Mother’s Reflections – Page 7 – Abbey of St. Walburga

The Holy Rule Leads to Love

May 30, 2020

A reflection on the purpose of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

The Rule of St. Benedict outlines for us how to live a righteous life, and most importantly, it leads us to love. At the end of our lives, we will be judged by love. Just as the law isn’t going to save us so the Rule isn’t going to save us. But if we do what it says, it leads us to love.

In the Prologue, St. Benedicts says that his Rule is from “a father who loves you” (RB Prologue:1). His bottom line is that he’s writing it out of love. According to the dialogues of St. Gregory, at the end of Benedict’s life, his love needed to be perfected. So St. Scholastica, who was more perfect in love, was there to show him this last mark of his life that was needed—that love triumphs. The law was good and necessary, but it leads to love, and that’s its only purpose. (Click here for Gregory the Great’s account of this meeting).

Again, we hear in the Rule that “as we advance in the religious life and faith, we shall run the way of God’s commandments with expanded hearts and unspeakable sweetness of love” (RB Prologue:49). That’s what we’re all supposed to become. That’s what St. Benedict so desires for us. It is nothing more than the gospel message to love God and love our neighbor, and he shows us clearly a way to do this in his Rule. I challenge everyone to read Chapter 4 of the Holy Rule and pick one thing to work on for the good of the Body of Christ, for the better of another, for love. Do this seriously, that Christ may look upon you and say, “What a light in this world, which is so needed. I see clearly that my death meant something.” And in this way we will comfort the heart of Christ.

One of our Sisters reading the *Holy Rule of St. Benedict* and enjoying the beautiful Spring weather.

Holy Jealousy

May 16, 2020

A reflection on the first reading from the Office of Readings for the second Tuesday of Easter (Revelation 2:1-11) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

The Book of Revelation has a wonderful word for us today. St. John addresses the churches at Ephesus and Smyrna, so his message is in one sense for a particular time, and yet it also contains a window to eternity. He poetically writes:

…the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven lampstands of gold has this to say, ‘I know your deeds and your labors and your patient endurance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked men. You have tested those self-styled apostles who are nothing of the sort and discovered that they are imposters. You are patient and endure hardships for my cause. Moreover you do not become discouraged. I hold this against you, though. You have turned aside from your early love. Keep in mind the heights from which you have fallen. Repent and return to your former deeds.’
Revelation 2:1-5

What I love about this admonition is that it tells us what is important to God. What is so important is that we keep returning to Him. Sometimes turning aside just means you are looking the other way, but He is a jealous God, and He wants to mean so much to us that we can’t keep our eyes off Him. He desires that we so trust Him. Christ wants to brush away anything in our hearts that might impede us from looking at Him. It’s as if He says, “Whatever it is, bring it to me. I don’t want anything to impede us. Remember that I’m all powerful…I have the power to forgive. I have the power to raise you up. I have the power to do all things for you. I only ask one thing: love Me first. Let Me be your first glance. Let Me have everything in you. And trust Me, I’ll take care of the rest.” Now that’s love. And it is such a treasure for Him when we are no longer afraid to bring Him everything that is troubling us, everything that is embarrassing, and believe that He is just so pleased to find that we trust Him. That’s what means so much to God—that we trust Him. To think that one can be perfect and not need God is really an abomination. That hurts Him more than anything. When we are real and honest we know that we need Him, and this is our great joy.

Photograph of the Big Dipper taken from the Abbey’s upper deck. The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major, “The Greater Bear.”
“He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the back of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
He does things great and unsearchable,
things marvelous and innumerable.”
(Job 9:8-10)

Nourished by the Word

April 30, 2020

A reflection on the Gospel reading for April 15, 2020 (Luke 24:13-35) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

After His Resurrection, Jesus appears to His disciples and asks if they have anything for Him to eat. We can see by this that He so wants to be at home with them, wants them to recognize that it’s really Him, and they do not need to fear. I can imagine Christ saying, “I’m here with you, I’ll eat with you, I’ll do all things with you…Do not be afraid.”

Then we hear that “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). I think this is the key to Lectio Divina—it’s not something we do of ourselves, but something Christ does. All we need to do is be present. He can open the Scriptures for us. He can bring to life those words. You are going to hear it straight from Him. I pray that whole world would experience this grace, because His words are life. They are the sword that can cut away all evil, and the very thing that is light and gives light. Take the time to read the Scriptures and delight in them, because God meets you in them, and He delights in you.

