Beloved Father Kelly

Father Kelly Nemeck 1936-2014

I have known Father Kelly for twenty years, through some of his time of being the director of Lebh Shomea "House of Prayer" retreat center in Sarita, TX. He was a priest in the order of Oblates of Mary Immaculate; he is the one who guided me to go to school at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. He died last Thursday.

Father Kelly was a spiritual icon/mentor to me. Through his contemplative masses, I came to love the Eucharist and experience the presence of God. He taught me so many things that I cannot enumerate them, just as he touched many, many others' lives. One thing that stands out is him telling a class at OST that he believed at the moment of death, each of us comes face to face with the Divine One and who could refuse Him then??

I am copying his obituary below, mostly because I want a copy saved.

1936 - 2014
Father Francis Kelly Nemeck, O.M.I., known as Father Kelly, was a great influence in the spiritual lives of countless men and women - married, single, vowed religious, priests, and bishops. From his young adulthood onward, he responded to a special calling to fostering attentive listening to God and others - a life of prayerful contemplation. Born in 1936 in Prescott, Arizona, he came to San Antonio as a child with his parents, May Yeary (of Kingsville, Texas) and Lt. Col. Francis Leonard "Kelly" Nemeck (of Douglas, Arizona) and his sister, Ann. After attending St. Anthony High School Seminary, he made his novitiate year in Mission, Texas, in preparation for joining the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and professed his first vows as an Oblate in 1955. In preparation for the priesthood, he studied philosophy at DeMazenod Scholasticate (today's Oblate School of Theology) in San Antonio and theology at St. Joseph Scholasticate in Ottawa, Canada. During the course of these studies he was drawn by the thought of the Jesuit cosmologist and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who envisioned all of creation evolving to ultimate reunion with Jesus Christ. Teilhard's thought was a lifelong influence in Fr. Nemeck's spirituality. His other model was St. John of the Cross, whom he studied very deeply and followed in his spirituality very closely. Ordained a priest at St. Mary's Church in downtown San Antonio in 1961, his first assignment was to DeMazenod Scholasticate as a professor for five years. Then, after briefly serving among the Chontals in Tehuantepec, Mexico, and at parishes in Midland and Houston, he began studies for a doctorate in spiritual theology at the Catholic Institute in Lyons, France, during which time he also taught and directed retreats in Ontario, Canada. His dissertation in 1973, under the direction of Henri de Lubac, S.J., developed the thought of Teilhard de Chardin and St. John of the Cross on the constructive value of human suffering. In late 1973, Fr. Nemeck joined the house of prayer founded earlier that year by Fr. Tom Marcoux, O.M.I., in the former main house of the vast La Parra Ranch surrounding Sarita, Texas, on the parcel of the ranch bequeathed to the Oblates by Sarita Kenedy East in gratitude for the long ministry of Oblate missionaries in South Texas. The fact that Fr. Marcoux had named the house of prayer Lebh Shomea, Hebrew for "listening heart," after King Solomon's request for a listening heart when God offered to grant the king anything that he wanted, certainly corresponded with Fr. Nemeck's own contemplative spirit. Together with Sisters Marie Theresa Coombs and Maria Meister, Father Nemeck developed Lebh Shomea during the next forty years into a nationally recognized place of silent contemplation and discernment for thousands of people from all walks of life. Fr. Nemeck and Marie Theresa Coombs coauthored several books on spiritual discernment, which have also been translated into Spanish. He also traveled to San Antonio to teach courses in spirituality and discernment at Oblate School of Theology for several years. In 1988-1991 and 1994-1999 he served on the Provincial Council (leadership group) of the Southern Province of the Missionary Oblates. When his health began to significantly deteriorate in late 2013, Fr. Nemeck moved to the Oblate Madonna Residence in San Antonio. Supporting increasing suffering with spiritual fortitude, he died there on September 11, 2014. He is survived by his sister, Ann Nemeck Henry, his nieces Elizabeth and Kathryn, and his Missionary Oblate brothers. May Father Kelly rejoice in God's abiding love.

Prayer: Years of Quotes from Lebh Shomea

Through the past 18 years of going to Lebh Shomea, I collected 13 composition books full of quotes from various books I read there--plus, a few books from other places. Until my last visit to Lebh Shomea, there had never been a copy machine and so I printed quotes I liked from many different books from their extensive library.

I have been re-reading these books as research and for my personal enrichment in the past few weeks. I copied many down on my computer, which seem more readily accessible than these handwritten compendiums.

