Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Articles of Interest

Earth Day Special: The 10 most beautiful places!

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Celebrating Earth Day with the

10 Most Beautiful Places on Earth

  ~Article by 123RF

Moonlit mountains, azure oceans, shifting sand dunes, colorful flower fields – we truly live on a beautiful planet.

This Earth Day, let us celebrate the natural wonders that remain and remind ourselves of what we must preserve for our future generations.

1. Dolomites, Italy

Located in northeastern Italy, the Dolomites form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and stretch from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. Geologically, the mountain range is made of light-colored dolomitic limestone. Carved by time and erosion, the resulting landforms consist of jagged ridges, deep gorges and glaciated peaks.

The region around the Dolomites is honestly one of the most beautiful places on Earth – a haven for hikers and adventurers. Nothing beats a Dolomites hiking trip, with trails weaving through forests, across sprawling meadows and sweeping green valleys dotted with quaint alpine villages straight out of a fairytale.

2. Vinicunca, Peru

Vinicunca, or more famously known as Rainbow Mountain, has blown up on social media over the past few years and is arguably the second most visited attraction in Peru after Machu Picchu.

Ranging from turquoise and lavender to maroon and gold, its signature striped colors, vibrant under the sun, are largely due to weathering and mineral deposits. Red coloration of sedimentary layers often indicates a trace of iron oxide rust, whereas the bright yellow could be due to iron sulphide within the pore cement.

3. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Extending more than 4,050 square miles of the Altiplano in South America, Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, or better known as the world’s biggest mirror.

Left behind by evaporated prehistoric lakes, the flat is covered with polygonal patterns of salt rising from the ground. However, at certain times of the year, nearby lakes would overflow and transform the flat into a strikingly surreal reflective canvas. This otherworldly terrain serves not only as a tourist attraction, but also as a lucrative extraction site for salt and lithium.

4. Godafoss, Iceland

Cradled between Akureyri and Lake Mývatn, Godafoss is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland, flowing over a 30-meter wide horseshoe-shaped rock that rises in the center. Hence, the waterfall is separated into two – one section is about 9 meters high, and the other has a height of 17 meters.

With its elegant streams of ice-blue glacial water and picturesque basalt pillars, Godafoss is nicknamed the “Waterfall of The Gods.” Some believe the name comes from the fact that the waterfall has god-like, unparalleled beauty, while others tell the old tale of a Viking leader throwing his pagan statues of Nordic gods into the waterfall, resulting in its name.

5. Isle of Skye, Scotland

Connected to Scotland’s northwest coast by bridge, Skye is the largest island in the Inner Hebrides with a deeply indented coastline. Known for its undulating hills, rugged cliffs, medieval castles and ethereal pools, the Isle of Skye is one of the top locations to visit in Scotland.

Most people have heard of the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye as they are famous for their bewitching beauty. Like a magical oasis, the pools are vivid aqua blue and clear as crystal. They are also famous for wild swimming, imploring visitors to brave the frigid waters.

6. Mount Fuji, Japan

Located about 60 miles west of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area , Mount Fuji, also commonly known as Fuji-san or Fujiyama, is the tallest mountain in Japan. The 12,388-foot sacred mountain is actually a volcano that has been dormant since its last eruption in 1707, but is still classified as active by geologists.

Revered for its majestic beauty and remarkable symmetry, Fuji has always been more than just an icon of Japan. It is venerated as a holy ground for pilgrimage, a dwelling place for deities and ancestors, a portal to an ascetic otherworld.

7. Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Along the shores of Lake Tekapo, thousands of lupine grow in different shades of pink, purple and blue. Though they are not native to New Zealand, these lupins really do seem to bloom beautifully on the nation’s South Island. The sea of lupine juxtaposes against the turquoise waters and the misty mountain backdrop, creating one of the country’s signature landscapes.

8. Halong Bay, Vietnam

No trip to northern Vietnam is complete without a cruise on Halong Bay. With over 1,600 limestone islands and islets scattered across the Bay, each one of them worn down by 500 million years of tropical downpours and topped with lush green jungle growth, this natural wonder is like something straight out of a movie. As a matter of fact, Halong Bay has made appearances in countless Hollywood blockbuster movies.

9. Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Known as the heart of Arizona and the soul of the Navajo Nation, Antelope Canyon is made up of two magnificent slot canyons on Navajo land in the American Southwest. While massive gorges like the Grand Canyon are generally long and wide expanses of alluvial erosion, slot canyons are very slim passages that twist through the rock. Antelope Canyon’s winding walls were carved by centuries of water erosion, sculpted by fast-flowing flash floods carrying abrasive debris.

Upper Antelope, also known as “The Crack” is the more popular of the two slot canyons and is the most photographed slot canyon in the world. The vibrant shade of the swirling sandstone changes at different times of the day, depending on the amount of sunlight that seeps through the crack.

