This weekend’s Gospel tells us that Jesus fasted 40 days and then the intense temptations began. The first temptations were about food – then self; then, stones, the temple, Jesus’ immediate surrounding, and His community. The final temptation was related to political power, the kingdom, and the whole world.
In the first temptation, the devil is trying to entice Jesus away from his mission so he can avoid suffering and death. Aren’t we, too, sometimes tempted to turn aside from our Lenten mission? When we are tired, hungry, and feeling drained of energy on many levels, it is then that the devil is grinning with glee at the prospect of getting us to throw in the towel on all our good resolutions. Beware the wiles of the devil – they are cunning. Jesus enjoyed good food, a good meal with friends. Walking through fields of grain, he savored the wheat kernels. In Cana He supplied first rate wine. And He sent his disciples ahead to arrange for supper the night before He died.
In the second temptation, the devil insists that Jesus is entitled to divine safety and protection. Whenever you are tempted to amaze people with grand ideas, remember Jesus’ reply: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
In the third temptation, the devil wants Jesus to compromise good by using the wrong means. We, too, can be tempted to meet legitimate human needs using the wrong means.
In this Gospel story Jesus’ temptations occur at the outset of his ministry. Some may say it was his first day on the job. He is confronted with three major enticements, but he outfoxed the devil and went on to win His crown. You know the saying “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Did you see the story about the deputy who landed his first job? A local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants, who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview. “Okay,” began the sheriff, “What is 1 and 1?” “Eleven,” came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, “That’s not what I meant, but he’s right.” Then the sheriff asked, “What two days of the week start with the letter ‘T’?” “Today & tomorrow,” replied the applicant. The sheriff was again surprised by the answer, one that he had never thought of himself. “Now, listen carefully. Who killed Abraham Lincoln?” asked the sheriff. The jobseeker seemed a little surprised, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, “I don’t know, Sir.” The sheriff replied, “Well, why don’t you go home and work on that one for a while?” The applicant left and wandered over to his pals who were waiting to hear the results of the interview. He greeted them with a cheery smile, “The job is mine! The interview went great! First day on the job and I’m already working on a murder case!”
On Saturday, February 28, 2026 the Benedictine Sisters of Florida will celebrate the 137th anniversary of the day in 1889 that the “interview went great!” The five founding Sisters from Pittsburgh, PA hit the floor running for their “first day on the job.” And we’ve been running ever since. The heritage of our Founders has been our inspiration for prayer, good works and life in community. God bless them and all who have gone before us on their faith journeys: those as academy and prep school students; those who came and stayed awhile; those who discovered their life path elsewhere. Blessed are those who spent their lives and went to their eternal reward as lifelong members in our community.
From the 2011 archives of Sister Roberta Bailey (revised 2026)
Attached Founders Day Prayer 2026
Prayer for Founders’ Day
137th Anniversary
February 28, 2026
Bavaria
To Elk County PA 1852
To Pittsburgh, PA 1870
To San Antonio, FL 1889
“Your work is written on the wings of time, it will be wafted to Heaven, where it is read with heavenly delight, and it will be transcribed on the chronicles of eternity. May you be loved for your goodness; may you be assisted for your purpose, and may you be cheered on in your blessed mission.
With fond love, M. Alegunda
Saint Mary, Elk County, PA @1870
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
110th Anniversary Morning Praise and Eucharist
Homily March 1, 1999…by Sister Roberta Bailey, O.S.B.
Revised for 137th Anniversary 2026
If we are selective, we can choose strands in today’s readings which fit our occasion of anniversary. In the first reading and the psalm we heard: “Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you…Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name…we, your people and the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever…” In the Gospel reading Jesus gives us an admonition that will never go out of style, and one we profess to enflesh our mission: “Be compassionate, as God is compassionate.” In the Prayer Over the Gifts you will hear Father say: “May the grace of this mystery prevent us from becoming absorbed in material things,”
Thus, the “great work” continues…the work begun by our founding sisters 110 years ago today. At the outset of Lent we prayed that we may “begin with God’s inspiration, continue with the help of divine grace, and reach perfection under God’s guidance…” This seems to have been the attitude and prayers of our founding sisters. A powerful mindset! What is begun in God’s name with God’s blessing will be nurtured and cultivated by God and finally reach perfection under the benevolence of divine providence.
