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Listening for the Whisper
To be a contemplative we must put down the cacophony of the world around us and go inside ourselves to wait for the God who is a whisper not a storm. Joan Chittister, OSBLast month we made our annual summer retreat. Six days long and silent, we don't talk with one another unless there is an urgent need. We don't watch TV or movies. Instead, we attend conferences with our retreat director (this year, that was Dan Ward, OSB, a canon lawyer whose presentations were on the Rule), read spiritual books, walk in nature and spend time in prayer and contemplation of God. We listen for the Divine.As contemplatives, we naturally prize silence and seek it at other times as well. Once a month, for instance, we have a "prayer day," during which we are quiet from dawn until mid-afternoon (July 1st is this month's prayer day). "I love prayer day," Postulant Nancy Offenhiser says. "I'm a chatterbox, but I have a deeply quiet side. The whole monastery is quiet, which is conducive to prayer and meditation."Sr. Sheila McGrath says Prayer Day gives one a chance to "get off the treadmill" for a while. "Prayer Day gives you a chance to sit and read, and spend extra time in Chapel," she says. "It's a chance to walk around the lake and be in nature, which is another form of prayer. There's a solidarity, too, with one another. We are all in the same mode."Sr. Mary Jean Feeney, who celebrated her 70th jubilee this year (and still works for our retreat center), says Prayer Day is part of the "rhythm of our lives." Not only do we observe silence on Prayer Day, she notes, but we do so each morning until after 8 am Mass, as well. "We can get caught up in the hubbub just like anyone else," she says. "Silence helps you evaluate how things are going, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It helps you keep your bearings."It is there, where we keep our bearings, that we can "wait for the God who is a whisper not a storm."
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Prayer is Primary... |
We pray together and alone in the morning... at noon... and at night.
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