We’ll be talking about traditions and the present moment this ; here are some questions to prepare you for the discussion. At first glance, the two topics of “traditions” and the “present moment” might not seem to fit together or correlate. Using the above reflection as a guide, how would you explain the correlation between these two things? How can you determine the traditions in your life that are healthy and unhealthy? And how can you continue the healthy ones and forgo the unhealthy ones?

 

SrSusan (guest): How can you better recognize and live in the present moment with God?
Reflect upon Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Lisa C: Mother, is time fast or slow in the MonasteryAug 30 2015, 7:25 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Very fast

Aug 30 2015, 7:25 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): 27 years went by in a flash

Aug 30 2015, 7:25 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): there is no time in eternity and we are on the threshold here

Aug 30 2015, 7:25 PM

Judy K: Did either of you watch “Leonie” last night?

Aug 30 2015, 7:25 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): no

Aug 30 2015, 7:26 PM

Lisa C: When I was little I realized that God knew everything. So I thought He knows how many heart beats I am going to have. So I thought if I run I will die sooner. Then I thought more and said He also knows whether I will run.

Aug 30 2015, 7:26 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): so we live in the present moment

Aug 30 2015, 7:26 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Where was it playing jUDY

Aug 30 2015, 7:26 PM

Lisa C: Judy I did not know about it.

15, 7:27 PM

Judy K: I really did not know anything about her and that she was such a difficult child. It was on EWTN at 8 last night.\

Aug 30 2015, 7:27 PM

Lisa C: Maybe it will be on again.

Aug 30 2015, 7:27 PM

Judy K: I am glad that I watched–I stumbled upon it by accident. It was very interesting!!

Aug 30 2015, 7:27 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): iS IT THE ONE FILMED IN OUR tOLEDO MONASTERY

:33 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): most nuns are pretty good actresses- we put on alot of plays

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

Lisa C: You do?

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): yes esp in the novitiate

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

Judy K: It is a tradition, eh?

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): yes

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): for Mothers feat or queens day etc

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

Lisa C: Do you write them?

Aug 30 2015, 7:34 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): feast

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): i wrote one and added to another

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): sometimes we do ad lib ones

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

Lisa C: Do you repeat them

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): not usually but one could

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): hello viewers

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): plays are a monastic tradition

Aug 30 2015, 7:35 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): hi Ruth

Aug 30 2015, 7:36 PM

Lisa C: St. T of L used to do them

Aug 30 2015, 7:36 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): yes that is right

Aug 30 2015, 7:36 PM

Dawn L: Hi!on mobile, lal will just read

6 PM

Judy K: I do see a correlation between tradition and the present moment. Traditions are things that we repeat. At the moment a tradition is exercised, it is a present moment. Something new, done in the present moment and found to be of value, can become a tradition. Hello viewers and Ruth!

Aug 30 2015,

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SrSusanMarie (guest): good correlation Judy

Aug 30 2015, 7:39 PM

Judy K: Putting candles on a birthday cake is a tradition. So is the Advent wreath.

Aug 30 2015, 7:39 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): We let the present moment inform our traditions perhapsAug 30 2015, 7:39 PM

Ruth (guest): Carol Ann. Sorry having a hard time making my fingers do what I intend.

Aug 30 2015, 7:40 PM

Judy K: Sunday night chats are becoming a tradition.

Aug 30 2015, 7:40 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Maybe tweek them a bit- the traditions I mean

Aug 30 2015, 7:40 PM

Carol Ann: It’s OK Ruth

Aug 30 2015, 7:40 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Very true

Aug 30 2015, 7:40 PM

Dawn L: Yes they are!

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Guest6655 (guest): I am guest 6655 – the number keeps going up! I shared some thoughts with our sisters yesterday about traditions and living in the present moment. I think the bottom line is that we must be open to the will of God as it unfolds in our lives – sometimes this will is familiar – some kind of a tradition – but often God is calling us to something new – so we must be open to discerning his will in the here and now.

