"God bless you!" "Gesundheit!" "Salud!" "Dieu vous bénisse!" or however you say it — that expression is heard frequently these days as people deal with colds, allergies, and respiratory ailments. Yet some of those may seem insignificant in comparison to a pandemic flu, a topic we learned more about today. Over 130 of us, sisters and employees, attended a meeting about preparing for an influenza pandemic. Deborah Capps, public health preparedness coordinator for the Dubois County Health Department, spoke of how individuals and families can plan now for when a flu pandemic happens. She talked about what a pandemic would entail and gave a planning checklist for gathering the information and resources needed in case of a flu pandemic. She gave tips on how persons can limit or prevent the spread of germs, especially through proper hygiene. See www.pandemicflu.gov and www.ready.gov for more information about pandemic flu.

Deborah Capps, public health preparedness coordinator for the Dubois County Health Department, demonstrates how to cover coughs and sneezes with one’s upper sleeve to help prevent the spread of germs if a tissue isn’t available.  

O Wind, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

The recent ice storms we’ve had remind me of those words from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ode to the West Wind.”

And this week at our Liturgy of the Hours we prayed this verse from the Book of Daniel.

Frost and chill, bless God; ice and snow, bless God.

A bit of humor usually makes a job easier, and this case was no exception. Because we were in community meetings today, Sister Carlita Koch didn't have a lot of time to pass out mail during the noon break. To avoid having a crowd of sisters (about 130 were here for the meeting) surrounding her as they checked their mailboxes, she put a sign on her back saying: "Please Do NOT Approach the mail boxes while mail is being distributed. Thank you."

Her ingenuity sparked friendly laughs and teasing from the sisters but kept them out of her way. Sister Carlita assists Sister LaVerne Scheller, monastery mail clerk, in sorting and passing the daily mail, a job which sometimes takes up to an hour.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels stopped by our monastery today for a visit. Some time ago, Sister Sylvia Gehlhausen, minister of hospitality, had issued an invitation to the governor to visit the monastery whenever he was in the area. She told him she would be happy to give him a tour when he came. Today he accepted her offer and made his first visit to our place but, he promised her, not his last. Sister Sylvia and Sister Kristine Anne Harpenau gave the governor a tour of our church and other areas in the quadrangle, the oldest structure of the monastery complex, built in 1886.

As Governor Mitch Daniels says goodbye to Sister Sylvia Gehlhausen, he thanks her for the hospitality and promises that he will come again.

We hosted the annual meeting of the Conference of Benedictine Prioresses at our monastery the past five days. More than 50 prioresses, representing monasteries in 25 states and in Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico, gathered for ongoing formation and education in their role as prioresses. They also attended to business items and other issues of importance to their monasteries. The Conference of Prioresses includes presidents of the Federations and Congregation to which these monasteries belong.

We have been enriched by the presence of our guests, especially at prayer, meals, and leisure time. 

Participants discuss cultural diversity issues at the workshop presented by staff from the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) in San Antonio. The theme of the conference, "Receive All as Christ," was the focus of the workshop.