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| Epiphany Approaching | |
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The Christmas season is almost over. Although in the United States, Epiphany is now celebrated on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8, Christmas celebrations are winding to a close. Community members are returning to work and our liturgical schedule is becoming more regular. A Benedictine visiting from another community recently observed about her own community’s Christmas celebrations, “All we seem to do is eat and pray.” The same could be said of our community; but it is these very actions of shared meals and shared liturgy that brings us together and forms us into community. |
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| It is not just the food and the prayer that bring us together, it is the sharing and service that occurs on such occasions which builds community. The celebrations—both liturgical and seasonal—require planning and the work of many people. Sister Judith Zonsius does much of the planning for the meals, with the able assistance of Sister Patricia Cielinski. Sister Callista Kaley spends many hours choosing music and rehearsing the schola for the liturgies. All the Sisters help out as they are able, proclaiming the readings and serving as Eucharistic ministers at Mass; helping to set the tables, serve the food, or—of course—clean up after the festivities! Many hands make the work light. |  |
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| Sister Virginia Jung, who organized many of the community holiday gatherings this year, ladles out cocoa for "Cocoa, Cookies, and Carols". |
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These Christmas gatherings also provide a time for the community to share stories. Whether it is memories of past community hymns or sharing photos of families included in Christmas cards, these stories create the bonds through which we form community. As Epiphany approaches, it is these stories which will be our star, leading us onward toward the manger at Bethlehem and the sudden, unexpected presence of Christ in our midst. |
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| At the New Year's Eve party, Sisters Kathleen McNamara and Anne Krall reminisce about Christmases in Colorado. |
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