we live in the present we aren’t going to keep bringing up the past. That takes real discipline of prayer and practice of the present moment. And yet I think we find most happiness in that.

Mother Francizka [the Abbess of our motherhouse in Eichstatt] was telling me one time that judging is like riding a bike: you have push another down in order for yourself to be up. If that’s the case then walk with God-- don’t ride a bike, simply walk.

Go To The Rock- Christ

2009-04-01T11:17:00.002-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading (Numbers 21:4-9) from Tuesday March 31, 2009 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We heard yesterday in Mass of the murmuring of the Israelites in the desert. They had no water to drink, they were watching their children suffer and their livestock dying.

Sometimes in our lives, sin appears this way as well. We are overwhelmed by legitimate sorrow and sufferings or we recognize it in the lives of others. We are tempted to murmur to one another. But if we dash our troubles against one another-- our anger, our suffering, ,our sorrows, our misunderstandings-- we are in essense stoning one another. Or if we should allow sin to unite us, we should stone or crucify, possibly, an innocent soul.

St. Benedict is considered another Moses and he tells us what to do. He says to take your evil thoughts and temptations and dash them against Christ. He alone can change our sorrow to joy. He won’t necessarily change where we are, where we live, who we live among, but He will give us the the water we thirst for. He’ll give us the refreshment to be able to go on, to be able to drink from the same cup as He did and live doing what is right.

When you feel like you’ve reached the end, go to the Rock that is so solid and the purest of water will pour forth. It will give us refreshment, new life, new zeal and the ability to let one another drink from our own stream given to us by Christ.

Lectio Divina

2009-03-28T15:27:00.004-06:00

A reflection on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

When I read this reading from Ezekiel today I thought, "Isn't that a perfect picture of lectio*?" We are called to "walk through" lectio as Ezekiel was told to walk through the river. Well the first time, we only get our ankles wet, and we only have a certain amount of time to do it that's been measured out for us. Then, as with Ezekiel, we're told to do it again. And this time we start getting up to our knees in the Word. Every time we do it, we immerse ourselves more and more in the Word and soon we find ourselves swimming! God immerses us in His Word through lectio. Then we are to come to the point where we are able to sit by the banks and our feet are simply in the water all the time. Because we've washed ourselves so many times, we're planted there like the trees. Then we enjoy the fruits of that lectio-- it brings us delight and sweetness and not only that but also healing. In God's Word we are healed.

*Lectio Divina is an ancient practice of reading Scripture prayerfully. For more please visit our website: www.walburga.org/Lectio

The Heart of Obedience

2009-03-14T15:17:00.003-06:00

A reflection on Isaiah 1:18-19 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We heard in Mass earlier this week the reading from Isaiah:

“Come now let us set things right, 'says the Lord, ‘Though your sins be like scarlet they may become white as snow, though crimson red they may become white as wool. If you are willing and obey...”

We’ve been trying to do this since the fall. What strikes me is that word ‘obey’. Obedience sort of follows us around and haunts us; and yet if we turn around it will lead us. Everything stems from the Garden of Eden, the creation of man, the fall, and the promise of restoration.

Yes, let us set things right.

The apple of disobedience was eaten. It cannot be re-hung on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What was swallowed, consumed, is within each one of us—original sin. A new apple is formed around that piece that was first taken through baptism. Through a life of repentance and obedience a new apple is formed. We become the “apple of God’s eye”. Humility, so to speak, is the flesh of the apple, sanctifying grace gives it it’s beauty, it’s crispness, it’s refreshing taste.

I think there must be a renewal of the understanding of obedience and humility, as both are entwined together. We read in Chapter 5 of the Rule of St. Benedict that the first degree of humility is obedience without delay. And later St. Benedict says that he who listens to his superior and obeys is listening to God.

People sometimes say, “I don’t hear God.” I reply, "Are you being obedient?" If so, then you are hearing God and you’re obeying.

Christ’s moment of greatest humiliation and obedience to the Father is brought before us everyday in the Eucharist. His most humble moment is His most noble. How much more can one get than to become the food of mankind? Things that are food have been killed in order to feed something else. You’re not on the “top” if you become the food of another. And yet we are called to feed one another.

Now is the time of “reformation” for the Church. We need to be re-formed in Christ from the core. The whole Church needs to return to Christ in obedience, humility, and love. That’s what Lent should do. It should be the seed that brings forth the spring of life.