10. Napali Coast, Hawaii

Spanning 17 miles along Kauai’s North Shore, the Napali Coast is famous for its emerald green cliffs with razor-sharp ridges that tower above the Pacific Ocean. The lush sea cliffs are punctuated by narrow valleys, stunning beaches and cascading waterfalls – it truly is a sight to behold.

In conclusion…

For many years, humans have been recklessly exploiting Earth’s bountiful resources and wreaking damage to Mother Nature. But the natural world is resilient. Great riches still remain. Beautiful places such as these must remain. And with our collective efforts, our planet shall recover.

For more breathtaking landscapes and beautiful places, check out our specially curated Earth Day collection.

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Active Contemplation

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On this third Sunday of Easter, we continue to hear accounts of Jesus’ appearances following his Resurrection.  The first lines of this Gospel refer to the Emmaus story.  Two disciples were taking a Sunday stroll – well, a seven-mile walk – chatting about the events of the last several days.  Suddenly a stranger unceremoniously slipped into their company.  In today’s account, the two disciples hurry back to Jerusalem to report the glad news of how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread.  To their surprise, they discovered that the apostles, still hiding in the Upper Room, were already convinced of the resurrection of Jesus.  Mary of Magdala had told them and Simon also had seen Him.

Consistent with all the reports of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances, He greets the assembled disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.”  They have witnessed the death of someone they loved, and they fear for their own lives.  Peace is what they need more than anything else.  But, at Jesus’ sudden appearance they are startled and terrified.  They are uncertain about what to make of the figure before them.  Quite understandably, they mistake Jesus for a ghost.  Yet the figure before them is not a ghost; Jesus invites them to experience his resurrected body with their senses, to look and to touch.  They can’t forget his sufferings but peace begins to take root in their hearts, as their fears turn to joy and amazement.

This is Jesus: real and alive as he had been over the past three years.  He asks for something to eat – a sign they recognize and cannot deny.  It convinces them that they are not dreaming or having a mere vision or hallucination.  He goes on to explain to them how the prophecies are being fulfilled in him.  The evangelist says Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”  A lectio experience – one we ask for as we enter into a period of lectio or centering prayer or active contemplation.  Sounds like a contradiction: active contemplation?  But often it takes concerted effort to “quiet down” to let the Spirit come into our presence.  We actively say NO to all the distractions that may tempt us to do almost anything: read, do an act of charity, visit the sick, talk to the lonely, do a puzzle, clean a room, catch up on the news, – the devil calls us to do anything rather than center ourselves to give Jesus prime space and allow the Spirit to “open our minds, our ears, our hearts.”  As one author puts it: “contemplation is the gift given simply because we showed up.”  Like the disciples, we gather in mutual support.  We pray, we eat and Jesus steps into our midst saying: “Peace! See, it is I.”

This gospel, and all the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, show us not only how Jesus convinced his disciples of his resurrection, but this same Jesus prepares us to come together to listen to God’s words and offer ourselves along with our gifts of bread and wine.  And don’t minimize the parting message at Mass: “Go forth to share the message you have received.”  We can’t share what we do not have – so listen up, attune your mind and your heart, read the Scriptures ahead of time, let the message begin to steep like tea in the warmness of your heart.

The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once told a story about a circus that caught fire.  The flames spread to the fields surrounding the circus grounds and began to burn toward the village below.  The circus master, convinced that the village would be destroyed and the people killed unless they were warned, asked if there was anybody who could go to the village and warn the people.  The clown, dressed in full costume, jumped on a bicycle and sped down the hill to the village below.  “Run for your lives!  Run for your lives!  “A fire is coming and the village is going to burn!” he shouted as he rode up and down the streets.  Curious, the villagers came out of their houses and shops and stood along the sidewalks.  They shouted back to the clown, laughing and applauding his performance.  The more desperately the clown shouted, the more the villagers cheered.  The village burned to the ground and the loss of life was great because no one took the clown seriously.  After all, he was just a clown.

When Jesus comes in our door, do we recognize Him?  Maybe he’s not dressed as a clown or shouting and waving.  How will we recognize Him?  Have we met Him often enough in our everyday lives that we immediately recognize Him?  Have we met Him in the wounds of the poor?  Or in the broken hearts of the bereaved?  In the victims of violence?  In people who live in dire poverty – maybe with ragged, smelly clothing because they have no place to wash up?  Maybe there are times when it is easier to see Jesus in the face of the stranger or the guest than it is in the face of the Sister (spouse, person) across from us at the dinner table or the chapel aisle or walking the hallways.  Jesus says: “Look at my hands and my feet (we can add: look at my face); see that it is I, your Lord.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

First Reading:   Acts 3:13-15,17-19   Second Reading:  1 John 2:1-5a
Gospel:  Luke 24:35-48
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Lent 2021 – Part 3

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Jesus’ Peace

 

Abbot Gregory J. Polan talks about the peace that Jesus gives in his Lenten Circular Letter.  You can read the first two parts on our website under “Articles of Interest”:  www.benedictinesistersoffl.org.  The Abbot’s brief bio is at the beginning of the first post.

