Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): Why do you think it is a worthy practice to recommit ourselves to the things we’ve commited ourselves?Considered in a simple way, we put into practice what St. Francis is recommending by the mere fact of having a yearly schedule that we repeat. Each year we re-celebrate Easter and Christmas and so on. What importance does repetition and recurrence have in keeping our faith strong and alive?From the earliest written account of the Eucharistic institution, St. Paul tell us: “For as often as you eat this bread

 

Aug 30, 11:17 AM

Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). Of course, at that Eucharist institution, Jesus commands the apostles to “do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). Why is remembrance and repitition so important? How does this complement what St. Francis is trying to teach us?

 

Aug 30, 11:17 AM

Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): Chat about it Sun Sept 3 730pm est

 

Sep 3, 7:25 PM

VisitationSiste: hello viewers

 

Sep 3, 7:26 PM

VisitationSiste: Hi Dawn!

 

Sep 3, 7:26 PM

Dawn (Guest): Hello Mother!

Sep 3, 7:27 PM

VisitationSiste: Are we the first here today?

 

Sep 3, 7:28 PM

Dawn (Guest): I think so…hopefully the others will join soon!

Sep 3, 7:28 PM

VisitationSiste: I see more viewers listed!

 

Sep 3, 7:28 PM

Dawn (Guest): Hello viewers

Sep 3, 7:29 PM

Maira Valadez: Hey guys! nice to meet you

 

Sep 3, 7:29 PM

VisitationSiste: Welcome Maira!

 

Sep 3, 7:29 PM

Carol Ann: Hi Everyone!

 

Sep 3, 7:30 PM

VisitationSiste: Are you here for the first time?

 

Sep 3, 7:30 PM

Dawn (Guest): Hi Maira! and Carol Ann

Sep 3, 7:30 PM

VisitationSiste: Hi Carol Anne!

 

Sep 3, 7:30 PM

Maira Valadez: I’m here for the first time, yes

 

Sep 3, 7:30 PM

Carol Ann: Welcome! I’m glad you are here

 

Sep 3, 7:32 PM

VisitationSiste: Tonight we can probably rephrase the question somehow as “Traditions” but It is more than that-commitment also is a heavy word to some

 

Sep 3, 7:33 PM

VisitationSiste: But it is a glorious stance, in actuality

 

Sep 3, 7:34 PM

VisitationSiste: Do you have a particular interest Maira, in this topic tonight or are you interested in a vocation?

 

Sep 3, 7:35 PM

Maira Valadez: Yeah, I was looking forward to discussing the topic with everyone. And yes, I am discerning religious life, particularly with the Visitandines.

 

Sep 3, 7:36 PM

VisitationSiste: Hi Ruth!

 

Sep 3, 7:36 PM

VisitationSiste: First topic: Why do you think it is a worthy practice to recommit ourselves to the things we’ve commited ourselves?Considered in a simple way, we put into practice what St. Francis is recommending by the mere fact of having a yearly schedule that we repeat.

 

Sep 3, 7:36 PM

Maira Valadez: Since I am meeting you guys, are you here to discuss these topics, are you discerning your vocations, etc? Thanks for welcoming me!

 

Sep 3, 7:36 PM

Ruth (Guest): Hello Sister, Carol Ann, Dawn, and Maria Valadez. Welcome, Maria.

Sep 3, 7:37 PM

Dawn (Guest): Hi Ruth, and happy you are here Maria

Sep 3, 7:37 PM

Carol Ann: Hi Ruth

 

Sep 3, 7:39 PM

Dawn (Guest): We have been studying Intro to The Devout Life each week a chapter, with Mother Susan offering focus by a series of questions

Sep 3, 7:39 PM

Maira Valadez: I think it’s worthy, although I’ve never thought of it that way, because it reminds us of the “why’s.” Sometimes we forget “why” we do or desire certain things, I think

 

Sep 3, 7:39 PM

VisitationSiste: For ex we renew our vows every month together in the Monastery We committed once in public say our Final Vows but keep recommitting ourselves. It helps us to remember our commitment and to say Yes again to Jesus and show our love

 

Sep 3, 7:40 PM

VisitationSiste: It keeps our commitment fresh and alive

 

Sep 3, 7:41 PM

VisitationSiste: Also uppermost in mind. This can be said of many practices, weekly or daily Mass etc

 

Sep 3, 7:41 PM

Dawn (Guest): for others, non religious say, a renewal of Baptismal vows in Confession, is a worthly practice

Sep 3, 7:41 PM

VisitationSiste: Yes!

