Summer 2007

From the Prioress
Sister Anne Shepard, OSB

“Thank you, God, for this good life
and forgive us if we do not love it enough.”
Garrison Keillor

One Saturday evening while I was driving to Kansas City, I listened to Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio Usually the radio is on for company, not my desire for substantive input By accident I happened to tune in the night that Garrison Keillor was in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a town rife with Benedictine influence. He had met with Benedictine sisters in that small northern town and was duly impressed with their intelligence and warmth. Actually, he did some great marketing for Benedictine women nationally. At the beginning and the end of the show he always mentions the people in Lake Wobegon “where the men are handsome, the women are strong and the children above average.”

The same can be said of you who are our graduates, friends, family, visitors and us. You are included in the list of those we know who especially fit the strong and above average categories You have helped with a year wherein we were able to move forward in our external ministries, in our care for the sick and elderly, in our educational and professional staff training for the sisters and lay employees, in our campus planning, and more. Your generosity surpassed our projected budget. Your contributions have assured the people in this little northeast corner of Kansas that the sisters are for real, stronger than ever and here to stay.

Be assured that we genuinely love this life of ours. Words cannot even describe the joy of hosting the notable Wangari Maathai in late January. The strong, above average sisters scrambled at 11 p.m., the night before she came, to redo the morning schedule to fit her late arrival and need to be on the Benedictine College campus by 1:30 p.m Her entrance into our dining room brought delight beyond expression. Talk about a woman who is strong and above average!

The second very major party that we threw was our open house for the newly renovated Dooley Center. Again we hosted over 200 guests who joined us in the Easter spirit of joy and peace. Unlike the 5 degree weather we had in January when the Nobel laureate arrived, and unlike the very stormy, rainy days the week before, the day of the open house was sunny and in the mid 60’s. Our Dooley residents were so very pleased to have their new spaces blessed, to share their new space with their relatives and friends. Any gathering there has the feeling that the sisters who are residents are hosting the party. They are absolutely right about that.

In February, the Atchison Benedictine sisters welcomed other Benedictine sisters from throughout the United States, those 55 years and younger. It was a weekend of sharing hopes, concerns, and dreams for the future of monastic life. The participants want to meet bi-annually to keep a momentum of mutual contact and support. Moreover, in April we had over 15 young women who are interested in learning about us and who were willing to pray with us as they discern the call of God in their lives

In April, I received a request from Mother Shukrani Mkonde, the Mother General of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Agnes, Songea, Tanzania, to host a third sister from her community to study here in the United States. In late July or early August, we will be welcoming Sister Mariana Ndetewale, who will live with our sisters in Kansas City and study English at the Archdiocesan-sponsored Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas. Our two current students from Tanzania, Sisters Presentasia and Susana, have been pure blessing to us. Welcoming one of their friends will be an added treat.

In July, we may be hosting one of our sisters from our dependent monastery in Brazil. Sister Maria das Graças is in the process of scheduling her visit to coincide with one of the celebrations of the monks of St. Benedict Abbey of their 150 years in Atchison. In January 2008, our Sister Mary Grace Malaney will be on sabbatical from Donnelly College to go to Brazil to help the sisters strengthen their English skills.

Three sisters will be celebrating their golden jubilees on the Sunday closest to the feast of Saint Benedict this summer: Sisters Dorothy Wolters, Thomasita Homan and Janelle Maes. They are definitely strong and above average (If you have any doubt, please ask Janelle!) Seriously, these three are very active, creative, unique and holy women Their anniversary celebration will be quite a joyful day for us and their families.

I invite all of you readers to log on to our website www.mountosb.org for regular updates on the activities of the sisters. May you pray the prayer at the beginning of this article, written by Garrison Keillor, so that your faith will be strong and your gratitude to God for the gift of your good life be above average.

In thanksgiving to God for each of you,
S. Anne Shepard, OSB