Much of my emphasis over the years was on prayer, and so I will copy some of those quotes below. I plan to pre-post various quotes (there are so many!) while we go to visit our granddaughters in Austin.

From Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom:

"The day when God is absent, when He is silent--that is the beginning of prayer. Not when we have a lot to say, but when we say to God 'I can't live without You, why are You so cruel, so silent?' This knowledge that we must find or die--that makes us break through to the place where we are in the Presence." (17)

"The moment you try to focus on an imaginary god, or a god you can imagine, you are in great danger of placing an idol between yourself and the real God." (45)

From Catherine de Hueck Doherty in Traits of Healthy Spirituality by Melannie Svoboda:

"Prayer is love. It is love expressed in speech, and love expressed in silence. To put it another way, prayer is the meeting of two loves: the love of God and our love." (88)

"By inviting God to speak to us, we risk being changed; that is, we risk having our attitudes altered, our perspectives broadened, our plans modified." (89)

From Man's Quest for God by Abraham Joshua Heschel:

"Of all the sacred acts, first comes prayer. Religion is not 'what man does with his solitariness.' Religion is what man does with the presence of God. And the spirit of God is present whenever we are willing to accept it. True, God is hiding His face in our time, but He is hiding because we are evading Him." (xiv)

"Prayer is an emanation of what is most precious in us toward Him, the outpouring of the heart before Him." (10)

"God loves what is left over at the bottom of the heart and cannot be expressed in words." (40)

An Excellence to be Ignored or Lost?

When I was at Lebh Shomea House of Prayer last week, I consulted their card catalog frequently. At the same time, there was a young man sequestered in a small anteroom, who was using a laptop computer to list (catalog?) the books in the entire library, which spans the entire first floor of the former Sarita Kenedy mansion.

I looked up the sub-category "Death" and found many resources in books and periodicals. It was impressive to find specific articles in both books and magazines pertaining to this subject, especially theologically. In old issues of Parabola,  which are bound by years 1976-2006, I found decades-old articles about death by both David Steindl-Rast and Cynthia Bourgeault, favorite authors of mine.

I realize "actual" card catalogs in libraries are disappearing for the ease of computer access. However, through using the card catalog at Lebh Shomea, I realized the scholarship and thoroughness of Father Kelly, who maintained the library for the past 40 years. The third floor of the mansion has shelves of bound periodicals, all of which have had their individual articles cataloged. This is amazing!

Of course, what will happen to bound periodicals (AND libraries in general)? For years one of the core members of Lebh Shomea, Sister Maria Meister, bound books and periodicals with a special machine. As indicated by the years of bound Parabola magazines, she bound items at least from 1976-2006. Since she succumbed to Alzheimers, no more items have been bound and the machine stands ignored in a storeroom.

Will all this be ignored and discarded?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps this goes along with a book (surprisingly, still in print) that I was directed to while there:

Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death. Ed. Yoil Hoffmann. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, Co. 1986.

It was an old tradition for Japanese Zen monks and haiku poets to write poems on their deathbeds. 

“In Japan, as elsewhere in the world, it has become customary to write a will in preparation for one’s death. But Japanese culture is probably the only one in the world in which, in addition to leaving a will, a tradition of writing a ‘farewell poem to life’ (jisei) took root and became widespread.” (27)

They are unique and interesting. Here are a few I particularly liked and copied down at Lebh Shomea:

Dairin Soto (died Jan. 27, 1568, age 89)

My whole life long I’ve sharpened my sword

And now, face to face with death

I unsheath it, and lo--

The blade is broken--Alas! (94)

Kozan Ichikyo (died Feb. 12, 1360, age 77)

Empty-handed I entered the world

Barefoot I leave it.

My coming, my going--

Two simple happenings

That got entangled. (108)

Prayers Needed

For 15-20 years, I have been going to Lebh Shomea House of Prayer for quiet, study, and prayer. It is located in Sarita, TX. Since 1973, it was formed and developed by a core group of Roman Catholics: Father Kelly Nemeck, Sister Marie Coombs, and Sister Maria Meister.Their website tells you about the history of Lebh Shomea.

In the last decade, changes started to occur when Sister Maria Meister's Alzheimer's disease affected her so much that she needed to move into a care facility. This past year, both Father Kelly and Sister Marie Coombs decided to retire but remain at Lebh Shomea.

