Sisters of the Redeemer

A Message of Hope...

Farm Faces Friday! Ameracauna chickens are known for laying eggs with a greenish-blue shell. The chickens themselves come in a variety of colors. We keep a few to add some color to the egg collection.

This week's Everyday Redeeming Love, "God's Son Rising," written by Fr. Joe Driscoll... A silent 35-minute Uber ride to the airport with an orange-emergent orb of rising sun brushing the bay in a bounce of changing color. Horozovic is my driver. ... My eyes glance from the horizon to the man in front of me and back to the horizon. Wide expanse of light that we share as God’s creatures to the hands-on handiwork of singular human history. We haven’t spoken since the first minute. I knew he was uncomfortable with his English. So out of respect, I go silent. But the beauty of the rising sun made me wonder about human beauty, mine as I begin this day, then to him: this human’s beauty. All I know is his first name which I googled just now and all it gave me was Bulgarian. I know what I see: a 5’9 middle-age man with graying hair, a protruding masked nose, and distinctly blue eyes. Who is this man? What’s his story? Likely an immigrant so likely a dream for something bigger. Economic, political, freedom from poverty or persecution? What’s his passion? What has he suffered? My eyes glance to God’s sun, and back to God’s son. Mystery both. Horozovic, all I can give you is that morning pause - turned prayer. -

Farm Faces Friday! Did you know flowers have faces? And we’re pretty sure they’re smiling. This year the garden was graced with an abundance of color since we dedicated a row the length of the garden for flowers and fruit trees. Flowers add to the beauty of the garden but they also attract pollinators like the honey bee in this photograph. Additionally the flowers are used to decorate the chapel of the Sisters of the Redeemer. Pictured here is a dahlia.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila, a patron saint of the Sisters of the Redeemer. A Doctor of the Church, St. Teresa's way of prayer and relating to God was very special to Blessed Alphonse Maria Eppinger. "May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there for each and every one of us." -St. Teresa of Avila

We share this week's Everday Redeeming Love, "Crafting a Coronavirus Message," written by Fr. Joe Driscoll... A park, a trail in the woods, a wooden bench, sticks and stones, well, not stones, but sticks. One word that won’t break your bones, but maybe break open your heart: LOVE.... In the middle of the woods, crookedly assembled in twigs and branches flat out on this bench messaging a warmth to every anonymous passerby. I know, I was stopped, then smiling, before passing by. And then curiosity gathering up so many questions: Who did this? Why? What was going on inside them? It reminded me at the beginning of this pandemic the chalked sidewalk messages: Be Kind, Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Smart, Stay Well, Stay Safe. Where might such a hopeful message go around the world these days? Certainly not on the news, nor in social media, nor the suspicious looks above masks, or no masks, all the while unmasking terrible tensions in a terribly tense world. Where might such a hopeful message go around the world these days? Of course, nature. Mother Nature creating space for us to well, love. Hiking, biking, walking to escape lockdown, shutdown, isolation. Our best selves, our creative selves, our redeeming selves. Love in sticks. Ready to create a message that sticks?

A Message of Hope for today...

Farm Faces Friday! Joey is our 3 year old Toggenburg goat buck who we’ve had for just over a year. For the summer months he and two of our other male goats have resided in a nearby pasture happily munching on invasive plants.

"When we agree to live simply, we have time for spiritual and corporal works of mercy, like prayer, service, and justice work, because we have renegotiated in our minds and hearts our understanding of time and its purposes."

This week's Everyday Redeeming Love, "Nature Nurturing and Nourishing Souls," written by Fr. Joe Driscoll... Her mother told her to go outside and look up to the sky and pray; that’s where Jesus and his mother were. So, I tried to dedicate myself more and more to prayer, wrote Elizabeth Eppinger, the future Blessed Alphonse Maria, our Founder.... She went on: For this no place was more agreeable to me than the fields. There I could keep myself apart and watch the sky and the flowers in the fields. They both evoked in me the love of God. Heads locked down on computer screens, or hands scooping food on serving trays, or arms rounding mops in circles on tiled floors, or wherever there is no sky to look up toward or field of flowers to admire? How do we get a respite from the consuming concentration of routine work and rote habit? Where or what in nature evokes for you the love of God? Morning fog and mists slowly melted by a determined smiling sun walking into the facility in early morning? Firs and forests standing in deep green stillness on the side of the road driving home at the end of the day? Stop, look and listen not crossing busy streets, but crossing soulful paths toward heaven. - Fr. Joe Driscoll