I am home (at the monastery) for the whole Labor Day weekend! It is the biggest weekend of the year for our community. All our ceremonies happen this weekend. In other words, if a women is in the process of becoming a Benedictine, all the baby-steps along the way happen during this holiday weekend.
The first "happy thing" on the list was the blessing of our newest faces. Three wonderful women have been invited to do our "Live-In" Program. These three may live with us - inside the monastery - for up to one year as they continue to discern GOD's call. They are free to come and go, to share in our prayer and common life until we mutually discern the next step. I encourage every serious candidate to do the "Live-In" if possible. Some cannot because of distance and financial responsibilities. But those who can find it an indispensable tool in determining whether this way - our way - is also their way to GOD.
Joanna arrived a few weeks ago to begin a new job in our BEACON ministry. She was teaching Theology at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, NC. Shirley comes to us from California. She recently retired from the LA public school system. She will be using her many gifts internally in the monastery. Rosa is a member of All Saints Catholic Church nearby in Manassas and met one of our sisters at Mass on a Saturday morning. She's been praying with us every Sunday for several months. We are so happy that each of these women found their way to Bristow. GOD is good...sneaky, really, but soooo good!
Please keep our new friends in prayer.
Blessings and love to you all...
- Sister Vicki
