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A Letter from Our Staff
The Challenges of August
August has been a wet and stormy sort of month for us. But then it is always followed by sunshine and the beauty of flowers, produce and a million different colors of green. It’s a mixed sort of month. Our world is in a rather mixed up state as well—somedays all rain and the next sunshine. During the rain we have global warming and many other tragedies. Those who want to lead us are being indicted. There is unspeakable suffering in Maui, the likes of which we have never seen before. The war between Ukraine and Russia goes on and on with such tragedy and devastation. And yet in the midst of it, there is sunshine. The Media Little League is going to the world series and we rejoice with them. There are groups working together to help us lower our carbon footprint. There are children learning compassion and wanting to share what they have with children in need. The people of Maui are showing unbelievable resilience and courage in the midst of it all, supporting one another and leaning on one another. Rain and sunshine all around us and we absorb it all.
Today is also the beautiful feast of the Assumption of Mary, a woman who knew fear, heartache, courage, joy and contentment all wrapped together –rain and sunshine. All these things still walk with each of us today. We too, in our own personal lives, struggle with fear, heartache, courage, joy and contentment all wrapped together. There is rain and there is sun in the midst of it all.
Macrina Wiederkehr summed it up in a poem called August Rain:
Rain this morning,
All morning long and well into the afternoon.
August rain, slow, steady drops of water.
Holy water, interspersed with mini storms,
Streams of lighting, darting passionately into the weary soil.
The humid, oppressive August heat flees.
I breathe more easily, I smile!
Sometimes my thoughts, like August heat,
hang heavy and smothering,
creating an oppressive, unfriendly climate.
Then suddenly, some holy spirit, falling as rain
upon my desolate land,
descends like a Blessing, some sweet spirit full of Hope
washes away the heaviness,
lightening up those hostile thoughts
till they are filled with loving kindness,
falling on those around me
like a rain of Grace.
May this August find you being nourished by the rain and held in joy by the sunshine. May our resilience give us hearts ready to accept both the rain and sunshine in our lives. This month we share again, with excitement, our September Programs. We can’t wait to get started. We certainly hope you’ll be able to join us. Sr. Marie Angela planned a full roster that surely will contain something that will nourish your soul . Take a look at all our planned programs in our preview sheet and keep checking out our website for programs being added throughout the year.
Preview Sheet 2023-2024
PS: There is one change in our preview sheet. Susan Maule needs to reschedule the date for her morning program “Sound Journeys”. As soon as we know the date we’ll update the website and the preview sheet.
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