Watches of the night–that’s the old-fashioned name for middle-of-the-night insomnia. The psalmists speak of them as times to commune with God in their hearts, opening their souls to divine judgment, longing for integrity.

Do you think good soul work often goes on in your watches of the night? Or do you think they are times that easily tilt us out of perspective, as if we’re being passed through a gauntlet or gallery of all our fears? Continue Reading

“There’s a river whose streams gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High” (Ps. 46:4).

I’ve sensed two rivers of late, though they tend to dissolve into one.

The first is a river of suffering creatures … the second is a river of prayer. Continue Reading

I’ve not written for a time because of a series of events that derailed my summer intentions. In early June my companion Daniel’s father (age 91) could not get back to bed from the bathroom, and since then he’s been back & forth between the hospital and nursing home rehab, unable to care for his wife, who has Alzheimers. So I have spent many days two hours from my home in Springfield, IL, getting simple meals and meds for Daniel’s mother when he’s at work, bringing work with me to do there. But no internet access in the house limited my blog writing abilities. Continue Reading

Someone with whom I am very close, my sister, 7 years my senior, has been homeless since early March.

The roots of her homelessness go back decades: She married in 1970 just out of high school.  She and her husband never quite got the knack of home finances, declaring bankruptcy multiple times.  When they split-up in 1989, she moved back with our parents.  She worked and went to college, and only lacked her student teaching to receive her diploma.  A few years later, she decided to try technical school in computers, which resulted in another unfinished course. Continue Reading

With deep grief we announce the sudden death of our dear Sr. Marilyn Hettinger. What a beautiful spirit … now a beautiful saint. Read the obituary.

We often think of “praying constantly,” but what about praising God constantly?

Prayer can be petitionary, a way of dredging up what’s stirring inside our soul and giving voice of it to God.

But prayer of praise, which Psalm 95 invites us into all this week, is something we may often see as a subset of prayer, rather than its ever steady backdrop (like the sound of those vuvuzelas blown constantly during World Cup games). Continue Reading

Join Sisters Ruth and Bobbi on their trip to Rome! Sr. Bobbi is sending dispatches and photos home as often as possible. Today they are attending the Pentecost Mass at St. Peter’s!

I’ve noticed that often the Sisters’ daily Facebook updates feature flowers, and reference praise of God by way of the beauty of the natural world.  I think for many people the flower is a kind of sacramental, a visible reminder of the grace of God mediated to us in this fleshy wondrous world. Continue Reading

Sr. Maureen Coughlin died Sunday at the monastery. Read her obituary and a poem written for her by Sr. Marilyn.