I doubt that any of us would have ever seriously imagined ourselves as a member of a monastic community. We never would have expected to find ourselves as a cloistered nun, a monk or a hermit, yet some of us find ourselves in that type of environment today. Yet, our state of isolation finds us living without the most important element of our religious life: the Eucharist.

Sure, our bishop has given us a dispensation from the attendance at Mass, yet we still are left with a sense of incompleteness: e.g., the receipt of Holy Communion. While through the use our modern-day media, we can observe a virtual celebration of the Mass in any numbers of settings, we miss the sense of our community, even with all its distractions: i.e., the crying of children, the blowing of noses and etc. Now we are accompanied by the barking of the neighbor’s dog, the loud vehicles on our street or any such distractions.

While I could continue this lament, ad nauseum, we need to find the positive aspects of our current situation and there are several. We can rediscover those things that has served as the “bed rock” of our daily prayer life, whether it’s The Divine Office, or our own personal regimen. The renewed appreciation of our friends, our families and those who are in our “memory bank” of experiences. Those are the things that keep us sane and adjusted to our modern way of life.  

Therefore, let us pray for one another and look forward to our next meeting and the “breaking of the bread”.

Fr. Michael O'Bryan, NCBWL Chaplain

NCBWL Calendar Updates

The League Board Members continue to monitor the situation in Nashville and Tennessee with regard to stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result the following are updates to our normal activities in the coming months: 

MAY OPEN HOUSE: Canceled. Due to the limit on groups to only 10 persons per Governor Lee, Mayor Cooper and the CDC, there will be no May Open House or Regular Meeting.

JUNE 17 MEETING: We will assess the feasibility of holding a June 17 meeting at Temple Hills Country Club closer to the end of May and notify members if restrictions on group gatherings are lifted.

BUSINESS NETWORKING EXPO: Currently scheduled for July 29 at the Cathedral, this date may need to be delayed as Davidson County progresses through the stages of reopening to such events. As of this newsletter publishing, the board has not yet changed the date or canceled the event. We will keep you posted on developments.

AUGUST 19 OPEN HOUSE: We have rescheduled the Open House to Aug. 19 at the home of Teri Gordan, 533 Solomon Drive, Franklin, TN.  This will also be the kickoff for our Pearls of Wisdom event. More information to follow.

SEPTEMBER PEARLS OF WISDOM: We still plan to hold the luncheon for the Pearls of Wisdom event but have moved all the fund-raising portion of the event to a donation-driven effort. More information about this should be coming to members from the committee organizing this event.

OCTOBER: Meeting to be announced

NOVEMBER 1: 70th Anniversary Celebration and All Saints Day Mass at Hermitage Hotel.  More information to follow.

DECEMBER: Christmas Party, date to be determined.

President’s Message

“How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?”

– Psalm 116:12

This was the refrain from the Responsorial Psalm for Saturday May 2, 2020. It may seem like an odd scripture quote as inspiration for my message this month in light of the state the world and our community is in with the pandemic and stay-at-home order keeping us from physically being in our churches, but I found much comfort in it. The refrain made me think about all the hidden blessings which have come from our present situation and gave me pause to reflect upon those. I encourage you to do the same.

While many of us may be feeling lonely or isolated, missing the community of church and our NCBWL gatherings, there are hidden blessings in our situation. It has given us time to sit quietly and once again enjoy the simple pleasures of reaching out to friends and family, getting to know our neighbors a little better and slow down and literally smell the roses. Thursday, Lisa Link arranged a virtual happy hour on Zoom. There were about 18 ladies who attended, and I hope when we have another more of you can join us. One thing we did was tell something positive that had happened because of the stay at home order. Most of us talked about connecting with friends and relatives on a more regular basis and talking to people we had not heard from in some time. My 79-year-old sister has finally learned to FaceTime and we now talk face-to-face once a week. Others commented they were talking more with their siblings and parents, either by phone or through Zoom. I had a call from a woman who was married 60 years ago, and I was the flower girl in her wedding and she sent me pictures she found of me at the ripe old age of five (5) dressed for my walk down the aisle. Many of you have had adult children to return early from college or like me an adult child who has moved back home, if only temporarily. My street has become a bustling place with many more walkers, children and families bike riding or playing in their yards. Neighbors seem to take the time to stop and talk or at least wave and greet each other, while keeping our 6 feet distance. I am able to spend more time in my yard and outside. Some of our happy hour attendees were on their decks or patios.

Father O’Bryan joined us at the Virtual Happy Hour and it was good to see him along with all your smiling faces. We talked about how our celebration of the Mass had changed now that we were celebrating in our homes online. Some of you are now able to reconnect with parishes and priest from out of town via an online mass. Mass is now anytime of the day that you choose. My father used to say there were so many Catholic masses on Sunday that there was no excuse to miss. He is certainly correct right now. Others talked about how spiritual the priest were online and how touching the masses were. 

Though some of you may now have a house full of people with spouse and children at home all the time, others are alone. We need to reach out and continue to reach out as our communities begin to open back up. I hope the take away from this time is that we will remember how special our time is and sometimes in the quiet of the moment God is closer to us than he ever was. I have a book that was written by the priest that married me entitled, “Be Still and Linger”. Let’s not forget as our lives get busy again to be still and linger and see what God has to say to us. Remember the good that God has done for us. "How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?" 

Teri Gordon,

NCBWL President

Send us your business listing to share with members 

As businesses begin to slowly reopen, everyone will be looking for ways to support the economic recovery during this time. NCBWL supports Catholic women throughout the Middle Tennessee area who are professionals and small business owners and has added a page to our website to display member businesses so that we can all patronize those businesses, visit their websites, and utilize their services whenever possible. Please share your business with members. To see the listing and submit your business, click here.

We will also create a job board on our website to share openings if your business or employer is hiring and/or if you are looking for a job in a specific area. It is our hope that this will help everyone who has lost a job or lost employees return to work and operations as soon as possible. If you would like to list a job or your job skills for hiring, please email the information to ncbwlinfo@gmail.com.

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NCBWL's first Zoom Happy Hour was enjoyed by more than a dozen members and Father O'Bryan even joined in on the virtual event. Members shared a virtual toast, talked about the good things that have come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and orders to stay at home. Father closed the meeting with a blessing. More virtual happy hours may be coming soon, watch your email for notifications.