NunEssential

Here's a link to a radio interview with the Director of Bella, Alejandro Monteverde . This interview took place on a show called, "Conversations with Father Bob", hosted by Fr. Bob Camuso.

here's the link for the 'Bella' movie site http://www.bellamoviesite.com/

If you haven't seen the movie 'Bella' yet, I would highly, highly encourage you to go see it!! I saw it last week and was really edified and touched by the message of the movie. It wasn't overt or in-your-face or cheesy but a story about how two wounded people help heal each other. It was fabulous. God works like that so often in our lives, He sends people to help heal us. Often we think that the people we meet or live with are in our lives by mere coincidence but that is far from the truth. God loves us so much that He sends people into our lives to help set us free from our own selfishness, woundedness and sinfulness. Especially during this Advent season, God is really working to make straight the paths within our own hearts so that they lead to Him. Many times the paths in our hearts lead to ourselves, other people, money, affirmation, etc., instead of God, in who alone we find true fulfillment, peace and joy. One of the best things we can ask when a difficult situat...

A deep and heartfelt 'thank you' to all of you who came to our Profession of Perpetual Vows!! It was so wonderful to have you be a part of that amazing day. I will be posting photos and video of the Profession of Sr. Mary Paul and myself very soon. You are all in my prayers!! Sr. Miriam James :)

Here's a link to a radio interview in Seattle with one of our sisters

Here are some nice pics of Wales, England where we have a mission. Pictured are, seated, Sr. Mary Immaculate, Sr. Victoria, Sr. Trinity and Fr. Derek.

We have some awesome feast days coming up this next week, Nov. 1st is the Solemnity of All Saints Day and Nov. 2nd is All Souls Day. Try to attend Mass one of these days and I think you will be moved by the depth of these special feast days. Simply put, All Saints Day is a time to thank God for all the Saints who have gone to heaven before us and to ask them to pray for us. All Souls Day is a time for us to remember those have gone on to eternal life before us and to pray for them. Find out more from EWTN at www.ewtn.com

This was some heartening news I was reading somewhere (maybe the National Catholic Register- I can't remember :O ) about the power of Catholic radio and it's growing presence in the U.S. market. Radio is one of the most cost effective ways to reach people, in the sense that one doesn't need to purchase expensive equipment to listen to a radio station and many people spend hours a day in the car on the way to work and naturally turn on the radio. Pope John Paul II writing Ecclesia in America remarks, " For the new evangelization to be effective, it is essential to have a deep understanding of the culture of our time in which the social communications media are most influential. Therefore, knowledge and use of the media, whether the more traditional forms or those which technology has produced in recent times, is indispensable. Contemporary reality demands a capacity to learn the language, nature and characteristics of mass media. Usin...

Here's an article that came out in yesterday's Sports section written by Zach Landres-Schnur of the Seattle Times.

Have you visited our SOLT Sisters website? Check out www.soltsisters.org for info about our community, missions, various apostolates and links to other sites in our community. Enjoy! God bless you!

If you liked the music video of Brandon Heath's, "I'm not who I was" you might like the lyrics to another song on the same "Don't get comfortable" CD entitled, "The Light". It's a beautiful song about clinging to God when all seems dark. Here are the lyrics: The hand that feeds the fire The lips that taste the smoke All together once again The moon that hangs so pale The dark that makes you choke Comes to cover you again Stay close you people with your broken hearts I stand before you as a witness Hold tight to the Man who stands in front of you As we move toward the light The will that knows no end The eyes that see your heart Come to look on you once more The word that shakes the ground The voice that clams the sea Stands knocking at your door Stay close you people with your broken hearts I stand before you as a witness Hold tight to the Man who stands in front of you As we move toward the light. Here is a video of the live performance o...

I can't remember if I wrote about Fr. Walter Ciszek during the summer. He was an American priest who ended up spending many years in the labor camps of Russia. The two most popular books about him are, With God in Russia and the more personal spiritual side of his time in the labor camps, He leadeth Me . I read He Leadeth Me over the summer while I was spending time preparing for my Perpetual Vows. I like to read, I read a lot of different things but that was one of the best books I have ever read. Fabulous. Fr. Ciszek talks about the different trials he endured, how he made sense of them and what God was teaching him though it all. I was really struck by one thing that Fr. Ciszek mentioned. So often we think that to reach people and evangelize, we have have to have a certain program, certain knowledge, say the right things, etc. And while that may be partially true, Fr. Ciszek said that the best way to help people in the world today is to become a saint yourself. Well said. I a...

