Be a blessing to those around you

Some more days with high temperatures in the mid-30s and higher. Our snow is nearly all melted. I hope we get more snow for the care of the earth.

There is a retreat going on here at the Motherhouse this week. The retreat director is Fr. Albert Haase, OFM—a Franciscan Friar of the St. Louis Province. The retreat title is “The Art and Heart of the Spiritual Journey.” I sat in on Monday afternoon’s conference, and liked what I heard. One thing he said was that “contemplation is looking for and finding God in our daily life.” When we are aware, God is everywhere. That is true. Most of the time, we don’t think about God in our life. Thursday afternoon, instead of a talk, we will have a Healing/Anointing Service in Chapel…and the talk will be at 6 p.m.

Last Wednesday our dining Adventure featured Australia. Then in the evening, Sr. Karen told us about her month-long trip to Australia to visit the Brothers and Priests that she taught and worked with when she was stationed in Africa. It must have been a wonderful trip. The Brothers and Priests were very happy to see her. Since they, like us, are getting older, they know they’ll probably not see her again until the big cross-over into Eternal Life. Sister Irenemaree, whose home country is Australia, was at our gathering to fill in additional information about Australia.

On Sunday, several of us attended the 42nd Annual Pro-Life Dinner sponsored by the Morrison County Chapter of Minnesota Citizens Concerned For Life at the Little Falls Ballroom. Fr. Jeremy Ploof, a local Catholic Priest, lead the opening prayer and was one of the speakers. The essay winner was Allyson Kahler, daughter of one of employees. Allyson’s mother, Kay, said her daughter really worked hard on that essay. Congratulations, Allyson, you did a fine job. The good news of the day, for me, was to realize that the number of abortions is going down each year.

This week is Catholic Schools Week. God bless all teachers and students in the Catholic School system. Having taught and been principal in Catholic Schools for nearly 50 years, my heart is still there. Catholic Schools do a marvelous job of educating students.

Well, that’s about all the news I know. May God bless you and those you love. And, you, be a blessing to those around you.

Peace,

Sr. Mary Lou