 

Sep 3, 7:43 PM

Carol Ann: Re dedicating ourselves requires that we stop and discern how well we are keeping our vows before we renew them. really reflecting on how we’ve kept them and how we’ve fallen short

 

Sep 3, 7:43 PM

VisitationSiste: Good point!

 

Sep 3, 7:43 PM

Maira Valadez: We basically live in repetition as Catholics (haha). The rosary is a prime example.

 

Sep 3, 7:44 PM

Maira Valadez: Your comment, Carol, reminds me of daily examination of conscious

 

Sep 3, 7:44 PM

VisitationSiste: Hopefully we grow in the way we pray it even as we say it daily

 

Sep 3, 7:44 PM

Dawn (Guest): a good example!

Sep 3, 7:44 PM

Ruth (Guest): Sr. Susan, I am glad to learn of your practice of renewing vows monthly.

Sep 3, 7:45 PM

Carol Ann: yes that would be the one we should be doing every day, as a discipline, not just when things go wrong and we can’t figure out why

 

Sep 3, 7:46 PM

Ruth (Guest): Maria, a wise seventh grade public school math teacher once commented in a letter that it may be my vocation to constantly seek my vocation. I’m 73 and still not sure what the Lord has in store for me when I grow up!

Sep 3, 7:46 PM

Ruth (Guest):

Sep 3, 7:47 PM

VisitationSiste: There are often multiple calls in one lifetime!

 

Sep 3, 7:49 PM

VisitationSiste: Also repetition is important because people forget so easily

 

Sep 3, 7:49 PM

Dawn (Guest): the important thing perhaps is trusting. Trust that he knows the best way, best situation and let him be our God and guide us the way he wants

Sep 3, 7:49 PM

Ruth (Guest): That is true I think. But I had a spiritual director/sister friend (now deceased x 5 years) who would say to me “Grow where you are planted!” — and in my entire life I’ve never been in one spot, one house, one neighborhood, as long as I have been here.

Sep 3, 7:50 PM

Maira Valadez: I’ve heard it said that our vocation is love. This topics makes me think of how in choosing to love the Lord in our daily choices, we have to repeatedly choose to listen, love, obey, respond, etc. But the choosing is what’s repetitive. Never thought repetition was so prominent in our lives!

 

Sep 3, 7:50 PM

VisitationSiste: A monastic vocation requires of its very nature, stability, except for changing circumstances

 

Sep 3, 7:51 PM

VisitationSiste: Good point Maira!

 

Sep 3, 7:52 PM

Carol Ann: Yes, stability is key, for us who have our little hermitages in our homes. it is very difficult to stay on track with prayer and worship when we are not stable

 

Sep 3, 7:53 PM

VisitationSiste: It is interesting to reflect on the fact that jesus Himself said “Do this in memory of me.” He knows our natures. He gave us a way to keep Him present in our lives

 

Sep 3, 7:53 PM

VisitationSiste: Jesus

 

Sep 3, 7:54 PM

Ruth (Guest): Yes, we are all called to be saints — probably with a small “s” — but still, that means living a life of love. And when I examine myself on that issue — living alone in my “huge hermitage” — I feel that I am wanting. That is so, even if I spend the whole day doing menial tasks AND praying almost constantly.

Sep 3, 7:54 PM

VisitationSiste: Sometimes we hear that ritual is not well regarded because of its repetitive nature but Our Lord did not feel that way

 

Sep 3, 7:54 PM

Carol Ann: me too, Ruth

 

Sep 3, 7:55 PM

VisitationSiste: We always have to try to keep growing in love

 

Sep 3, 7:55 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): What do you mean by stability? In prayer, or…?

Sep 3, 7:56 PM

Dawn (Guest): thinking of Jesus during his ministry always on the move…

Sep 3, 7:56 PM

VisitationSiste: Stability in place is a traditional monastic practise but of course prayer is even beyond stability- it can be unceasing

 

Sep 3, 7:57 PM

Carol Ann: For me, i have been taught it is having a stable home environment–one that is peaceful, not full of disagreements, having a job and income so that you have the basics, and are not tempted to over worry. It also means to have the prayer routine, time for liturgy of the hours, time for contemplation, time for study, that is not skipped.

 

Sep 3, 7:57 PM

Ruth (Guest): I am so grateful for the Eucharist. And the Sunday celebration, with music, and often with children present, has me all smiles almost always.