Here are some articles from this week's National Catholic Register: Religion and Sports The creator of the movie Bella, nice conversion story about Eduardo Verastegui

I was just reading John Paul II's encyclical "The Mercy of God" this morning and I was really struck by a comment he made. He said, " Conversion is the most concrete expression of the working of love and of the presence of mercy in the human world. The true and proper meaning of mercy does not consist only in looking, however penetratingly and compassionately, at moral, physical or material evil: mercy is manifested in its true and proper aspect when it restores to value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world and in man. (emphasis included in the original text)" WOW!!! That's great news. We see in this that the Sacrament of Confession is far more than just going in some little room and saying the wrong things we've done. It truly is a meeting with Christ, it's a meeting that restores us to our original dignity and allows "all things to work for good for those who believe in God." God even uses our sin to b...

The entrance to Novitiate ceremony is one of the most moving ceremonies that takes place in religious life. The women begin the Mass as Postulants and leave the church as Novices, wearing a habit and veil. The videos below show the blessing of the habits (when the women are still postulants) and then receiving the name of the Mary (after they have put on their habits and become novices).

For all you athletes out there, here's a fun little clip of some of our postulants and novices at a game of ultimate frisbee that took place over the summer!

Wow, it has been some time since the blog has been updated! Poor long lost blog. I guess that's what happens when school starts and other things are all happening at the same time. But, lost no more! Get ready for some cool updates! First, here are some links about one of our sisters who is coaching volleyball: The Mill Creek Enterprise The Everett Herald

My days in New Mexico are over. It was a very blessed time. Bosque is a very special place, it is peaceful and healing. I learned a lot there over the summer. It is a good thing to get away for a while and spend time in quiet. Although everywhere one goes, distractions are always present. This is not so much because a place is noisy or busy, but because the distractions dwell within our hearts. It is surprising what we find when we look within. Often, lately, I have been thinking of how far we live below our potential. There is more to life than we care to imagine. Here are some pics of the scenery at our mission in New Mexico.

"We had a Eucharistic Vigil last night in preparation for today's feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On this day, 49 years ago, our SOLT community was founded by Fr. James Flanagan. It occurred to me once again last night that Jesus made us a certain promise. He promised He would be with us always, even until the end of time. This promise is fulfilled in many ways, but it is especially fulfilled in the Eucharist. As I sat there in the chapel while the sun set and the crickets began to sing, I gazed at the monstrance and pondered some of the stories of Jesus from the Gospel. Jesus in the Eucharist who poured out His grace here in New Mexico last night is the same Jesus who calmed the storm for the disciples. It is the same Jesus who healed the woman suffering dreadfully from a hemmorage. It is the same Jesus who forgave the woman caught in adultery, healed the blind who wanted to see and taught the people with authority. He is one and the same. St. Teresa of Avila commente...

I spent a little time on a silent retreat this past weekend which was a nice thing. Nothing like a little silence to make things in life clear, which is perhaps why the world abhors silence and does all it can to intrude upon the serenity of our minds. I finished another book, well ok, three more books. Oddly enough they all had to do with the subject of international conflict, more commonly known as war. One of the books was about child soldiers in Sierra Leone. It was really heartbreaking to me to read about mere children being forced into war, high on drugs, with semi-automatic weapons. Wow. It's hard to even imagine something like that, much less live through it. There was this quote by Mother Teresa on a little calendar that I have and she said (I am paraphrasing here) that war doesn't begin outside ourselves but it begins in our hearts. It begins with conflict and hatred in our own hearts and spreads outward. The best way to counteract war is to love our neighbors. It sou...

