Fed100 Anniversary |

SAVE THE DATE: BENEDICTINE COLLOQUIUM

The Federation of St. Scholastica will celebrate its Centennial with a Colloquium open to all followers of Benedict: women and men who are professed, are oblates, or are spiritual seekers. The Colloquium will take place at Mount Saint Scholastica in Atchison, KS, June 21-24, 2022. Six presenters and two responders will explore the goals spelled out here that center on Benedictine wisdom, witness, and creating a way forward. They will be introduced on this website in the very near future. This will be a hybrid event, registration will also open soon for a limited number of on site registrations and virtual registrations. SIGN UP BELOW TO RECEIVE INFORMATION VIA EMAIL AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

Benedictine Sisters of Bristow, VA
Benedictine Sisters of Tulsa, OK
Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA
Benedictine Sisters of Glendora, CA
Benedictine Sisters of Chicago, IL
Benedictine Sisters of Cullman, AL
Benedictine Sisters of St. Leo, FL
Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, TX
Benedictine Sisters of Colorado Springs, CO

Federation of St. Scholastica 1922 - 2022: The same call and gift of the Spirit that came to Benedict of Nursia early in the 6th century came to the women who formed the Federation of Saint Scholastica early in the 20th century. This same call and gift of the Spirit comes to us today, inspiring and animating us to respond to the gospel with the good zeal of Benedict, with listening hearts, with clarity of spiritual vision, and with hearts impelled by love. In the years leading up to our centennial celebration in 2022, we intend to publicly celebrate the vision and dedication of Benedictine women over the past 100 years while at the same time supporting current works as well as new and wider efforts to bring the peace of Christ and the justice of the gospel to today’s turbulent world.

Solemnly of the Most Holy Trinity

Trinity Sunday
May 30, 2021
Ana Cloughly, OSB, Sisters of Benet Hill Monastery, Colorado Springs, CO

The Heart of the Matter
Doctrinal development is one of my favorite ways of studying Church history. I read the efforts of Church Fathers and Mothers as they try with a sincere desire to grasp the mystery of the Triune God through reason. In these often-roving confessions and dissertations of our wise predecessors, I find interesting ideas but little real time knowledge to which I can relate.

The Scriptures are my greater love. In them, God is known in fire, cloud, the radiance of Moses’ face and in a small whisper (Elijah at Horeb). In the gospels, God is made flesh in Jesus and dwells among us, sharing with us the love of the Father though is very being. Jesus preaches, teaches, heals, and parties (wedding feast at Cana), cries and dies, is raised from the dead and as we read last week, pours out the Holy Spirit on the believers. Most significant for today is that the risen Christ sends the eleven to baptize in the name of the Most Holy Trinity.

I love the image of the eleven just standing there watching Christ ascend. Matthew has a very interesting little detail that really captures my imagination. He says, “When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted”. They doubted what? Reading the first reading, Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 and the Epistle, Romans 8:14-17 might offer some insight.

Both readings deal with a like subject, God has chosen the people. Moses tells the Israelites they are chosen to be the people of God. The stipulation is that they keep the commandments and statutes of the Law. Paul has an even more fantastic claim. He tells the Romans and us that God has not chosen us like slaves but as adopted children, as heirs. In other words, those who are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have all the rights and responsibilities of God’s own son, Jesus the Christ. The stipulation is of course, that the eleven teach everything that Jesus taught them. Christians today are also heirs by virtue of our baptism in the name of the Trinity. How do we, I live out a life of baptism in the name of a Triune God? My personal challenge is asking myself “How do I live a life committed to a mystery I can barely grasp?” How do any of us?

I love that the eleven doubted. Even in the very presence of Christ, their humanity seeks something more convincing. I am in great company. Nevertheless, God is not a puzzle to be solved. God chooses us. We call the Trinitarian nature of God a mystery and indeed it is because we do not understand how three persons in One God works. However, God chooses us not to be unknowable but to be known.

