Reflection on My Volunteer Service at Queen of Angels Monastery

I’ve been trying to come up with a way to describe my experience with the sisters at the monastery, and the three best words to sum it up are simplicity, spiritual direction, and silence.

Tom has already given you a taste of our time there. For me, having my life ordered by the liturgy of the hours helped in prioritizing my time. Having made the commitment to live in community with the sisters meant that I would rise each day early enough to attend Morning Prayer --- 6:30 every weekday. This and the other prayer times simplified the order of my day. Having time within the prayer services for reflection also made it easier to connect with God in a spiritual way.

To hear the bell ring before each service gave me a sense of continuity in a deeper way than I have ever felt as a teacher (even with all the school bells), yet I saw the connections between life at the monastery and life at my school in a new way. We often talk in education as being a “learning community.” I return with a profoundly new perspective on how deeply one can experience community.

I said earlier that I am bringing back with me “spiritual direction.” This really isn’t new, because Tom and I have been meeting with Marie Juncker for most of this year in spiritual direction as a couple. I return with a deeper appreciation for the benefit and --- yes ---the need for having someone in my life who can help me discern the direction my spiritual life is taking.

I had the privilege of spending my four weeks helping at Shalom Prayer Center, the retreat center at the monastery. Several of the sisters are trained as Spiritual Directors, and I often greeted the people arriving for their spiritual direction appointments. I also helped Sister Joan set up the introductory materials for her next class of trainees, as Shalom offers a two-year training program in spiritual direction.

Additionally, I was blessed with an hour of spiritual direction with Sister Joe. I admit I was skeptical that there would not be much benefit doing this with someone I barely knew, but with Jesus Christ as our common denominator, it was amazing how spirit-filled and insightful our discussion was.

The Saturday after we began our service, Tom and I were invited to attend a day-long retreat on “Prayer of the Heart” with Sister Dorothy. This is an ancient prayer practice of sitting in silence, being “present to God.” Its focus is not to listen, but to “be.” I cannot put into words the sublime joy of sitting with a group of people in silence, with God allowing my inner self to open to Him and experience being in His presence as His beloved child.

Another time I experienced silence was during the prayer services and the Eucharist. The pacing of the responses always allowed for a silent period of reflection between the psalms, between the prayers, and after both the sermon and communion. I had ample time to connect with God and be present with Him beyond the words and the music.

As the days, weeks and months pass, I hope that there will be more opportunities to share with you about our time at Queen of Angels Monastery.

Judith