Christ gave us His very self, and what will we give Him in return? I hope we will offer Him our very selves, over and over again. That’s what we can do every time we read the Scriptures: “God, I offer you myself again. Let me be that vessel You fill up.”

Our scheduled time for sacred reading is from 5:40-6:40 am, but we are encouraged to revisit the Scriptures throughout the day in order to be continually nourished by the Word.

…my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst…and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.
John 6:32-38, abridged

Plotting Good

April 25, 2020

A reflection on the joy of Christ’s Resurrection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

If the evil one plots evil against others, I think that God must all the more plot our good. Now have you ever heard of anybody plotting good for another? No, because “good” doesn’t seem like it’s something to hide. “Plotting” implies that you’re creeping around waiting for the moment to do something; well what if that’s exactly what God is doing? What if God is just waiting for the right moment to plop good into our laps? I think He likes to keep us waiting sometimes so that we are all the more surprised when the good happens. It’s like when you turn around and you find unexpectedly delightful. There are so many ways in which God plots good for us, and if we can join Him in that and look for the little good we can do for each other, then we are participating in that joy of Christ’s giving.

After Jesus’ Resurrection He is really funny; His personality really seems to delight in surprising people. Think of that wonderful image of Christ sitting on the beach making breakfast for His friends, telling them how to have more success with their fishing efforts, and just waiting for them to catch on to the fact that it is Him (John 21). We will be able keep our minds on the good things if we try to imitate Christ’s example of plotting good, always thinking of ways we can surprise one another with unexpected acts of love.

It seems that God is continually plotting good for our community, as experienced this month with the blessings of Sister Marie Thérèse taking the Benedictine habit and our postulant Kathryn receiving her veil.

True Fasting

March 31, 2020

A reflection on Lenten fasting by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

“See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. See, you fast only to quarrel and fight, and to strike with a wicked fist!… Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke? Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own?”
Isaiah 58:3-8

There are so many ways we can apply this reading from Isaiah to our lives. Here are just a few examples that came to my mind as I was thinking about this idea of holy fasting:

Releasing those bound unjustly. This can be anyone you judge in your heart and are holding a grudge against. There’s one to release!

Untying the thongs of the yoke and setting free the oppressed. There are many behaviors by which we can yoke each other. Emotional behaviors that harm others or leave them feeling oppressed can be lifted. We’ve all been guilty of that passive aggressive attitude where we’re angry and we want someone to know it—without saying a word we are loud and clear. Do we really need to do that? Over time we learn that we are called to bear the yoke ourselves and not place it on another. We can bear a little bit for one another. Don’t I love you enough to bear a little more? That’s really what strengthens the heart and the soul—being able to bear the brunt for another, because you can be assured that others are bearing the brunt for you too.

Sharing your bread with the hungry. Your good word can truly feed another, in person or through prayer.

Sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked. Don’t stare at the weaknesses of others and then tell them about it. Rather, clothe them with prayer and with your good will for them.

And don’t turn your back on your own. Help your neighbor; and I don’t mean only your neighbor. I knew a family who used to be so eager and ready to help their neighbors—mowing their lawn, weeding their yard—while the weeds in their own yard were six feet tall. So you can always look around your own house for little ways to help and serve your own, too. Let us strive to be a blessing for one another.

Eyes on the Prize

March 24, 2020

A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

I think one of the keys to a meaningful life is to remember things that are eternal. St. Benedict talks about this in his Rule. In the Prologue he exhorts us to “keep your eyes on eternity,” and in Chapter 72 he writes, “let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life.” St. Benedict loves that everlasting life. He wants us to keep it in our minds, a constant reminder of our ultimate goal. And remember that eternity with God is the place where we are fully ourselves, completely healed from our wounds, and able to love God and each other freely and perfectly. That is the kingdom we want to come to earth as it is in heaven!

What is your goal? If you’re trying to drive in a straight line you have to keep your focus on a single point in the distance. If you don’t, you’ll end up like me the time I was driving a tractor and I looked up to see a huge bird that flew overhead. You should have seen the swerve in the field. I had to continually go back to try and straighten it up and compensate here and there to try to make it look nice. But there’s more to it than that when it comes to our souls. If we aren’t focused, the swerve can be detrimental. It’s not something you can fix without God’s help or without setting your sight purposefully.