Aug 30 2015, 7:41 PM

Judy K: Celebrating the anniversary of our baptism ofour feast day is a tradition.

Aug 30 2015, 7:41 PMLisa C: Lots of traditions in the Church

Aug 30 2015, 7:41 PM

Lisa C: Lots of traditions on Holy Days at home too

Aug 30 2015, 7:42 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Good explanation guest6655

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Ruth (guest): Judy K, nice that your are familiar with that. Those celebrations were new to me when I lived in Catholic Bavaria, Germany.

Aug 30 2015, 7:42 PM

Carol Ann: In some ways, traditions help define who we ar

are

Aug 30 2015, 7:43 PM

Lisa C: We even had traditions at VA

Aug 30 2015, 7:43 PM

Judy K: When I was growing, my great aunt and uncle had a tradition of visiting the little church of the North American Martyrs in Bayside which was a very quaint little church. I was very taken with St. Kateri at the time, and we used to call these visits our annual pilgrimage.

Aug 30 2015, 7:43 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): and the present moment shows us who we are becoming

44 PM

Dawn L: Thats beautiful, Mother15, 7:45 PM

Lisa C: St. Jane holding the mind in all simplicity and directness, without act or effort, in that simple gaze upon God and contemplation of God, in total surrender to His will; without a wish to see, or feel, or carry out any work, but merely content to remain in His presence — relaxed, at peace, confident, patient, never inspecting self to see how things are going, nor what one is doing, feeling or enduring. No, you must not inquire what your soul is doing, has done, or will do, nor what may happen to it in any

Aug 30 2015, 7:45 PM

Lisa C: future event or contingency. From this position you must not budge because this sole and single gaze upon God embraces all our duty, especially in a state of suffering.

:13 PM

Lisa C: St. FdS is amazing, he has answers to everything

Aug 30 2015, 7:45 PM

Lisa C: Seems like how we should spend every present moment

Aug 30 2015, 7:46 PM

Carol Ann: It is the only way to endure deep suffering

Aug 30 2015, 7:46 PM

Guest6655 (guest): I think today’s Gospel encourages us not to displace God’s will by clinging to traditions that have lost their validity. The traditions we have been mentioning here are certainly life-giving, but the Pharisees were prone to displace the love of God by clinging to traditions that had lost their vitality.

Aug 30 2015, 7:47 PM

Carol Ann: Our pastor reminded us we. Ustnot lose the core of love at the center of tradition

Aug 30 2015, 7:47 PM

Ruth (guest): Interesting that you say that Carol Ann. Just the other day I was reading an interpretation of Edith Stein’s Finite and Eternal Being that did not ring true to me. Here’s what the author said” “Why does Robin eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard every Sunday? The answer is, because she is this person, Robin.”

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Aug 30 2015, 7:48 PM

Carol Ann: That doesn’t sound like Edith Stein to me either

Aug 30 2015, 7:49 PM

Ruth (guest): Jdy, I know that church, I think. Is it sort of in the round?

Aug 30 2015, 7:50 PM

Carol Ann: I see Ican’t type mobile either! We must not lose the love at the core of tradition

Aug 30 2015, 7:51 PM

Judy K: The second question regards healthy and unhealthy traditions. I think traditions are healthy if they enhance our quality of life, support our spiritual life, help us to grow as a person, as a Catholic; is it in line with the Gospel and the teachings of the Church; is it helping us to become more generous, more loving, more prayerful? Then it is healthy. If it is done purely out of habit; if it is not enhancing your life, but rather bringing it down;

Aug 30 2015, 7:51 PM

Dawn L: Mobile a challenge but working ..kind of

Aug 30 2015, 7:52 PM

Judy K: if it is turning you in on yourself and away from others and God; if it is leading you to sin, it is not healthy. To stop–ask for help from God and perhaps create a penalty for continuing. To continue, share it with others.

