Dear Friends,
On Easter Sunday, we put up a new tapestry on the north wall of our chapel at St. Benedict Center. It is a quilt, which Diane Gubbels made from over 1000 pieces and 150 different batik fabrics and donated to us! Janet Sievers helped with the quilting. Thank you! The quilt’s title is, “Wood and Light: Wood of the Cross- Light of the Resurrection.”
The artistically designed quilt is a meditation on the mystery and the gift of our redemption. Imagine the wood of the cross, holding the body of Christ. Think of the heart of Jesus, where the true weight of our human darkness and sinfulness was felt. As you look at this piece, you will see “the wood of the cross” and the "heart of our Lord," represented by the red color at the center. From the upper left, you can almost see the light coming from heaven, shining down upon our Savior, our saving grace. Imagine the heavy darkness that shadowed the hearts of those standing at the foot of the cross that day. "It is done." This darkness is seen in the earth tones at the base of this piece. Each of us stands there in the darkness looking up at the cross.
But even as the cross held our Savior, the stone could not hold Him in darkness. The “light of the resurrection” shines forth from the cross; the light of our Savior shines: He lives! This light is represented not only in color placement but also in the "rays" of quilting coming from the "heart" of our Redeemer, shining down to us standing in the darkness at the foot of the cross, and in all directions, for ALL to be saved. We can all experience His light in our lives. In this quilt, there is "wood and light." It is meant to be a reminder of the Truth and Life in Jesus. This quilt can accompany us beyond Easter throughout the year.
We have two new co-workers at St. Benedict Center: Mary Jo in the kitchen and Cindy at the front desk. – We added extra refrigerators for the use of our guests in both day lounges and at the ends of both guest wings. Also, we added microwaves for your convenience to the cereal and milk station in the dining room and to the upper day lounge. Finally, we have new wagons for your luggage in the lobby. Several of these items are gifts of generous retreatants. Thank you! – Besides promoting our programs through e-mail campaigns, we have started sending out our newsletter also in this manner. Please let us know, through our website www.stbenedictcenter.com, if you would like to receive our newsletter electronically.
Especially worth noting among the upcoming events of our program [DeaconJamesKeating] schedule is BLOOM, the retreat for mothers and their teenage daughters, on July 23-24, and the retreat, Fathers and Sons—Together Forever for fathers and their teenage sons on July 30-31. - Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., from Omaha, will present a wonderful retreat for married couples on Oct. 29-30 titled, Marriage in the Lord. - I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!
Fr. Thomas Leitner, OSB, Administrator
Please note: The Holy Rule of St. Benedict, a series of interviews with our Prior, Fr. Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., airs on Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. on Spirit Catholic Radio Network 102.7. Kris McGregor of Discerning Hearts conducts the interviews. Tell your friends to tune in and learn more about Benedictine Spirituality! Podcasts of the shows can be found here.