Julie A. Ferraro

Perhaps, this Lent, we can all delve more deeply into just being.

Four vowed religious women are helping others to discern, offering opportunities for prayer and reflection through the House of Discernment in Pittsburgh, which also provides a unique form of intentional community.

A stay at a hermitage above the Oyster River in Black Creek, British Columbia, Canada cultivates a connection to the land where I am at any given moment, recognizing it as part of the greater whole of this planet. 

The world cannot experience true peace unless we all work together to achieve a positive outcome in this quest to preserve and nurture all life, from the smallest insect to the mightiest whale.

My travels over much of the past 30 years have revolved around visits to Benedictine monasteries. Some might believe that an itinerary involving stays at monasteries would get boring. I can attest that such is not the case.

Plans are in place to shift the emphasis from Kylemore Abbey as a tourist destination to that of welcoming visitors to the Benedictines' home and sharing the prayer-work-study balance essential to Benedictine spirituality. 

Life should be all about love — an unconditional love as modeled by Jesus, St. Francis and St. Benedict, with all its varied expressions — and the practices we engage in during this Lent can enrich that love for all. 

The end of a year and the beginning of a new one naturally leads to self-reflection, with a concurrent desire to improve one's life. I'll admit this is true in my own life.

A new project launched by the National Religious Vocation Conference — in time for November's National Vocation Awareness Week — makes available a broad range of resources for those discerning their vocation.

On the morning of Sept. 17, I stood outside the temporary monastery of the Benedictine Sisters at Kylemore Abbey in Ireland. I felt a peace like I felt nowhere else. The previous days, in Rome, had been intense.

In April, I moved to the Center for Benedictine Life at the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho. Here at the center, Benedictines are mapping out a future quite singular in nature.

As the size and dynamic of Benedictine communities changes, being flexible enough to "let go" of buildings or ministries is an undeniable form of wisdom. 

The 2022-23 members of the InterCongregational Collaborative Novitiate cohort are appreciating each other's varied cultural traditions as they continue discernment with their different religious congregations.

During decades writing fiction and journalism, I've learned the importance of telling a good story. That applies to the websites and social media accounts of women's religious communities.

Laypeople who declare their promise in whatever form to share the respective community's charism also become representatives of the community. Their choices impact the religious with whom they affiliate in a wide range of circumstances.

As the number of available volunteer programs — including those sponsored by women's religious communities — decreases, Catholic Volunteer Network has seen the need to seek other viable models in a time of transition.

It might not seem that tattoos are a subject connected with women religious, and 20 years ago I would have agreed. That was before I got my first tattoo, at age 42 — I now have 10 of them.

As religious communities find many of their rooms unoccupied, they should open their doors to the people. After all, the crow soaring on the wind must land sometime, and work together with the other birds to survive.

Women should refuse to do the lion's share of support work in the church while men accept the credit. Men in the church need to be forced to open their eyes, minds and hearts and acknowledge the equality of women on every level.

Lent is a time to let in some fresh air, blow away the spiritual cobwebs and renew the soul. As with a physical spring cleaning when we get rid of excess "stuff," the soul must be freed of ideas that weigh down faith.