Director: Sister Hilary Decker, OSB Contact: hilarye1@yahoo.com

Co-Director: Sister Maria DeAngeli, OSB Contact: maria@stscho.org

Meeting after 9:30 Mass on March 15, 2020. Please bring your Holy Rule.

Refreshments: Katherine Barnhart, Kaye Bernard, Kathryn Birkhead

March 2020

Enclosed in this newsletter:

1. Contents2. Message from Sister Hilary

3. March Calendar4. Presenters & Refreshments Lists

4. Reading Schedule4. Prayer Intentions

5. Questions to assist you in your reading5. March Birthdays

Oblates of St. BenedictSt. Scholastica Monastery

Dear Oblates,I wish to share an article by a Benedictine Monk from St. Bede’s Abbey of Peru, Illinois. Please read and meditate on its powerful message.

Sister Hilary

The readings of today’s mass are meant to set the tone not only for today’s liturgy but for that of the entire season of Lent. The Old Testament reading from the prophet Joel is a fervent and elegant invitation from God to “return to me”. It tells us what we should be doing in this season. The gospel, from Matthew, tells us how we should do it. Not only are the practices of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting detailed there, but also the kind of motivation that must accompany them in order to insure our sincerity. The remaining reading, from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, offers us still another dimension of what we need to consider about this season and how we shall observe it: it is concerned with the end or purpose of Lent and so with the more fundamental problem or condition that we experience and that requires Lent in the first place.

This passage spells out for us how God’s saving love touches our lives: it is a process by which grace is mediated to us through human agents. That is part of what we may call the law of incarnation: God does not ordinarily deal with us through visions and locutions, through thunderbolts and flashes of lightning; he does not speak to us directly or by sending heavenly messengers, or by working miracles to attract our attention. He usually deals with us through human agents and ordinary human situations, and requires that we have faith enough to see his hand at work in these often prosaic circumstances.

What St. Paul is concerned with in this passage is the process that he calls “reconciliation.” Our basic problem is that we have become alienated from God by sin. We therefore must become reconciled with him, and we can do this only by receiving his forgiveness. The Old Testament, by and large, thought that in order to receive God’s forgiveness, people had to observe the Law that he had set out for them. At his conversion, Paul became acutely aware of the pervading sinfulness of all human beings and of the role of Christ in repairing this breach. It is God who reconciles, and he has accomplished reconciliation not by means of the Law but through Christ. This has been done once and for all, and so we have already been redeemed, but the reconciliation has to be applied individually to each one of us. Hence what he calls the “ministry” of reconciliation needs to continue to be performed in the Church, and so this function has been handed down to mediators, who are empowered to offer God’s forgiveness to each individual who repents and desires salvation.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 First Sunday of Lent Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7

Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 Psalm 19:8-10, 15

Matthew 25:31-46

St. Katherine Drexel

Isaiah 55:10-11 Psalm 34:4-7, 16-19

Matthew 6:7-15

St. Casimir Jonah 3:1-10

Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19

Luke 11:29-32

Esther C:12, 14-16,

23-25 Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8 Matthew 7:7-12

Ezekiel 18:21-28 Psalm 130:1-8

Matthew 5:20-26

Sts. Perpetua and Felicity

Deut. 26:16-19 Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Matthew 5:43-48

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Second Sunday of Lent

Genesis 12:1-4

Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22 2 Timothy 1:8-10 Matthew 17:1-9

St. Frances of Rome

Daniel 9:4-10 Psalm 79:8-9, 11, 13

Luke 6:36-38

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17,

21, 23 Matthew 23: 1-12

Jeremiah 18:18-20 Psalm 31:5-6, 14-16 Matthew 20:17-28

Jeremiah 17:5-10 Psalm 1:1-4, 6 Luke 16:19-31

Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13,

17-28 Psalm 105:16-21

Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Third Sunday of Lent

Exodus 17:3-7 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

John 4:5-42

2 Kings 5:1-15 Psalms 42:2-3; 43:3-4

Luke 4:24-30

St. Patrick

Daniel 3:25, 34-43 Psalm 25:4-9

Matthew 18:21-35

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Deut. 4:1, 5-9 Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16,

19-20 Matthew 5:17-19

St. Joseph 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16

Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29 Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24

OR Luke 2:41-51

Hosea 14:2-10 Psalm 81:6-11, 14, 17

Mark 12:28-34

Hosea 6:1-6 Psalm 51:3-4, 18-21

Luke 18:9-14

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Fourth Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13

Psalm 23:1-6 Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

St. Turibius of Mogrovejo

Isaiah 65:17-21

Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13 John 4:43-54

Ezekiel 47: 1-9 Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

John 5:1-16

Annunciation of the Lord

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 Psalm 40:7-11

Hebrews 10:4-10 Luke 1:26-38

Exodus 32:7-14 Psalm 106:19-23

John 5:31-47

Wisdom 2:1, 12-22 Psalm 34:17-21, 23

John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Jeremiah 11:18-20 Psalm 7:2-3, 9-12

John 7:40-53

29 30 31 Fifth Sunday of Lent

Ezekiel 37:12-14 Psalm 130:1-8 Romans 8:8-11

John 11:1-45

Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62

Psalm 23:1-6 John 8:1-11

Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21

John 8:21-30

March

Please keep a look out for the upcoming issue of HORIZONS. In it we pay tribute to our 2018/2019 donors, as well as touch on some

sister stories. We are very excited to share this issue with you and hope

you enjoy it!

