Each week one of our Sisters contributes a reflection on a
topical subject, or a theme in the Liturgy.
Wednesday 29th March 2023
Mutual Dependence
I love the story told about Bro. Vincent Cook, a Dominican who
was born blind. Once he went to Liverpool, a city he had
never visited before. Feeling his way along with his white
cane, he came to a very busy road and asked if there was
anyone he could cross over with. Someone agreed eagerly.
They set off across the busy road to the sound of cars
shrieking to a halt and horns loudly hooting. When he got to
the other side he thanked the man for helping him across.
The man replied: No, you helped me. I am blind!
We need each other and God blesses our mutual
dependence. God said to St. Catherine of Siena: “I could
well have supplied each of you with all your needs, both
spiritual and material! But I wanted to make you dependent on
one another so that each of you could be my minister
dispensing the graces and gifts you have received from me.”
Yes, the gift of love is given because somebody somewhere is
dying for the lack of a kind word; mercy is given because
somebody is cloistered in their own wrong-doing. These are
gifts which create worth in another person.
The poet William Blake put the point well when he wrote:
“Love seeketh not Itself to please
Nor for itself hath any care,
And builds a Heaven in Hell’s
despair.”
(The Cloud and the Pebble)
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Friday 24th March 2023
Listen to God and set out in Trust
It is interesting to notice how often we read in scripture that
God asks someone to leave everything to undertake a journey,
whether a physical journey or a change of lifestyle. When
Jesus called his disciples he was asking them to do both these
things.
Two saints we celebrated recently, St. Patrick and St. Joseph
both needed great courage to obey the call of God. St Patrick
having escaped from captivity in Ireland, certainly had no
intention of returning; but in a dream he heard the call to come
back and preach the faith to the Irish people, and because he
trusted in God he obeyed.
St. Joseph showed extraordinary trust in God in his willingness
to leave everything to follow the way God revealed to him.
First of all he accepted responsibility for Mary and her child.
Then, in obedience to that same communication from God in a
dream, he was the one to give Jesus his name, and by doing
so he acknowledged publicly that he accepted him as his child
and became his legal father.
Then when he received another revelation, again in a dream,
Joseph set out straight away for Egypt bringing Mary and
Jesus, to protect the child from Herold’s intention to kill him.
How many of us would be willing to set off at a moment’s
notice? We would certainly have to be very convinced that it
was truly necessary.
The Ukrainian refugees are an example in our time of people
making a decision to leave a homeland for the greater good of
their families; many African people have taken the same road
in the face of famine and of persecution. In the mid nineteenth
century, during our own time of famine, many Irish families left
for America in the hope of a better life.
When God called Moses to liberate the Israelites from slavery
he had no idea what this would involve. He was not at all
enthusiastic about asking Pharaoh to let the people of Israel
go, but the call from God was irresistible. Even though the
people were rebellious as they made their journey through the
wilderness Moses interceded with God for them and
persevered on the journey.
When God called Abraham he asked him to leave his country,
his
relatives and his own family home. Everything familiar had to
be left behind. He followed that call even though he didn’t
know where he was going. A lot of trust is needed to follow
without knowing where the journey will take you, many people
are too apprehensive to begin the journey and those who do
begin may have to put up with scepticism, even from those
closest to them. Yet those who put their trust in God will
always be willing to let go of the past and set out on a journey
of new beginnings. Abraham’s trust did not fail and God
fulfilled his promise to make him father of a great nation, and
more. Today Abraham is considered father of Jews, Christians
and Muslims and is revered by them all.
Many years ago a friend of mine, was told he must vacate his
rented office in central London. He had sold his own business
but was using the office as the headquarters of a small
religious charity, helping the homeless poor. He pleaded with
the landlord to let him stay and was given two more weeks,
but was told to get out by the following Saturday because the
bulldozers would be moving in on the Monday to demolish half
the street for a new development. He put his trust in God and
prayed for guidance. He was convinced that some place would
turn up so he ordered a removal van for early on Saturday
morning. When asked ‘Where are we going?’ he had to admit
he didn’t know, ‘but God knows,’ he said ‘and I will know by
Saturday’. On the Friday evening he received a phone call
from a priest who had heard of his plight from a mutual friend
and offered his vestry and a room in the bell tower of his
church.
