“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to be silent and a time to speak”.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2,4,7

This reading, like so many others, has permeated our experience in 2020. We continue to transition into the

New Year, bringing with us new ways of living and adaptations we learned from the past year. The pandemic

has taught us that by accepting and incorporating a few changes we can continue to: live with purpose in

community and grow spiritually despite being in isolation; safely reopen ministries with restrictions; connect

with our Oblates, benefactors, family, and friends virtually, through print and social media, phones calls, and

drive thru celebrations; attend conferences and network thanks to Zoom; pray more fiercely for peace, justice,

and healing; and find value in social distancing and wearing face masks.

These times have challenged us in many ways, but never broke our spirits.

Like many, we had to close our St. Scholastica Monastery and cancel major

events. We also closed our Boerne ministries last March including Omega

Retreat Center, Health and Wholeness Center, and Sisters’ Attic Thrift

Store. The thrift store reopened in July and the Health and Wholeness

Center’s pool reopened in late September. We have had to limit occupancy

at both ministries in accordance with safety guidelines. Unfortunately, the

Retreat Center remains closed, and we have no way of knowing when it can

be safely reopened.

In addition to these closures, our four-year old Monastery air

conditioner broke down in March and we endured the

inconvenience until mid-May when the Texas heat and

humidity put our Sisters at risk for heat related illnesses. We

were forced to move to a residential space on our grounds at our

Omega Retreat Center. We stayed there until late fall when the

weather cooled down and the A/C repairs were nearing

completion. Living in our original Monastery allowed us to

take time to share memories, to laugh about “the good old

days”, and to truly appreciate the gifts that God has given us

through the years.

Jungian analyst and storyteller, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, writes:

“Stories set the inner life into motion, and this is particularly important where the inner is frightened, wedged,

or cornered. Story greases the hoist and pulleys, it causes adrenaline to surge, shows us the way out, down, or

up, and for our trouble, cuts for us fine wide doors in previously blank walls, openings that lead to the

dreamland, that lead to love and learning, that lead us back to our own real lives…”

Our Sisters serving in our Corporate Responsibility Ministry in San Antonio and our

Caridad de Corazón Ministry in Eagle Pass continued to work tirelessly in 2020 to

bring immigration updates to constituents and the public as well as serve the needs

of immigrants and those less fortunate on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border.

When our founding Sisters arrived in Texas in

1919, they taught at St. Joseph's Catholic

School in Las Gallinas. The school was

closed not long after, and St. Joseph’s

Catholic Church was destroyed by fire in

1983. However, the community never forgot

the importance and impact of the school and

the church. A historical marker was placed

on the site where the school and church once

stood by the Atascosa County Historical

Commission on October 17, 2020. Our Sisters

were invited to take part in the event and

several attended. Sr. Frances Briseño,

Prioress, said the opening prayer.

We closed out the year, with just the community, with a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass and meal followed by

the exchange of gifts and a game of Bunco.

We quietly welcomed the New Year and expressed our hopes as we begin again, in 2021, to share our

Benedictine values with those we serve.

On January 16, Sister Chon Nguyen, OSB made her First Profession. She is

such a blessing to our community! January also brought a light dusting of

snow to the Monastery, and we were so grateful to get our first of two

COVID-19 Vaccines!

We welcome February …. a time to celebrate St. Scholastica’s Feast Day, St. Valentine’s Day, and Mardi Gras

before Ash Wednesday when we begin the Lenten Season. May 2021 hold many blessings for all.

Our mission is to seek God in community and to respond in ministry through sharing our spirituality and

addressing the needs of the people we serve, especially the poor.

To learn more about the Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, please visit our website: www.boernebenedictines.org

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