What is Heart of the Matter? For most of my adult life I’ve kept copybooks filled with stories, prayers, art, quotes poems—anything that gives insight to the human journey. It is my favorite spiritual practice. It is also an ongoing source of monastic formation: the rich and raw material of life that helps shape my Monastery of the Heart. Now I have a blog copybook called Heart of the Matter. Welcome.
—Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, is the Monasteries of the Heart coordinator
The four Benedictines—Anne McCarthy, Mary Ellen Plumb, Mary Miller and myself-- who live on the same inner-city block gather for prayer every morning and usually read some contemporary work as part of our praise.
Following our Lenten readings, we started Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky. I...
Poetry always goes to the “heart of the matter.” So once a month this blog presents a poem for you to play with. To get things started I ask a question or two and put in a writing prompt that I play with.
This May poem by William Carlos WillIams doesn’t make sense if you try to make it a sentence, but...
The support demonstrated by so many for the U.S. sisters following the Vatican announcement that it was “reforming” the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is both challenging and humbling. I especially want to thank all of you for your comments on this blog and your personal notes to the Benedictine Sisters...
What was your reaction to last week's Vatican bombshell that it was reforming (read dismantling) the leadership organization of U.S. Catholic sisters? The sisters are charged with undermining Roman Catholic teaching on homosexuality and promoting "feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."
Some...
Reading books on how to write poetry
intimidates the pen Old Monk dips in ink.
If she doesn’t do iambic pentameter or can’t feel trochee,
if slanted rhyme slides off her line, does she dare it? Also,
she has never signed up for a poetry workshop with Billy Collins
she has no MFA tucked...
I admit that part of me is jaded about celebrating Easter.
I don’t understand why children in Iraq are blown apart by our bombs. Why my church won’t ordain women and even tries to stop us from talking about it. Why a continent named Africa is dying a slow, torturous death from AIDS. Why we wash our hands...
Poetry always goes to the “heart of the matter.” So once a month this blog presents a poem for you to play with. To get things started I ask a question or two and put in a writing prompt that I play with.
This poem by Christopher Reid may seem like a strange one for Holy Week but it is a time for “remember...
During Holy Week, the last week of Lent, we spend sacred time with Jesus the prisoner--condemned, stripped, beaten by the guards, tortured and killed. Not a bad time, then, to look at why Monasteries of the Heart is so intent on becoming a viable presence in prisons.
I myself have minor jail experiences...
“Get close to the seller of perfumes if you want to be fragrant,” an Arabic proverb reads.
I think this is why I’ve kept a commonplace book most of my life. It’s a place where I could copy the words of those who poured their perfume freely, hoping that at least a drop fell on my heart. And it’s also the...
“I don’t think I believe in God,” the young man said. He was my nephew and we were having a drink together after a round of golf.
My mind panics during conversations like this, it searches frantically through all its file drawers to come up with something life giving. Thank God I remembered a story from...