It seems that it is trust that allows God to work, not only in
times of crisis but even in the most ordinary events of life.
Images: Wikimedia Commons:
The Flight into Egypt. Frecso in Lower Basilica in Assisi
He Sent them out Two by Two. James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.
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Thursday 16th March 2023
God’s Love
God so loved the world so much that He gave His only
Son… John 3:16
Really that is the heart of Lent isn’t it – that we come to know
the depths of God’s love for each of us. Imagine that He loved
us so much that He gave us his only Son to draw us into His
very own Life and Love. We have God’s very own love in our
hearts to share with one another. So, Lent has to be about
loving, prodding us to wake up to the wonder of God’s love
searching us out, and calling us to love to one another.
A young newly married couple from India once came on a
holiday to Ireland. A little child dashed out in front of their car
and was killed to the immense sadness of the couple and the
unbearable sorrow of the parents of the little one. The Indian
couple returned to their country with heavy hearts. But a year
later, they came back with their first-born child and presented
him to the sorrowing parents. They genuinely came to hand
over their precious first-born child. We can just imagine that
even if the parents of the dead child did not take their child
from them, a huge healing must have happened in their
sorrowing hearts to see the love and care of this young Indian
couple for them in their grief.
God so loved the world that He gave his only Son…..
He wants our happiness and our well being and He gave us
His only Son to show us the way to be truly happy. He wants
us to live as brothers and sisters, helping each other and
bearing each other’s burdens.
One of our Sisters sings the hymn called God so loved the
world by Stainer every Good Friday during the ceremonies
and it is hauntingly beautiful.
Let’s listen to God’s love pleading with us in another hymn.
Come back to me
Come back to me with all your heart, don’t let fear keep us
apart.
Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living
deeply our new life.
Every day is a new opportunity for living this new life.
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Wednesday 8th March 2023
‘Vulnerable Risk Takers’!
These few words of Pope Francis came alive for me some
weeks ago when the priest at Mass quoted them. When I
think of risk taking I think about jumping out of a helicopter and
hoping I will pull the right cord at the right time and the
parachute will do the right thing. As I write and think about this
unlikely possibility, I can feel the fear of such a risky
adventure. As you see in the photo Sr. Gwen is always
prepared to take a risk. Bolt (the horse) decided not to bolt on
this occasion!
Putting the adjective Vulnerable before Risk seems strange to
me - I think it should be ‘Mighty Risk Takers! But Pope Francis
calls us to be authentic Risk Takers. It is the journey to risk
speaking the truth even when we feel uncomfortable, unsure
and vulnerable. To take the risk in stretching out the hand of
friendship to someone with whom our relationship is fractured;
to care for the weak and vulnerable, even when we are unsure
how to relate to them. It is also changing our mindset and
imagining the world differently and then acting on what God is
calling us to be and do. And it is not always about others, I too
can be weak, frail and vulnerable and in need of compassion
and mercy. I am reminded of the title of a book called ‘The
Wounded Healer’ and Pope Francis’ invitation to see the
Church as a field hospital for sinners and for the weak and
vulnerable.
Since I came across these words Vulnerable Risk Taker I have
noticed how often Pope Francis uses them in his talks. You
can also add fragility, weakness, compassion and mercy to his
favourite words. He has taken many risks since he became
Pope. But the risks come after deep prayer and discernment.
In an article by Robert Mickers in www.ncronline.org/ we read
about how Pope Francis offered a clear example of his risk
taking in 2016 when he stopped in Havana to meet the
Russian Patriarch Kirill.
‘It was an historic event because a face-to-face meeting of the
(Catholic) bishop of Rome and the Orthodox patriarch of
Moscow and all Russia had never occurred before. That’s
because the predecessors of these two spiritual leaders would
not give up their own pre-conditions before the meeting could
take place.’ (R Mickers)
But Pope Francis took the vulnerable risk of dropping all those
demands. He just told Patriarch Kirill he would meet him
whenever and wherever the Orthodox leader desired. "Let's
just meet" was his plea. Francis allowed the patriarch to
dictate the terms. Political analysts said it was yet another
example of him being a "risk-taker" (a calculating one at that!),
similar to his decision to visit Central African Republic when a
civil war was still underway.’
