Theology of the Body -- Awesome!

I (Sr. Mary Michael) just got back from a class called "Theology of Sexuality Healing and Redemption". Wow. I was not prepared for the awesome week of beauty and awesomeness!

The bottom picture is my "family" (small group for the week)....

The middle picture is Sr. Marie Bernadette, one of my new TOB Sisters in Christ.

The top picture is me with Christopher West and his mom and dad. They were all in the class (Christopher only taught 2 lectures. The rest were by Dr. Bob from Florida).

God bless you all! Remember that God loves you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He chooses the weak...

As I look around at my dear Sisters in community, I see one limping along in a "boot" after a foot fracture, one recovering from surgery, one sneezing and bleary-eyed from the assault of a new allergy season, one breathless from mowing the Rosary Garden, one sleepy after a night of watching over our Sisters in the infirmary, one melancholic after a particularly difficult day at school, one sore from a vigorous chiropractic treatment, and one with her feet up because fallen arches are part of carrying her daily cross, I am reminded that God does indeed use human instruments for His daily work in the vineyard. His workers and lovers are valiant souls in fragile human bodies, and they can be found in every convent, rectory, seminary, and home in the world. He is truly our strength - no doubt about it.

No Eucharist Without the Priesthood

Dear Friends,

You can almost smell the cool, crisp days of fall just ahead...or maybe it's because I am simply looking forward to September right around the corner! For me, new life has always been personified by autumn. It could be the teacher in me that looks to the beginning of a new school year right about now, and that always signifies a fresh start. A fresh start is a blank page with no mistakes, to paraphrase Anne of Avonlea.

In turn, that reminds me of my personal resolutions and those of all the School Sisters as we celebrate this Year of the Priest. St. Augustine, whose feastday is August 28, said "O wonderful the dignity of priests; in whose hands the Son of God is made flesh as in the womb of the Virgin." Our precious priests need our prayers and support. They are constantly under the assault of the enemy. We owe them so much in return for the gift of their lives to the Church; let's remember to pray for them, to listen to them, to defend them against criticism.

Another reminder to share - don't miss Pope Benedict's third encyclical, Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate). This wonderful writing draws on the Holy Father's first two encyclicals and their themes of love and hope to examine the social issues of the day. It includes reflection on the writings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Paul VI concerning social teaching. As always, the dignity of the human person is first and foremost the primary focus of all three pontiffs. We continue to battle the culture of death to promote a culture of life and genuine peace.

And may peace be with each of you as we look to the end of summer and the start of a new season!

Sister Mary Ana

The Gospels

The Gospels are always outstanding, of course, but we'd like to reflect on the last 2 days' Gospels.

Yesterday (Aug. 20) was about the king that had the big banquet and invited everyone to come. At the end, he found a person without the correct wedding garment on. And then the king said, after throwing the person out, "Many are called, few are chosen."

Could it be that many are called to Religious Life (or another holy vocation), and they do not make themselves available to be chosen?

Today's Gospel was about the 2 Greatest Commandments -- to love the Lord our God with our whole hearts and souls (paraphrasing) and our neighbor as ourselves! This is so awesome! It's the center of everything! It's the guiding star of our every day lives!

God bless you all!

Rainbows, lots of rain, visitors, and back to school!

We have had 9 inches of rain in the last 8 days!!! This is very unusual for the Texas Panhandle!

One day there was a beautiful double rainbow -- very hard to take pictures of and actually capture!

We've also had some great visitors that are discerning Religious Life -- pray for all of the neat people that visit us!

Finally, it's that time again -- back to school! May God bless all the teachers, students, parents, and faculty members!!!

60th Jubilee & Visitors!

We've had several visitors lately. It's been awesome!

Sr. M. Josita (see top picture) celebrated her 60th Jubilee of Vows! Congratulations Sister!!!

Red River 2009

We just finished our Community vacation in Red River, NM! It was AWESOME!!! We prayed for all of you there.

Also, please pray for our beloved Msgr. Kevin Hand who died today. Even though he did not feel well, he would always say Mass for us when we needed one. He was very good to us. May He rest in peace!

New Website

Dear Family and Friends,

Our new website is obviously not done by the end of July as projected. It was more involved than the webmaster predicted, plus she has MANY other things calling for her attention. . .

The new website should be up no later than August 15.

Yesterday was the feast of the Portiuncula (Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in Assisi -- "The Little Portion". Some of us are in Red River right now on vacation. We celebrated by FISHING!!!