List of Presenters:October: Sister MariaNovember: Sister MariaDecember: Sister KimberlyJanuary: Mary AdamsFebruary: Kathryn BirkheadMarch: Sister MacrinaApril: Sister StephanieMay: Sister Hilary

A suggestion: that the speakers speak on the chapters of the Rule, to accompany the chapters studied from the book Benedictine Promises for Everyday People.

List of Refreshments:November Mary AdamsNora BryantSister Judith Weaver

DecemberEveryone bring something for Christmas Party

JanuaryCandy FosterEileen ScottKathy JarvisJessie Greenwood

FebruaryMark ElskenMary BurnsLouise Rogers

MarchKatherine BarnhartKaye BernardKathryn Birkhead

AprilAlice NahasJo KernsElizabeth Hebel

May- LuncheonProvided by the Sisters

Reading Schedule for our study book, Benedictine Promises for Everyday People, and the Holy Rule

October 20: Introduction with the Prologue of the Rule and Chapter 58 (discussion)

November 17: Chapter 1, “Staying Put” pages 1-31. Accompanied with chapters 4 and 55 of the Rule.

December 15: Chapter 1, pages 31-43. Accompanied with the Prologue and Chapter 71 of the Rule.

January 12: Chapter 2, “Listening Well”, pages 45-63. Accompanied with the Prologue and Chapter 5 of the Rule.

February 16: Chapter 2, pages 63-76. Accompanied with Prologue and Chapters 7 and 20 of the Rule.

March 15: Chapter 3, “Being Changed”, pages 77-96. Accompanied with Chapter 58 of the Rule.

April 19: Chapter 3, pages 95-115. Accompanied with Chapters 72 and 73 of the Rule.

May 17: Summation of the book followed by a Luncheon.

Please keep these prayer intentions in your hearts.

* We mourn the deaths of three Oblates whom we have recently lost; Marty Marmaduke: April 10, 1947 - December 28, 2019 of Amarillo, TXCarolyn Gangluff: October 11, 1933 - January 28, 2020 of Hattieville, AR

Louise Kaufman: July 25, 1922 - February 10, 2020 of Conway, AR* Please remember in prayer Sister Audrey and Sister Magdalen. Sister Audrey was in the hospital with pneumonia and flu. Though back at the nursing home, she isn’t doing well. Sister Magdalen recovered from an infection but is

now being treated for a rash all over her body.

Please email Sister Hilary or Sister Maria if you have any prayer requests.

Study for Chapter 3: Being Changed

A.1. Ponder the questions that Rachel’s Church/Leadership ask themselves. Do we have the courage to do the same? 2. Whose work is transformation? 3. Where are we in the process of transformation? 4. If we cooperate with God’s grace in the process of transformation, what happens? 5. What do we have to do to become gospel people? 6. How does Benedict envision transformation for Christians/Monks? 7. What is Jesus calling us to when he says, “…become as little children…?” 8. How does Rachel describe those “who live the monastic life?”

B. Turning Away 1. How did the invitation Rachel received affect her after her baptism? 2. What does Benedict call us to right now? 3. What does the season of Lent call us to do? 4. Spend some time in Lectio on the quote of Joel from this reading. 5. What is repentance and renunciation? Do they mean the same thing? 6. What is Benedict’s personal interest in his Monks?

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Jo Ann Blackwell; March 1Esperanza Brooks; March 1Pamela Blatzheim; March 3Mila Beth Gibson; March 4

Marc Kivel; March 4Steve Atwell; March 6

Charles Brakebill; March 6Carol Buse; March 6

Barbara Snow; March 6Clare Trelc Lang; March 9Dawn Dvoracek; March 10Theresa Hamling; March 11

Linda Spradlin; March 11Traci Chitwood; March 12

Lauren Sardinha; March 12Charles Hamling; March 13Mina Clemmons; March 14

Marie Meyer; March 14Lisa Corry; March 15

Debra Aaron; March 16Rev. David Petrash; March 18Sharon McGannon; March 19

Cherry Atwell; March 21Megan Mayeux; March 22Vivian Gould; March 26Diane Hinders; March 28Kyle Meadors; March 30