God's Prayer Intention

2009-03-02T15:03:00.003-07:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for February 26, 2009 (Dt 30:15-20) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

When I heard the reading for this morning I was thinking about how sometimes you hear people say, “O that’s so dated.” God’s word is not dated. It is appropriate for every age. In the Book of Deuteronomy we hear Moses telling the people, “Choose life!” And you could read the same thing on a bill board today, “Choose life!”

What if you went to the prayer board* and you read a prayer intention that said:

That my children would obey me.

That they would walk with me.

That they would love my commandments.

I want to bless them.

That they would choose Me.

Please pray,

Your loving Father.

How would you respond? How do you respond when you read how parents anguish over their children? How much more the Father in Heaven? He anguishes over our choices. He watches us carefully, loving us, every moment waiting and thinking “Will they choose Me?” Today, choose Him. Make it a point to choose His ways. That He can look at us and say, “I get to bless them!”

*The 'prayer board' is a bulletin board in the cloister where the nuns post all prayer intentions given them.

For the Sake of Love

2009-02-14T16:39:00.001-07:00

A reflection on Genesis 3 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

Every time we read Genesis we learn more about man in general and a little more even of ourselves. We learn about what the fall has done and the things we have to suffer to return to God wholly and to bring all mankind back to God. We learn to have real compassion on suffering because sometimes it’s not even our fault, it’s just there. But whatever it be, we all have times when we have to struggle to return to God. And yet that is ultimately where peace and joy is. So whatever it is you struggle against, keep fighting, for the sake of love.

Delight in the Lord

2009-02-07T15:17:00.004-07:00

A reflection on the Mass readings (Heb 10:32-39; Ps 37) for January 30, 2009 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was reading an article in which a man quotes A Tale of Two Cities where it says, “It was the best of times it was the worst of times” and then the man comments “Well frankly in my family the worst always comes first.” In the letter of the Hebrews which we’ve been hearing in Mass it talks about the time of endurance being necessary to come first. If the worst comes first then the best is yet to be. For we read, “Do not throw away your confidence it will have great recompense, you need endurance to do the will of God and receive what He has promised.” (Heb 10:35-36) Then we read the responsorial psalm, “Take delight in the Lord and He will grant your heart’s request." (Ps 37:4) That is true. I know that for a fact. And I think anybody who has truly, simply, said 'yes' to the Lord has experienced that delight in the Lord. Everything your heart truly desires is there because it all is in God.

There is nothing else.

God's Garden

2009-01-31T16:11:00.003-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was thinking today about when we were farming in Boulder* and it seemed like the land grew stones. Every spring we had to go out and collect stones. If you didn’t, you did not get the harvest you planted. If you planted barley and there were a lot of stones, not only did it mess the machinery up, you just didn’t get the harvest. You would plant but the seeds would fall on the stones and not grow.

We needed the seasons to help bring the stones up so we could see them. As we all know, in the winter the land freezes and compresses the stone and then pushes it up so that you can see it to pick it up. That's why the earth seemed to give birth to these stones.

So too for us, we need the dry seasons in our life to push the stones up so that we can see them and gather them in order to have a rich harvest for the Lord.

I was reflecting today on how in the Mass first the Word is tossed to us in abundance like seed. And every good farmer knows that the best thing to do after you plant is to water. What happens immediately after we receive the Word? The Eucharist waters that Word so that it grows and flourishes. We are so blessed and it’s so good that we have such a good Gardener—the Father.

*The Abbey of St. Walburga used to be located in Boulder, Colorado.

On the Holy Name of Jesus

2009-01-24T15:47:00.002-07:00

A reflection on using the Name of Jesus by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was reading the passage of Isaiah this morning where it says, “my ears will listen for your prayers; ad even before you ask me, I will say to you: Here I am.” (Is 58:9) What a gift! What a gift that we have been given God’s name to call upon—the name of Jesus. When you use the name of somebody you are able to direct what you want to say to a particular person, and that person knows exactly who you’re talking to. Even more if you call out a person’s name that person can’t very well just keep walking away from you (it’s rather rude if he would). In just the same way, we know that, Jesus, in all graciousness will never not be there when we call out to Him .

