For 15 December 2008, Monday of 3rd week of Advent, based on Numbers 24:2-7,15-17a
Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, and he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with eyes uncovered: how fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm-groves that stretch far away, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall have abundant water, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
So he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near— a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Mary Ann Wiesemann-Mills, O.P.
Mary Ann is a member of the Sisters of Peace.
She was an elementary school teacher for 20 years, serving in schools located in both Akron and in Denver, CO. She received training as a retreat/spiritual director at the Jesuit Renewal Center in Milford, OH and continues to serve as both a spiritual director and retreat preacher as time allows.
As associate pastor for seven years at St. Joseph Parish in Mantua, OH, she shared full preaching responsibilities with the pastor.
From 1989-2001, she served as Vocation/Formation Director for her congregation.
Mary Ann graduated from Aquinas Institute of Theology in May, 1997 with a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching and since that time has served as the Promoter of the Charism for the Akron Dominicans.
For five years she was a faculty member for the Aquinas Summer Preaching Institute and now serves as Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland, OH.
Mary Ann is a member of the Academy of Homiletics and is past President of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics, which is a branch of the Academy.
July 1, 2001, Mary Ann elected to the Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Akron, OH, which has now joined with six other congregations to become the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
January 17, 2004, she was elected Prioress of the congregation to complete the term of Sister Elizabeth Ann Schaefer, OP who died December 23, 2003; this term ends June 30, 2005.
March 29, 2005 Mary Ann was elected Prioress of the congregation for the next four years, term beginning July 2, 2005 and ending June 30, 2009.
15 Dec 2008
Our call to be the preaching
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Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, and he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with eyes uncovered: how fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm-groves that stretch far away, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall have abundant water, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
So he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near— a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Mary Ann Wiesemann-Mills, O.P.
Mary Ann is a member of the Sisters of Peace.
She was an elementary school teacher for 20 years, serving in schools located in both Akron and in Denver, CO. She received training as a retreat/spiritual director at the Jesuit Renewal Center in Milford, OH and continues to serve as both a spiritual director and retreat preacher as time allows.
As associate pastor for seven years at St. Joseph Parish in Mantua, OH, she shared full preaching responsibilities with the pastor.
From 1989-2001, she served as Vocation/Formation Director for her congregation.
Mary Ann graduated from Aquinas Institute of Theology in May, 1997 with a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching and since that time has served as the Promoter of the Charism for the Akron Dominicans.
For five years she was a faculty member for the Aquinas Summer Preaching Institute and now serves as Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland, OH.
Mary Ann is a member of the Academy of Homiletics and is past President of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics, which is a branch of the Academy.
July 1, 2001, Mary Ann elected to the Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Akron, OH, which has now joined with six other congregations to become the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
January 17, 2004, she was elected Prioress of the congregation to complete the term of Sister Elizabeth Ann Schaefer, OP who died December 23, 2003; this term ends June 30, 2005.
March 29, 2005 Mary Ann was elected Prioress of the congregation for the next four years, term beginning July 2, 2005 and ending June 30, 2009.