We’ll be talking about making good decisions and choices this Sunday; here are some questions to prepare you for the discussion. Change in life is inevitable, no matter how much we try to avoid it. How can we learn to embrace change as something good for us, especially the change that occurs within us? What can we make of the pardoxical words from this reflection that the one constancy we have (the one unchanging thing) is that we are always confronted with a changing world? What can this reflection teach us about Christianity that it is more than simply being a good person? Whom will you serve today?
SrSUsanMarie (guest): The topic tonight focuses on change. What are some changes we face? Here at the Monastery, we change every time a retreatant comes, in a small way of course! 9 PM
Judy K: That’s a nice change in my life. Now how’s that for a segue into tonight’s topic. The first question about embracing change–the only thing that I can think of is to see it an a challenge or an opportunity for growth, rather than as a threat or stumbling block.
Aug 23 2015, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: Everything changes except God
, 7:30 PM
SrSUsanMarie (guest): So true, Lisa! But how we relate to God can change
Lisa C: Yes, Mother, and God causes that change
Judy K: Even a negative change like losing a job, can be a challenge to go beyond oneself, and to seek something more meaningful, or of greater service to others.
Judy K: WE ourselves are constantly changing–growing/shrinking, health changes, tastes ( e.g clothing), the weather is always changing. people move from place to place, change jobs. It is obvious that much is changing, but what does not change is the fact that most, if not all, things change.
Sister Susan Marie: So that too is a change!
Gerri Unger: We can all use prayers and friendships
Sister Susan Marie: It’s the interior life and how one grows within that is so significant
Lisa C: Even our climate is changing ….not saying what is causing the change though
Carol Ann: Sometimes we ourselves change so fast we cannot keep up with ourselves!
Aug 23 2015, 7:59 PM
Judy K: We have all found that is so wonderful to be able to share our faith with one another.
01 PM
Judy K: I think that our faith is the driving force for all of y.
Aug 23 2015, 8:01 PM
Judy K: us
Aug 23 2015, 8:01 PM
Ruth (guest): Carol Ann, that happened to me six years ago when I was injured falling through an open trap door and three concussions within seconds and have since then not been able to enjoy walking any more, because of the pain. It took a long time to get so that I could even cope with all tha
8:01 PM
Carol Ann: You understand how I feel then, Ruth. 02 PM
Carol Ann: I am so amazed at how you just keep going
Aug 23 2015, 8:03 PM
Judy K: Yes, Ruth, you are our very own Energizer Bunny.
03 PM
Ruth (guest): Thank you Carol Ann. We can do all things in HIM who stengthens us.
Gerri Unger: Yes that is very true for me also
Aug 23 2015, 8:04 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Yes Ruth, and when we think we can’t take the next step- He takes our hand and leads us
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Gerri Unger: It is through Him we move and have our being……..
Aug 23 2015, 8:05 PM
Judy K: No, but I was following up on Carol Anne’s comment about how you just keep on going–like the Energizer Bunny.
Aug 23 2015, 8:05 PM
Ruth (guest): I did use it in an e-mail to a friend. Mostly I feel TIRED almost all the time.
:06 PM
Carol Ann: I think He picked me up & is carrying me6 PM
Ruth (guest): Do you know what a Stehaufmenchen is?
Aug 23 2015, 8:06 PM
Judy K: And without Him, we can do nothing. I share that constant fatigue with you Ruth. It is part of the make-up of MS.
8:07 PM
Carol Ann: No, what is it?
Aug 23 2015, 8:07 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes. I understand, Judy K. Energy level varies so much . . .
Aug 23 2015, 8:07 PM
Judy K: Hi Sister Mary Roberta!
Aug 23 2015, 8:07 PM
Sister Susan Marie: “When you are experiencing some physical pain or a sorrowful heart, try to endure it before God, recalling as much as you can that He is watching you at this time of affliction…. Don’t force yourself to pray, for a simple adherence to God’s will, expressed from time to time, is enough. Moreover, suffering borne in the will quietly and patiently is a continual, very powerful prayer before God, regardless of the complaints and anxieties that come from the inferior part of the soul.”
Aug 23 2015, 8:07 PM
Sister Susan Marie: That’s from St Jane de Chantal
Aug 23 2015, 8:08 PM
Ruth (guest): A Stehaufmenchen is a little toy figure of a human with a weighted round bottom. If you knock it over, it pops up again.
Aug 23 2015, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Hello!
Aug 23 2015, 8:08 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Hi Sister!
Aug 23 2015, 8:08 PM
Lisa C: Hi Sister Mary Roberta
9 PM
Ruth (guest): Hello Sr. Roberta Viano.
