I am almost completely finished with the interviews, I think I have one left here in the house, and then I have to go to Assumption and St. Andrew=s and Kenneth. What I have learned is that the community is very open with me and we had some very good discussions. But I also learned as progress was going on, that I had to change my last question from Ahow are the spiritual life going?@ to something more specific. And so on the last day in which I had, I think, three or four people, I was able to have a little better insight into things, and that is, since Baptism is the core question I asked, instead of how the spiritual life is going, AHow do you know God as Father and know yourself as a child of God?@ AHow do you know and where do you see and experience that?@ And then, not the least connected with that is AHow is Jesus becoming a friend for you?@ And also AHow is He becoming your Master?@ That is He speaks His word to you. Where do you sense that you=re a disciple? And how does it happen?@ And thirdly, of course, @Where=s the Holy Spirit in your life?@

    These questions, I think, are better than the first group of people that I asked, because they make clear to us where we are in the consequences of our consecrated life as monks, some of us of course as priests, and me as Abbot. Why is this so? Because if you look at the gospels, tomorrow=s gospel, the man that=s healed at Bethesda or even Sunday=s gospel, Jesus heals this person and then He goes after him when he finds he=s kicked out of the synagogue. So it says that Jesus= love for us, God=s love for us, is a committed love. He acting in our life to move us and to complete the work in us. So these questions should enable us to sense where the Lord is touching us. Jesus= commitment is real. It=s our faith that tells us that Jesus is alive, and very healthy and He=s moving us toward the kingdom. Besides for our tradition, which is a wisdom tradition, the key relationship out of the wisdom tradition is that we hear the word of God and it touches us and we obey it. Let me give you an example from the life of Sr. Josepha Menadez. The Lord wanted to communicate the passion to her and told her to wait in her cell for Him to come and to write. Well He didn=t show up. At least for, you know like professors they get fifteen minutes, well He didn=t show up, I think it was about fifteen minutes. She left and she was interiorly happy because he had a lot of ironing to do. And the Lord stopped her at the staircase where she was going to go and He asked her this question, He said AWho made you?@ Naturally, she said, AYou did Lord.@ And then He said, AIs there anyone who loves you more than Me?@ And then, after the pause, He said AWho has forgiven you so often as I have and will continue to forgive you?@ Of course that word just hit her. Of course she threw herself at the feet of Jesus and asked pardon. But there=s an example the power of the word in her life. Although in her case of course it=s rather drastic and visible and all that. The point is that is an example of what can happen in Lexico when we=re open to the word of God. Or in Office or in the Liturgy or even in life. Something touches us. Certainly I hope all of us are touched by Plain Dealer articles on pedophilia. Must be a great hurt to the Lord.

   So, as we continue into Lent what we want to focus on we said, is that Lent is the time of discovering the great mercy of God toward us. And that means He=s committed to transform us. So we don=t have to worry about His side of the deal. What we have to do is Ahow am I really hearing the word of God and letting it transform me?@

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