This Summer has been very full. We have accompanied our Sr Godelieve in her transitus to Eternal Life.
We have opened a new Welcome Center for our Retreatants, Guests and Visitors
We have been graced by the teaching, deep spirituality, and wisdom of two Dominicans, Fr. Michael Dodds, OP and Sr. Barbara Green, OP.
Fr. Michael gave us our annual community retreat, entitled The Hidden God. The retreat explored our relationship as contemplatives with a God who seems to hide himself and yet is always searching for us. Fr. Michael concludes, “We find God because God himself has called us to find him.” The language of this encounter is love often expressed in hidden actions and prayers.
Sr. Barbara reinforced our retreat through her conferences on the Gospel of John. She highlighted the liturgical aspects in the Gospel and described how the Johannine community reoriented predominantly Jewish observances to their new existential circumstances. The community experienced loss on many levels and found itself seeking new ways to express and enact the completeness of God’s presence manifested to them in the Risen Christ and in the Spirit.
The Summer of 2019 was marked by themes of Community, Transition, Continuity, Prayer and Liturgy. The content we received from Fr. Michael and Sr. Barbara echoed these themes and we incarnated them in our community life. The dying of Sr. Godelieve has touched us deeply but also in a mysterious way, her death has also brought us closer together to fully embody the vocation God has given each one of us.
O soul in God hidden from sin,
What more desires for thee remain,
Save but to love, and love again,
And all on flame with love within,
Love on, and turn to love again?
(Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila quoted by Fr Michael Dodds to conclude our retreat)
NB For more on our Retreat and Conferences see Sr. Kathy’s Chapter Talk.