Aug 30 2015, 7:52 PM

Carol Ann: Judy, it sounds as though we get out of tradition what we put into it

Aug 30 2015, 7:53 PM

Guest6655 (guest): St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal moved beyond traditional religious orders when they founded the Visitation. They saw a need and responded to that need after praying for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In this they have offered us a beautiful model of “letting go” when God’s will calls us to something new and grace-bearing.

Aug 30 2015, 7:54 PM

Ruth (guest): Carol Ann, it isn’t. It’s and interpretation by a psychologist. I began writing a comment but was up too late and never finished. I think the author missed some very important points. He re-defined E. Stein’s use of the word Zeitgeist too.

Aug 30 2015, 7:54 PM

Judy K: Ruth, the present day American Martyrs Church is in the round. The little old church was across Union Tpke from it. I am sorry that they tore it down.

Aug 30 2015, 7:55 PM

Guest6655 (guest): Judy, I like your discernment about healthy traditions.

Aug 30 2015, 7:55 PM

Carol Ann: Ruth, I’m relieved. I can handle agreeing/disagreeing with a sc

Aug 30 2015, 7:55 PM

Judy K: Thank you 6655!

Aug 30 2015, 7:47 PMRuth (guest): Jdy, I know that church, I think. Is it sort of in the round?0 PM

Ruth (guest): Good points Judy K.Aug 30 2015, 7:55 PM

Judy K: Thank you, Ruth.

Aug 30 2015, 7:55 PM

Dawn L: Did anyone see movie last night Leoine? She certainly learned to embrace changd

7:56 PM

Dawn L: Change

Aug 30 2015, 7:56 PM

Carol Ann: A scholar’s opinion. There is always more than one way to see things and new interpretations can sometimes be helpful

Aug 30 2015, 7:56 PM

Judy K: Yes, I did. She certainly did make some huge changes in her life.

15, 7:57 PM

Judy K: I am sure that Therese’s intercession helped to bring them about. , 7:58 PM

Dawn L: Ah yes, JudyPM

Dawn L: Ah yes, Judy

Aug 30 2015, 8:00 PM

Guest6655 (guest): I have been working on a presentation on Salesian Spirituality to offer to our school Board of Trustees. The elements in this inspiring spirituality which keep recurring, are to live in the presence of God, to see God’s hand in the unfolding events of our lives and to embrace them with loving acceptance. So easy to saym but so difficult to live!

, 8:00 PM

Ruth (guest): Guest 6655 Are you Sr./Mother Berchmann? 8:00 PM

Judy K: Question 3 is about recognizing and living in the present moment with God. To recognize it is to use a technique I will SPAR–Stop what you are doing, Pay attention to what is happening within, Acknowledge God’s presence if that is what you are sensing, and Remain with Him in prayer. :00 PM

Guest6655 (guest): Yes, I am.

Aug 30 2015, 8:01 PM

Ruth (guest): Thanks

01 PM

Carol Ann: That’s excellent JudyPM

Guest6655 (guest): Great, Judy!

Aug 30 2015, 8:02 PM

Ruth (guest): wow! Your are good at keeping us on topic Judy.

Aug 30 2015, 8:02 PM

Ruth (guest): And I like your acronym

8:02 PM

Dawn L: Nice, Judy. And easy to remember!

0 2015, 8:03 PM

Judy K: I just hope that I remember it myself04 PM

Judy K: I can keep on topic because I spend about a half hour reflecting on the questions and writing out my answers so that I can share them with you.

Aug 30 2015, 8:04 PM

Guest6655 (guest): I recently came across a You-tube exposition by a Benedictine Brother David Steindl (sp?) The topic was “Gratitude and living in the present moment” It is an excellent presentation. You can probably find it by going on You Tube and then ask for David Steindl and many of his talks are listed. Very Salesian!

