Dear Friends,
Autumn is a season of particular beauty. If the low temperatures and the storms don’t come too suddenly, one can enjoy trees and bushes with leaves in all shades of red and yellow around the lake at St. Benedict Center, plus the many trees with their red crabapples. In addition, sunrises often paint the sky in the many colors of the rainbow. This is God’s paintbrush at work!
The beauty of autumn also reminds us of the impermanence and transiency of all created things. It gets us in touch with our longing for that which will never end – eternity and our heavenly home. Saint Paul points out that we who are baptized are part of this beautiful creation but are already a new creation. We who belong to Christ have already received the pledge of eternity, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Fulfillment of Creation, Thomas Ingmire, Copyright 2011, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Thomas Ingmire’s illumination in The Saint John’s Bible titled, Fulfillment of Creation, which goes with Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Chapter 8, shows in the starry sky an image from the Hubble telescope of a galaxy in the shape of a cross. God created this magnificent universe; and God showed us in His Son Jesus how much He loves us. The creator’s work, alluded to in the illumination at the bottom, continues in the cosmos and even with us. The x’s, squares and triangles representing it flow from there into the present and into the light of the future. Our universe, which we have learned to explore and to marvel about through astronomy, quantum physics and computers is, at the same time, wrapped into a Divine love which became visible in the crucified love of Jesus Christ. Nobody and nothing can separate us from it, no rulers, nor demons, nor things present, nor things to come, neither death nor life, nor anything in all creation. “All things work for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28). – A time of retreat can help us see this truth play out in our lives more clearly.
Especially worth noting among the upcoming events of our program schedule is the weekend retreat on September 8 – 10 with Ignatian Associate Lisa Kelly and Steve Titus, which we now added to this year’s program schedule. It combines the acclaimed life coaching method Best Year Yet with discernment of the spirits according to Saint Ignatius of Loyola. – On October 28, Sister Colette Baldwin will guide you in reflecting and marveling about the gifts of autumn! – I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!
Fr. Thomas Leitner, OSB, Administrator