Sep 3, 7:57 PM

VisitationSiste: Jesus was not a monk I guess but perhaps His Forerunner St John the Baptist was more of the monk type

 

Sep 3, 7:58 PM

Ruth (Guest): Maybe it is the

Sep 3, 7:58 PM

Dawn (Guest): and he seemed to stay in one place..

Sep 3, 7:59 PM

VisitationSiste: In the desert

 

Sep 3, 8:00 PM

Ruth (Guest): “stability” of monastic life that BOTH attracts me AND frightens me. Sometimes being on the move gives one a whole new “view” — refreshes, brings a new persepective.

Sep 3, 8:00 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): “Stability in place”?

Sep 3, 8:00 PM

Maira Valadez: Guest7809, To the best of my knowledge, it is living in one place. For example, I’ve moved 3 times in the past year, and it really messed with my prayer (each move). The effort to pray was needing and extremely difficult sometimes. “The eye of the storm” type thing. It wasn’t until I settled in a routine with a stable job, intentional friendships and living, that I felt more at peace and able to pray or hear God’s voice better.

 

Sep 3, 8:00 PM

Ruth (Guest): Yes, stability in place, mainly.

Sep 3, 8:01 PM

Ruth (Guest): And rather limited associations . . .

Sep 3, 8:01 PM

Maira Valadez: St. Benedict writes on it if you google it

 

Sep 3, 8:02 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): Thank you

Sep 3, 8:02 PM

Maira Valadez: Yes, Ruth, I can relate! I’ve lived in 1 place my whole life, apart from this past year. Moving is almost exciting, I’d say. That’s not to say I don’t desire staying in one place

 

Sep 3, 8:02 PM

Dawn (Guest): frequent uprooting and moving is difficult and tiring

Sep 3, 8:02 PM

Ruth (Guest): It seems to me that there are times to be still and times to be “on a journey.

Sep 3, 8:03 PM

Carol Ann: it seems i have been journeying for about the last six years. every time i think i have achieved some stability again, i’m uprooted

 

Sep 3, 8:03 PM

Dawn (Guest): yes Ruth!

Sep 3, 8:04 PM

Maira Valadez: You’re welcome Guest7809! Mother Susan, can you comment on being “on the move” in the monastery? I almost feel I’d miss out on that part. Does being in the monastery have its own “adventure?”

 

Sep 3, 8:04 PM

Ruth (Guest): ” The last time I counted, I’d lived in more than forty different places. When I had to list all my past addresses for a security clearance for working in a VA center, it was quite a project.

Sep 3, 8:04 PM

VisitationSiste: When God calls you on a journey as He does occasionally for me, then you go. !

 

Sep 3, 8:04 PM

Dawn (Guest): maybe those times are a purification of sorts, esp when the circumstances are uncomfortale or even painful

Sep 3, 8:05 PM

VisitationSiste: The adventure is “interior” Maira, mostly, but one’s obediences, charges,tasks and jobs might call one out and then the adventure is also exterior.

 

Sep 3, 8:07 PM

VisitationSiste: Living in the Monastery does have exciting moments but the point is calm, stillness, love

 

Sep 3, 8:09 PM

VisitationSiste: Ruth you must have insights from all your different locations, yet you always remain firm in the Lord

 

Sep 3, 8:10 PM

VisitationSiste: So that is also a form of stability!

 

Sep 3, 8:11 PM

VisitationSiste: Monastic stability is like a “repetition of place”

 

Sep 3, 8:11 PM

VisitationSiste: How many times can you say I love you to someone? Few tire of hearing those words directed to them

 

Sep 3, 8:12 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): When enduring spiritual attack and not buckling and falling away

Sep 3, 8:12 PM

Ruth (Guest): Sister I thought you might enjoy the last TED hour on PBS. It was about SILENCE. Particularly not speaking. And funny, they seemed to neglect the long history of it in religious communities. A guy was shocked by witnessing a serious motor vehicle accident and decided to WALK everywhere, not ride in a motor vehicle again. He also frequently got into arguments, so he decided not to talk, at all. He walked the world, without speaking for 17 years. It brought about some amazing growth. The most importan

Sep 3, 8:12 PM

Ruth (Guest): important part: He learned to LISTEN.

Sep 3, 8:12 PM

VisitationSiste: Yes Guest 7809- that is stability of soul

 

Sep 3, 8:13 PM

VisitationSiste: Ruth is it still available- this show

 

Sep 3, 8:13 PM

Ruth (Guest): Interesting that you call that it stability.

