Thursday, April 16, 2015

Dear God,

There are some places that just scream "home."  They give to us a sense of welcome, hospitality, and love.  You belong here, you are safe here, you are loved here, they seem to say.

There is no place more home to me than a monastery.  For 30 years I have been wooed to monasteries.  I have been drawn to their worship, to their witness, and to their grace.  The moment I just see the building from a distance, I draw a deep breath and breathe out "aaaahhh!"

I have the greatest sense of your living, loving presence in a monastery.  I know you are there and I drink in that presence letting it sink deep into my soul.  In your presence there my priorities shift, my love for you goes deep and my faith leaps and dances.  Joy erupts inside me at a monastery because I know we are there together.  Insights come, my well is filled up, and challenges to my faith, attitudes, and actions rise up to meet me.  Hope is great and peace is possible.

As I reflect my heart is happy when I think of the Carmelites, the sisters of St. Joseph, the sisters of St. Benedict, and all the monasteries where I have retreated in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Maine, and New Mexico, USA, France, and Italy.  I am grateful, so very, very grateful.

You are worthy
of praise,
O Lord;
you are worthy
of praise.

Love, Andrea