religious life
ONe learNS that God comes while sweeping the floor and weeding the garden, in caring for the sick and the elderly, teaching the novices and shearing the sheep.
The secret to a balanced life: liturgy, lectio, labor Three traditional monastic practices allow followers to be brought home to the heart of Jesus.
by
SiSter Katie McNaMara, O.c.S.O.
I
n a world that seems at times to be spinning out of control, there is a place apart where life is simple, focused, and down-to-earth. In this refuge one can hear silence, touch solitude, and listen with the ear of the heart. and the best thing about it is that it is forever. Unlike a costly vacation to a resort, where the peace advertised is for a space
Sister Katie McNamara, O.C.S.O., a Cistercian nun, is infirmarian and vocation director of Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
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of time only, the monastic life offers a peace that is not an escape but a return to reality, to that real world for which the human heart was first created. In the cacophony of today’s society the heart is often deafened to the voice of God. In monastic life we are led out into the desert where there is no place to hide and therefore where we can find our true selves in God. The horizons stretch as far as the eye can see, allowing hearts to expand on the journey toward the God who has called us to follow. The wideopen spaces overflow with the freedom found only when one is brought home to the heart of Jesus.
VISION 2011
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6/18/2010 3:27:31 PM