"Something I have been pondering these days in the desert is the will of God. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Many people talk about the will of God as in, "Sister, I just want to do the will of God" or "I don't know what the will of God is for me." Well, what is the will of God? And how does one go about discovering it in his or her own life? Perhaps it would help us if we could keep in mind that nothing in our life is coincidental. Nothing. Every person that crosses your path, everything that happens to you during the day is providential, not coincidental. Now, perhaps we don't understand all of what happens to us but that's not really the point. That point is that God is doing something in and with our lives. The experiences we have in our ordinary, routine day are gifts from God. Notice that even in a like environment such as an office, or a school or a religious community wherein people have a similar daily structure, they don't have the e...

"While I am on the subject of books, women might be interested in reading a book by author Dawn Eden entitled, The Thrill of the Chaste. I would recommend this book for late teens/adults. It's a memoir by the author of her search for true chastity in her life. Ms. Eden shares with the reader her life that was filled with men and worldly things, yet it didn't bring her what her heart truly sought. She was looking for something far deeper than what society had to offer. Ms. Eden is open and honest about her experiences. She has a great wisdom, sense of humor and a desire to be everything that God wants her to be. I found it refreshing and insightful. Til then..."

"One of the things that I really appreciate about being in the desert and away from the city is that I have a lot of time to read. If you are looking for something to read this summer and want a book that will grab your attention and inspire you, may I suggest a book called, " Three Cups of Tea ." It's a true story about an American named Greg Mortenson who, after failing to climb the K2 mountain in Pakistan, gets lost on his way down the mountain and stumbles into a village wherein he realizes that the children of the village have no school. The kids sit on the cold ground outside in the winter and learn from a teacher who only comes three days a week. Seeing that the children deserve more, Mortenson, with no money and no idea how he will actually build one, promises the village chief that he will come back and build the village a school. And so it begins. I don't recommend it for very young children and would encourage adult parents to read it first as there ar...

" There are some very big things going on here in the desert. Yesterday, we visited our new convent being re-built in Holman, about 3 hours north of Albuquerque. Holman is where our community began almost 50 years ago and when the sisters left the area, the convent was destroyed. I remember seeing it 5 years ago before anything had been done to it and looking at the graffiti on the walls and the devastation of it, I didn't think there was much that could be done. However, the foundation was structurally sound and so the sisters and some amazing volunteers began to build upon it. I was unprepared as to how beautiful the convent would be. The walls are white and they reach high to touch the skylights in the ceiling. There is a tile inlay of the Miraculous Medal, windows that reveal the breathtaking views of the mountains and nature, and even compact little rooms for the sisters that have built in beds, closets and desks. The Sisters aren't finished yet with this project and ...

Sr. Miriam James is preparing for her Perpetual Vows in Bosque, New Mexico. These are some of her reflections from the desert. (please pray for her!) "After leaving cloudy and rainy Seattle for the desert heat of New Mexico, I've noticed some interesting things. First of all, it's hot. That being said, there is something about the desert that invites reflection and recollection. It's no coincidence that many of the saints left the city and the teeming mass of humanity to embark on an unknown path in the desert. Perhaps they fled for different reasons but I would be willing to bet that although they were leaving "distractions" behind, they knew that a different and perhaps more difficult battle lay ahead. Sometimes people think that the problems they have are locational. They think, "If only I didn't live here, I would be happy." Or "If only I didn't have this job, I would be happy." or "If I didn't have to live with so-and...

I read this story in the National Catholic Register about the Planned Parenthood organization. I already knew the damage that Planned Parenthood does to women so I guess something new like this shouldn't have surprised me but it saddened me to see how women and girls are being taken advantage of for the sole purpose of money and the destruction of life. Let us pray for all of these people. Abortion is a very difficult thing to encounter. We live in a culture that tells us we can kill innocent children and that it won't cause any problems or distress later on. However, the deeper we go into this mentality, the more we are finding women who have been devastated by procuring or being forced to have an abortion. Things aren't alright later on. Time doesn't make a woman forget about her lost child. She doesn't just "get over it." And often there is no one she can talk to. If you have had an abortion, please know how much God loves you and desires your healing...

