Mount Saviour
Monastery
February
2011
News:
The
winter was rather mild until this month when we saw two snowstorms that
dumped 8 inches of snow each time. The feast of the Presentation of the
Lord (Febr.2nd.) had the lowest attendance in years due to the weather.
Three vocational candidates visited during the month. On Febr.
22nd. Madeleva Roarke,
who had charge of St. Gertrude's guest house
died 12 years ago. Our Br. William Uiting
died unexpectedly on the same date after spending a pleasant day with other
residents at the Skilled Nursing Facility of St. Joseph's Hospital. A
funeral mass was celebrated on Saturday, Febr.
26th. The burial will take place in May.
|
Br.
William Uiting
Monk
of Mount Saviour
Monastery
Born:
Sept. 30, 1940
Professed:
Sept. 14, 1998
Died:
Feb. 22, 2011
|
A good and sincere man. A
gentle and humble man. Someone who would
never speak ill of anyone. Social, enjoyed
conversation. Firm in his faith and firm
too in his political beliefs. He
admired Dorothy Day, Wendell Barry, Jacques Maritain, Daniel Berrigan, Johann Christoph
Arnold. Social justice issues were important to him. A Catholic Worker
in heart and spirit. A well loved uncle. A runny
nose. A lover of music, including disco. An
interest in cars and weather conditions. He fretted about having
big feet. A Masters Degree in history. Taught at
a Junior High and High School. A retail buyer, department manager
and floor supervisor for Jacobson’s in Jackson Mich. for 21 years. Who
loved geography and traveling and to recount his travels, especially the
restaurants! An affair with food. Mutton
and liver were out. Everything else however was fair game. A prodigious
appetite whose calories were quickly expended by worry and walking and
then walking some more, arms swinging wildly. Walking five miles every
day until one day his legs would no longer carry him up our hill.
A late vocation who
at age 57 came to Mount Saviour seeking God and more structure in his life.
Who in his own words found that at Mount Saviour:
“I have lost the feeling of loneliness that I have experienced most of
my life. I feel more content, joyful and at peace than I have ever been
in my life. Perhaps these feelings are caused by a sense of really belonging
to a community. I feel great comfort in prayer, either private or communal
despite {underlined} endless distractions. I feel God’s presence more in
my life than I have ever experienced. I feel that I am beginning to realize
what a wonderful gift that the psalms are from the Holy Spirit. I feel
more joy in my work than ever in my life. I am experiencing a greater appreciation
(because of God’s grace) of God’s generous and precious gifts.”
Br. William was God’s generous and precious gift to Mount Saviour.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Br. William passed
away unexpectedly but peacefully at the Skilled Nursing Facility of St.
Joseph’s hospital in Elmira, New
York where he had spent the last six months, from
complications of Parkinson’s disease. For the repose of his soul each priest
of our community will offer three Masses. In the other houses of our congregation
he is recommended to the usual suffrages for deceased confreres. Please
remember Br.
William in your prayers.
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