Yesterday at the Mount we celebrated the 50th
anniversary of the monastic profession of Sisters Anne Shepard, Rita Killackey,
Rose Marie Stallbaumer, and Sharon Hamsa. In her homily at mass, Sister Esther
Fangman noted that after 50 years as professed sisters, each of the jubilarians
has prayed morning and evening prayer with the community approximately 36,500
times, for a total of 146,000 times among the four of them.
As Sister Esther noted, who we ultimately become depends in
large part on how we spend our time, so after a lifetime of prayer, it is no
wonder our jubilarians are faithful, insightful, compassionate, joyful women.
As a novice, I am in a special period of “formation” with a focus on prayer and
study, but the jubilee celebration affirmed that we continue to be formed
throughout our monastic lives through times of communal prayer, private lectio,
and our encounters with each other in daily life.
I don’t anticipate living long enough to celebrate 50 years
in community, but 25 years might be within reach. I wonder what kind of a
person I would be after praying morning and evening prayer 18,250 times?
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