SPIRITUAL
GROUP
Annual Retreat
May 18, 2010 Here is the most recent picture of the spiritual group
with Yolanda absent.
Our humble spiritual
group recently welcomed three new candidates, Ena, Kyiem and Cecilia.
As we are saddened to say good bye to Debbie who left to try out the life of the Little Sisters of the Poor
(we continue to keep her in prayer), we are blessed to have two novices, Yolanda and Teresa.
Last weekend we were
together for our annual group retreat. We
are sorry that Yolanda could not make it to the retreat this year. We look forward to meeting and getting to know her in person next
year. We are united with her in spirit and in prayer.
The three candidates were invited to
spend the Saturday with us. It was
wonderful to see that everyone was happy and friendly toward one another. Despite the fact that we struggled to follow
closely our Silent retreat schedule, we were able to travel back and forth several
times a day to join the Genesee brothers for
all the Divine Offices, including Vigil at 2:20am. Rev. Father shared that attending Vigils was
the most memorable and grace-filled experience for him as a young man making his
first retreat at Gethsemani Abbey. He
said that the office of Vigil is when the monks break the silence in the middle of the night to pray
to God and sing praise to Him while the whole world around them sounds asleep… Another blessing for us was doing
the Walking Rosary daily. We even prayed
it in Korean since there were four Korean present on that Saturday.
We also enjoyed our picnic lunch and dinner on the Abbey ground since there was
not enough room for all of us at New Helfta studio apartment, and neither did we
have enough time for traveling back and forth between Vespers and
Compline. Everyone took turn to read while
others ate in silence. The Road of
Hope: A Gospel from Prison by Phanxico Xavie Van Thuan Nguyen was very inspiring.
As much as I am grateful to God for sending these new candidates, I am very much aware of the challenges ahead as I
continue to work with each individual to see whether she is really called to join this group.
The Lord has told us
that many are called but not all will persevere, and according to Rev. Father’s
years of experience, many may feel attracted to some kind of a group like ours,
but not all want to join for the right reasons.
I am praying for the gift of discernment to carry out God’s holy will
for all of us, members and those who are inquiring as we travel together on the
journey toward God.
It is not so important whether one joins or belongs to a certain group. What matters most is that she seeks to do his will.
I thank Rev. Father for his sincere effort to help out with the group as it grows. I
am grateful to God for giving Rev. Father the patience in teaching and guiding
me as I try my best to be a good servant and sister to the group.
Thank you Lord!
Dear Blessed Mother, please intercede for us, and may our desire to seek and follow our Lord always please Him. Amen.
January 18, 2010 Rev. Father told me today:
“Life goes on.” Yes, indeed. Despite the many challenges we
have been going through as individuals and as a spiritual group,
we persevered and have been growing spiritually. Praise the Lord!
Our
ex-member Vy is expecting her first baby.
We are praying for her and her family.
In December, 2009, we had a new postulant, Yolanda Nava from San Francisco, California. After a few months of discernment she is
officially trying out our group. We are happy to have her. She is slowly introduced to each member of
the group as their prayer partner. We
are praying for her perseverance and her vocation.
While
Debbie feels called to walk a different path from ours (She would like to join
the Little Sisters of the Poor. God’s
willing! We are praying for her), we
have two new candidates, Teresa Kim from Toronto,
Canada and Barbara Price
from York, New York who are inquiring to check us
out. With Rev. Father' permission, they
hope to be with us at our next meeting in February, 2010. May the Lord guide them to discern as we
pray.
We
are planning for our next annual retreat in May. With our Lady's
intercession, may the Lover of our soul whom we seek bless and guide our
every effort as we persevere to seek and love him in faith as spiritual sisters
under the help and guidance of Rev. Father John Eudes. AMEN.
March 7, 2009 Our next annual retreat
is the last weekend of May 2009. We will
finish reading Steps of Humility and Pride this month and the next book will
be: John Cassian: Conferences by Colm
Luibheid (Translator), Owen Chadwick (Designer). By then, our ex-member Vy
will be married. Lucy will be a happy
grandmother of the beautiful Caitlin.