2009 picture of Fr. Kelly

As Father Kelly prepared an Archives Room of Lebh Shomea, he fell a few months ago. He broke his hip and in the time awaiting surgery and following it, he developed pneumonia. He almost died. Due to his weakened condition he was moved to a nursing home in San Antonio, near his beloved Oblate School of Theology.

After his move, he became ill with pneumonia again and spent several weeks in the hospital in San Antonio. Recovering from these bouts of illness and the surgery took much time, which also resulted in him not having therapy or exercise for his legs. He continued to be very weak, plus his Parkinson's Disease worsened.

After enduring all this and depression, he came to the difficult decision that he would not be able to return to Lebh Shomea. He will spend his remaining days at the Oblate Madonna Residence in San Antonio.

While I was at Lebh Shomea last week, I learned that Father Kelly suffered a heart attack in mid-February. Fortunately after several days in the hospital, he returned to the residence.

I could feel less quiet and his absence at Lebh Shomea. As Sister Marie told me there, "It is like a death."

If you know Fr. Kelly and wish to write to him, send cards to:

Fr. Kelly Nemeck
Oblate Madonna Residence
5722 Blanco Road
San Antonio, TX 78216

Please keep him in your prayers, as well as Lebh Shomea and its future.

Off to Lebh Shomea

 Will the doves still be at Lebh Shomea?

I am driving to Sandia, Texas today to spend the next five days at Lebh Shomea, House of Prayer, retreat center. I have been going there since the mid-1990's and am sad to learn that Fr. Kelly Nemeck is no longer one of the directors there. I will miss his presence. He has been ill and has retired to a residence in San Antonio.

I hope that I will be able to write in the silence and absence from distractions like the internet.

Not God

"For silence is not God;
nor speaking is not God;
fasting is not God;
aloneness is not God,
nor company is not God;
nor yet or all of such opposites.

He is hid between them, and
may not be found by any work of your soul,
but only by love of your heart." (6)

Englert, Robert W. "Scattering in the Works of the Author of the Cloud of Unknowing." Contemplative Review, Spring 1983, 1-8.

( I found this quote while reading the bound journals at Lebh Shomea in December 2006.)

The Right Time

"As we know, revelation itself is progressive, not because God chooses to withhold His truth, but because personal development is necessary if truth is to be received as true." (12)

Beha, Marie. "Formation for Contemplative, Part 2." Contemplative Review, Winter 1980, 8-18.

(I found this in the library at Lebh Shomea in the bound journals way up on the third floor of the mansion back in December 2006).

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Advent
by Christina Rossetti

"Come," Thou doest say to Angels,
To blessed Spirits, "Come";
"Come," to the Lambs of Thine Own flock,
Thy little Ones, "Come home."

"Come"--from the many-mansioned house
The gracious word is sent,
"Come"--from the ivory palaces
Unto the Penitent.

O Lord, restore us deaf and blind,
Unclose our lips tho' dumb;
Then say to us, "I come with speed,"
And we will answer, "Come."

Fourth Sunday of Advent reading in Run, Shepherds, Run: Poems for Advent and Christmas selected and presented by L. William Countryman, London: Morehouse, 2005. 47.

I think I like this so much, because it reminds of the early morning mass at Lebh Shomea in Sarita where the priest says over the Eucharist, "Come, Lord Jesus." The people respond with, "Come."

I haven't gone there for over a year. I miss the quiet time spent there.

Looking at their website, I am reminded of the beautiful creches they arrange with plants and flowers they have dried in the time before Advent. Here are pictures from their website:

As we prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus, we invite you
to share some Advent scenes at the House of Prayer.

---

To join in our joyful celebration of the Incarnation, we invite you
to spend time with some Christmas scenes at the House of Prayer.

Friday Five: HAPPY!

Today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals is brought to us by Revkjarla:

Give us five "I haz a happy"s...... for your Friday Five.  AND, bonus points for photos!!!!!

1. I am happy that I could visit youngest daughter MJ in Utah this past week and also see autumnal leaves!

MJ at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City

 2. I am happy that daughters AE and KA came to visit in Austin around Halloween and that we could see them, our granddaughter Avery and her parents.

Avery with KA at pumpkin patch

AA, Avery, and DC at pumpkin patch

3. I am very happy that husband Chuck is painting the walls that used to be covered with wallpaper!

Chuck painting out entryway this morning!