Sep 3, 8:13 PM

Ruth (Guest): Yes, if you go to public radio on the internet, there is a pod cast.

Sep 3, 8:14 PM

Carol Ann: when we are under spiritual attack, as Maira says, then our stability is Jesus, who fought for us already and already won

 

Sep 3, 8:15 PM

Ruth (Guest): Sometimes I imagined myself as a “tumbleweed.”

Sep 3, 8:15 PM

VisitationSiste: Yes Carol Anne, Jesus our Rock and Fortress!

 

Sep 3, 8:16 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): Yes, I like to shrug them off and say ” I’ve read the book/last page!”

Sep 3, 8:17 PM

Ruth (Guest): You know the plant? It grows in the prairies. In dry weather it shrivels up into a knot of tangled stems and get blown around. But when it rains, it puts down roots again and grows again.

Sep 3, 8:17 PM

Carol Ann: it is hard for us to be stable in and of ourselves, because our emotions, and the emotions of others, can create great maelstroms.

 

Sep 3, 8:17 PM

Maira Valadez: Is there some sort of advice you can offer? I feel the same as Ruth. Moving presents a new view on things (after living in the same town you can imagine how it felt to realize there was more to life than my small town). What is “repetition of place” like? I am fearful of that in joining the monastery. Seeing the same things, being in the same place..

 

Sep 3, 8:18 PM

VisitationSiste: One cannot be afraid of boredom. It is a door that you pass through to peace and presence

 

Sep 3, 8:18 PM

VisitationSiste: Peace of Christ and Presence of Christ

 

Sep 3, 8:19 PM

VisitationSiste: And the “boredom” goes away, melts into the Real,

 

Sep 3, 8:19 PM

Carol Ann: but repetition of place and activity can be a great comfort, and a reminder to look beyond the physical act to the deeper, spiritual meaning

 

Sep 3, 8:19 PM

Ruth (Guest): I have not been bored a day in my life. I don’t think I could live long enough to be bored, not even if I were bed-bound for months or years.

Sep 3, 8:20 PM

Ruth (Guest): “melts into the Real.”

Sep 3, 8:20 PM

Ruth (Guest): Wow!

Sep 3, 8:21 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): Carol Ann: human interaction and emotions can sometimes be unbearable. I’m kind of an introvert, so…arg!

Sep 3, 8:21 PM

Carol Ann: united to Christ, we can never be bored.

 

Sep 3, 8:21 PM

Ruth (Guest): Nelson Mandela gives us an example — his prison experience. I’m sure there are many others — some Saints (with a capital

Sep 3, 8:22 PM

Ruth (Guest): S) — Paul, for instance.

Sep 3, 8:22 PM

Carol Ann: I’m very introverted, and i grew up in a fairly serious family. you should see the train wrecks that happen when people “tease” me

 

Sep 3, 8:22 PM

Maira Valadez: I see I worked in Target this summer as stocking and was definitely slapped in the face – metaphorically haha – with how much spiritual richness that can be found in something as simple as organizing

 

Sep 3, 8:22 PM

Ruth (Guest): So sorry, Carol Ann.

Sep 3, 8:23 PM

Ruth (Guest): Teasing often comes really close to our vulnerabilities.

Sep 3, 8:23 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): Criticisms…

Sep 3, 8:24 PM

Dawn (Guest): Mother, so in a monastic life you may be in one place but much to do as Maria is talking of, well commenting on, the spiritual richness in simple tasks

Sep 3, 8:24 PM

Carol Ann: And can be very cruel. Especially when you explain how that makes you feel and they still do it. Criticism is a different thing though. I am not above criticism, and there are those who can do it in a positive way for me

 

Sep 3, 8:24 PM

Dawn (Guest): not that all of your tasks are simple!

Sep 3, 8:25 PM

VisitationSiste: Yes Dawn

 

Sep 3, 8:25 PM

Ruth (Guest): I could use an organizer! In the last several months I’ve been working hard at organizing my household — but it took ten years — after some pretty serious head injuries and other injuries — to get this bad, so I count every little improvement as “success.” It’ll take time.

Sep 3, 8:25 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): Positive criticism is good, but sometimes it almost seems harsh and even competitive. Don’t like that!