Friendship

2009-01-16T15:05:00.001-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I would like to say a few words about friendship— a relationship which is important. Friendship usually consists in the fact that we find an appreciation or a likeness in somebody else in the way they think or in the things they enjoy. But, not all friendship is from God. As St. Paul says you have to “test the spirits.” We may enjoy somebody, but for what reasons? That’s what’s so important. Friendship should always begin with a striving for what is good and right and for virtue. Sadly, I think the world today views friendship as “What can I get out of you for me?”

We’ve lost the gift of friendship and what it means to simply love somebody for who they are. The person we love belongs to God and is not a tool for our gratification. Friendships without this all break up because they must be grounded in God. If friendship is not grounded in God, it will never achieve its purpose. We should be encouraging each other in virtue and striving for that which makes life holy. And friendship is holy when it brings this about. Look at the things that unite you with your friends. Is it doing good works for others? Is it love?

God's Vulnerability

2009-01-07T09:49:00.002-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

I was thinking about the Gospel reading when the father says to his sons, “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” (Lk 21:28-32) And then the son gives a response. In other words, what the father says to his son is probably in the setting of a question: “Son, will you go out?” This made me think of the vulnerability of God. He doesn’t demand anything of us, He asks it of us. And when anybody asks, there’s the option of a 'yes' or a 'no'.

I looked up in the dictionary the word 'vulnerable' and it said “capable of or susceptible of being wounded.” What humility God has allowed Himself to take on! You hear of people desiring to take control of things while God Himself gives us free will. Even He does not control us. He allows Himself to be vulnerable; susceptible to be hurt. I looked at that and was utterly amazed at what God has done for us and what it means that He gave us free will. Do we give each other that freedom as well? Are we open to being vulnerable?

I really marvel more and more at what God has done for us in simply asking, “Will you follow me?”

Trusting God In All Things

2008-12-22T16:11:00.003-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

What we hear from Isaiah still pertains to us in our day when it says, "I am the Lord who grasp you by your right hand it is I who say to you 'Fear not. I will help you." Over and over again we hear God saying, "Overcome your independence and let me help you." What a sad thing when we don't want God's help. He offers us His right hand to help us!

Sometimes we are like a desert but it is then that we have to trust that God will plant Himself there in us and He will make us flourish. Once again, He's asking us to believe the impossible. We should believe it can happen; it happens all the time. And we have to remember that. He gives us the key we need, we simply have to open it... and that's our faith and trust. Even in this life, it is all there if we're willing to believe God and to trust Him. Happiness is there for us if we're willing to believe. Truly all things are at our fingertips.

A Religious Vocation: Returning Love for Love

2008-12-13T14:37:00.006-07:00

"Jesus looking at him [the young man] with love said, 'You lack one thing. Go, sell all your possessions and give to the poor, then come Follow Me." (Mk 10:21) Over and over again, people kneel before the Lord and ask Him with sincere hearts, "Lord what can I do for you? Where shall I serve you?" And day after day, moment after moment, the Heart of Jesus calls "Follow Me!" He calls in different ways and to different vocations. But there are some who hear the special call Jesus gave to the young man in the Gospel passage above, the call to dispossess themselves completely and to follow Him into the hidden life of obedience in a cloister. This is indeed a special call, to devote one's life to prayer and sacrifice in the heart of the Church. And it is motivated by one thing only: that look of love from our Lord Jesus. Those who feel this call, who see His glance of love, desire only to return that Love for love, to give all without counting the cost. In this day where there is tv, radio, internet, ipods-- you name it-- God's voice often gets drown out by the constant noise and business-- the Voice that is only heard in the silence of the heart. And yet, He continues to call, to choose, to love.

Judy Baumgartner is one such person who while in the midst of the noise of the world, looked into her heart and heard God's call. Judy joined our community in August of this year and has recently been received by us as a postulant. Postulancy is a period when the woman discerning the Benedictine rule, our traditions, and our ways of prayer as she lives the community life. This is a period of discernment on the part of the individual and the community as we attempt to discover together whether she seems genuinely to be called to our monastery and way of life.

Judy, left a steady 15 year career with the Navy, a house and friends to follow Jesus's call to be one of His own. She says that what attracted her to this particular community is our "Benedictine spirituality, the daily rhythm of prayer and work, and the joyfulness/joyful spirit of the community." She daily seeks the face of God as she prays and works with us and learns everyday to go deeper into the heart of this life. She is a blessing to our community and to the Church.