30 2015, 8:04 PM

Ruth (guest): A: Accknowledge God’s presence IF?

30 2015, 8:05 PM

Judy K: If that what is you are sensing. 05 PM

Dawn L: Im learning now…how beautiful Salesian spirituality isAug 30 2015, 8:05 PM

Ruth (guest): How do we sense — become aware of His Presence — WHILE doing other tasks, e.g. scheduling a tow or a car repair.

8:06 PM

Carol Ann: Things like that can fill our awareness as we focus on them:07 PM

Guest6655 (guest): Find little things that you can hang on to such as each time you open your computer, each time the clock announces another quarter of hour gone, each time you pick up your cell phone, etc. 2015, 8:08 PM

Judy K: Because He will at times make His presence known to us in the midst of something else. Two weeks ago I was watching a TV program and I became aware of His presence pulling at me. So I stopped paying attention to the program and turning my attention to Him and staying with Him for a while. 08 PM

Ruth (guest): I prayed for patience and God gave me PLENTY of opportunities to practice it; but I think it was only AFTER I was losing my patience again that I recognized His hand in it all, recognized that this was an OPPORTUNITY to practice the virtue I was having so much trouble with.

Aug 30 2015, 8:08 PM

Carol Ann: He will use anything and everything to get our attention

Aug 30 2015, 8:09 PM

Lisa C: Bringing your mind back to God all the time eventually becomes a habit

8:09 PM

Guest6655 (guest): This is so true, Judy! mikfala10 PM

Lisa C: I keep posting this quote, because it says how to do it: SFdS “As often as you can during the day, recall your mind to the presence of God…. Consider what God is doing, what you are doing. You will always find God’s eyes fixed on you in unchangeable love. Our hearts should each day seek a resting-place on Calvary or near our Lord, in order to retire there to rest from worldly cares and to find strength against temptation. Remember frequently to retire into the solitude of your heart, even while you are:10 PM

Lisa C: externally occupied in business or society. This mental solitude need not be hindered even though many people may be around you, for they surround your body not your heart, which should remain alone in the presence of God. As David said, “My eyes are ever looking at the Lord.” We are rarely so taken up in our exchanges with others as to be unable from time to time to move our hearts into solitude with God.” :10 PM

Guest6655 (guest): We have been having some difficulty with our monastery elevator and have foiund that it has been a cause of great impatience on the part of many of us. So one of our Sisters has put up signs on each floor that remind us of the beauty of patience – it is working!

Aug 30 2015, 8:10 PM

Carol Ann: Thank you Lisa

15, 8:12 PM

Lisa C: In the measure you desire Him, you will find Him. He so esteems our turning to look at Him. —St. Teresa of Avila, “The Way of Perfection” 5, 8:12 PM

Guest6655 (guest): Lisa, you have quoted Francis de Sales beautifully! That is the secret of remaining in the presence of God while busy. :12 PM

Ruth (guest): Thank you Lisa; thank you Sr. B

Aug 30 2015, 8:14 PM

Lisa C: Hi Sister Mary Roberta

Aug 30 2015, 8:14 PM

Guest6655 (guest): He is a great psychologist who never took a course in psychology! The power of the Holy Spirit working in the mind and heart of a holy man!

Aug 30 2015, 8:14 PM

Dawn L: Hi sister!

Aug 30 2015, 8:14 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: Hello!

Aug 30 2015, 8:15 PM6 PM

Lisa C: St. FdS and St. Jane really understood people7 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: I compare continual awareness of God’s presence to my continual awareness of my husband Roberto’s presence for 35 years – always hovering in my heart!

Aug 30 2015, 8:17 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Long call- looks like you had a good discussion

 

Carol Ann: Hi Sr Mary Roberta

Aug 30 2015, 8:15 PM

Judy K: This quote appeared in “The Cloistered Heart” a week or two ago: “A Cloistered Heart chooses to love Christ in the midst of a world that does not love Him; to embrace His will in a world which does not embrace it. Thus the Cloistered Heart becomes a refuge not only for us, but for Christ Himself.” And so awakening to His presence is to let Him into our hearts and consciousness so as to give Him rest and refuge. Hi Sr. Mary Roberta!

