Archive for January, 2022
Monterey Bay, a bite from the California Coast
January 31st, 2022 | 
Author: Walking West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz—kind to myself.
Who am I, made of blue water, tan colored sand,
cement, wooden stairs down to the beach
that plays to the rhythm of the waves.
“O how sweet thou are.” The sun going down
over waters so deep, so blue,
the scene composed by a wildly wonderful God.
Now the moment is passing,
no not passing,
it lives and moves within me.
Wherever I go, the blue Pacific is part of me,
and Santa Cruz is the gateway to the Bay of Monterey.
Sister Beth Lynn, OSC, a native daughter
PS My daddy told me that I was “hatched on a hot rock in the middle of the Bay.”
It sounded good to me.
Posted in 
Winter’s Welcome January 2022
Earthscapes from Friar Vincent Petersen, saving the earth one day at a time.
Last Snow
Beyond the window, branches heavy
with the last snow of a long winter…
one final time the morning is stilled by the sight
and soundlessness of snowfall.
It lies heavy on the trees, white as moonlight,
making fantastic patterns of wet black boughs,
and towers of evergreens.
What is spring in the windowpane
is like deep-sea landscape:
fantasy of snow-feathered fronds
weighted, gleaming, seen for the first and last time.
Sister Kate Martin
Into this New Year…
Yes, the Sisters of St. Clare are back. It is a new year, even though so many of the directives for surviving a pandemic are the same. We here at the Motherhouse of the Franciscans follow all the rules with fervor because what we might get as a simple cold could cause an older Sister to die. The elders here at Assisi Heights are much too beautiful to let go of just yet. So…we follow the guidelines to keeping Assisi Heights free of the viruses.
Breaking news: The Roman Catholic Church world wide, is called forth by Pope Francis, to engage in a Synod, 2021-2023. I can hear the Roman Catholics now. Are not Synods the work of Anglicans and Lutherans and Reformed Churches. It is true they engage in Synods much more frequently than the Romans. For myself and for you I looked at Webster’s take on “Synods.” We Catholics can definitively have one. I must say that for me I am weeping for joy.
Christmas at Assisi Heights
- This Christmas season was beautiful in all aspects except there were no people to join us in singing and celebrating the birthday of Christ and our Christian faith. Our families and friends were tucked away in their homes caring for one another and watching our Eucharistic celebration on Zoom.