Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, Today is the feast day of Sister Thea Bowman, an amazing woman whose vibrancy still radiates to us today, calling us to shine our lights in a world that is often hard to bear. Even in the midst of a slow and painful death from cancer, she embodied joyful living, knowing that joy and delight must be cultivated in the midst of injustice and suffering.  These last few months we have been creating a resource and sharing it with our Sustainers Circle. For each of our dancing monk icons (created by the wonderful Marcy

Dearest monks and artists, We are very excited to be hosting ValLimar Jansen this Friday for a mini-retreat. She is an extraordinary musician and performer and has a special love for Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and prophetic witness to the Black American Catholic experience who worked to break down racial and cultural barriers. ValLimar wrote a musical to celebrate Sister Thea’s life.  ValLimar shares this reflection with us that she wrote originally for Liguori Publications:  Sister Thea Bowman was a trailblazing African American Catholic religious sister. She was a powerful voice for social justice and a passionate