With all that has happened since with the war in Ukraine we
can only pray that the Patriarch Kirill will remember Pope
Francis invitation to meet as Risk Takers but most of all as two
Spiritual Leaders in order to find ways to bring peace to a very
disturbing situation for all sides and our world.
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Friday 3rd March 2023
It would take Christ to pass by with his Cross...
It would take Christ to pass by with his Cross. For years that
ardent prayer has echoed in my heart. It was my soul’s
longing when I lived through the trauma of those early days of
The Troubles in Derry. Looking down from Creggan Heights
over the seething Bogside, I used to repeat with many sighs...
It would take Christ to pass by here with his Cross...
That desire, that aching longing is intensified a hundredfold
now as we weep over the bleeding wound that is Ukraine, over
the gaping wound that recent earthquakes have opened up in
Turkey and Syria, over the unstoppable human haemorrhage
of refugees and the running sores of festering conflicts in
Africa and throughout our world...
Yes, wouldn’t it take Christ to pass by with his Cross in all
these situations?
As we begin these graced days of Lent we find new hope and
consolation because Christ is indeed passing by, or rather, He
is right there in the heart of all this unspeakable suffering, just
as Elie Wiesel could say that God was there in the Nazi
concentration camp on the gallows where the young innocent
victim struggled between life and death, dying in slow agony...
He is lifting the Cross from the shoulders of these millions of
suffering people, our brothers and sisters... He is taking their
burden of death, anguish and despair upon himself. He is
there with us all, because as the mystic, Caryll Houselander
said of World War II, “This war is the Passion of Christ”. Yes,
Christ suffers his Passion until the end of time in everyone
who suffers in mind heart or body...
He is there, not ‘passing by’, but fully engaged. He is there
lifting the heavy cross from the broken shoulders of all who are
part of this vast sea of human suffering. He is ministering to
them in the heroic dedication and courage of all aid workers, in
all who perseveringly seek a peaceful resolution to all
conflict...
Here in Carmel this is our burning Lenten plea:
It would take Christ to pass by our broken world
with his Cross...
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Friday 24th February 2023
Spring Cleaning
There’s a real feel of springtime in this part of the world, even
on cold days! The birds are singing and there’s a brightness
pouring through the windows on sunny days that shows up all
the dust and cobwebs! It creates a desire in me for spring
cleaning and decluttering. Isn’t there a great sense of
satisfaction when a good cleaning job has been completed
and one can sit back and enjoy a tidy room again?
This week we began the season of Lent, when people
traditionally “give up” something like sweets, chocolate or
smoking. I was reflecting about what I might give up this Lent,
when (as often happens) the words of a secular song popped
into my mind, an upbeat chart-topper from 1990 by Irish rock
band “Hothouse Flowers”. The song is called “Give it up” and
the theme of the lyrics are about giving charity to the less
fortunate, but the opening verse seems particularly
appropriate for me this Lent:
Well, I'm coming face to face with my conscience
Coming to an understanding of myself
Clear out all the old cobwebs
Clear out all the old books from the shelf
Listening again to this song with its positive vibes, I got to
thinking: What if I do some spring-cleaning in my spiritual life
and my mind and clear out some cobwebs and clutter?
Wouldn’t that be a great Lenten practice, to make more room
for God in my life and in my heart?
St Teresa, our Carmelite Mother and Founder, often wrote
about the soul as a palace for the King, and with her typical
humour and vivid imagery she said: “if we fill the palace with
vulgar people and junk, how will there be room for the Lord
with His court? He does enough by remaining just a little while
in the midst of so much confusion.” (Way of Perfection 28:12)
This is good food for our reflection. What are the cobwebs and
junk that fill up our minds and hearts? Can we do some
spiritual decluttering this Lent so as to make room for God to
come and fill us with the graces and joys of Easter? I hope
and pray that we can!
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Wednesday 15th February 2023
Rhythms of Grace
One of our sisters supports people serving long prison
sentences by regularly writing letters and emails to them and
she frequently receives letters back from them. It is obvious
that her letters are greatly valued by the prisoners. Recently
sister shared a little about what had happened in one of the
prisons in recent weeks and it reminded me of what happened
in 2001 in the largest prison in Sweden.
