Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

We are so blessed by our friendship with Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas, bishop of Tucson, Arizona.

(pictured here with Tucson Prioress Sister Ramona Varela)

In his weekly memo, he wrote:

Tomorrow evening, I will celebrate the 5 p.m. Mass with the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at their monastery on Country Club Road in Tucson. After Mass, I will be the Sisters’ guest for dinner.

What a blessing the Benedictine Sisters are in our community. Their daily prayer for us is the wind beneath our wings. These dedicated and faithful women continue to seek ways to assist our community. Their prayer and work for vocations encourages our young men and women to consider a life of service in our Church. The Sisters’ historic monastery on Country Club Road is a powerhouse of prayer, and I look forward to sharing an evening of prayer and discussion with the Sisters.

We are so grateful for his friendship and support of our community!

It is with sincere gratitude we thank the Kansas City Star Magazine for featuring our low-gluten altar breads in their Sunday food issue! You can see it here.

We thank God for our blessings and for those who help share our Eucharistic ministry with the world.

I was wonderfully surprised when I saw the clerestory with the walls in place! Here’s what it looked like just a few short weeks ago.

It is going to make the entry a lovely, warm and welcoming space.  There really is no other way to describe what I felt.  To step over the threshold into the naturally lit area, your eyes will be drawn upward.

May our guests feel as grand and richly blessed by coming to this house of prayer out in the beautiful rolling farm hills of northwest Missouri.

“I am the bread of life…” (Jn6:48)

This is the source and summit of every Christian life and every Christian action.  We as Christians are summoned to unite with Love so thoroughly that nothing has the power to separate us from our source of life, the love of our Triune God.

Love becoming life-giving-bread was Jesus’ mission and it continues to be his mission through us.  This is the honor we have and we are given the grace to fulfill our mission through participation in the celebration of Eucharist.  During Eucharist we learn how to be bread for the world, how to extend unconditional love for all of the people of God.  This is the life-giving mission of the church.

Corpus Christi is a celebration of thanksgiving for the gift of Eucharist and has been celebrated worlwide since 1264.  It began with a great devotion to the Eucharist by St. Juliana of Mont Cornillion in Belgium.  She desired to have a feast dedicated to the honor of the Eucharist.

It is good and fitting to thank God for our Finest Gift.  Besides giving thanks to God for such a  gift, it also seems appropriate to ask God for the grace to enflesh Jesus as His mystical body by praying the “Anima Christi.”

SOUL of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds, hide me.
Separated from Thee let me never be.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of death, call me.
To come to Thee, bid me,
That I may praise Thee in the company
Of Thy Saints, for all eternity.
Amen.

These are portions of the columns from the porch that sheltered our former west entrance.

Installed in the 1920s, they took the brunt of winter’s wrath of snow and ice over the decades. Because of this we were unable to salvage them completely but look forward to finding a way to use parts of them somewhere else down the line.

We enjoyed a wonderful visit yesterday with Marty Denzer (above, left in photo) of the Catholic Key diocesan newspaper.

She stopped by to learn more about the Clyde renovations. She took a tour of the new construction with Clyde Prioress Sister Sean Douglas, OSB (above, right) and Sister Dawn Annette Mills, OSB (not shown). She also joined us for Day Hour and lunch.

We are looking forward to seeing her article about our Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories project.

Our Lady of Rickenbach, our healthcare facility for our Sisters at our Clyde, Mo., community, has job openings. Join our Benedictine family!

LPN - 64 hours per pay period. Hours are 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Benefits include medical, dental, life and 403-B retirement package.

Nurse Aid or Certified Nurse Aid – This part-time position involves hours that are flex shifts.

Housekeeper – 80 hours per pay period; day shift. Benefits include medical, dental, life and 403-B retirement package

For more information or to apply, please contact Pat Lahoda at (660) 944-2203.

On Sunday, we celebrated the 60th jubilee of monastic profession for our Sister Carmela Rall, OSB (left) and Sister Pascaline Coff, OSB (right). They are joined by Sister Ramona Varela, OSB, prioress of our Tucson community.

It was with great joy we honored these women, whose faithful dedication to Christ in the Eucharistic has brought many gifts and rewards to our Congregation over the years.

To help delivery personnel back their vehicles into the basement ramp safely, we added a couple of feet to the width of the ramp near the door.

This meant demolishing the old retaining wall and building a new one.  It was a muddy and long process, but the new wall is in now.

Soon the concrete will be poured for the ramp.  With this project in progress and the elevator out of order because of replacement, all deliveries to the kitchen are made step by step – all 14 of them!