Sep 3, 8:26 PM

Carol Ann: too bad i’m not closer Ruth, I’d be over to help

 

Sep 3, 8:26 PM

Dawn (Guest): me too

Sep 3, 8:26 PM

Ruth (Guest): Yes, I think it is a gift — a loving thing — to be able to criticize constructively.

Sep 3, 8:27 PM

Ruth (Guest): How sweet of you, Carol Ann.

Sep 3, 8:27 PM

Carol Ann: You have to discern first, what am i criticizing, why am i criticizing, what do i expect to accomplish? is the other person in a place to receive what i say?

 

Sep 3, 8:27 PM

Carol Ann: i could!

 

Sep 3, 8:28 PM

Maira Valadez: And organizing takes repeating, repeating. Who knew repeating was so sneaky in everything in our lives?

 

Sep 3, 8:28 PM

Guest7809 (Guest): Well, was nice to chat for a bit with you all. Have a wonderful evening.

Sep 3, 8:28 PM

Carol Ann: Like God had a plan with all that organizing….

 

Sep 3, 8:28 PM

Maira Valadez: Yes, Carol, we should be careful with the words we speak.

 

Sep 3, 8:29 PM

Dawn (Guest): good night guest 7809

Sep 3, 8:29 PM

Maira Valadez: Have a good evening Guest7809

 

Sep 3, 8:29 PM

Maira Valadez: Wow. Even God is organized.

 

Sep 3, 8:29 PM

VisitationSiste: Thank you for joining us

 

Sep 3, 8:29 PM

Ruth (Guest): It took me 1/2 hour to pack for a year-long trip to Europe, to work in France, and then Germany. It took me about two months to organize myself to go visit my brother in eastern Massachusetts.

Sep 3, 8:30 PM

Ruth (Guest): Life is just more complicated now.

Sep 3, 8:30 PM

Carol Ann: I think your needs are different now Ruth, and that changes everything

 

Sep 3, 8:30 PM

Ruth (Guest): Simple would be nice.

Sep 3, 8:30 PM

Maira Valadez: Have a good evening everyone! It was nice to meet you.

 

Sep 3, 8:31 PM

Carol Ann: Please come again Maira

 

Sep 3, 8:31 PM

Maira Valadez: Absolutely

 

Sep 3, 8:31 PM

VisitationSiste: Yes God bless each of you!

 

Sep 3, 8:31 PM

Dawn (Guest): I think more of the temptation to feel offended , it is for me a temptation.

Sep 3, 8:32 PM

Carol Ann: Have a blessed week everyone.

 

Sep 3, 8:32 PM

VisitationSiste: Keeppraying for Texas!

 

Sep 3, 8:32 PM

Carol Ann: me too Dawn–that requires discernment too. i’m sensing a pattern of mindfulness and stability here’

 

Sep 3, 8:32 PM

Ruth (Guest): Carol Ann, I used to be “good at” sarcasm; I gave it up for Lent once, about forty years ago and never resumed that pattern of speech. I figured that it is a form of aggression — verbal aggression disguised as humor. There is usually a “victim.

Sep 3, 8:33 PM

Carol Ann: So true, Ruth. I’m told i can be pretty good at it too, but unfortunately, i’m usually being literal, and people assume i;m being sarcastic

 

Sep 3, 8:34 PM

Dawn (Guest): Good night Maria, thank you for joining in. Goodnight everyone, thank you all! God bless you and yes prayers for Texas. all the goodness of people helping people there <3

Sep 3, 8:35 PM

Carol Ann: Good night Dawn!

 

Sep 3, 8:36 PM

Ruth (Guest): That’s interesting Carol Ann. When I first started being able to make puns and jokes, and yes, be sarcastic in German, people did not know whether or not I was joking or having language problems. Sometimes they would squelch laughter; sometimes politely correct me.

Sep 3, 8:37 PM

Carol Ann: i wonder why that is? A fundamental difference in outlook on life? too much time with my nose in books?

 

Sep 3, 8:37 PM

Dawn (Guest): I just thought of a dream I woke with this morning, vivid, I was knocking on a door loudly… saying let me in! let me in! something to think about. goodnight chat sisters

Sep 3, 8:37 PM

Carol Ann: I hope Jesus was on the other side of that door!

 

Sep 3, 8:38 PM

Ruth (Guest): Good night and God bless each of you, all of you. And those affected by the flood. I think maybe God allows awful things like this so that people will help people.

Sep 3, 8:39 PM

Carol Ann: Good Night, and have a blessed week!