4. I am going to spend two days at Lebh Shomea, silent retreat center, in Sarita, TX next week.

5. I am happy that I have good friends, some of whom are pictured below.

The Nest in the Mesquite Tree

I was surprised that I could get such a good picture of the mother bird sitting on her nest in the mesquite tree that is on the side of our house. It is hard to see her and the nest, with all the leafy branches obstructing the view of her well-hidden abode.The nest is 10-12 feet high. We think she may be a kind of dove, though not one with the plumage of the doves I saw at Lebh Shomea.

My Intro to Teilhard de Chardin

Looking through Google Images, I was entranced with this photo of Teilhard de Chardin looking at the skullcap of Peking Man. He was there when that was being authenticated in China in 1940.

As mentioned in yesterday's post, Teilhard's words and life are inspiring me. While at Lebh Shomea this past week, I perused several books about him. At times, I wondered if I could ask Father Kelly Nemeck to recommend some books for me. That was a possibility, but one that I kept talking myself out of--we're supposed to stay quiet at Lebh Shomea; Fr. Kelly is usually not around or is busy; mealtimes do not seem a time to interrupt him in the silence, etc., etc., etc.

The morning I left, I walked out of the main building and there was Fr. Kelly in a golf cart, which was at a standstill. I walked over and quietly thanked him for my time at Lebh Shomea and then asked if someday he would recommend some books about Teilhard.

Fr. Kelly asked if I would be around much longer and if I could meet him in the library in ten minutes! I did not expect such hospitality.

At that time, he took me to the Teilhard section and silently looked at the books, pulling one and another to look at. These are the ones he suggested I read:

• Album by Teilhard de Chardin; preface by Andre George. Designed and edited by Jeanne Mortier and Marie-Louise Aboux from the publications and letters of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and from papers preserved at the Foundation Teilhard de Chardin.

• The Divine Milieu by Teilhard de Chardin. To be read slowly, according to Fr. Kelly.

•  Writings in Time of War by Teilhard de Chardin. Early writings from Teilhard's time of being a front-line stretcher bearer in WWI. To be read along with:
• The Making of a Mind: Letters from a Solder Priest 1914-1919 by Teilhard de Chardin.

I ordered used copies of the first and last books.

I will see about the others, as I am currently reading the one I mentioned yesterday from the Maryknoll Modern Spiritual Master Series, which has selections from different essays and books (including those above).

AND I have just found the site of Internet Archive, which has links to DOWNLOAD-able copies of Teilhard's works!! Go there and get a taste of him.

Gift of Teilhard de Chardin

Being at Lebh Shomea this past week brought a renewed interest in Teilhard de Chardin. I looked through/skimmed two books in the large section about him in the Lebh Shomea library, which spans the complete first floor of the Sarita Kennedy mansion:

• Meditations with Teilhard de Chardin arranged by Blanche Gallagher: Sadly, this book is out of print. The author arranged some of Teilhard's writings in poetic form, such as:

The creative operation of God

does not simply mold us like soft clay.

It is a Fire that animates all it touches,

a spirit that gives life.

So it is in living

that we should give ourselves to that creative action,

             imitate it, and

                   identify with it. (31)

Nothing is precious

except that part of you which is in other people

and that part of others which is in you.

            Up there

                     on high,

                                everything is one. (99)

• Spirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin by Ursula King: This is a biography, interspersed with many photographs and quotes from works of Teilhard. A few quotes:

". . . Nowhere is this vision more radiant and empowering than in the description of his mystical experiences. They truly express a vision of fire that filled him with wonder and amazement, ecstasy and joy, and made him see the world burst into flames. It is this fire that he wanted to pass on and kindle in others." (58)

"Always interested in the most recent developments in science, psychology, sociology, and religion, he was forever questioning established orthodoxies, whether scientific, religious, or political." (213)

Teilhard died on Easter day in 1955; King writes of his last years:

"He (Teilhard) was growing old, but he could still see his vision with full strength. Death held no fear for him; he saw it as a passage to seeing more, to a fuller vision." (224)

Tomorrow I will write about Father Kelly Nemeck's recommendations for my first readings about Teilhard, although serendipitously, I found an unread book on my own bookshelf that is about him: It is a Maryknoll Modern Spiritual Master Series book, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin by Ursula King, which I am now reading.

Doves at Lebh Shomea Retreat Center

Lebh Shomea is a silent retreat center south of Corpus Christi where I live--in Sarita, TX. "Lebh Shomea" means "listening heart." Since 1973 it has been a retreat center with single dwellings and rooms available in the old Sarita Kennedy mansion, all managed by Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) order, with Father Kelly Nemeck being the main representative of OMI there.