Truls Bernhold, a Lutheran minister, completed the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius ---- that is, a 30- day silent retreat
during which meditation on the life of Christ is central to the
exercises. Each person is accompanied by a spiritual director
for 1 hour each day. Sometime later Truls received training on
how to LEAD the Spiritual Exercises.
In 2001 he was invited to lead a meditation group in the Kumla
Prison, the largest in Sweden that houses the country’s
highest-risk prisoners. The effect of the meditation course on
the prisoners involved impressed the authorities and a disused
building was converted to accommodate 8 prisoners in a
centre known as “the monastery.”
There Truls began to lead small groups of prisoners in a 30-
day retreat using the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. He
listened to the prisoner and then invited him/her to meditate on
a passage of the Gospel--- on different episodes in the life of
Christ. Truls believed that by simply offering the prisoner the
words of scripture, the presence of Christ was made possible
in a way among the unbaptised and those who will largely
remain unbaptised. Like the story of the sick woman who
didn’t want to meet Christ but sought healing by reaching out
from the crowd to touch the fringe of the Lord’s garment as he
passes by --- “She came up behind Jesus through the crowd
and touched his cloak and she felt in herself that she was
cured” (Mk. Ch 5.) ---so here, women and men can reach our
for healing and the retreat leader does not proselytize: he just
lets the grace of the Word quietly do its work. Yes, the in break
of God’s grace can take place anywhere!
As we begin this season of Lent we might gently remind
ourselves that---if moments of quietness are woven through
our weeks of Lent, our innate capacity to hear God’s Word can
be sharpened and our hearing aids recharged! To take the
Word into our minds and hearts, and to allow it to change us,
is the work of Lent!
As ABBA POEMEN said: “The nature of water is yielding and
that of a stone hard. Yet if you hang a bottle filled with water
above the stone so that the water drips drop by drop, it will
wear a hole in the stone. In the same way, the Word of God is
tender and our heart is hard. So when people hear the Word
of God frequently, their hearts can be opened to the rhythms
God’s grace.”
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Friday 10th February 2023
Saints and Snowdrops
It is always a joy to see the first snowdrops, the heralds of
spring. Even though they sometimes show themselves in
January they are often known as the Fair Maids of February.
In Ireland we say that the Feast of St. Brigid on February 1st
is the first day of spring and as snowdrops appear around
this time St. Brigid is often portrayed with them in art.
Traditionally snowdrops represent innocence and simplicity
as well as new beginnings, hope and the ability to overcome
challenges. Perhaps for these reasons they are often used
as symbols of sympathy and consolation.
In medieval times snowdrops were usually put on the altar
on Candlemas Day, (February 2nd) to symbolise the purity
of Our Lady, and they are sometimes known as Candlemas
Bells.
We don’t usually associate St. Therese with snowdrops, but I
remember reading about an interesting cure at
Gortnamucklagh, Glenties, in Co. Donegal, which involved
Therese and snowdrops, it took place the year before her
cause for canonisation was introduced. The account was
given in a 1913 edition of Showers of Roses. These were
books published at least annually by the Carmel of Lisieux in
the early twentieth century, quoting from letters sent to the
Carmel from people who had received favours from Sister
Therese. The letter recounting this cure was written on April
12th 1913 by Michael McNelis who gave an account of the
cure of his wife Mary, who was critically ill after giving birth to a
child.
He wrote:
My wife was
in indifferent
health for
nearly three
years and
on January
24th last
she gave
birth to a
child, which
two days
later,
according to
promise,
received the
name Mary
Frances Teresa. However, puerperal fever set in, and finally - it
was 2am on the morning of the 27th - three doctors and the
priest thought it was all over. She lingered until the forenoon.
We were making, as you know, a novena to the Little Flower
and more than once a remark was passed: “She is so busy, I
wonder if she will think of poor Donegal!” Evidently she did
think of it and she “came down”, as she promised to do and
comforted us all.
About eleven o’clock my little Kathleen, a child of four years,
who had promised to make her First Communion in honour of
Sister Therese if her mother was cured, came into the house
with a bunch of most lovely snowdrops. There were exactly
six. She said a nun had given them and had told her to take
them to father for mamma and mamma would be cured. The
flowers were put into water, but nothing was thought of the
“nun” until after a time the room, and even the whole house,
began to be filled with a strange, sweet perfume. Snowdrops,
of course, have no perfume. However, we traced it to the
flowers and then investigated the child’s story.
