Dinner–and Nuns–in the News–UPDATED

The Friends of the Monastery, who have been helping us raise money for the generator, have teamed up with community members here in Lufkin for a fundraiser–a chicken spaghetti dinner, to be held at the First United Methodist Church fellowship hall on Thursday, April 11. The dinner is free, but donations are gratefully accepted to help with our generator project. There will also be a raffle and some really nice prizes have been donated. The dinner will served from 4:30 – 7 PM. If you\’re in the East Texas area on Thursday, please come and help support the monastery\’s generator project! We are so grateful to you for all your help! 

And if this wasn\’t enough…this spaghetti dinner and our monastery have been featured in the Lufkin Daily News (our local paper) and on KTRE, our local Lufkin/Nacogdoches ABC affiliate! Check out the video, etc. HERE!

We will be bringing you more generator news in the near future. Thanks so much for all the help and all the donations! We are infinitely grateful for everything!

UPDATE: 
Here are some of the pictures from the great news segment! Please check out the link on the sidebar and see the whole (short) video!

Annunciation, 2013

 
For this solemnity of the Annunciation, we are happy to bring you some selections from Sr. Bernadette Marie\’s sermon at Solemn Chapter yesterday morning. 
It can be said that our Blessed Mother\’s faith is the result of her complete and total trust in God\’s never failing love for her and for all humanity; thus her loving surrender to God\’s will in all circumstances. Consider Mary\’s faith at the moment of the Annunciation. She knew that because of God\’s love for man, He would send a redeemer, and when the Archangel Gabriel told her that she had been chosen to give birth to this redeemer, her loving response was a \”yes\”–not only to the joys of bringing light into a darkened world. Her \”yes\” was also a \”yes\” to the suffering which she knew would come, and which she would unite to that of her Son\’s. Consider her faith when she saw the suffering on St. Joseph\’s face once he noticed the as yet unexplained pregnancy. Consider her faith when she learned that she was going to have to travel a long and arduous journey to Bethlehem while pregnant with out Lord, and her humble submission to God\’s will once they got there, because our Lord would be born in a cold and dirty cave. On all these occasions, she never doubted God\’s love for her, therefore she was always serene, always at peace. She never doubted because she knew she was being guided by the powerful hands of a loving Father in all the events of her life…
Blessed John Paul II, speaking at a General Audience at the Vatican, said this of our Blessed Mother: \”Hers was a daring faith…[because] at the Annunciation, she believed in what was humanly impossible…Mary teaches Christians to live their faith as a demanding and engaging journey, which, in every age and situation of life, requires courage and constant perseverance.\” This daring and courage of which Blessed John Paul II speaks, requires a total surrender in faith on our part. We m ust always remember that we are loved by God, so there is nothing to fear. 
Like Mary, our Blessed Mother, may our faith in this love never waver. She knew in her heart what St. Paul wrote years later in his letter to the Romans: \”in everything God works for good with those who love Him.\”

An Update from St. Valentine\’s Day…and the Generator Too

You may remember that on St. Valentine\’s Day we featured a picture of two doves who had built a nest above our carport. Well, the babies that hatched in that nest are almost grown up now! We found them enjoying a respite from the wind between the wall of our main building and our new generator! 

The doves still have some of their \”baby feathers\” but they are growing fast!
They were not too afraid of us (as you can see) and seemed to like this space…perhaps the site of a nest someday? 
As you can also see, our generator plans are really coming along! We thank everyone who has been so generous in supporting us in this endeavor. We will bring you more generator news in the weeks to come!

Spring 2013 Newsletter Available

We\’re happy to announce that the Spring 2013 issue of \”Monastery Bells\” is available on our website! Just go to www.lufkintxnuns.org and click on Newsletters, then scroll down till you reach it! It has a lot of interesting articles that have not been on the blog, so check it out! And as always, if you would like to receive \”Monastery Bells\” by mail (U.S. residents only–sorry, we can\’t afford foreign postage) please contact us here. When you subscribe through the mail, you will also receive our May and November novena slips, Christmas cards, pocket calendars, raffle tickets and other surprises. It\’s absolutely free! But if you prefer to read online, remember you can always send in petitions for our novenas, and enter our raffles. We\’ll post information on how to do this at the proper time. Either way, we hope you\’ll continue to keep up with us here at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, TX. Thanks for all your generosity to us and know that we keep you all in our prayers!

Raffle Drawing 2013

Last night we had our raffle drawing! Thanks so much to all who participated. We are so grateful for your support!
We used a more conventional means of shaking up our tickets this year–a large Cavanaugh host box! Sr. Mary Rose shakes vigorously while our special \”surprise\” prize looks on.
Our prioress, Sr. Mary John, drew the first winning ticket.
 Sr. Mary Dominic drew another winner!
And Sr. Mary Christine drew a ticket, too! In all there were six great prizes.
Congratulations to all our winners! May God bless you abundantly for your generosity! We hope you will enjoy your prizes. And of course we keep everyone who entered in our prayers. Thank you again!