We do our part by living our lives well. Through our prayer and the purity of our life, God can take those things and use them where He wills. It is a mystery—we do not need to understand how He does it—the purpose is to believe. I don’t need to know exactly how, nor does He need my permission. It is only my “yes” that is necessary. Mary didn’t understand everything about the Incarnation or Crucifixion of her Son. She did not ask, “Can I see a book on how to do all of this? Can I see an instruction manual before getting back to You?” There was none of that. There was just pure faith.

Of course there will be times that we mess up, take our eyes off our goal, and refuse the calls to conversion and healing that are meant to lead us to becoming truly ourselves. This is what it means to be human! God does not expect anything different from us. I love the saying that “saints are sinners that kept on trying.” The important part is whether or not we persevere in returning to God whenever our conscience informs us of our wrongdoing. Look at King David. He sinned royally—committing adultery, murder, and who knows what else—but when we read in 1 Kings 11 how David was remembered, we don’t hear about his failures, but only that his heart was “entirely with the Lord,” and that he followed God “unreservedly.” David committed a terrible crime, but he never despaired of God’s love for him and His forgiveness toward those who turn to Him as truly remorseful children. Let us also never despair of God’s mercy.

Illumination of St. Benedict by a nun of the Abtei St. Walburg in Eichstätt, Germany

A Lesson from King David

February 29, 2020

“He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his servant”
Luke 1:69

A reflection on the King David of the Old Testament by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

David could be a really controversial character because of some of the things he did in his life. He had a sword…and he wasn’t afraid to use it. God even told him that he couldn’t build His temple because he had too much blood on his hands. And then there’s the whole episode with Bathsheba—committing adultery and then murder to cover up his crime. But there’s one thing about David that keeps drawing the heart of the Lord, and that’s his humility. David is a humble man, and he acknowledges his wrongdoings. When he is corrected, he does not try to defend himself. We never hear of him coming back to God and saying, “Well let me explain myself!”. Never. He always takes total blame, begging God to blame himself, the shepherd, and not his sheep. He is so honest and generous in that way; and God looks upon that and seems to forget everything else.

I also love David because of his prayer. I think it must have taken him even more courage to pray after getting into so much trouble. He keeps going back to God, without any sense that he should do otherwise. We can learn something from that. David, even after the crimes he committed, continues to sing the psalms, to play on his harp, and he continues to love. He accepts who he is; he doesn’t try to weasel out of what he’s done. Perhaps by accepting his shortcomings, he calls upon God to love him more, because he acknowledges that he needs Him more. We should do the same.

You can think about that this Lent. It is a good practice to simply say nothing when corrected for a fault, but humbly acknowledge it and turn to the Lord for His mercy. I think St. Benedict strove for that too, that pure heart, to be of the house of David.

Bowing for the Doxology during the Divine Office

“We ponder, O God, your mercy
within your temple”
Psalm 48:10

Free to Serve

February 24, 2020

A reflection on the Gospel reading for the fourth Thursday in Ordinary Time (Mark 6:7-13) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

The 94-year-old hands of our Sister Augustina, who was a beautiful example of someone always ready to serve

Today in the Gospel reading, Jesus summoned the twelve apostles and sent them out two by two, giving them authority to drive out unclean spirits. When He describes what they should take with them, notice that it is very little. Basically He told them not to bring anything extra: not a second tunic, and no more than sandals they were wearing on their feet. They had everything that was needed for their immediate use, and not more. It seems that the point was to have no distractions from the things they were carrying with them. This is certainly part of the monastic life: not to have so much that it’s a distraction. We have distractions all the time (even without lots of possessions), so keeping things simple minimizes the distractions so we’re not worrying about “stuff.” Plus, the more you have, the more you have to clean!

We also hear that Jesus warns the apostles that they will not be welcomed everywhere they go. That doesn’t seem to distress them. Christ tells them to shake the dust off their feet and walk right on. In the same way, don’t be stressed about the blocks that come in front of you. God doesn’t suggest that we stare at them until we understand them, or tear them apart until we see the seed of everything. Kick the dust off your feet and walk right on. Don’t let things hinder you from your vocation. Be free to do His will. Freely. That is what a true spouse does—freely serves.

There’s a prayer I like to pray, and here’s just a part of it: “To carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.” It has a touch of a wedding vow. That’s a beautiful way to begin each day. Regardless of yesterday, I have today to live for Him.

