Trusting In God's Plans

In about five weeks, my monastic community will be electing a new prioress. Soon someone other than our current prioress, Sr. Esther Fangman, will read the daily passage from the Rule of St. Benedict at morning prayer, lead Monastic Council meetings, welcome guests to Sunday Mass, and say prayers at funeral Masses and other liturgical rituals, among many other responsibilities. In addition, some new members will be elected to the Monastic Council, and some sisters will be asked to shift into different jobs and ministries. 

Artwork by Jay Smiley

Benedictines take a vow of stability, but that doesn’t mean that our lives will never change. On the contrary, we also pledge fidelity to the monastic way of life, which includes being open to an ongoing transformation of the heart or conversion of life. Change is inevitable when you serve the God who says “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

In her book To Pause at the Threshold: Reflections on Living on the Border, Esther de Waal says, “Insecurity makes certitude attractive, and it is in times like these that I want to harness God to my preferred scheme of things, for it is risky to be so vulnerable. Yet it is this vulnerability that asks for trust and hope in God’s plans, not mine. So I try to learn each time that I am called upon to move forward to hand over the past freely, putting it behind me, and moving on with hands open and ready for the new.”

Sometimes guests ask us who we think the new prioress will be. Although many of us have some thoughts about who we hope might be elected, we all know that we need to be open to how the Spirit leads us in our discernment. Ultimately, we place our trust in God, who says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).