A Surprise "Bouquet"

Greetings,

This fancy chick is our new Ring-necked Pheasant!

One of our Employees is also a conservation volunteer.  After he saw the success of our chicken clutch and the delight it brought to our sisters.  He offered us a handful of eggs to incubate and hatch.

The Pheasant eggs were just over half the size of our chicken eggs, but needed to incubate for 24-29 days--a whole week longer.  After they hatched, the fluffy little "bouquet" of one chick will remain warm and safe in the monastery activity room for all to enjoy.  After a few weeks, our conservation volunteer will take the chick to finish growing for another five weeks in a netted conservation area.


Finally, this handsome little face will be released into the wilds of South Dakota.  The Ring-necked Pheasant is important to our rural heritage as it is the state bird of South Dakota.  It is also an important part of the rural tourism in drawing hunters from in and out of state to the smaller towns and cities of our state.  Here's hoping and praying that it flies far and fast into a cozy little corner of the country.

Blessings,

A Reminder on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Greetings,

Busted Halo.com has created a wonderful graphic to help us remember and celebrate the gift and importance of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ.  This Saturday, take some time to reflect and prepare for the solemn celebration on Sunday.

A reflection on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity...

Greetings,

Our Sr. Doris shared her reflections on today's solemnity through the Avera website (our Catholic Hospital System)... 

"Unconditional"

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”(JOHN 3:16)

What a happy coincidence that today’s feast of the Holy Trinity is also our national celebration of Father’s Day. Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world to show us the Father and to enable us to know what it means to be “Father”: one who gives life and love, who nurtures, protects and provides with loving care.

St. John reminds us that one can have no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Many of us we came to know that “in the flesh” through our own parents who sacrificed daily with great love to care for us. A vivid memory I have of seeing this connection between God’s care and that of my parents came when I was a very small child.

My dad was a farmer and dependent upon his crops for much of our livelihood. It was late afternoon in mid-summer when a storm barreled through our area. I can still sense the anguish in my father’s body as the raging wind and hail wiped out his season’s crop. I recall well my own feelings of bewilderment and fear. I remember my dad reaching down and holding me gently to himself as he spoke his trust. “It’ll be OK,” he said, “God will take care of us.”

That moment of deep anguish and abiding trust, manifested in so many varied ways during my early years of life has served as an anchor for me in challenging times. That was truly “father love,” God’s and my dad’s. Happy Father’s Day!

Gracious and loving God,

who cares for us with such great love,

be with us and with all fathers that we may know Your unconditional love.

We pray this in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sr. Doris, OSB
Spiritual Director, Sacred Heart Monastery

Gospel: JOHN 3:16-18

Monastic Chapter

Greetings,

This weekend is double the celebration for the monastery.  We are preparing to celebrate the descent of the Spirit upon the Apostles with Pentecost Sunday and our Monastic Chapter.

It is wonderfully appropriate that our June Monastic Chapter should coincide with Pentecost, for we rely on the wisdom and guidance of the Spirit as we discern the needs of our monastic community. We also ask for your prayers as all of our sisters, from prioress to novice, travel home to discuss the "important business [that] has to be done in the monastery" RB 3:1.


However, it isn't all work and meetings.  All throughout the weekend, we visit with our sisters: catching up on news, sharing joys and sorrows, taking walks and playing favorite games. We also take time to celebrate.  One evening we will honor our Jubilarians of 50, 60, 70, and even 75 years as professed sisters.  The next night we will remember our beloved sisters who have died this past year with prayer and a procession through our cemetery.

Whenever any important business has to be done 

in the monastery, let the Abbot call together the whole community and state the matter to be acted upon. Then, having heard the brethren's advice,
let him turn the matter over in his own mind and do what he shall judge to be most expedient. The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best. 

Let the brethren give their advice with all the deference required by humility, and not presume stubbornly to defend their opinions; but let the decision rather depend on the Abbot's judgment, and all submit to whatever he shall decide for their welfare. 

However, just as it is proper for the disciples to obey their master, so also it is his function to dispose all things with prudence and justice.

Rule of Benedict 3

Prayer schedule changes during Monastic Chapter...

Friday:  Bishop Marty Memorial Chapel

~Mass 8:30 AM

~Morning Prayer within the Monastic Chapter

~Evening Prayer 4:45 PM

Saturday:  Bishop Marty Memorial Chapel

~Morning Prayer 8:30 AM

~Evening Prayer within the Monastic Chapter

Blessings,

Memorial Day

Greetings,
You are welcome to join us honoring and interceding for the active members, veterans, and deceased members of our nations Armed Forces: morning prayer begins at 8:30 AM, followed by the Celebration of the Eucharist.

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Greetings,

On this 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, our Holy Father, Pope Francis has shared a message to all those disposed to being laborers for the harvest!

 ... "Many times we have prayed with the words of the Psalmist: "It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture"; or: "The Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession"... Hence the way of belonging to God is explained:  it comes about through a unique and personal relationship with Jesus, which Baptism confers on us from the beginning of our rebirth to new life.  It is Christ, therefore, who continually summons us by his word to place our trust in him, loving him "with all the heart, with all the understanding, and will all the strength".  Therefore every vocation, even within the variety of paths, always requires an exodus from oneself in order to center one's life on Christ and on his Gospel...Therefore, we are all called to adore Christ in our hearts in order to allow ourselves to be touched by the impulse of grace contained in the seed of the world, which must grow in us and be transformed into concrete service to our neighbour.  We need not be afraid:  God follows the world of his hands with passion and skill in every phase of life.  He never abandons us!  He has the fulfillment of his plan for us at heart, and yet he wishes to achieve it with our consent and cooperation.

Today too, Jesus lives and walks along the paths of ordinary life in order to draw near to everyone, beginning with the least, and to heal us of our infirmities and illnesses. I turn now to those who are well disposed to listen to the voice of Christ that rings out in the Church and to understand what their own vocation is.  I invite you to listen to and follow Jesus, and to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by his words, which "are spirit and life".  Mary, the Mother of Jesus and ours, also says to us:  "Do whatever he tells you".  It will help you to participate in a communal journey that is able to release the best energies in you and around you.  A vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well cultivated field of mutual love that becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesial life.  No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself.  A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love.  Did not Jesus say:  "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another"? ...

Are you considering a call to the consecrated life?  We invite you to learn more about our Benedictine Life and discern with us in an upcoming retreat May 24-26:  
Exploring Benedictine Life:  Listening in Context.

Blessings,

The Feast of St. Joseph ~ Patron of our Diocese

Today the Church celebrates the feast
of St. Joseph the Worker.

Join us in prayer for the Diocese of Sioux Falls...

O God, creator and ruler of the universe in every age, you call us to develop and use our gifts for the good of others.  With Saint Joseph as our example and guide, may Your Church continue to serve its Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.