On June 24, 2011, Sisters Mary Kay Easly and Rosalyn Soller celebrated the 60th anniversary of making their vows and Sisters Robert Campbell and Audrey Quinn celebrated their 50th anniversary. As part of this Jubilee celebration, Sister Rosalyn gave the following reflection:

Jubilee Reflection — Sister Rosalyn Soller, OSB

Jubilees are times for reminiscing, but I won’t take you through the entire 60 years. We just want you to know what a wonderful life we have had. We who are celebrating 50 or 60 years in the community have led a charmed life. Its history will never be repeated. We have lived in three very different experiences of religious Life.

The first of the three phases was called the Absolutely Sure of Ourselves Era. Tradition was our model. 1500 years couldn’t be wrong.

The second phase was the Not So Sure of Anything Phase. Everything was in flux. Instability was the norm, and security was not even in the mix. Even the Divine Office looked a little less than Divine.

And the third phase is How Did We Ever Get Here and Where Do We Go from Here? Have we made the best decisions as we slid from one phase to the next?

During Phase I, our community life in the 1950’s and 60’s was exactly the same as the almost 1500 years that went before it. Mother Adelgunda would have been at home with us as would Benedicta Riepp. Sister Pauline, novice directress for most of this time, gave us eight words to describe the life of a good religious. “Keep the Rule and it will keep you.” And we did, and it did. We were absolutely sure of ourselves. The community was the center of our lives and we were willing never to even visit our homes again. Worldly was a bad word. Obedience regulated every facet of our lives. Everything was laid out for us. We were secure in the rightness of life. Every question had a ready answer and in this secure space we did not ask “Why?” But we did have one question, and because St. Benedict cautions us, “Do all things with counsel…” We went to a holy wisdom figure of the day and asked, “How shall we best live a perfect life?” (In these days, perfection was big!) And the holy one said, “You must chop wood, carry water, and build a little fire. And God will be pleased.”

And so we chopped the wood of regularity and uniformity; carried the water of silence, enclosure and separation from the world; and built the fire of devotion to prayer. And God was pleased.

But Phase I could not continue because of a thing called “the signs of the times.” We were supposed to read them and act accordingly. These were uncertain days. Mother Pauline’s favorite phrase was, “We would never want to do---“whatever was the latest result of reading the signs of the times. We listened carefully for this key phrase because we knew it would be the next thing we would do.

These were surprising times. We let go of every familiar aspect of Religious Life: the language of our prayer, the sacred horarium, the orderliness of obedience, and then our very clothes. Sister Ephrem Hollerman has recently coined a phrase, “Holding fast and letting go.” We were heavy on the “letting go”. These were the best of times and the worst of times. These were the best of times—freedom and choice and determining our life decisions were life giving if scary. These were the worst of times—many of our friends walked with us no more. And many who stayed were not totally convinced of the rightness of our decisions. And so, again, we sought for guidance from the holy one. Is this way of living religious life pleasing to God? And our answer came swiftly, “You must chop wood, carry water, and build a little fire and God will be pleased.” And so, we chopped the wood of insecurity and uncertainty; carried the water of creativity and personalism; and built the fire of sacrifice of the known and familiar. And God was pleased.

And so we entered the Third Phase. How did we get here and what shall we do now? Our numbers have decreased and our ages have increased. Only one security is left to ensure us of our identity and continuance. The house in which we live—this monastery which has been the home and security of every Sister in this chapel for the last eighty five years. Surely this is our stability and “we would never want to leave it”.

The last material thing to which we thought we could “hold fast” has now joined the “letting go” column. Today we look at building plans and slim down our belongings to be ready for our pilgrim journey with no destination in sight. Does that remind you of another people? And God is pleased.

We Jubilarians have had an exceptional life experience. Each phase has marked us forever and will never be repeated again.

But we have one more experience to go. We returned to the holy one and asked, this time more humbly, and much less secure, “How do we please God in the midst of all this uncertainty. The response is the same, “You must chop wood, carry water, and build a little fire. And God will be pleased.” And we say, “We understand now and have done all these things. Are we called now to be something more?” And the holy one, folding his hands and looking up to the skies replies, “Why not be turned into fire!”

For this threefold blessing of our lives as religious, we offer a threefold thanksgiving. First, we Jubilarians would like to thank those of you who have been part of all of our years in community. You have given us reason to continue when it was difficult and you have given us courage to persevere.

And secondly, we thank those of you who have been part of some of our years. You have helped us to accept the challenge to “let go” and create anew.

And, lastly we thank you who have no experience of our beginnings nor our letting go except in our reminiscing about it, which hardly touches the heart of the past. To you we give the challenge from the holy ones as we move to the next phase of community. Let your life truly “be turned into fire.” And God will be pleased.

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