NunEssential

A reflection from Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Our Lady of Conquering Love The following poem yields some simple clues about the real nature of Mary. Into cobwebbed haunts And festering darkness Slips a Lady of Light In search of her children. In many respects Mary is not known as she should be, often because popular devotion tends to trap her within the confines of pietistic practices and images that don't always lead to a real relationship.  Praying the rosary, asking Mary's intercession, and honoring her in different ways has so much more efficacy and meaning when we know and understand her as she really is. In speaking to groups of women from different countries and different backgrounds, there is always a weak response to the question:  "How many of you would say you have a close relationship with our Blessed Mother?"  In response to the follow-up question:  "How many of you find it hard to relate to Our Lady?" the majority of hands go up.  She lived 20...

Hello friends, Below I am posting a talk by Anglican Bishop Tony Palmer. He is speaking at a conference for evangelical leaders and this particular talk was featured within Kenneth Copeland's worship service. This talk blew my mind and I feel that it is deeply prophetic. Bishop Tony is talking about the unification of the Protestant and Catholic church through the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth he speaks is astounding. Bishop Tony knew Pope Francis before he was elected to the pontificate, and Pope Francis recorded a special message for the evangelical leaders that Bishop Tony plays at the end of this talk. It is powerful. The talk is 40 minutes of your life well spent. God is doing something great in the Church right now. Something amazing. Will we be open? What you will see in this video may be a bit outside your comfort zone but I ask that you pray to the Holy Spirit and listen to the message. What is God saying to you? Bishop Tony begins to speak at 4:30 of this ...

A reflection by Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT: DISCERNMENT IN THE MODERN AGE One of the banes of modern life is the plethora of bad books, bad both in the sense of poorly written and bad in the sense of poisonous content.  It's an observation that can be applied to movies, music, TV, and other forms of human expression as well. This is not meant to be a moral judgment so much as a reflection on what constitutes healthy food for the soul.  We have great concern for the health of our bodies and our environment.  And we feed them and protect them accordingly.  At the same time, we seem to have much less conscious concern for what goes into our minds, our souls, our spirits.  We simply consume whatever is offered, no longer recognizing the difference between junk food and delicacy, nutrients and toxins. Entertainment of a rather mindless variety seems to be the common fare these days.  It is big business to translate  the  written form into visual form ...

Boston priest Fr Jason Worthley put together this powerful video about the typhoon in the Philippines. The devastation is stunning and so is the outpouring of love for the people.

A reflection from Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Coming Out of Hiding  Making New Year’s resolutions can be a tricky business.  We may think our best interests will be served by addressing our diet and exercising  more regularly.  Our family and friends might prefer that our resolve center instead around curbing our negativity, our moodiness, our critical spirit, or our rash judgments.  We might decide we need to give extra time to charitable projects when our family or community would be happy to see us enjoy more time in their company.  We may even realize we need more prayer in our lives and determine to make space for it when God would prefer we look for Him outside the concept of an exercise to perform. There is actually one answer to all the needs for change we contemplate at the beginning of a new year:  Jesus Christ and the Trinitarian life He came to bring us.  Many of us know about Jesus.  Fewer of us really feel comfortable saying we ...

A Christmas Reflection from Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT : At the time of Jesus’ birth, the whole world is in movement.  Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem to be counted in the census, reminding us that the world today is also traveling toward its definitive encounter with God.  The journey of the Holy Family toward the moment in which God enters the world from the womb of Mary, in the Person of Jesus Christ, for all human eyes to see, reminds us that we too are moving on our own journey through this life, in company with millions of others, to our own definitive encounter with God. Mary and Joseph found no comfort, no welcome, no shelter, no understanding from the world on this journey.  They followed and were supported by heavenly inspirations and light, the presence of angels, and their own profound faith in God’s never-changing goodness and His ever-present Providence.   This was their strength and consolation. We also should not expect too much help from...

Happy Advent to everyone! We come again to this wonderful time of year wherein we prepare our hearts and our lives for the coming of Jesus Christ. This is a time marked by interior cleansing, reconciliation, silence and beauty. There are many wonderful talks on www.ewtn.com about Advent and Fr. Robert Barron at www.wordonfire.org always has great resources about our life of faith and how to grow in holiness. For us Catholics, this really is a brand new year and it begins with a deep outpouring of grace to aid us along the path. As you reflect upon the year gone by; what do you wish was different about your life? What changes would you like to see this coming year? Ask for the help of God and begin that path now. As I was pondering this evening and practicing some music for an upcoming Mass, I was reflecting upon the fact that sometimes I really love to sing (and sometimes I don't!). And as I listen to people like Audrey Assad and Kim Walker-Smith, I surely wish that I ...

This is an outstanding radio interview from Radio Maria with Dr. Bob Schuchts, a very gifted marriage and family therapist. In this interview, he talks about dealing with despair, woundedness and hope for real healing. http://radiomaria.us/embracingyourgreatness/?powerpress_pinw=189-podcast Check out Dr. Bob's website at www.jpiihealingcenter.org The retreats that he and his staff lead are life-changing. See the online schedule for the next event.

