Monday, October 17, 2016

September 2016 Newsletter

Hello, everyone.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone again after the long summer break.

Our first meeting for the 2016-2017 year will be held on Sunday, September 25This meeting will be held at our home in Kenwood rather than at St. Gertrude and will be followed by a potluck dinner.  Directions are enclosed.  We will provide the plates, napkins, utensils and drinks as well as a meat/cheese tray, bread, etc.  If you are are able, please bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share.  If this presents a difficulty for you, do not feel obligated to bring anything—just come!  We always have plenty to eat.

The guest speaker for this meeting is Br. Peduru Fonseka, OSB.  The topic of his talk is: “Being a Vessel for the Radical Mercy of God.”


The Cincinnati chapter will be hosting the May 20 Day of Recollection for Ohio Oblates this year.  Rosemary will be sharing information about this with you at future meetings as the year progresses. 

Please Note:   All meetings are held on  a Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

2016
September 25 (Br. Peduru Fonseka, OSB)
October 23 (Fr. Joseph Cox, OSB)
November 20* (Br. Simon Herrmann, OSB)  

*The November 20 meeting will be held in the school cafeteria.

2017
January 22 (Program to be determined.)
February 26 (Program to be determined)
March 26 (Program to be determined)
April 23 (Program to be determined)

Other Important Dates
May 20 — Day of Recollection hosted by Cincinnati Chapter 

April 2016 Meeting Minutes

Cincinnati Oblate Chapter Minutes April 24, 2016

Attendance: Susan Anderson, Mary Louise Reed, Peyton Reed, Nick McCarroll, Linda McCarroll, Karin Mendoza, Ron Lillie, Joan Hilton, Kathy Gloeckner, Beverly Winner, Linda Faulaber, Lori Wallhausser, Chris Wallhausser, Rosemary Conrad, Br. Francis, Pat Dorn, Clyde Dorn.

Reading of the Mission Statement and introductions opened our meeting.
Second Vespers of Week One was chanted together. During Vespers, Br. Francis received Karin Mendoza’s oblation as Oblate Scholastica.
Lectio Divina was shared using John 13: 31-33A, 34-35.

The Minutes of Feb. 28 were approved after two name corrections. Nick McCarroll said we have $42.00 and need $33.00 today to rebalance after $75.00 for monk travel today. New/Old Business:

The Ohio Oblate Day of Reflection is in Dayton on May 21. Susan sent greetings from Bob and Melinda Reickers whom she spent Holy Thursday with at St. Meinrad. Pat suggested we think about dues or free will offerings from non-attending Oblates to help cover expenses. Br. Francis explained more about the abbatial election in June and asked our prayers for this. Rosemary will make a reservation at Milford for the 2017 Ohio Day of Reflection.

Guest Speaker: Br. Francis Wagner, OSB: Incline the Ear of Your Heart. Br. Francis gave us a design from the first chapter room window of the Rule with quotes from the Rule Prologue: 1, Proverbs 4:20-21, and Mark 4:9. He also referred us to Fr. Eugene’s spring 2015 Oblate newsletter call of the heart article. For St. Benedict, obedience means to listen and respond to the will of God. Scripture and the Rule ask us to listen and consider who is my master and to redirect self as Jesus personifies listening for thirty years before three years of public speaking. Jesus calls us to listen to this same wisdom tradition of Deuteronomy and Proverbs. Br. Francis recommends two foundational practices for all prayer so that our prayer does not remain superficial. One: Private wordless prayer in tune with the Spirit with the attitude of receptivity like Mary at Jesus’ feet and like Ps. 85 “I will hear what God has to say.” Two: Lectio with slow frequent pauses to bring Scripture alive and active in our hearts. These two practices support each other and develop a reflective quality in life to see where God is in everyday occurrences.

Submitted by Susan Anderson

April 2016 Newsletter

April 19, 2016

Br. Francis Wagner, OSB, will be the guest speaker at our Sunday, April 24 meeting. His topic is “Incline the Ear of Your Heart.” Please Note: Because Sunday is also parish Confirmation Sunday, our meeting will be held in the SCHOOL CAFETERIA rather than the Parish Center.

The meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. This will be our last chapter meeting until September. However, we hope to see many of you at the Ohio Day of Recollection held at the Bergamo Roncalli Center in Beavercreek on Saturday, May 21. Fr. Adrian Burk is the presenter, and his topic is: “Let Them Prefer Nothing to Christ.” Registration forms were emailed to those on our email list several weeks ago and copies will be available at the meeting. They have also been mailed to those not on our mailing list. The cost of the retreat is $40, and the deadline for reservations is May 7. A continental breakfast and lunch is included.

Our long-time chapter members (notice, I did not say “older”) will remember oblates Bob & Melinda Reckers, who moved to Texas several years ago to be closer to their children and grandchildren. In their generosity they paid for our oblate domain name and website while they were here in Cincinnati and have continued to do so even after moving to Texas. Melinda recently notified us that they have renewed the domain name through April 2020. On behalf of all of our oblates, we wish to express our continued gratitude to them for their generosity. On behalf of all of our Cincinnati oblates, we express our thanks and appreciation to Father Abbot Justin DuVall, OSB, for all he has done for us during the 12 years of his tenure as Archabbot. Please keep the monks in your prayers as they elect a new Archabbot on June 2.

Oblate Anniversaries Congratulations to the following oblates who are celebrating their anniversaries in April, May, June and July. April:
4/9 Kathy Gloeckner (13 yrs.)
4/9 Joan Hilton (7 yrs.)
4/28 Eric Kenny (3 yrs.)
4/28 Mark Caldwell-Reiss (3 yrs.)

May: 5/8 Susan Anderson (54 yrs.)
5/18 Ron DeMarco (3 yrs.)

June: 6/15 Steve Drees (5 yrs.)
6/15 Margaret Sherlock (5 yrs.)
6/17 Steve Bay (7 yrs.)

July: 7/9 Rosemary Conrad (28 yrs.)
7/10 Henry Marksberry (19 yrs.)
7/26 David Annabel (5 yrs.)

February 2016 Meeting Minutes

Cincinnati Oblate Chapter Minutes February 28, 2016

Attendance: Susan Anderson, Rosemary Conrad, Br. Andre DeDecker, OSB, Sherry Huddle, Kathy Gloecker, Nick McCarroll, Clyde Dorn, Pat Dorn, Joan Hilton, Scott Alt, Beverly Winner, Chris Sorensen, Mainerd Sorenson, Margaret Sherlock, Ron Little, Peyton Reed, Mary Louise Reed, Kathleen McGonegle.

Introductions and reading of the Mission Statement opened our meeting.
Second Sunday Vespers of Week Three was prayed together.
Lectio Divina was shared together using Luke 13: 1-9.

The Minutes of Jan. 24 were approved. Nick McCarroll said we have $45.00 and need $35.00 more for monk travel today.

New/Old Business: March 20 meeting is cancelled because of St. Meinrad retreat that weekend. May 21 is Oblate Day of Reflection. Rosemary says John Campbell is ill and asks for prayers. Pat asks for prayers for Steve Bay who is ill. Nick asks for prayers for Linda who is ill. Chris Alt asks for prayers for his mother Sandy who has a cancer recurrence. Rosemary asks for prayers for family health concerns especially for her daughter Susan.

Guest Speaker: Br. Andre DeDecker, OSB: The Holy Year of Mercy and the Benedictine Oblate Vocation Br. Andre connected today’s Mass readings of calls to repent and be saved to our gift of faith and the need to repent and get back up to answer God’s call and cultivate faith. Pope Francis teaches us that the Name of God is Mercy and not perfection. The way we live faith is different for each of us. In USA and world today there are “many pleasures but few loves.” Our vocation as Benedictine Oblates in the mystery of mercy is to be a “wellspring of serenity and peace.” Br. Andre related his vocation journey from being a long distance truck driver where he felt “trapped in his own life” to accepting the vision to be a Brother where he has a “sense of fulfillment in living like Jesus is calling me to be.” Br. Andre says the Oblates are an inspiration to the monks. He said he uses the daily examen of conscience with Compline to keep him feel joined to the Monastery as he currently is completing a four day a week culinary arts program in Louisville. He prays individually the four volume Liturgy of the Hours when is he away from St. Meinrad. As he says, the Word of God is living and effective for each of us.

