On September 13th, we had the great honor of having Sister Magdalen from St. John the Baptist women's monastery in England to speak at our parish. She was supposed to be in Houston for the weekend, but the hurricane brought her north to our area.
This was an incredible blessing for our parish. Since we are a small mission parish, we rarely have the opportunity to have people come here and speak, so we were all very excited. Her topic was "Busy lives, spiritual lives" and it was a simple, yet powerful discussion on how to keep our daily lives focused on Christ.
I was wondering what we were going to do with the children that showed up since we didn't have time to arrange for childcare. I thought we could all take turns watching them. However, I was amazed that all of the children that attended sat and listened attentively (including my three!!) What a blessing!
Sister Magdalen works with children in England and is very gifted in this area. I have read her book "Conversations with Children" and it is quite good.
I love spending time with monastics because they are a reminder, to me, of all that is possible (and expected of me) in this life. I love their Christ-like love for people and their humility. They are a breath of fresh air for me.
This picture is of Sister Magdalen with Fr. Justin, me and and the girls.