This is a great reflection by Pope Benedict to Religious Women

Here is a reflection from our General Priest Servant, Fr. Rogel Rosalinas, SOLT "One of the perennial truths and facts of life is the importance of community. We have heard it said that man is a social being, and as such, he can not live in isolation. All fields of human knowledge would agree to this fact: psychology, sociology, philosophy, and even anthropology. They all affirm that man can fully attain all his potentialities only in a community. The late Pope John Paul II, in one of his earlier writings as Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, said that it is only in the context of a community that the “I” can fully live his dignity and calling, because it is only in the community that he can be connected to the “THOU”, and therefore both the “I” and the “THOU” authentically attain their individuality and at the same time their connectedness. “Witnessing Graced-Friendship of the Trinity Through Our Lady” is, for me, an expression of this perennial truth about b...

Happy Easter to you all! May the joy of Jesus Resurrected be with you. Here is Pope Benedict's Easter Message to the world. Divine Mercy Sunday is coming and it's not too late to begin the Divine Mercy Novena, you can find it by clicking here. Speaking of mercy, I think the world is crying out for it. The world is a tough place, it's a place that demands "perfection", chastises the exceptional or poor, spurns the helpless, worships image and falsehood and in spite of all that, the world seeps into us. It's a place of trouble. Knowing this, Jesus said, "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have overcome of the world." Thank God. God uses the experiences He allows in our life to teach us. He wants us to be truly happy and He knows that as long as we are enslaved to the world and ourselves, we won't be happy. So He sends us help to free us. At first, that freedom feels very painful and we want to go back to our own little Egypt,...

Fr. John Corapi , a member of our community, came to Seattle this weekend to give a retreat. One of our Sisters attended and said that hundreds of people turned out to hear one of his last talks before he takes a sabbatical from a active ministry for a while. One of his main points for the talk was encouraging the praying of the Rosary. He mentioned that the Rosary is our weapon during these trying times. He said to pray, pray and pray. When Our Blessed Mother appears to people, her message is just that. She invites all people to turn back to her Son. She implores her children to repent, turn away from sin, fast, make sacrifices and pray. She gives her protection to those that pray her Rosary. Our Blessed Mother once mentioned that if you have a hard time believing in her messages, make a Rosary Novena. Pray all the mysteries of the Rosary everyday for 9 days, offering those prayers to the Heart of Jesus and to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. Try it for yourself and see if your hea...

Here is the Lenten Message from Pope Benedict XVI. This really gives you something to ponder.

Check out our post on the Thailand Rebirth Center below, it includes a video as well. Happy Ash Wednesday- This Lent, let the Holy Spirit lead you out into the desert where He will speak to your heart. When you wake up in the morning, ask the Holy Spirit to prepare you and choose for you whatever He would like to bestow upon you for that day. Sometimes we get caught up in our own things for Lent and forget that it is the Holy Spirit who leads us, not us leading the Holy Spirit! God has a great gift to give each one of us this Lent. He wants to remind us of who we really are. So often we let the world distract us and tell us who we are and where we come from. Lent is a time in which we draw away from the world and go to a quiet place with Jesus. Ask Our Lady to come and wrap her mantle around you to quiet your heart and mind. Have a wonderful Lent-

Hello! God bless you. If our website looks a little different, that's because it is. We had to start over on a new site yet again, (4th time is the charm). So please pray that we will have no further technical difficulties!! Thank you! Enjoy!

I know I promised to post the history of our Rebirth Center in Thailand a long time ago. I was so impressed and edified when I went to visit last summer. So, without further adieu, here it is: "The inspiration for starting a work to help drug addicts in Thailand rehabilitate came to our founder, Fr. James Flanagan, during the decade of the 1970's. By Divine Providence Fr. Flanagan met two young Thai women who began this work for our community and later became Sisters-Sr. Raphael and Sr. Rosaline. In 1977, the Sisters went with a group of drug addicts for training in the drug rehabilitation program DARE in Manila, Philippines. After two years of training with DARE, the team came back to Thailand and under the direction of Fr. Flanagan, opened the first Center for drug addiction rehabilitation. This first center, named the Rebirth Center, opened on October 6th, 1979 in an unused building of a former school. After a permanent building was constructed for the center in Chomburg, t...

Here's a nice reminder as we start the new year.