Aug 23 2015, 8:09 PM
Judy K: Oh, that’s like the little dolls from several years ago which were called “Weebles.” The commercial said, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.” Kind of like me. I call myself a Weeble.”
Aug 23 2015, 8:09 PM
Carol Ann: Oh…I think we are those!
Aug 23 2015, 8:10 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s so true. So just kneeling before Our Lord in the Tabernacle has been the best medicine for me when I’m suffering.
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Gerri Unger: Oh the peace that comes at that time…..
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s us: We wobble but don’t fall – held up as we are by Christ!
1 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: One of the joys of religious life is to have a chapel on every floor with Our Lord present. My present room is right across from it!
Aug 23 2015, 8:11 PM
Judy K: How blessed you are to live in a residence with the Blessed Sacrament under the same roof! How wonderful to be able to go into His sacramental presence any time you want to.
Aug 23 2015, 8:12 PM
Lisa C: Sister you have more than one Chapel?
Aug 23 2015, 8:12 PM
Gerri Unger: Yes Amen to that.
Aug 23 2015, 8:12 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Yes! A big reason for living in the Monastery. And we serve Him simply by being with Him
Aug 23 2015, 8:12 PM
Ruth (guest): FRUSTRATION has been a constant since, it seems, I lost a little bit of my brain, but my former Pastor had an image for me: Four nails in one’s hands and feet are frustrating, too.
Ruth (guest): So I TRY to use the frustration to become more perfectly united to my Lord.
Mary Roberta Viano: SFdS wrote to a sister: “Accept the cross a thousand times a day and kiss it willingly for the love of Him who sends it to you.”
Aug 23 2015, 8:14 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, they do, Lisa. That’s why we refer to them as chapels, rather than prayer rooms.
Aug 23 2015, 8:14 PM
Guest6714 (guest): Sorry to be a bit late this evening, but just had several phone calls. I will try to pick up the conversation.
Aug 23 2015, 8:14 PM
Carol Ann: Wish I could be there
Gerri Unger: It usually takes me a little time to accept…but I am aware of this and trying to chg.
Aug 23 2015, 8:15 PM
Sister Susan Marie: I did not know that Sister
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Judy K: Here we all are at different stages in our Christian lives. One can be a good person without being a Christian. But being a Christian requires change–conversion or metanoia. A change of values to those of the Gospel. Change of focus from self to God and others. Change of lifestyle at times. Change, that is, growth in faith (knowledge, expression, and activities.)
Aug 23 2015, 8:16 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes, and a little scary because now I have been taken on as psychiatrist in a new (1 year old) multispecialty private practice and I am not at all really confident that I can keep up the pace.
Aug 23 2015, 8:16 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Holy Father SFdS also wrote to SJdC: “The one who bears the heaviest cross is the most fortunate. May God then give us greater crosses, but may it please Him to give us greater strength to bear them. Be brave.”
Aug 23 2015, 8:17 PM
Lisa C: He does not send more than we can bear
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Mary Roberta Viano: That’s why I like watching movies like “The Mission” – to be inspired by the missionaries’ bravery as the witness to Christ. 5, 8:18 PM
Ruth (guest): Thank you, Sr. Mary Roberta. Funny, sometimes it seems as if I do not know if I can fly, but I figure I will not know unless I spread my wings and try.
Aug 23 2015, 8:18 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Ruth- good thought on conversion!
Aug 23 2015, 8:18 PM
Judy K: Ruth, you know better than anyone that you need to pace yourself until you find your rhythm in a new setting.Try to remain peaceful in the midst of trying circumstances and do not try to push yourself too hard.
Guest6714 (guest): I love St. Francis de Sales’ thought about always living in the presence of God. When we can see the events in our lives as coming from the hand of God, we can trust that he will offer the grace we need to accept the challenges.
Mary Roberta Viano: Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I try to deal with just a limited amount of work at a time.
Aug 23 2015, 8:21 PM
Lisa C: or do they schedule them without your input?
3 PM
Guest6714 (guest): Good luck to you Ruth, as you begin this new responsibility. Tomorrow we are “kicking” off our new school year with an all faculty, staff and administrators convocation. A new school year calls forth from each of us new energy, new insights and best of all, confidence that we can support one another.
Aug 23 2015, 8:23 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Yes another good thought Guest 6714- living in the Presence of God makes for a sense of a gentle change
Aug 23 2015, 8:23 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: This is an interesting piece of advice from SFdS: “We ought to make a practice once a week of kindling a more vigorous, tender and amorous live of God in our hearts beyond all other love
Mary Roberta Viano: “…and this not only in bearable occurrences but in the most unbearable.”
