This has been a hectic but mostly wonderful summer (as you know if you’ve been reading my blog). 🙂

My most recent adventure was to Sacred Heart Monastery in Yankton, South Dakota, to a fabulous gathering of Benedictine Sisters under the age of 55 (this photo is of Sister Edith Bodge, who spoke to us on the theme of cultural shifts). 82 women attended from all of our Federations. Our theme was Wisdom Calls.

It’s amazing how wisdom does call this vibrant group. For one thing, wisdom calls us to laugh and play and have lots of fun. One night we gathered for pizza, conversion, and games. We played Minute to Win it.

We acted like kids … a great way to act sometimes!

We broke into our different Federations (my monastery, St. Mary Monastery, is in the Federation of Saint Benedict) and competed against each other. We rolled quarters into the spokes of forks, we put pencils on the backs of our hands and threw them up in the air and caught them, we carried yardsticks with blocks on the ends. Or tried. 🙂

Wisdom also calls us to imagine … envision … create. We learned about cultural shifts and how they have – and will – affect religious life. We shared our own insights. We envisioned how our own communities might respond, and took those inspirations back with us to our own monasteries.

School will be starting soon, so I will be focusing on the future in a different way. I hope to share more with you about the Benedictine Sisters gathering, though. If you’re in a hurry to hear more, don’t hesitate to contact me at smacdonald@smmsisters.org. I have plenty of time for you!!! 🙂