Aug 30 2015, 8:15 PM

Lisa C: I think that people used to understand people better than they do now. Just read Jane Austin’s novels or Edith Warton’s novels. Media has taken us away from human interaction.

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Dawn L: Beautiful, Sr Mary

Aug 30 2015, 8:18 PM

Ruth (guest): I don’t often get impatient with THINGS not working. I’m used to that. It is when PEOPLE repeatedly fail to do correctly what their jobs are. E.g. I spell out each letter of the information from a tire; the parts guy ways “we have it” I schedule the repair. Turns out they don’t have it. One hundredthirty miles later . . . two, three, days, a week later . . . Every single person involved fails to do what they are supposed to or misrepresents something. I am told that my winter tires are in the car, in

:18 PM

Ruth (guest): I check a few miles later. They are not. I saved 100 miles of extra driving by NOT TRUSTING.

Aug 30 2015, 8:19 PM

Carol Ann: Ruth, that’s a trial that would test my patience!

Aug 30 2015, 8:19 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): These trials develop our virtues!

Aug 30 2015, 8:19 PM

Lisa C: Ruth, more likely you were being responsible rather than not trusting

Aug 30 2015, 8:19 PM

Guest6655 (guest): I love St. Jane de Chantal – she is a woman who was tried severely, especially in the loss of loved ones – her first two babies were still-born – she lost her husband at the age of 29, three of her other four children pre-deceased her – and the list can go on and on. She had the grace and courage to accept these losses – painfully, but also with a strong faith.

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Mary Roberta Viano: Sometimes we know by experience how much and on whom we can depend. Then common sense, which SFdS was a fan of, tells us how to act.

Aug 30 2015, 8:20 PM

Judy K: And that brings us to question 4 about “Be still and know that I am God.” When Elijah was fleeing Jezebel, he came to a cave and the Lord told him to go outside the cave and that He would pass by. Elijah looked for Him in the wind, an earthquake and in fire. But He was not there. He was in the tiny whispering sound. The psalmist tells us to be still (Elijah would have to be still to hear the tiny whispering sound) and then know the presence of Go

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Mary Roberta Viano: I love our stillness during Eucharistic Adoration – sort of like having a tete a tete with Our Lord.

Aug 30 2015, 8:21 PM

Judy K: We also must find pockets of stillness wherein we can seek and find the Lord. If we are in constant noise and confusion. we are less likely to hear the voice of the Lord and to “be” with Him.

Aug 30 2015, 8:21 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): Finding Him in the stillness of one’s heart

Aug 30 2015, 8:21 PM

Lisa C: Be still and know that I am God is essentially the goal of contemplative prayer. I am finding more and more Saints talking about just gazing at God.

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Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, Lisa, because in God we trust!

Aug 30 2015, 8:22 PM

Lisa C: Unknowing

Aug 30 2015, 8:22 PM

Judy K: That is my favorite form of prayer–just being with Him.

Aug 30 2015, 8:22 PM

Guest1131 (guest): HI ! Busy couple weeks God Love You All ! Brian

2 PM

Judy K: Hi Brian, glad you stopped by.

Aug 30 2015, 8:22 PM

Dawn L: Hi Brian

Aug 30 2015, 8:22 PM

Lisa C: Hi Brian

Aug 30 2015, 8:23 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: I find it exciting all God can reveal when we’re still before Him!

3 PM

Carol Ann: Hi Brian

Aug 30 2015, 8:23 PM

Guest6655 (guest): One of my favorite hymns is “Be Still My Soul.” No matter what may come in your day, he is still at your side with his love and his grace!