In 1989 we took as our Centennial slogan “Recall the Past; Embrace the Future.” We can continue that theme in the celebration of our 110th anniversary. In recalling the past, we honor the memory of all the people who lived it those who endured the hardships and lived through the challenges brought about by the poverty of many sharing little, fewness of members to do much work, homesickness and distance from loved ones, longing for things as they used to be, world wars, the Great Depression, deaths at a young age, changes in society, changes in the church and changes in the interpretation of Benedictinism.
To honor “mothers” we strive to learn and relearn, tell and retell their stories we are uplifted by the inspiration (and hilarity) of everyday pleasures, of the ways people learned to survive the nonsense of the “letter of the law,” the simple things that occasioned a celebration.
We preserve the stories because we want never to forget that the opportunities we have today were not simply lavished upon us. They were purchased at the great price of travel from home; cold, cracked work-worn knuckles; study by the light of midnight oil; stomachs that ached with hunger; raking, hoeing and manuring groves and gardens – saving, scrimping and salvaging.
What firm faith and incredible courage our founding sisters must have had! The records in the Pittsburgh archives remind us that these young sisters were clearly told if the venture did not work they were not to return to Pennsylvania. An examination of the papers shows us that of the five women who signed their severance papers on the evening of February 22, one never made it to Florida. However, one of the sisters who served as a witness, must have decided overnight to join the mission band – she is named in the group of five founders.
Imagine what daring it took to venture south into Indian territory! These were ordinary women just like us. They were Benedictine women with a dream and a mission. Above all they were motivated by the love of God and a strong desire to spread the Good News. In 1889 Rome considered the church in America “missionary territory.” In relative terms, the slaves had only recently been freed. Had our sisters ever seen a black person in their northern neighborhood? Surely not an Indian. And most assuredly not an alligator!
There is some evidence that the pioneer band traveled from Allegheny Country to the Benedictine house in Covington, Kentucky – then southward by train which would have deposited them in south Georgia or north Florida. It seems safe to me to guess that someone from San Antonio would have met the sisters at the train to bring them in wagons or on horseback down along what is now Hwy 19 and 41 – parts of the Seminole trail. Perhaps they met cattle droves bringing their herds to Tampa or Punta Gorda. By the time they reached San Antonio, traveling through the Florida wilderness – in February probably not too many mosquitoes but surely they’d have heard or seen black bears and panthers, “strange birds, and had run across a snake or two. On Thursday, February 28, I bet they breathed a sigh of relief to at last be among people they may not have personally known but whose northern cultural practices and manners, whose speech patterns were similar to their own.
The next day, March 1, being Friday and most probably a Lenten Friday, would have been a black fast day. They would have partaken of very little, if any, breakfast. They’d have prayed the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. And as we known from the annals: “the great work was begun.” Perhaps they had a main meal of fish, fresh caught from Lake Jovita. Evening came, and morning came, the second day.
Now here we are at day 40,178 in the 110th year of our history! And the GREAT WORK goes on. As long as there are gaps between our ideals and our reality, there will always be great work to be done. Our founding sisters, and the women who followed them into community, knew that they probably would not live to see all the changes they promoted. We face challenges our foremothers could not have imagined. Our “daughters” will face challenges unimaginable to us. This is part of Florida Benedictine women’s experience – we strive to be better, to be compassionate and caring; to keep faith with our founding ideals and to enflesh them into a reality worthy of those who will inherit what we build today.
And, since this new day is already upon us…and we must be about the great work that awaits us…
Let us simply pray these words from the psalms: “Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you…we, your people will give thanks to you forever.”