I spent three days (Monday-Thursday) there this week; two with friends from my Renovare Group and one on my own. I came home yesterday afternoon.

The silence was deep and wonderful. Days seemed longer, with more opportunity to pay attention to God. I sat in silence much more frequently. On Monday and Tuesday nights, my friends and I sat together in centering prayer in the community center, which is near the dovecote. It was lovely sitting in silence, with the coos of doves in the background. I am grateful that I was newly invited into daily meditation by the Holy One.

One morning I was trying to take pictures of the doves through the screen of the dovecote, when one of the workers there approached me and asked if I would like to go in with the doves! He (Joe) found the key and let me go in and see them more closely in the environs that a former hermit Sister Maria had planned and cared for.

Formerly, Sister Maria was my spiritual director, but when she came down with Alzheimer's, that was discontinued. Then she disappeared, and I wondered what had happened to her. . . .but I never asked anyone. I asked Joe, and he told me that Sister Maria is in a nursing home in Kingsville and is very happy. He and his wife visit her, and she remembers them. She has formed a friendship with two other older ladies, and they do everything together, even sometimes getting intro trouble!

The news and the surprising opportunity to enter the dovecote were gifts, all because Joe took the time to notice and pay attention just as I had the time be present to those moments. How each of us wants to be noticed!

Here are some of my pictures of the doves:

Saturday Stuff

It is warmer than it has been for days and rain is pouring down, as I yawn and think of going to bed. Instead, I will be self-preoccupied and write bullets about the trivia that is occupying me right now:

• MJ is home after a week of visiting friends at Trinity University in San Antonio. She will leave for Spain on Jan. 24.

• CB and I saw "The King's Speech" yesterday. It was excellent. I learned a lot, while being very impressed with Colin Firth's performance as King George VI.
  

• I am voraciously reading mysteries by Charles Todd, all checked out from the public library. These are about Ian Rutledge, a Scotland Yard inspector who suffers from shell-shock from WWI, while trying to do his job investigating murder cases. I really like the Maisie Dobbs mysteries by Jacqueline Winspear, which are about an exceptional woman who served as a nurse in WWI, whose fiance returned from the war so damaged that he did not recognize anyone. It is interesting that these mysteries are connected to WWI.

• I failed in my month-long commitment to blog about "friends" for NaBloPoMo -- mostly because I did not pre-post enough before I went on my silent retreat at Lebh Shomea.

• It is hard to believe that one week ago I was there and only returned home two days ago. After so much time spent in meditation, I am somewhat surprised that I have been captured again by habits of home, etc.
  

• I have not thought of a "word" for 2011 yet. First it seemed like "friends" would be it, but at Lebh Shomea I started pondering the word "stirrings," which will be a future post.

• I saw many wild animals at Lebh Shomea. For the first time I saw a nilgai, which comes originally from India. On one of the trails, I saw a black object far ahead that I wondered about; it was so still, could it be a tree? As I came closer, something black and as big as a horse moved.

Jan. Friends: Silence

I am looking forward to going on retreat to silent Lebh Shomea in Sarita, TX. I will drive there on Friday (from Corpus Christi).

Thoughts on Praying

Author Carl McColman has a new post about "Wasting Time with God" on his blog that is well worth reading.

As he relates a moment where he was challenged by a monk to pray more each day so did I receive an abrupt pause in my thoughts, like cold water splashed on my face.

I am trying to meditate twice a day, which is sometimes hard to maintain. Luckily, our priest Sandy Casey-Martus advises that the amount of time does not matter, but that this twice a day commitment does. She says that God will grow the times as prayer is always God's prayer.

I realize that as the prayer practice has continued, it has also grown in time for me--as has the commitment. There is God's influence in my prayer, our prayer.

Commitment is necessary, too. For years before this, I sporadically tried to meditate. Father Kelly Nemeck, priest, author, and founder of Lebh Shomea retreat center in Sandia, TX, advises people to pray one hour a day. He said they found that it often took that long to reach contemplative states. (Of course, he and the core community pray five hours a day at Lebh Shomea.)

One hour was too much of an obstacle for me for many years, though I did try it sometimes. . . but not with the commitment that has grown in the past year, under the influence of Sandy. So I am gratefuly that she is the priest at All Saints Episcopal Church and continues to stress prayer there.

For me, little steps have been rewarded by God. Depending upon the Holy One and asking for guidance and help is the way of growth for me, while maintaining the twice-a-day commitment to sit in silence.

Pray for Margie

Please pray for my friend Margie. She is in ICU for pneumonia and sepsis. She just returned from a trip to Holland on Sunday night.