The nun, according to the little one, came down from the skies
and put the flowers in her hand, adding the above message for
my dying wife. It seems the apparition was dressed in white;
the child also noticed the beauty of the face and the hands
and how quickly she flew away when she had delivered her
message. I may add that there were no nuns in the
neighbourhood and no snowdrops either.
Thank God my wife recovered promptly! One of the doctors
had certified that it was an incurable case of infectious
septicaemia, but that she now enjoys better health than she
has done for two years. After a most careful enquiry we are all
convinced the child’s statement was perfectly correct. The
flowers retained their wonderful scent for the space of a week.
One of the doctors carried off two of them to a friend who was
very ill and they perfumed that house also.
See this website for an icon of St Brigid with snowdrops. It is in
St Brigid's Church, Kildare:
https://brigidine.org.au/about-us/our-patroness/the-icon-of-
saint-brigid/
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Wednesday 1st February 2023
Come to Him
February is upon us with all its signs of Spring to cheer our
hearts: snowdrops daffodils, birdsong, to name but a few. St.
Brigid, Secondary Patroness of Ireland, heralds it in. An
ancient writing about her says: “Everything that Brigid would
ask of the Lord was granted her at once. For this was her
desire: to satisfy the poor, to rid of every hardship, to spare
every miserable one. She was simple before God; she was
compassionate to the suffering, she was splendid in good
works.” Only yesterday a mother told me that she had gone to
the Shrine of St. Brigid in Faughert for a healing blessing for
herself and her sick
son. So, Brigid’s
influence lives on.
Who does not look
forward to the healing
feast of Our Lady of
Lourdes on February
11th? There is no end
to the queue of people
at this time in need of
healing: children,
teenagers, parents
young and old, all wanting to drink from the spring of Christ’s
healing waters.
Then comes St. Valentine’s Day on February 14th to warm the
hearts of all who love or want to be loved.
Our beloved Sr. Kevin who died a year ago at the age of
almost 99 used to busy herself writing little love notes. She
would often include a little poem or verse she had read that
appealed to her. Here is one of the very last she wrote in our
Monastery:
Come to Him
Never think that no one cares. There is always One who
shares,
All your troubles, all your cares,
Come to him.
What if others seem unkind, what if no one seems to mind.
Help in Him you’ll always find.
Come to Him.
Does your heart sink like a stone? Into troubled waters
thrown.
Struggle not to rise alone.
Come to Him.
Always He is waiting there. Longing all your loads to share,
When things seem too heard to bear,
Come to Him.
There is One who understands, all your eager heart
demands,
Come and place it in His Hands.
Come to Him.
Let it be an early Valentine tweet of Love from Heaven for
you and me and everyone, as we live through this healing
month of February.
Image of St Brigid's Well (Tobar Bride), Co. Kildare: Taken from Wikimedia,
Attributed to: Eflmd, CC BY-SA 4.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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Thursday 26th January 2023
Journey’s End or Beginning?
‘What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an
end is to make a beginning.’ TS Elliot
Over the past few weeks two rowing boats from Ireland called
Brugha and Crean joined 43 other boats to be part of the
Atlantic challenge. There were 5 men in the Brugha and 4 in
the Crean. They were going to row 3,000 miles.They were
facing high temperatures, high winds with waves reaching 30
feet and the possibility of meeting ‘curious’ sharks and flying
fish. We heard about their intense preparations and training. It
took two years.
They had goals they wished to reach one of these was to win
the race. But they were aware that there was more to the
experience than winning the race. They knew that teamwork
was essential. If they didn’t row in harmony they would make it
harder for each other. They set another set of goals for
themselves; that they were leaving as friends and they were
committed to growing in their friendship or at least remaining
friends. That they would not wish the time away but enjoy the
experience and reflect on the deeper values in life. Another
very important goal for them was to raise funds for the
LauraLynn Foundation (Ireland’s Children’s Hospice)and the
RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute). These were loft
ambitions. They were on an adventure of a lifetime!
In Kilmacud Monastery we became a small part of the team.