Another gem from Sr. Anne Marie Walsh- Women and the Priesthood There is a question that still seems to be unsettled in the minds of many ordinary Catholics.  It is a question that comes up when people positively assess our new Holy Father but think he still does not go far enough.  The question:  Why can't women be Priests? Many of the responses given to this question seem, in the end, to fall back solely upon authority.  Pope Paul VI said that respect for the modern mind requires more than this. In order to shed light on the questions of the present, Blessed John Paul II often led us back to the beginnings, to reflect on God’s creation of man and woman before the fall.  It is incontestable that both man and woman were created in the image and likeness of God.  Both are equal in dignity because of this.  But this does not make them the same in every other respect.  They are two different expressions of the human person, created to live in un...

Check out this short film on the power of fatherhood. As many people in Christian circles are pointing out, one of the deepest wounds facing the world today is a lack of fatherhood. Most of us live like orphans, even in relation to God the Father. When we live as orphans, we grasp, fight and compare. When we live as sons and daughters we love, give and appreciate. @thefathereffect

Another great post by our former General Superior, Sr. Anne Marie Walsh. Inside the "Me" Vortex. Sometime ago, a woman named Nadine Schweigert (ND) married herself in a commitment ceremony where she exchanged rings with her “inner groom.”  There was an actual gathering of family and friends who were encouraged to “blow kisses to the world.”  One can imagine the theme song of her wedding with a slight variation:  “Nobody Loves Me Like I Do.” Schweigert had been through a painful divorce in which her two children opted to live with her ex-husband.  She drank, smoked and was 50 pounds overweight, according to her own testimony.  At the suggestion of a friend, she married herself, and now feels “happy, joyous, empowered.”   She says she has come a long way from where she was.   She now takes herself on dates, in order “to invest in this relationship.” We might ask what is going on here.  Is it pure narcissism?  Or is something else at wor...

Another beautiful article from our former SOLT General Superior, Sr. Anne Marie Walsh The Healing Power of Silence We live in a wilderness, a wilderness of noise.   Noise is not just about sound.   It has to do with the constant barrage of stimulation to our senses, emotions and even our intellect, (read information overload.)   The problem with all this noise, pure and simple, is that it is an obstacle to our own inner order and peace, and more importantly, to a living communion with God and with others.     For some reason, many of us either seem afraid of silence, or, more likely, we have lost familiarity with the wonders of silence.   Yet it is essential to our physical and spiritual well-being.     Authentic silence is not emptiness.   Things come to us in the silence.   We hear new languages. We are visited by penetrating peace, insight, God Himself, His wisdom, light, His perception and understanding.   In auth...

In case you are like me on a Monday afternoon, sitting at a desk with a formidable amount of work to do but would RATHER laugh over something silly, please enjoy this link that features Amazon's funniest product reviews. Thanks to Jennifer @conversiondiary for tweeting this out.

There is a new Catholic media network in the works that will debut very soon! Shalom Media has been hugely successful in India and now they are launching their first English speaking station later this winter! The website: https://www.shalomus.org/ Check out the promo below: Also, if you are looking for a one-day retreat full of beauty and grace, come to one of their Shalom Festivals in a town near you! I will see you there!

Beauty is necessary. We need it, long for it and are made for it. I was particularly struck by an article Archbishop Chaput wrote earlier this summer about the evidential power of beauty . In it, he mentions the power of creation in revealing the beauty of God and quotes Russian author Dostoyevsky, "Beauty is the battlefield where God and Satan contend for the hearts of men." Indeed. And it's a battlefield for a reason. If you read the dictionary definition of beautiful, you will find: beau·ti·ful / ˈbyu tə fəl / Show Spel [ byoo -t uh -f uh l ]   adjective 1. having beauty ; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind: a beautiful dress; a beautiful speech.   2. excellent of its kind: a beautiful putt on the seventh hole; The chef served us a beautiful roast of beef.   3. wonderful; very pleasing or satis...

This video is incredible. The beauty of God's creation is astounding and awe-inspiring. The footage featured in the video is all time-lapse photography taken from South Dakota landscape. Wow.

Happy Friday! You know you played this game at a pizza parlor as a kid. Just probably not this particular edition..... :) (lol, are these people for real??...)

This beautiful song by Danielle Rose brought tears to my eyes. I bet we can all relate to part of it. "You died so I could be, the saint that is just me..."

For those of you who were not part of the three million people at World Youth Day, here are some cool videos of various events: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/publiccatholic/2013/07/the-holy-father-does-rio/

News came out today that Pope Francis is "changing" the teachings of the Church. Well, that's what the mainstream media intimated. Not true. Check out the entirety of the Holy Father's comments and the context as well: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/publiccatholic/2013/07/in-his-own-words-what-the-pope-really-said/