In a Benedictine monastery, our primary goal is to seek God in prayer and community. We may study theology, but our true seeking comes in the experience of God, all of God in our day-to-day living and our commitment to our friendship with God. Here is the most beautiful mystery, God wants to be known. Today’s celebration of the Most Holy Trinity gives the Church and the whole world a chance to awaken to their chosen-ness, awaking to a God who wants to be known. I will end this reflection with a section from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s Hymn of the Universe.

“Radiant Word, blazing Power, you who mold the manifold so as to breathe your life into it; I pray you, lay on us those your hands — powerful, considerate, omnipresent, those hands which do not (like our human hands) touch now here, now there, but which plunge into the depths and the totality, present and past, of things so as to reach us simultaneously through all that is most immense and most inward within us and around us.”

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Sister Ana Cloughly is the Director of the Contemplative Vision Ministry at Benet Hill Monastery in Colorado Springs, CO. She facilitates courses in contemplative prayer practices and Christian mysticism, leads group retreats and is a Spiritual Director. She is a member of the planning committee for the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Federation of St. Scholastica.

Sister Ana's reflections begin May 30 and continue through August.

Weekly Reflections

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

October 24, 2021,
Catherine Martinez, OSB, St. Joseph Monastery in Tulsa, OK

Immediate Wholeness

Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.

This is the cry of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who sat on the road leading out of Jericho. (Mk 10:46-52) It is a bold plea for help in his poverty and blindness. And it is an acknowledgment in faith of the person of Jesus. This scene gives us one of the few times where Jesus’ name is actually used rather than a title; so in a sense, this blind beggar, whose presence would normally hardly have been acknowledged, is actually one of the first people to understand who Jesus is. Bartimaeus also ties Jesus’ identity with the messianic prophecies from Isaiah which claim that the coming savior will be of Davidic lineage. This is the first time that Jesus is called Son of David in the gospel narratives.

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Podcast Series

Lynn McKenzie, OSB

Sister Lynn Marie McKenzie, OSB, is a member of Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, AL. She is president of the Federation of St. Scholastica and Moderator of Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum. She is a civil and canon lawyer and a canon law consultant for religious communities. Read a Global Sisters Report story on the book Summary Judgment that Sister Lynn speaks of in this podcast. It details a capital murder case on which she collaborated with the author, Donald Cameron Clark.

Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh Leadership Coaches

Three members of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh, co-founders of the Life and Leadership Coaching Program for Religious Women, talk about their program.

Sister Susan English has served in multiple leadership positions in her community. She is a Master Certified Coach, holds a doctorate in education and considers herself a "womb to tomb" educator.

Sister Evelyn Dettling has served in various leadership positions within her community and in ministry.

Sister Roberta Campbell is currently the community's Liturgy Director, involved in the Spiritual Spa Retreat program for women and the Chair of the 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh.

Centennial Prayer

The same call and gift of the Spirit that came to Benedict of Nursia and his sister Scholastica early in the 6th century came to the women who formed the Federation of Saint Scholastica early in the 20th century. This same call and gift of the Spirit comes to us today, inspiring and animating us to respond to the gospel with their good zeal, with listening hearts, with clarity of spiritual vision, and with hearts impelled by love. And so we pray:

Audio recording of prayer by Sister Lynn McKenzie, OSB, President of the Federation of St. Scholastica

Loving God, we give you thanks
for our Benedictine heritage,
and for the expression of this call and gift in the
communities of the Federation of St. Scholastica.

May our celebration
of the Federation's first 100 years
strengthen us in our spiritual tradition,
deepen our capacity to listen,
widen our hearts with your love,
and sharpen our spiritual vision
that seeks to see Christ in the heart of all Creation
and at the center of our common life.

One in Christ,
may the communities of the Federation,
oblates, benefactors, and friends,
share the peace of Christ,
show the love of Christ,
and make Christ known in our world.

Amen FOR SPANISH TRANSLATION, CLICK HERE