Retreat--A time of re-creation

Most of the community with Fr. Michael Monshau, OP.

Our annual retreat, preached by our brother, Fr. Michael Monshau, OP, was, despite the hot weather, a beautiful gift from the Lord for all of us. Fr. Michael's preaching style is engaging, brotherly and speaks deeply to the heart. Unlike most of our brethren, Fr. Michael likes to preach the conferences with microphone in hand walking about the choir! It certainly kept us from nodding off! One of the sisters commented that one never knew just what Father would sit on, lean against or fiddle with next! (He thought that was funny!) We also never knew when he would suprise us with a question either to ponder deeply or answer out loud immediately!

Father Michael doesn't hesitate to express his love for the "heart of the Order" and his appreciation for the role our lives play in his own preaching of the Gospel and in turn helped us more deeply appreciate the incredible gift our vocation is from God. Whether it was speaking about the practice of penance, our expression of hospitality, the ways each of us, no matter what our age, experience "diminishment" or the way each one of us is a Holy Preaching by the witness of our lives, Father challenged us to be better Dominican nuns.