Being 21 again

Saturday morning seven Canisius College students squeezed into their oversized van and headed out in a light January snow--back to their urban Buffalo campus and a return to the life of a student---after a week "as a monastic."

This is the first time we've hosted students at a semester break although there will be two groups here again in March for their "alternative spring break" weeks. It was perfect to have a group from the Great Lakes region, as they found the daily beautiful snowfall "normal" and maneuvered around and within it easily and with great spirits! I was so impressed by their willingness to enter into all aspects of the life-- they all attended every single morning prayer--that's 6:30 am. They mentioned our prayer, both its constancy and its depth, in many of their reflections on the week. It was quite an experience for many of them.

Their presence last week, along with students from a local college who came for a day-long retreat, too, has had our place "hopping," as they say. As luck would have it one of the students shared a birthday with one of our sisters. The birthday party held Friday night--with lots of laughter, charades, an electronic edition of Password and ice cream and cake--was a perfect send off for them.

Luckily, Monday is a holiday and most of us will have the day to "recuperate." Hospitality is a marvelous ministry but a bit of double duty working all day and hosting all evening! The students, I'm sure, will be in a similar state as they go into re-entry before their new classes begin Tuesday.

Here's the gift they left for us. There will be a slide show of their visit and the birthday party on our community site today, if it's not there already.

Onto Eternal Life

For the past 10 years or so many of our sisters have chosen cremation instead of the traditional casket burial. If you've never been to a burial service with cremains, I think you would find it---obviously quite different---but much more personal and participative.

Even though I have been to quite a few now, I still find them extremely moving and, as I said above, a fitting and very personal finale to the death and burial rituals celebrating the life of one of our sisters.

Yesterday, we had another one and the experience was the same, albeit in 4-5" of freshly fallen snow. One of our sisters reminded me of a beautiful book in our library with photos and meditations by the Trappist Thomas Merton, many of which were taken in their cemetery in the winter, too. Our scenario was very similar.

These photos really don't do any justice to the experience, but you may get a little idea of the intimacy of the occasion, as 15-20 of us huddled together, and offered prayers and song to accompany our sister into eternal life. All of us were also able to both bless the urn and add a shovel-full of soil to her resting place. It is a very special and memorable experience.

See our community's website here for a statement from the LCWR/CMSM on the Tucson, AZ tragedy.

Ordinary Monday

Last Monday's "Words of 2010." Or as my high school students use to call these, a Multiple Guess quiz!

Cyberchondriac: a)a Dr. Who monster b)someone who diagnoses their own imagined ailments on the internet c)a faulty robot.

Shamnesia: a)pretending to have forgotten something, usually to avoid embarrassment b)a group of islands in the south Pacific c)a skin disease.

An internot: a)someone who made a success of computer dating b)someone who refuses to do unpaid work experience c)someone who chooses not to use the internet.

A thinterval: a)the break during a play or musical performance in Yorkshire b)the gap between stopping one diet and starting another c)a narrow valley.

Dietribe: a)a lecture on healthy eating from a zealot b)a bitter and violent tirade c)an endangered group of indigenous people.

Manscara: a) a vicious South American crab b)a cosmetic designed to enhance a man's eyelashes c)a tropical disease.

Nostralgia: a)the science of pain relief b)a flowering scrub c)nostalgia brought on by a familiar smell.

Godcasting: a)podcasting with a religious theme b)street preaching c)creating religious statuary in molten metal.

Swipeout: a)a nasty comment by a TV talent show judge b)the embarrassing experienced when your credit card is rejected c)a surfing accident.

Courtesy of The Tablet magazine.

Our Sr. Marie Celine passed into everlasting life this Saturday. Please remember her and all of us in your prayers.

Goodbye Christmas season. Blessed Ordinary Time begins today!

Any unusual vow

The January-February issue of our diocese's Faith magazine is now online. The cover story is on marriage encounters. The editor often asks the columnists to consider the theme in writing their column. I never have, but this time I had an idea and tried. With credit given to our Joan Chittister whose chapter on stability in Wisdom Distilled from the Daily I read before writing. I hope readers like it.

It's online here. Go to p. 23.

Also, new things on our community website if you haven't been there for a couple days.

2010's New Words

"Epiphany" was one of five religious terms to challenge the readers in a magazine's Language Game page for the end of the year. This weekend we had a beautiful celebration of the Christian Epiphany which always includes songs we only sing on this occasion...in full voice. After all, they have to last 12 months!

The "words of the year" in this article included: cyberchondriac, shamnesia, an internot, a thinterval, dietribe, manscara, nostralgia, Godcasting and swipeout.

We had our first big melt this weekend, two days in the 50s! Here's what it did to our lakefront...lots of dunes and open water, and gorgeous ice-sculpted waves. Click on them to enlarge.

One of our more colorful nonagenarians stopped by our front desk this week and asked the sister on duty: "What are those lights on the front lawn?"
The sister answered, "Those lights are on our peace sign."
"Peace sign?"
"Yes, P-E-A-C-E, the peace sign that's at the front entrance every Christmas?"
"Oh.......Are we still for that?"

Lots of Christmas photos here on our community's website if you haven't browsed lately.

And the new AIM USA newsletter is now online here.

Happy 2011 to all....and thanks for being a reader of "Light Through Stained-Glass Windows." Let us all pray for peace this Saturday...New Year's Day but also a World Day of Peace.

Christmas at our house

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

Mary Oliver