Aug 23 2015, 8:25 PM
Lisa C: Paper records or electronic?
Aug 23 2015, 8:25 PM
Guest6714 (guest): Good for you for speaking up, Ruth – we must always pursue the right path.
1 viewer
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Ruth (guest): And he hired some 6 or 7 or 8 other people — besides the regular office staff and an internist — for me to work with . . . Social workers, 2 other psychiatrists, a young neuroscience graduate.
Aug 23 2015, 8:26 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: It sounds like you, Lisa, and Ruth can really be a help to one another!
Aug 23 2015, 8:26 PM
Gerri Unger: God,s blessings on all of your new undertakings…..
Aug 23 2015, 8:26 PM
Ruth (guest): Electronic. But he says I will not have to type anything, just dictate.
Aug 23 2015, 8:26 PM
Lisa C: Oh cool Ruth so they can get history and you can write prescriptions
Aug 23 2015, 8:27 PM
Carol Ann: Ruth, what an amazing place to work!
Aug 23 2015, 8:27 PM
Gerri Unger: that seems a lot easier to me , talk instead of typing
Aug 23 2015, 8:27 PM
Ruth (guest): IT specialist. Even a driver, so I will not arrive exhausted from driving.
Aug 23 2015, 8:27 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: What an amazing place to serve Christ, Ruth!
Aug 23 2015, 8:27 PM
Guest6714 (guest): We will be grateful for your prayers on our new school year. We have four students with special needs: two sisters l;ost their mother with cancer in June and two other sisters lost their father with ALS at the end of July. These young women will need our prayerful support.
Aug 23 2015, 8:27 PM
Lisa C: I prefer to not dictate so I can edit and see what I have said or forgotten to say
Aug 23 2015, 8:28 PM
Ruth (guest): I will not JUST write Rxs but may also do SOME therapy, although mostly, for cost-efficiency that has to be left to others.
Judy K: It’s funny! I think that many of us like to think of ourselves as towers of strength when we really are, much of the time, weak and struggling souls. But as was said earlier, we can do all things in Him Who strengthens us. And so we need to embrace our weaknesses rather than try to run away from them. If we embrace and place them in the Lord’s hands, He will surely shore us up and increase our strength.
Mary Roberta Viano: As St. Paul said, Judy, it’s when I am weak that I am strong (in the Lord).
Aug 23 2015, 8:30 PM
Gerri Unger: Yes all of you will be in my prayers…..and I ask for yours…….
Judy K: And ending up with question 4, it is my desire to serve the Lord, His church, His people. I’m not sure that I always do.
Aug 23 2015, 8:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: but you try, and that’s all Our Lord wants
Aug 23 2015, 8:31 PM
Gerri Unger: Ditto to that
Aug 23 2015, 8:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: not succeed, but be faithful, as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said
Judy K: Blessings on everyone this week.May each of you find your strength in the Lord and be enabled to bask in His love.
Aug 23 2015, 8:31 PM
Carol Ann: So how do you cope with it when everyone has a different idea of what the Lord’s will for you is?
Ruth (guest): Lisa, I agree. Actually writing is easier for me, for much the same reasons, so there’ll have to be a steep learning curve.
Aug 23 2015, 8:32 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: You go to your spiritual director or pray a novena, Carol Ann.
Aug 23 2015, 8:32 PM
Lisa C: Ruth you can take notes and dictate later
:33 PM
Carol Ann: Thank you…people are not agreeing with the director so I will pray more
Aug 23 2015, 8:33 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Special prayers for each of you this week. Pray for us as school activities start up here on campus.
4 PM
Judy K: There may come a time when you have to go apart from the many voices trying to tell you what you should do. Go apart and bare your soul to the Lord and then sit in quiet peace and listen for Him to speak within your heart. And as Sister Mary Roberta, go to your spiritual director. Listen to him and the Lord above all.
Aug 23 2015, 8:34 PM
Sister Susan Marie: And may each of us be open to what the Lord brings to us this week- in any way
Aug 23 2015, 8:34 PM
Ruth (guest): Sr. Roberta — that was a quote my spiritual director in Germany, an Irish Jesuit priest, repeated to me. In fact, he called me up one day, and joking, said, “As I was doing my spiritual reading in TIME magazine I came across something I just had to share with you:
8:34 PM
Ruth (guest): And then that quotation from Sr. Teresa of Calutta.
Aug 23 2015, 8:35 PM
Carol Ann: Our prayers for each other are so necessary