Star Light, Star Bright ....

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight ....

Remember the rhyme from when you were a kid?! ...Actually, I still think of that little saying even to this day. For me there is something awesome and magical about the stars and I love clear summer nights to look up at the starry sky. Of course living in the city it is often hard to see the stars so brightly, but where I grew up in Southern Oregon, almost at the 5,000 foot level, the night sky is amazing! The picture here was taken on my retreat last summer at the Trappist Abbey in LaFayette, OR. Greeting the night time and watching the stars come out is a favorite thing for me when I am on retreat ...if the mosquitoes aren't too bad like they were for me this summer ....

Anyway, I'm not sure what is making me think of the stars right now, except August is the month of shooting stars and this past week I heard news of meteor showers - which I missed because of the 3 AM time of viewing! Also, I came across a quote yesterday which I would like to share with you. It might speak a bit of the many situations our world seems to be in right now ~ the earthquakes in Haiti and other countries recently, the oil spill in the Gulf, the flooding in Pakistan, etc....
Madeline L'Engle (1918-2007) wrote in "A Stone for a Pillow" (1986) this piece to reflect and think upon ..."If we look at the makeup of the word disaster, dis-aster, we see dis which means separation, and aster, which means star. So dis-aster is separation from the stars. Such separation is disaster indeed. When we are separated from the stars, the sea, each other, we are in danger of being separated from God." Something the think about indeed! In any kind of disaster, it is so important to stay connected to each other, help each other and especially stay connected with God to give us the courage and strength we need ...
I am off to spend a weekend with my family and, hopefully, I will be able to enjoy a couple of clear night skies to see some shooting stars! No matter if I see any shooting stars or not, I still give praise for the beauty of the night sky ... All Praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the Stars; in the heavens You made them, bright and precious and fair ... from the Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis

How Good it is to Celebrate!

Happy Feast of St. Clare!
Today, August 11th, we celebrate St. Clare of Assisi ... a very special day in my community. It is on this day that so many Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia - including myself - made our Final Vow!
Even though we have always celebrated the life of Clare, it is only in recent history that we have discovered what a strong and faith-filled person she truly was in her own right, not just a copy of St. Francis... Clare was a woman of initiative and courage. She was the first woman in the Church to have written a rule of life for woman - the "Poor Clares", and it is through her that we can understand St. Francis better.
So anyway, this evening we will have a nice dinner ~ I'm the cook ~ and special prayers to commemorate her Feast.
My Congregation broke from tradition a bit this year however, as many of us gathered together this past Sunday, at Our Lady of Angels Convent in Aston PA, (our Motherhouse) to support Sr. Patricia Kerezsi as she professed her Perpetual Profession ~ made her Final Vows as a Sr. of St. Francis! We had a wonderful celebration! So, in the spirit of St. Clare, may you have Faith to lead you. Joy to lift you. Love to light your way.
Here is a picture of Sr. Patricia with her mother (in the middle) our Formation Director, Sr. Diane (left) and Sr. Marijane (right),
and others who were there to celebrate and be a part of the special occasion ...