 

The following is from Abbot Polan’s recent Circular:

The gift of Jesus’ peace forces us to seek our God’s mysterious and inscrutable ways, to understand that faith and trust in God’s providential care for us take us to new levels of meaning and significance of peace. Jesus would certainly have a sense of how the leaders of his time were threatened by his teaching and also his strong following from among the people. This is how Jesus encourages his disciples, and also us, as we face the uncertain future that will roll-out in the coming weeks, months, and even years. Economic, social and national rebuilding will all take time, effort and patience. I hope this can be a word of encouragement to the Benedictine men and women, knowing that our willingness to remain faithful will bear rich fruit in times to come. Paschal living calls for great courage and faith, and its fruits are already growing within us.

Jesus emphasizes that the peace which he gives is not “as the world gives it,” that is to say, not an immediate feeling of well-being and fulfillment. Rather we note how Jesus speaks here as he bestows his own peace upon his closest friends. The peace of Jesus is not something that comes without a price, a price of surrender to the unfolding plan of God in his life, and also in our lives. The Dominican preacher, Father Bede Jarrett, uses an expression which describes this Scriptural passage so well and speaks to us today: “Jesus looked at his life intensely.” The peace that comes from following Jesus comes with the price of following him, remaining close to him, trusting him, believing in his unique yet salvific path to glory. We know that “paying the price” for finding this peace enables us to live in hope, a divine gift that comes at a price and whose rewards are eternal, even now.

The last post from Abbot Polan’s Circular Letter will be sent Friday, April 29th.

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Divine Mercy Sunday

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In a by-gone tradition, tomorrow was known as “Low Sunday” – a lesser Easter celebration – or “Quasi-modo Sunday” from the first two words of the Entrance antiphon at Mass: “Like newborn infants” referring to those baptized at Easter.  It is the day that the newly baptized officially put away their white robes, hence, it is known liturgically as the “Sunday of putting away the albs.”  And yes, the name of this feast, Quasi-Modo is the origin of the name in Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”  The foundling was so named because he was discovered at the cathedral on the second Sunday of Easter.

Another bit of trivia: in England, there was a strange custom on the Monday and Tuesday after Low Sunday, between the hours of 9 a.m. and noon.  These two days became known as “Hoke Day.”  (“Hoke” – related to “hocus pocus” is to perform in an exaggerated or overly sentimental way.)  On Monday, men “captured” women to auction.  On Tuesday, the women reciprocate by capturing the men for ransom and both days the money was given to the Church.

Now leap ahead to the Second Sunday of Easter in the Jubilee Year 2000.  At the Mass for the canonization of Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II made a surprising announcement in his homily: …” from now on throughout the Church, the second Sunday of Easter will be called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday.’ ”  Thus, while it is clearly not a new feast, neither is it an optional title for this solemnity; rather, Divine Mercy is the integral name for the Second Sunday of Easter.  For centuries the Easter liturgies have proclaimed the mercy of God.  In tomorrow’s responsorial psalm we will sing four times, “His mercy endures forever.”

The Gospel for this feast begins with the risen Christ appearing to the apostles on Easter night.  Jesus calms his disciples by sharing with them “Peace.”  He shows them the scars of his Passion, his wounded hands and side, the evidence of his saving work through his suffering, death and resurrection.  Then he breathes on them and explains what the divine breathing means with the words, “Receive the holy Spirit.”  He gives to the apostles, from His treasury of divine mercy, the assurance there is nothing to fear.  So important to remember especially this year.  Think of it – this is our second celebration of Easter in pandemic times.

Pious devotions such as the rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet foster the virtue of trust in God’s mercy making participation in the sacraments, especially the liturgy of Eucharist and Reconciliation, more vital and fruitful.

There is a trend of late among many media services (thankfully) to close the evening news with an effort to balance stories of violence, horror and tragedy with illustrations of volunteer service, almsgiving and one-on-one forgiveness and kindness and other examples of “divine mercy” in action.  Stories that stand out: heroism and neighborliness in times of COVID, floods and tornadoes, the expanding problem with world hunger, homelessness and closing of businesses; over-crowded hospitals, death, dying and stranded migrant children.  And it is likely you may recall earlier stories.  Like the one from 2006, the story of the Amish community that walked to the home of the man who had killed 5 of their children to tell his widow they forgave her husband for what he had done, and they consoled her for the loss of her spouse.  They buried their anger before they buried their children.

