In this age of emails, cell phones, satellites and instant messaging, there is one critical form of communication we tend to ignore. Its voice is soft but insistent. Its message is wise and loving; and it can tell us how to lead better, less stressed-out lives. We will find that voice deep inside the wisdom of our "knowing bodies."According to Virginia Matter, a Benedictine Sister, our bodies hold the fundamental truth of who we are - not who we think we are, or who we're trying to be … [Read more...]
Food of the Gods: Chocolate Deepens our Spiritual Lives
It can be hard or soft, bitter or sweet, dark or light (sometimes even white), dipped in nuts, filled with caramel, mixed with milk or shaped to look like hearts and bunnies. It is one of the most popular - and oldest - flavors in the world. We use it to show love, celebrate holidays, satisfy cravings and sometimes to woo a mate. Yes, we're talking about the joys of chocolate, a food that is produced from the tropical cacao tree and has pleasured people around the world since Mesoamerican … [Read more...]
Upcoming Events at Loyola and Benedictine Centers
Loyola: Enneagram SalonsLoyola Spirituality Center presents a series of Enneagram Salons for those who have a basic understanding of the Enneagram concept and have determined their "number." The next salon will take place on Wednesday, April 23, and will cost $25. The Enneagram is a tool used by individuals, and by psychologists, spiritual directors and personal coaches who are working with clients seeking emotional health and spiritual enlightenment, says Kay Vander Vort, spiritual … [Read more...]
Two Spiritualities
Statistics are telling the story: Membership in churches continues to decline. The closing and consolidation of Catholic parishes confirm a turning away from traditional worship. The number of men and women joining religious orders has dropped drastically. Such statistics, however, do not reflect the growing interest in non-traditional spiritualities, which confirm a profound longing for what churches try to offer - a sense of the divine and a place to belong.Joanne Dehmer, a School Sister of … [Read more...]
Retirement Years: Living with Passion and Purpose
When Lee Iacocca retired from the auto industry in the mid 1990s, he thought he had it made. He had millions of dollars in the bank, plush homes in three countries, books on the best-seller list, a syndicated column and speaking engagements that brought in $60,000 per 30-minute appearance.But Iacocca soon realized retirement wasn't what he expected. "I wasn't ready for it," he says. "Most people aren't." He confessed his failure in a Fortune interview entitled, "How I … [Read more...]
Sin & the Cinema
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - If being a "romantic" disqualifies you for the religious life, Carole Sweely wouldn't be celebrating her 50th year in the convent next year. She is a Benedictine sister affiliated with St. Paul's Monastery in Maplewood, and "if they told me romantics weren't allowed," she says, "I would probably have to leave. I'm a romantic at heart, and movies made me that way."Sweely will lead a discussion group, "Sin and the Cinema," on the third … [Read more...]
Finding Balance: How To Find Peace Parenting Young Children
Sam Rahberg, is a 29-year old dad who drops off his 21-month old daughter, Zoe,at the babysitter’s every day before work. The picture he paints is not pretty.""I am late for work,"" he says, describing a typical morning, ""and she is still inher pajamas. She doesn’t want to get dressed, but wants to dress her doll instead.So I’m dressing both of them on the way out the door. I’m carrying my briefcase,a backpack, her snow suit and boots. Then I remember her lunch and have … [Read more...]
Mindfulness: the art of living with dying
One library in St. Paul offered a six-week series of talks this winter that drew standing-room only crowds. Such interest may surprise you, because the series focused on a topic most of us avoid in polite conversation: death.This curiosity is not so surprising to health care or religious professionals, however, because baby boomers are hitting 60 this year and are facing the "big horizon" questions "What is death? What happens when we die?""We have a medical definition … [Read more...]
Interview With Artists Elisabeth Horst And Virginia Matter
In her practice as a therapist, Elisabeth Horst saw many clients experiencing depression due to bad work environments. So she'd walk them through processes and programs that helped them adjust to their work world in "small ways."But she soon realized these step-by-step survival techniques were useless in work cultures that were fundamentally alienating to one's sense of self and relationship with others. She came to understand the real issue was about being mindful and having the … [Read more...]
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