Karen is happy with her new job. Debbie is checking out a couple of orders sometimes
mid-March in NY city.
Sauling is dating. Minh is working hard to expand the cards
business while continuing to paint new icons.
She will be giving 3 talks during Lent, one in Rochester,
New York and two in Lyndhurst
and Jersey City, New Jersey. Rev. Father is doing well living the hermit
life among God’s creatures. St. Francis
will be very proud of him for he now has many friends from the wild including birds,
turkeys, deer, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, and recently a black kitty who
takes walks with him… He works in the community
bakery and in the library; gives talks at the retreat house and hears confession
and occasionally travels to give talks. Please
say a prayer for us all. Thank you.
Oct 4-Oct 15, 2008 Pilgrimage to France
By the
grace of God and the help of our Lady, our group went on a pilgrimage to France. While Rev. Father went to Citeaux
to give a conference to the European novice and junior masters, Debbie, Minh
and Sauling went on their spiritual adventure with
our Lady. After the wonderful and
spirited stay at Citeaux, the Mother House of the
Cistercians, we were blessed by Rev. Father and went on our pilgrimage journey. We drove to Nevers
where St. Bernadette’s incorruptible body is; then Lyon; then Annecy where St.
Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal were laid to rest; to O.L of the Snows
monastery in the middle of no place!!! J where
we slept outside in the Abbey parking lot; then to Lourdes
and finally to Lisieux to pay respect to St. Therese,
and then ended up in Paris… The trip was wonderful. Only God knows how we continue to live the
graces we received on that trip. We also
had many chances to offer up our discomforts and suffering for all who needed
them whom we know and do not know.
Praised the Lord and thank you Blessed Mother.
July 30, 2008 We had a blessed annual retreat last May. We experienced a different kind of grace
which will help our growth in God as we continue to seek his will for us
together as spiritual sisters. Soon I
will update it with some pictures which captured special moments of our days
together.
February 5, 2008 Have a Blessed and Fruitful Lenten Season. We commend our two
members: Sauling and Debbie to God as they facing
some challenges.
January 1, 2008 ”Under her spiritual
father's guidance and teaching, Minh has been making her temporary vow of
chastity one year at a time and learning how to live it for almost
ten years. Today, in the presence of Abbot John Eudes (spiritual father), Abbot
John (confessor) and almost 50 family members and close friends, she made her perpetual vow of chastity for the love of Christ
on the feast of his Blessed Mother, the Mother of God. Like for Karen, we pray
for her love everlasting love for God and her fidelity in serving him and his church.
October 2007 We are praying for one of
our members, Karen Webb, as she is preparing spiritually to be consecrated
publicly as a Consecrated
Virgin
on November 18, 2007.
June 8-10, 2007 Our first Annual group
retreat
June 9, 2007Happy Solemnity of the Most
Holy Body and Blood of Christ & Rev. Father's 51th
Ordination of Priesthood (6/9/56)
April 2007
January 30, 2007 Our spiritual group sent
in our end-of-the-year comments and reflections. Praise the Lord! We made it
through our first year and are growing despite of the fact that three out of
seven original members withdrew from the group. As sad and discouraging as it
might sound, Rev. Father reassured us that having more than 50% of us persevere and make progress in our spiritual life is not a
bad thing! Quantity is a plus but without quality, we will not last! Everything
seems to be better and go smoother but not without the members' extra effort in
facing challenges. Even so, we believe we carry the right cross with the
sisterly support and fatherly guidance of the group members and the spiritual
advisor. Those who stay sure have proved to have the spirit and the character
which are suited for our particular spiritual group.
We
thank God for all the graces he has been bestowing on this group of friends,
and also for his loving mercy to help us overcome and learn from the difficult
trials. Only through these experiences we will learn to know ourselves and
others better as individuals and as a small Christian community as much as to
practice virtues through humility, trust, perseverance and charity. Dear
Blessed Mother, please continue to intercede for us. Amen.
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