If you are a woman discerning your vocation, join us for a weekend vocation retreat coming in January. For more information please visit us at: www.walburga.org/Vocations2.html

An Advent Reflection

2008-12-06T15:31:00.002-07:00

A reflection for the beginning of Advent by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

During Advent we hear in the Gospel: “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Be watchful, be alert, you do not know when the time will come.” Advent is not a time of repentance in the sense that we look at sin and how God has redeemed us (as we do in Lent), but rather to look at what we have done with the Resurrection. How have we applied that to our life so that it can encourage us at the end times --which began after the death of Christ? It’s a time for all of us to look and ask, “Have we used the power of the Resurrection in our lives to better our lives, to know that we are called to be faithful; faithful to the King of kings?”

This is a time to look and ask, “What do I need to do to be converted unto the Lord?” As Benedictine nuns, we take a vow of conversion. What does this vow of conversion mean? It is a vow to begin each day anew. But you can’t begin anew unless you know what you’re fighting against. That is important. It says in the letter to the Ephesians: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers with the world rulers of this present darknesss, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore put on the armor of God that you may be able to resist on the evil day and having done everything to hold your ground.” (Eph 6:12-13) Stability. Stability is another of our vows. And part of stability is being able to stand and listen to the word that is given. Don’t run. If it causes you to hear of things in yourself that need to be changed, stand firm and listen. And it will bring healing. It says in the Holy Rule of St. Benedict “To prefer nothing to the Love of Christ.” (RB 4:21) That is the only way to fight evil. Who and what do you prefer in your own life? What voice do you answer?

2008-11-22T16:35:00.001-07:00

A reflection on the beginning of the book of Revelation by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB (cf. Rev. 2-3).

I love the part of the book of Revelation we’ve been hearing in Mass, when the Spirit speaks to the Churches. I love it simply because at some points Christ is chastening them and at other points He’s saying 'you’re doing well.' Isn’t that what life is about? We’re ever being told “Return to Me in this area” and in another area we hear “Let Me strengthen you, be strong, you’re coming to Me. Follow Me.” In the message to Smyrna we hear “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.” (Rev. 2:10) Isn’t that enough to give us courage? Christ knows what He’s calling us to. But He’s not going to call us to anything that He won’t give us the grace for. We know that He’s knocking in order to dine with us. We know that wherever we’re called we always end up meeting Him. Wherever we’re called, He’ll meet us and give us the grace for the day. Whatever we have to suffer we need to be encouraged in knowing that if we’re seeking God, that’s who we’ll find.

Letting Go

2008-11-15T15:50:00.002-07:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We hear from St. Paul, “Do everything without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God.” (Phil 2: 14-15) What are the things that cause people to grumble or murmur? When something is taken, why do we cling to it? Why do we identify with something so much that we would be angry if it were taken from us? Sometimes the things you hang on to the tightest are the very things you should get rid of first; because they’re the very things that tie your heart down. They keep you from seeking God because you spend so much time protecting those things or identifying with them instead of identifying with the Cross.

I think one of the most precious things we have is our opinion. Sometimes we even have to give that to God and let Him dispose of it. We need to be able to give everything to God. Take notice of the things that ruffle you a little. Notice the things that your heart is entwined around. If it’s not the Cross it’s not of God. If we purify our heart we won’t be rooted in the earth, we’ll be rooted in Heaven.

The Dignity of The Person

2008-11-08T15:29:00.002-07:00

A reflection on the Gospel reading for November 8, 2008 (Lk 16:9-15) by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel today it says, “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth so that when it fails you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Lk 16:9) I had to think for a moment about what Jesus meant by dishonest wealth. And then I remembered Matthew the tax collector. We know how the tax collectors made money. They charged what the government wanted and then they charged whatever they thought they could get out of the people. And yet Jesus still went to his house for a banquet. Because Jesus honored Matthew as a person, the conversion happened. I think Jesus asks us to do other than the Pharisees did. The Pharisees who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. They loved money, it wasn’t people they cared about.

When people want to begin a relationship with another, they give what they have. And if you’re gracious back, they look to see why you would hold them in such esteem. It’s not money. It’s because they are in the image and likeness of Christ. It’s so important to remember that what comes before anything else is the dignity of man—no matter where you are. Think of the impact you can have if you love the poor and the great alike.