Another not-to-be-forgotten story of forgiveness, you may recall, was depicted on the cover of TIME magazine 1984.  Two men sit knee-to-knee, up close and personal in a prison cell.  The younger man wears a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans and white running shoes.  The older man is dressed in a white robe and a white skullcap on his head.  The two spoke quietly so as to keep others from hearing their conversation.  The young man was an attempted assassin; the older man was Pope John Paul II, his intended victim.   The pope held the hand that had held the gun with the bullet that had torn into his body.  At the end of their 20-minute meeting, raising the pope’s hand, Ali pressed to his own forehead as a sign of respect.  John Paul shook Ali’s hand tenderly.  When the pope left the cell he said, “What we talked about must remain a secret between us.  I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.”  John Paul’s deed has become an icon of living mercy.

These, and other stories, teach us that forgiveness is central.  They show us in a real sense that God’s forgiveness depends on our being the first to extend forgiveness – starting with forgiveness of self for short-comings.  That’s what the mercy of God is all about.  These are but a few examples of God’s divine mercy in action.  This is the gift of mercy we celebrate on Divine Mercy Sunday.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

 

First Reading: Acts 4:232-35     Second Reading: John 5:1-6   Gospel: John 20:19-31
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Eventbrite – Online Event Guide

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We offer this series for those interested. 

The cost of each presentation varies and some are free.

 

 

Your Online Event Guide

Stay connected while staying home

 

Online events for you

Love Overflowing: Jesus the Universal…

Sat, Apr 10   

 

 

 

Ash Tree – Tree Wisdom Journey – Online…

Tue, Apr 13 

 

 

 

Pentecost @Home in Your Congregation

Thu, Apr 15 

 

 

 

Self Mastery Online Event

Sat, Apr 17

 

 

 

Online Ceremony: A Glimpse into the…

Sat, Apr 17

The Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Glastonbury

 

 

Arabic Through the Quran for New…

Fri, Apr 16

 

 

 

 

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Lent 2021 – Part 2

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This April 7th post just after Easter again features Abbot Gregory J. Polan’s Circular Letter. In case you missed the first part posted March 26th, his brief bio is repeated here.

Abbot Polan was elected in 2016 as the Abbot Primate of the 1500-year old Benedictine Order and resides at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome.  He serves the Benedictine community as its liaison to the Vatican and civil authorities to promote unity among the various autonomous Benedictine monasteries and congregations. Abbot Polan is the tenth Abbot Primate and the fourth American elected. 

The following is more from Abbot Polan’s recent Circular Letter:

There are a few spiritual thoughts that have come to mind in recent weeks to offer for your reflection. In the Farewell Discourse of Jesus in the Johannine Gospel, he says, “Peace I leave with you. My peace is my gift to you, and I do not give it to you as the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid” (14:27). In the Greek text of these few words, there is a sense in which Jesus is bequeathing something significant to his followers, a gift of profound import, a bequest of divine consequence. Today we can think of peace as an absence of anxiety, conflict or worry.  As a Jew, Jesus knew that peace/shalom touched on the total well-being of a person – body, soul and spirit. These words of Jesus to his disciples came at that moment when he was about to enter into his paschal offering to the One he called Abba. It was to be a total offering of himself. We note in this Gospel text that it is not simply peace that Jesus gives his followers, but an emphasis on “my” peace. Jesus’ own peace would possess a character deeper and more profound because his disciples would also share in his mission. We might even call it a peace in the midst of paschal living, a peace that comes with the gift of self in a moment of personal self-offering, with a movement from challenge to blessing. And yet, this special peace is able to bring joy, inner comfort and strength in the midst of anguish and distress. But we see how deeply Jesus looked at his life and its meaning for others; he was able to see what others, especially his own disciples, were unable to see and understand fully. Only with time and spiritual wisdom would this make sense to them and to us.

In this passage, we find the ever so brief and powerful expression that appears on the lips of Jesus more than any other expression: “Do not be afraid.” As Jesus prepares to enter into his passing-over, he gives his disciples and us a gift of the spiritual life: Do not be afraid. In accepting the evolving plan of God, Jesus shows us the path to glory, to victory and to a peace that this world cannot give. This is something so important for us to hold on to in any variety of situations that come our way. Could Jesus have already seen this in the rich tradition of his ancestors in the Laments of the psalter? I believe so. Even when we read the painful words of the Laments in the Psalms, notice how there is a word of hope, a call to courage and a belief that Gods’ providential care will “win the day” amid life’s challenges. On my desk, I keep a card with the words my doctor from the United States sent to me: “Remain calm, stay strong, carry on.”  I think these words reflect in a contemporary way the words of Jesus to his disciples.

Be sure to watch for two more thoughtful posts from Abbot Polan in the coming weeks.

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