Aug 30 2015, 8:23 PM

Ruth (guest): There’s a saying, “It’s not the death of a loved one, but the shoelace that breaks just when you are in a hurry that drives a person to madness. . . ” But you are right, if we let Him, God can teach us through these experiences.

Aug 30 2015, 8:24 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): to be still while surrounded bu busyness

Aug 30 2015, 8:24 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: One of our dads after Mass this morning told us how, in prayer before Our Lord in the Tabernacle they had both come to the same conclusion about which job she should accept. Amazing!

Aug 30 2015, 8:24 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: our dad and his daughter, that is

:25 PM

Judy K: I have also found that the Lord can communicate with us in dreams and even in moments just preceeding sleep.

Aug 30 2015, 8:25 PM

Dawn L: Is she new grad?

:26 PM

Ruth (guest): Those are especially good times, Judy.

Aug 30 2015, 8:26 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: I’m enjoying a series of dvds from our school library, called “Call the Midwife,” about a group of nuns who are midwives in east London in the 50’s.

Aug 30 2015, 8:26 PM

Carol Ann: I also, Judy

26 PM

Dawn L: Or, just as waking

Aug 30 2015, 8:26 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: Their awareness of God’s presence is palpable as they work with all the expectant moms and their families.

Aug 30 2015, 8:27 PM

Lisa C: Sister Mary Roberta, I love how they are non judgemental

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Judy K: What a beautiful thing to witness the birth of a new little one into the world. How sad that so many would rather end those little lives before they can be born!

Aug 30 2015, 8:27 PM

Ruth (guest): I think I once wrote that long ago I made a “deal” with my Lord. If I did not LISTEN well enough during the daytime, it was OK for Him to wake me at nighttime when my “defences” were down. I promised not to complain. I treasure those moments. . .

Aug 30 2015, 8:27 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: So true, Lisa! Their gaze is so trusting and deep-down loving.

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Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, Dawn, the daughter is a new grad.

Aug 30 2015, 8:28 PM

Lisa C: Sister, I think they are protestant nuns, but that does not matter

:29 PM

Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, they are Anglicans, but they sing the Office just like we do and wear a simple habit.

Aug 30 2015, 8:29 PM

Guest6655 (guest): Tomorrow we welcome 490 students to their first day of school in this new school year. We are committed to sharing with them the beauty of our Salesian spirituality and have been encouraged by their receptiveness to learning more about it. We have developed a mantra from our Mission Statement which is very familiar to them – we are preparing them to become women of Faith, Vision and Purpose! all in the name of our loving God. Please pray for them and their mentors.

Aug 30 2015, 8:29 PM

SrSusanMarie (guest): THe Gospel of the Visitation has alot to say about the unborn child; such a powerful passage about motherhood

8:29 PM

Judy K: Do you use plain chant in your singing of the Office?

Aug 30 2015, 8:30 PM

Aug 30 2015, 8:30 PMMary Roberta Viano: It’s a modified Gregorian chant with some Latin hymns (like the Marian hymns), Judy.

Aug 30 2015, 8:30 PM

Judy K: It must be very beautiful!

Aug 30 2015, 8:31 PM

Lisa C: That is a movie of babies in utero

Aug 30 2015, 8:31 PM

Lisa C: sooo cute

Aug 30 2015, 8:31 PM

Dawn L: 490 new students, wonderful!

Welcome to our

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Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, and inspiring…as are our 490 girls, whom we’ll see tomorrow and throughout the coming year!

Aug 30 2015, 8:31 PM

Judy K: I wish all of you a wonderful new school year!

Aug 30 2015, 8:33 PM

Ruth (guest): Lisa, what’s that? Russian? A link showing ultrasound of the thyroid. Did you intend to post that?

 

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Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, and inspiring...as are our 490 girls, whom we’ll see tomorrow and throughout the coming year!

Aug 30 2015, 8:31 PM

Judy K: I wish all of you a wonderful new school year!