What Matters Is Christ

2008-11-01T16:26:00.002-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The call comes. There’s a specific moment when each of us are touched by a word by a gesture by something. And I was thinking of the call of Philip and Nathanael where Jesus says “Because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree do you believe?” (Jn 1:50) Do you believe? That’s what binds us all together—the fact that we believe together. Our focus has to be on Christ. Any time it’s anything other we drag.

We hear about this even with Peter. After the Resurrection when Jesus and Peter are walking along the beach and Peter turns to the Beloved Disciple and says, “Lord what about this man?” And Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come what is that to you? Follow me.” (Jn 21:21-23) I love that. It’s like Jesus is saying “Your concern has to be: you follow me. I’ll take care of the rest. I’m the capstone. I’ll keep it together. Your duty is to follow me, keep your eyes on me.”

Cut out the things that distract you from Christ. Whether it be “O this person has that gift. This person has this. O this person gets to do that.” There is nothing better than to follow Christ.

Be Holy

2008-10-18T15:09:00.004-06:00

A reflection on the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 14 (Gal. 5:1-6; Lk 11:37-41) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

In the Gospel we hear, "O you Pharisees."(Lk 11:39) Sometimes when I hear this I think, "Dear God, I hope I am not unknowingly in that crowd!" We all want to look perfect. St. Benedict tells us to be holy first. And truly then you won't even worry about looking holy; it won't be your agenda.

Jesus later says in the Gospel, "But as to what is within, give alms and behold, everything will be clean for you." (Lk 39:41) The alms are when we begin to think of the other first. That's the important part for sin basically has to do with selfishness. And then in the first reading we hear, "But only faith working through love."(Gal 5:6) Working through love. Love is a work, a lifetime of work. What doesn't have love will carry no weight in heaven.

...I was thinking when you go through something-- mountains, water-- you are immersed in it, and sometimes you don't even know it. So what does being immersed in love mean?

Gratitude-- The Path to Holiness

2008-10-11T14:53:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

There’s a magazine that described the children of today as “the age of entitlement.” They have been given so much, they feel they are entitled to it. We too have been given so much in life.
But we need to make sure that we are never in the spirit of entitlement.

I have to stop and look at that myself. I have a room to go to, I have running water, I get a shower every night, I have a toothbrush. We have the Eucharist every morning. What more could God give us to desire holiness? What more could He do for us? He’s died for us. Are we willing to die to the little things in us each day? Is it too much to be the 'Good Samaritan' to one another? Is it too much to carry one another with love? I say this to myself.

Can we stand before God and say “thank you for every gift. I recognize it every morning and I give you glory for all that you have done.” I think we need to really strive for holiness in this way. We need to be ever grateful. Gratitude is the heart of prayer, and if it’s in our hearts, we will react with gratitude. It won’t be one of entitlement: I deserve the way in which you treat me; I deserve a good dinner; I deserve what I like. Well, actually, God deserves our everything. He comes first. If we truly prefer nothing to the love of Christ, He will have the center of everything we give.

On How to View Authority

2008-10-04T16:07:00.003-06:00

We hear in Matthew 23:3, Jesus saying : "Do whatever they tell you, but do not follow what they do" It is asif he said, the words they say are mine, but their deeds are their own. Therefore not to bobey because you think, "Well, they don't seem very Godly people," is not what God expects of us. Do what they say, but don't necessarily follow the example-- the example is their own. We are responsible for how we act. Everybody is. But when there is authentic authority, you can trust God's word in them. I think that is one of the most comforting things we can be told-- obedience truly carries the stamp of God. We aren't responsible for anything else but to follow the words.

One who is truly listening to God-- and that pertains to every single one-- will hear the comfort and the challenge. God will always challenge us by His word. He'll comfort us by His word as well.

It says in Luke 9:1: "Jesus summoned the twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases and He sent them to proclaim God and to heal the sick." He took imperfect men, who were still bickering, but even with the imperfect He showed Himself to be the source of everything. They didn't heal, it was God's power in them that healed. The same is with authority-- it is God's power in them, not their own worth. So in that way whatever you hear, take it to heart, because it is God saying, "I love you, and I will change you."