Submitted by Susan Anderson

February 2016 Newsletter

February 16, 2016
by Pat Dorn

Our Sunday, February 28 meeting will be held in the St. Joseph room of the St. Gertrude Parish Center at 2:00 p.m. Br. Andre DeDecker, OSB, will be the special guest speaker for this meeting. Br.
Andre’s talk is titled“The Holy Year of Mercy and the Benedictine Oblate Vocation.” Please join us
in welcoming Br. Andre to his very first visit to our Cincinnati chapter meetings.

The March 20-22 Oblate Retreat at Saint Meinrad Archabbey will have Fr. Bede Cisco, OSB, as the presenter. The title of his talk is “Expanding the Heart: A Monastic Miscellany.” If you are planning to attend and have not yet made your reservations, it would be a good idea to do so as soon as possible.

Hope to see everyone at the meeting Sunday.

January 2016 Meeting Minutes

Cincinnati Oblate Chapter Minutes January 24, 2016

Attendance: Susan Anderson, Clyde Dorn, Pat Dorn, Rosemary Conrad, Joan Hilton, Ron DeMarco, John Campbell, Payton Reed, Mary Louise Reed, Mainerd Sorensen, Beverly Winner, Ursula Hassel. (Our oblate members from the east of Cincinnati were absent due to their parish having a celebratory function they wanted to attend.)

Introductions and reading of the Mission Statement opened our meeting.
Second Sunday Vespers of Week Three was prayed together.
Lectio Divina was shared together using Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21.

The Minutes of November 22, 2015 were approved. Rosemary Conrad (for Nick McCarroll) says that we received enough in donations at the November meeting to cover our $25 deficit from the November meeting. We will need $50 to have enough to cover the expenses of the monk coming to our February meeting.

New/Old Business: This meeting is Ursula’s last time with us as she will be joining a Jesuit prayer group which will fill the need for prayer structure in her life. We wish her well and glad she was with us up until now. Also, Ron DeMarco explained to us that Stephen Drees has accepted a new job which is headquartered out of state and requires much travel, and read Stephen’s nice letter that he wrote to our group. We hope Stephen has a chance periodically to join us. Let’s pray for Stephen and Ursula in their new pursuits. Ron brought newly produced oblate stickers from Saint Meinrad, available for $4.00, a correction in price from the $3.00 he originally thought they were. Ron also made mention of an addition to Fr. Luke’s presentation. Fr. Luke added to Ron’s meeting notes that our calling (vocation) may lead to holiness, yet a sign that it is not our calling is the absence of peace. Thank you Fr. Luke.

Our video presentation was by Fr. Harry Hagan, OSB, “Praying the Psalms 2: Praise and Petition” Fr. Harry began by telling us that there are two large groups of psalms: praise and petition. Sometimes it is important to know the group a psalm is in to see how it is different from one like it to see what it emphasizes. A psalmist is speaking to other people or to God. Fr. Harry asks, why do we praise a person? We praise someone to express appreciation, to recognize something good that they have. We praise someone by making a statement about the person. This is the basis of praise, a statement of recognition. Why do we praise God? We express what God has done for us, praise reinforces our awareness. We are just so pleased about God that we have to say it. We feel compelled to make the praise being so thankful for what he has done for us. It is an overwhelming feeling of joy. Fr. Harry then went through several examples of psalms of praise (Ps 117, 34, 99, 148). Psalms often begin with a “call” to praise (e.g., Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples). And they often have the key word “for” when the psalmist states the reason for the praise (e.g., for great is his steadfast love for me). The Petition psalms will be covered in a video at a future meeting.

Submitted by Ron DeMarco