The View Up Here

Monastery of St. Clare I am beginning the third week of my live-in at the Monastery of St. Clare. These two weeks were sadly interrupted by a trip back to Elmira this past week to attend the funeral of my dear Aunt Stella, who was 94. The emotion of processing her death, the weight of grieving, as well as the joy of seeing so many of my cousins I hadn't seen in years, all of it, was very overwhelming. Yesterday I took a quiet day at the monastery (not doing work during the work periods), and today being Sunday is also a quiet afternoon. Tomorrow I will be back to the regular horarium (schedule).  In the midst of all this, my relationship with Jesus is central. I am living the reality now that no matter what I am called to in this life, my relationship with Jesus is central. It's so easy to say those words, to nod and even say "Well...duh." But living that truth is the challenge of Christian life. In the sea of confusion, emotion, choices, and anguish is the ...

In the Gospel of John, Yeshua tenderly washes the apostles' feet, then sits down and asks them, "Do you know what I have done for you?" (Jn 13:12) At the time, Simon (Cephas/Peter) and the apostles didn't really catch on to what was  going  on. But eventually, they did. And so can we. Jesus (Yeshua)  has shown us that we are to be servant leaders; we are to serve our brothers and sisters in humility and love - just as He did. In Holy Thursday Mass, we have the "washing of the feet" to commemorate this act. But what does it really mean, and why did Jesus wash the disciples' feet, not  just  serve a meal or do some other act of service? We must do two things to unpack this gesture - one is the examine the physicality of it, and the other is to remember Jesus' time and place. Jesus took off his outer garment and wrapped a towel around his waist. Taking off an outer garment can symbolize getting ready to work (akin to "rolling up one'...

My, my, my how time flies. The school year has ended, all my work is done. Tomorrow I leave for two splendid weeks of discernment, living in a Carmelite monastery in San Diego, across these three beautiful feasts of the Church. Can it be true? How did I get here? I hardly know... except to say by the magnificent, grandiose, spoil-me-rotten grace of God. I have specifically been asking to know the Holy Spirit more intimately. Holy Spirit is, to my mind, "the mover and the shaker" in the Trinity. The Father is Creator and Being, Jesus Messiah is Redeemer and Rest, and it is in His Body that I rest. So we have upcoming: Pentecost Sunday, Holy Trinity Sunday, and the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). In fact it was exactly one year ago on Trinity Sunday that I first went to to the Carmel to visit - Carmel of the Most Holy Trinity. Come, Holy Spirit, come! The past year was really rough - those girls got to my heart and I ached and I spilled...