Remember Your Creator

2008-09-27T15:06:00.004-06:00

A reflection on the first Mass reading for September 27 (Eccl. 11:9- 12:8) by Mother Maria Michael Newe, OSB.

This reading this morning from Ecclesiastes is a rather cynical reading. But that one verse "remember your Creator" (Eccl. 12:1) changes the whole of it. It changes the reading because what it says is remembering our Creator tempers our youth and gives joy to to our lives. It's all in remebering who our Creator is. We aren't left to chance. He won't let us make absolute fools of ourselves in our youth; nor will He leave us to lay and do nothing in the years when we're older when we're when maybe things are breaking down in our bodies but but the soul should still be having great life. So as I was reading through this, thinking of the one verse "remember your creator" made me see it so differently. Who in the end is our life to give glory to? If it's God we're going to forget ourselves and there will be youthfullness throughout our whole life because we're looking for our Creator.

Strive for the Right Things

2008-09-20T15:40:00.004-06:00

A reflection on 1 Cor 12:4-12; 27-31 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We hear in St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, "Strive eagerly for the greatest spriritual gifts." (1Cor 12:31) To strive, not just to want, I mean strive: to desire enough that you do it eagerly. What do we strive for in life? I had to ask myself this morning "What am I striving for? Is it to please God or men? Is it to strive for the spiritual gifts or those of which the world says Aren't you a great person?"

It's through prayer that we discover those spiritual gifts; and it's through serving one another that we discover our own gifts. Those gifts are important. St. Paul says: "Are all prophets? Are all teachers?"(ICor 12:2) In other words, don't be jealous of each other's gifts. The gift you are given is where you serve best. If you serve in another place, but it's not given by God, it won't serve anybody-- not even yourself.

So it's a matter of striving for the right things.

Suscipe Me Domine

2008-09-19T10:13:00.008-06:00

September 8, 2008, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, was a doubly joyous occasion as two of our sisters made their First Profession. Sr. Lioba (Julia) Headlee and Sr. Maria-Gertrude (Angela) Read made their monastic vows for three years. The three monastic vows, dating from the earliest religious communities in the Church, are stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life, and obedience. All orders which follow the Rule of St. Benedict use these ancient vows. In making their vows for three years, the sisters not only formally commit themselves to our community and but also choose to bind themselves more intimately with Christ. After declaring their vows before the assembled Church, they confirmed their act with the traditional prayer from Psalm 119: "Suscipe me Domine secundum eloquium tuum et vivam; et non confundas me ab expectatione meam."* With arms raised in the air, mirroring the form of the Cross, they sang this verse three times, thus asking God to receive their vows and to always be the source and strength from which they flow.

In addition to receiving a religious name, the sisters received the black veil and full lenght scapular. All of these are symbols of their desire to be dead to the world and to live a new life in Christ. May He bring them to the fullfillment of all their desires-- union with Him.

*translated: "Uphold me O Lord according to your word and I shall live; and let me not be confounded in my hope."

Sin and Forgiveness

2008-09-13T14:50:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

We often don't see illnesses of the soul we just see the living out of the illness. To see where our actions are coming from takes a lot of prayer and humility. Pride gives us the sense that "I have a right to be this way." And it's like most things, the people who most the the doctor are the most unwilling to go. It's necessary to care for both body and soul and to recognize those things which drag us down, to work on them, and to use what the Church gives us. And one of those things is the sacrament of reconciliation. Are we so sure when we say we don't need it? Is there not something that may need healing?

We don't always know the full extent of our actions: the things we say to one another, how we treat one another. If you see anything that says that you may have hurt a person, pray about it. You don't know what they're carrying in their life.

Our Lord tells us to forgive-- what a great heart it takes to forgive. But when we are asked to forgive, forgive readily. I know it takes work to forgive, but I have to remember that someone is probably working just as hard to forgive me something too. Forgive and let the healing ointment of love and charity pour out on all those who are not only far away from us, but also sitting right next to us.

Pools of Grace

2008-09-05T09:37:00.004-06:00

A reflection on praying the Divine Office by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

One of the marks of a contemplative Benedictine is the Divine Office. That is our desire- to pray the psalms together. And sometimes we don't even know why we have such a desire for it; but we desire to be there to have the psalms pour forth from us.