I have known Margie since I joined the Methodist Church in 1994. She was one of the Disciple I leaders that year when I started my Christian journey. After that, she and I were in the same Emmaus Reunion group and went to Lebh Shomea on retreats together. Margie and I loved to read and study together. One semester she even traveled with me to San Antonio every week to take a scripture class on Acts from Sister Sarah Sharkey, OP (an Adrian Dominican sister) at Oblate School of Theology. She is one of the founding members of the Lectio Divina Group that continues to meet every Wednesday at FUMC of Corpus Christi; the group started in 1997.

Some Lenten Resources

Sign up for Daily Lenten Messages from Episcopal Relief and Development HERE.

Also here is a Lenten Devotional from Episcopal Relief and Development that can be downloaded or ordered HERE.

To increase one's awareness during Lent, try Simple Living's 40 Days of Lent, which is printed in only six pages. To find this Lenten Carbon Reduction Fast, go HERE.

Go to ExploreFaith.org's Lenten "Sorting it Out" Toolbox calendar, to click on each day of Lent.
They also have a Lenten calendar of quotes for each day, which means another click HERE.

HERE is a Lenten Meditation sponsored by Lebh Shomea, the retreat center I love.

Go HERE for an article about fasting: "Give up Neglecting God."

And you can always look back on my Lent posts from the past.

We're ALL going to Hell!

Try to read the small print on the sign--we're all going to hell! (I am reassured by Father Kelly Nemeck saying no one is in hell.) I'm definitely a feminist and a liberal, among other labels listed.

Thanks to my daughter who emailed the link to me, which is at The Yale Daily News. Here's a brief recap of the picture:

Evangelist causes a stir 12.04.09

Jesse Morrell — a 25-year-old evangelist preacher from Cheshire, Conn., who said he did three stints at the juvenile detention center on Whalley Avenue for selling drugs — says he knows where most Yale students are headed: hell.

Love creates thankfulness

letters

I used to be a prolific letter-writer, especially with my friend NKE since I left Japan in 1964. The internet has slowed me on writing letters these days, though my elderly cousin Margaret in Calgary, Canada is an example of someone who still writes 10+ handwritten letters to me. No one else though. I am grateful for the letters I have received in the past and those still to come. I have a drawer full of special letters I've kept.

When my dad died and we cleaned out his house, I found a blue canvas notebook full of letters my mother wrote to her parents while she was a Marine in WWII. What a treasure to have. I am grateful my grandmother (Nana) saved my mother's letters, and also that my mother kept them, too.

listening

I am grateful that sometimes I listen with my whole being. I appreciate when someone truly listens to me in this way.

“In every experience of true listening, especially to God but also to another person, there is a mysterious moment in which the one who listens steps out from a fortress of self-concern and dwells silently in the truth of the one who speaks. This is a moment of great risk and great courage, for it ushers us into a different way of being in the world. Over time, we may even cease to be people who listen and become people who are listening, people whose very being is shaped by the posture of listening. This is the posture of the servant, whose attentiveness is not a sign of cringing compliance but a mark of human life lived ever more fully in the Spirit of love (see I Sam. 3:10).”

~John S. Mogabgab

LOOK

"Look" is the first word I ever learned to read in first grade. I still remember the giant Sally, Dick and Jane book my teacher (Miss Golden) had at the front of the room and "Look" being the only word on the first page of the book. That memories reminds me of how grateful I am to be able to read.

Lemon Torte yogurt

Though this sounds silly, I am very thankful for Yoplait's new Delights, especially the Lemon Torte flavor. Having one of the 100 calories cups is so delightful that I feel like I am indulging myself, as I try to stick to the Weight Watchers program.

La Leche League

I am grateful that I was introduced to La Leche League and that I continued to be associated with La Leche League through my four children for almost 15 years. I met my good friend Lisa through this, so our children grew up together. I learned being a mother involves loving discipline rather than the harsher discipline I was brought up with.

Lectio Divina

I am grateful that God opened me to the practice of Lectio Divina in the 1990's. Through this practice I learned how the Spirit opens us to the truth hidden in the words of the Bible. I appreciate the Lectio Divina group that continues to meet every Wednesday since 1997.

Lebh Shomea

Though I have not visited Lebh Shomea retreat center in Sarita, TX for over a year, I will always be grateful for the existence of such a place and for the many times I stayed there since the 1990's. I attribute my love of the Eucharist to the times I was there.