Exiting my car at the women’s care facility, I saw there were plastic grocery bags sitting atop a picnic table, in the shady end of the lot. Within them were dozens of perennials that had been dug from someone’s garden. The bags were crumpled, the cardboard boxes were warped, and the plants they contained were wilted; the soil dried. I looked around the grounds for evidence of a new garden, but nowhere was there fresh turned soil, waiting to be... Read more
Holy and Beloved Father whose love is without limit and whose gifts are given with full compassion hear our prayers for Sisters and Nuns. Look upon them with mercy when their prayers are hindered by a false sense of unworthiness. Inspire all Sisters and Nuns who are creative artists whose gifts are to reveal your beauty in our world. Help them to continuously embrace your goodness and lead them to seek goodness rather than faults in their communities, in those... Read more
I don’t know why I agreed to the request from the woman who lives downstairs. Linda had asked that I grow some tomato plants for her—one ‘Sweet 100s’ and a second ‘Champion’—oh and would I mind maybe bush zucchinis and a single cucumber plant? I no longer worked the grounds at the retreat center and hadn’t taken on any gardening clients this summer, so I had a bit more energy. I had been growing only one tomato vine, and that... Read more
On a road overwhelmed by events of great sorrow and despair, the men together walked. The story of the road to Emmaus was over two-thousand years ago. Today, and still, our priests may be journeying with the same heavy hearts. Let us offer this prayer for them in a world gone mad. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer for the spiritual renewal of priests. We praise you for giving them their ministry to the Church. In these days renew them with the... Read more
A pair of Mourning Doves rested beside the massive zucchini leaves near the bird bath. They cooed, crouching in the warm soil, and rubbing their heads along each others beak and neck. Scratching the soil with their feet they created a shallow divot. They tucked themselves down into the earthen bowl to lay close together, front to tail, heads resting atop one another’s back. I watched these two birds with a sense of reverence. Mourning Doves mate for life. I... Read more
Lord Jesus we pray that you strengthen our Sisters and Nuns to bring forth your hope and love in a suffering world. Where war has inflicted death, let our Sisters and Nuns work for peace. Where famine has brought suffering, let our holy women feed the poor. Where earthquakes and floods have caused hopelessness, let our consecrated women provide relief. Where epidemic has spread, let our Sisters and Nuns care for life. May God guard them from evil. Amen. Read more
One cannot live the life of an anchorite with an expectation of companionship. The journey to draw closer to God often means a journey away from people. To bring Christ into our world is to serve others; to draw closer to God is to leave all behind. It is a paradox. The challenges I face as I learn what it is to be a Benedictine Oblate seem to strike at the core of who I thought I was. I must... Read more
Our warmest month in southern Michigan is usually August. The heat—though we seem to be short on that this year—combined with the shortening daylight hours pushes plants to maturity. Vegetables are coming on strong for the harvest, perennials are setting seed, trees and shrubs are hardening up for the winter to come. It’s that time of year, as busy as the spring, when your gardening to-do list starts to grow as fast as the zucchini! So…here is a list to... Read more
O my God, pour forth upon your priests the spirit of sacrifice in its fullness. It is their glory as much as their duty to be victims, to consume themselves for souls, to often live without human joys, to often undergo mistrust, injustice and persecution. May they reflect upon what they say each day at the altar: “This is My Body; this is My Blood.” May they reflect on it and apply it to themselves: “I am no longer myself,... Read more
Dear Loving God our Father, Merciful Jesus our Brother, Holy Mother Mary, our world is in such turmoil. The sufferings of your children are great, their diseases of body, the persecutions that sicken the heart and soul, seem insurmountable. We pray to you that our missionary Sisters and Nuns do not succumb to the despair of the people so desperately in need of their strength. We pray they do not fall victim to the same diseases of body and fear in their... Read more
Morning Rose Prayer Gardens
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In