It doesn't matter how we feel when we go in to pray. We need to put on the heart of the Church-- which is Christ-- and pray for His people. The psalms are really the prayers of God's whole people, which are poured forth through us.

I believe the psalms we pray are pools of grace for all people. Those who are thirsty come here and they drink of the psalms we pray. So often we hear people say, "I feel like there's such peace here." Why? It's the spring of water, the beauty of the Divine Office, that refreshes them and sends them on their way filled once again. Thus I am reminded of the verse from Isaiah which says:

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain.

Their tongues are parched with thirst.

I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

I will open up rivers on the bare heights

and fountains in the dry valleys...

and the dry ground with springs of water. (Is 41:17-18)

Emptying Ourselves to Pray In the Name of the Church

2008-08-30T15:09:00.003-06:00

A reflection on praying the Divine Office by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

When we come to pray, it's important that we empty ourselves. As Benedictine nuns we have statio*-- that's a very important time for us. It must be a time in which we empty ourselves of ourselves-- of our cares, our jobs, everything we're doing. Our hearts have to be empty because when we pray the Divine Office, we don't pray our own words. We pray the psalms, and we must be empty enough that our hearts can take up the psalms as if they were our own, because we pray as the Church before the throne of God. The psalms carry every person in the world, every emotion, every situation.

Mary prayed the psalms, Christ prayed the psalms! When we pray the psalms, it's the Holy Spirit within us praying. But if we're not empty, how can that happen?

*Statio is the five minutes before Vespers which the nuns use to recollect themselves before entering the Church to pray.

The Simplicity of Our Blessed Mother, Mary

2008-08-25T16:32:00.005-06:00

A reflection on the Blessed Mother by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

It was not through the extraordinary that Mary achieved holiness, but simply living the ordinary in an extraordinary way. This is a basic truth of holiness, and it is the mark of many a hidden monastic who unbeknownst to us reached great heights of sanctity and are the hidden jewels of God on earth. It is not the interaction of heaven in Mary’s life, as seen in the Annunciation, but her response in pure humility and obedience far beyond that of that holy mother, that pause in time, that changed the whole course of mankind at her simple “yes”.

Mary was without sin, yet there is nothing about her life that is recorded in the Gospels or anywhere else, that says she ever expected to be treated special because of this privilege. It’s quite the contrary in fact. She shared deeply in the life of her Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As Jesus was obedient unto death, Mary too shared in this life of obedience. Once married, Mary was obedient to Joseph, for it was to Joseph that the angel appeared with the instructions to flee Herod who was seeking the death of Jesus. Mary shared so deeply in Christ’s life, and shared so much in the suffering, and yet hers is a soul of hope.

In the Gospels we hear that Jesus' family is concerned about Him: “He went home again and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relations heard of this, they set out to take charge of him. They said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” (Mk 3:20-21) Think of all the talk and sorrow that came – Mary was steeped in real life. She did not have the privilege of heaven telling her every moment, “this is going to happen” or “don’t worry, everything will be okay.” Each time we read of her in the Gospels, there’s something that we can share in our own lives that makes her one of us.

We think of Mary as sinless, therefore it we conclude that it should have been easier for her. She did not share the inclination to sin. Thus she would not have felt bitterness towards somebody in the same way we do. But I think her sinlessness would have made her more compassionate and thus, she suffered greatly.

After Christ died, and she had been through the whole passion, we see her Son on the Cross giving her to John. Imagine that grief – her son was God, who then says: “Woman, behold your son!” (Jn 19:26) What a moment. And then, once more, she was obedient to John, he was now the head. Mary never lived a moment in which she did not have to be obedient to somebody.

The last thing we hear about Mary, in the Acts of Apostles, is “With one heart, all of these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus.” (Acts 1:14) Mary was not a chosen leader in the Church. Mary did not head a group, we don’t hear any of that. She lived simply a life of prayer. And isn’t that what we are called to? We hear of the early Church that all lived as one heart, and we know that’s also what St. Benedict taught. Therefore, our lives can be close to Mary’s. She lived so simply, and we are called to the same.

Mary spent the rest of her life praying for the Church. If we ever believe that praying for the Church is a small thing, we can look at Mary. We too can join her in prayer for the Church. This should cause us to live in pure hope of our own resurrection, when we will be called to be with Christ, body and soul, in heaven.