Is He not the most beautiful in your life? That perception of Him is what will motivate you to live faithfully. Your eyes shouldn’t want to land on anybody else. He is enough. But that takes a lot of practice, a lot of perseverance, and a lot of forgiveness, because we’re human and we’re going to mess up once in a while. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. With the desire to be faithful, there is also the grace to persevere. And we should just be excited that that’s what we have been called to do.

The Blessing of Misery

January 31, 2020

A reflection on the first Mass reading for the first Tuesday in Ordinary Time (1 Samuel 1:9-20) by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

In the beautiful story about Hannah, we hear that “in her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping copiously” (1 Sam 1:10). St. Benedict also says that we should weep in our prayer. This weeping happens when we allow something to touch us deeply. Now think of how Hannah could even be grateful for Peninnah (who rubbed Hannah’s barrenness in her face) because she brought her to a deeper prayer. In her bitterness Hannah did not turn away from God; she turned toward God.

We all have our moments of bitterness, of pain, and of sorrow, but the important part is what we do with them. These moments can be the greatest graces in our lives. They can be the things that push us in the right direction. So God allows them. He says, “Yes, this is actually going to be for your good…”

When we hear Hannah saying later in her prayer, “if you remember me, and do not forget me,” we seem to hear her greatest sorrow—that God has forgotten her. It seems that He has remembered Peninnah over and over again, since she had many children, and which seems to prove to Hannah that God has forgotten her. She is noticed by Eli, the temple priest, praying in an unknown way, and Eli judges her. He assumes that she’s drunk, but he takes it back after she explains her situation. Thank God for her humility. She didn’t mind being humble and telling him that she is just a very unhappy woman. She doesn’t lash out at him, she doesn’t scream at him or push him down. Instead she tells him that her prayer is prompted by her deep sorrow and misery.

I think it is simply because of the Lord’s great love for us that He allows us such sorrows. He just wants us to come to Him. And if we won’t come to Him simply, it seems He will allow greater things to happen that will force us to come to Him—because what He really wants is that relationship. So whatever will bring that about, God allows. And He can use any means. Harsh words or the feeling of being judged or unaccepted, God will use for our good. So instead of being upset, we should thank Him. Thank Him that He allowed that thing to happen because it leads us to a greater good, to Him. And then it changes how we see it; instead of being a point sorrow it becomes a point of joy.

Remember that evil only wants to take from God what He loves. So whatever can take you away from prayer, however little it may be, will be used by evil. At the same time, though, anything that brings us back to God is a tool for good. That’s a hard lesson to learn, because we usually want to blame somebody for our sorrows. Blaming someone else so much easier than acknowledging that we weren’t doing what we were supposed to be doing, or we weren’t reaching deeper into God. We look for someone else to blame so that we aren’t blamed. The minute we can start changing that, we’ve changed our lives—we’ve changed our attitude. What a blessing. And so it was with Hannah. Eli blesses her, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” Let’s wish that for one another. Let’s give that blessing. Go in peace, and may the God if Israel grant you what you have asked of Him. That is my prayer for you today.

On Eagles’ Wings

January 22, 2020

A reflection on Isaiah 40:25-31 by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB

In Isaiah we hear, “He leads out their army and numbers them, calling them all by name” (Isaiah 40:26). I have a hard time with names, so if anybody can call an army, each one by name, that is a miracle. But that’s how personal God is. Nothing is by chance. We cannot fathom to what detail He takes care of our lives. Everybody has free will because God gives it, and sometimes we use it to our own detriment. But God desires to bring good out of the darkest situations.

The reading continues, “Why O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, ‘my way is hidden from the Lord’?” (Isaiah 40:27). No, it’s not. Who would believe that his way is hidden from the Lord? It astonishes me when people have the mentality that “God doesn’t know about this,” or “that won’t matter to Him,” and to make it less that it really is. We should not minimize our actions. The Church needs our holiness. We should never say, “The Lord doesn’t mind,” because the Lord does mind, and we should mind too.

Later on in Isaiah it says, “they who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings” (Isaiah 40:31a). To soar as with eagles’ wings—could that not also mean to take that Word of God and let our souls soar to reach Him? Have you ever seen an eagle soar? They’re not flapping around; they’re just resting on the wind. Take His Word and rest in His Word. It has the power to heal, to restore the soul. “They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint” (Isaiah 40:31b). God’s Word gives that power.

“And the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.”
John 1:14