He is not here. He is Risen.

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It has been such a strange Lent
Everything seems turned on its head. I have been home for four weeks socially distancing. Privileged to have a home in which to stay safe.
I have been out for a solitary walk each day noticing as the signs of Spring begin to show themselves.
Robins come to my balcony,  still the juncos and chickadees and woodpeckers and purple finches and nuthatches. I’ve seen green creeping into the tops of trees, buds  barely visible, yet all waiting.

I have been trying to focus on what is important. 
Staying connected through FaceTime. 
Praying with our sisters via Zoom. 
Trying to connect with and teach my students online.
It’s still surreal. 
Watching the liturgies streamed from our mother house
Praying for their safety and for all who are working so hard to support us during this pandemic.
No end in sight. We wait.
We all wait as we move through these holiest of days.
We wait in expectation of Resurrection. 
“All will be well. All manner of things will be well.”


How will I have been changed by this unprecedented Lent?
How will I contribute to earths resurrection?

Will I have learned that all beings are one?
That we all breathe the same air?
Come from the same earth and water?
Depend on the same breath of life?

Will I have learned that all work is holy and essential?
Will I be ready to respond to the very real and practical needs of my brothers and sisters?
Will I be ready to contribute to earths healing?

Isabel Rafferty OP
Madison, WI


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