Free for Christ

2008-08-23T15:30:00.003-06:00

A reflection on the Rule of St. Benedict by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

You know, we don’t often refer to Chapter 73 of the rule, it’s usually Chapter 72 On the Good Zeal. But Chapter 73 is on “The Fact that the Full Observance of Justice is Not Established in This Rule.” In other words, rules aren’t enough. There has to be the heart. The rules can bring you to Christ, and then He’s going to ask you for more. What will bring me to greater union with God? The rules simply bring us into His presence and free us to be available to Christ. I think it’s a free heart that He looks for, in order that He can have that heart to freely give to the Father.
“Whoever you are therefore who are hastening to the heavenly homeland”. (RB 73:2) Remember – keep your eyes on eternity. I think that’s one of the important things about Benedictines. Even our liturgy has a touch of heaven. It’s for the glory of God, and it should keep our eyes on eternity. At the end of Chapter 73, the Rule says: “Fulfill with the help of Christ this minimal rule which we have written for beginners, and then at length with God’s protection, you will obtain to the loftier heights we have mentioned.” (RB73:9) It’s the loftier heights we always reach for, so we can always say, what do I still lack? And we can say when we stand before Christ, “What more would you want of me?” Let’s pray that we are ever open each day to do a little bit more.

Humility: Rejoicing in God's Gifts

2008-08-16T16:05:00.004-06:00

A reflection for the Gospel reading for Wednesday, August 13 (Mt 18:15-20) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB.

The only way we really can live is to recognize our own sinfulness and that's what it talks about in the Gospel. I had to laugh as I thought: "If one person tells you something you should listen, but if three do you should really listen!" The only way to lead is to know and to be open to our own weaknesses that we may have compassion and insight for others. If we do not ever know our own wretchedness how will we ever know God's greatness? And I think that's what humility holds for us: as we go lower, and become more open our own wretchedness, we discover the miracle that we are where we are-- that we haven't done worse! I think there's great rejoicing when we see our wretchedness and know that only by God's grace are we not worse. I started thinking about that and I thought "What a wonderful way to begin a day to know we're on our way to God, to heaven, to everlasting life!"

And that is only God's gift. Everything is God's gift. If we could take that and rejoice in the miracles that just get us through the day, we would appreciate more the gift that recognizes God in our life. If we can simply live each day that way there's actually no reason for sorrow, there's no reason to let pride get a hold of us. If we can simply grow in that way, our joy will know no bounds.

Investiture of Two Novices

2008-08-11T15:34:00.004-06:00

On the Feast of St. Martha, July 29, of this year we received two new Novices into our Community. Sr. Kristina and Sr. Raisa entered the novitiate after completing their time of postulancy. The postulants were received as novices at the ceremony of investiture, during which they were clothed in the Benedictine habit of our Abbey.

Before receiving the white veil and habit, the postulants knelt before the altar to allow Mother Maria-Michael to cut off their hair—a sign that they have chosen to lay down worldly adornments that they may seek God with a pure and undivided heart. On presenting the postulants with the habit, Mother Maria-Michael invoked them to remember the words of St. Paul “Put on the new man who is created according to God’s image,” for their new outward appearance should reflect the inner transformation at work. After donning the habit, each new novice was girded with a belt—the sign of obedience—and the novices’ scapular—a sign of the yoke of our Lord Jesus Christ which they have consented to bear.

Please pray with us that our new novices’ next period of formation will be full of grace as they seek to discern ever deeper the will of God and to hear where His voice is calling them.

Working With God

2008-08-06T10:31:00.003-06:00

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe based on the Scripture readings: Mt 13:44-46 and Jer 18:1-6.

I was thinking today about God’s excitement to show us the way. Would we be excited to go on a treasure hunt with God? Would we be excited to know that He has a pearl for us in the field of Scriptures that’s ours to find? What is the pearl in Scriptures for us?

And when we hear in Jeremiah about going to the potter’s shop, what caught me was seeing that God isn’t rigid. The evil one says “It’s my way or the highway”; but God says “Well, I’ll work with you.” How do we live in life? Is it: “my way or the highway”? Or is it: “I want to work with you. I want to be with you and work together to make something beautiful. That in all things God may be glorified"?

God is working with you. He’s not rigid. He says, “Let’s make something beautiful in life.”