No! We didn’t take to the high seas! We remained at home
and supported the lads and their families with our prayers. As
they journeyed on the high seas we were aware they too were
also taking time each day to pray and reflect on their
experience. They worked together to build relationships, deal
with practical problems and share honestly if they have a
problem with each other. In monastic life it is a given, ‘don’t let
the sun set on your anger’, we deal as best you can with
issues both practical and personal.
The rowers arrived safely at their destination singing their
hearts out just after midnight 15th January.
It will take time for the rowers to unpack the experience and
the life lessons learnt. They came 5th in the race and first in
their class, breaking the record on time for a 5 man boat. The
song they were singing was ‘The Wild Rover’ with words that
include ‘I never will play the wild rover no more’. I am not
convinced about that! Whatever they do they will carry this life
experience and use it to build healthy relationships and
community wherever they are. They raised funds beyond their
expectations for the LauraLynn Foundation and the RNLI
(Royal National Lifeboat Institute) and were deeply grateful to
all who donated so generously.
Well done rowers - Diarmuid, Géaroid,Tom,Shane, Derek in
the boat called Brugha and Dan, Frankie, Jim, and Eugene in
the boat called Crean.
Keep the spirit of adventure alive in all you do!
‘The end is where we start from’. (TS Eliot)
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Wednesday 18th January 2023
Letters from Home...
Faithfully they came, every week, my dear Mother’s letters,
and up at the right hand corner the simple heart-warming
address, Home, the Kitchen…
She gave me the news of all the family in her own lovely
home-spun way, mingling a mother’s tenderness with her solid
advice and wisdom that sprang naturally from the bedrock of
her deep faith. How they fed my soul and filled my heart, and
how I miss them now that she has gone to God.
Letter-writing is such a fast disappearing art in today’s digital
world of texting, soundbites, twitter etc...Maybe we Carmelites
are among the few who still engage in this art as we exercise
our Apostolate of the Pen in response to the many who turn to
us in their anguish and heartache with sick family members,
wayward children, financial challenges etc. We hope we can
bring some solace to lighten their burdens. Yes, a letter in
your hand is worth a hundred on the laptop or computer; it can
be held and treasured, read and re-read again and again...
And the Good News is that we still get letters from home,
every day, to assure us that we are loved and remembered.
The Word of God in Scripture has been beautifully described
as ‘our Heavenly Father writing to His children’... our letters
from HOME, if you like! These come to us in our daily
Liturgies or in our private or shared ‘sacred reading’, Lectio
Divina. They are new-born for us every day...an inexhaustible
fountain from which we can drink, yet never empty. Our
Carmelite Rule urges us to be like Mary, ‘pondering the Lord’s
law day and night’. The Word becomes the lens through
which we look out on life and on our beautiful yet struggling
world.
This week we begin the great Octave of Prayer for Christian
Unity and it is heartening to know that one of the principle
uniting treasures between the different Traditions is the Word
of God. It is a living power among us as we each try to
respond to the desire of the heart of Jesus That they may be
one.
How appropriate that some years ago, Pope Francis created
the 3rd Sunday of the Year, which falls within the Unity Octave,
the Sunday of the Word of God, highlighting its ecumenical
centrality.
Next time you read the sacred Word, remember that it is your
Love letter from HOME...speaking to you personally and giving
you guidelines for that day...
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Friday 13th January 2023
Sisters
It was my sister’s birthday this week, an occasion that made
me reminisce about our childhood together. From an early age
our mother always taught us to value each other, because she
never had a sister growing up, and always wished she had.
Like all siblings, we had our squabbles, but most of the time
we were good friends. I have so many memories of games
and adventures together as children and trips out to concerts
as teenagers. Our lives have taken different paths. I am a
Carmelite nun here, and she is living in England with a
husband and three children.
Now I am surrounded by Sisters of a different kind, both in my
community and in other religious communities that I have
contact with. These new Sisters are of all ages and
nationalities, and I value them all, each and every one of them.
The gifts of each Sister are unique and the richness of having
so many Sisters is a great blessing for me.
Yet, there is nobody quite like my very first sister. As American
novelist George R.R. Martin said: “You may be as different as
the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both
your hearts. You need her, as she needs you.”
It is true! I need my sister to be straight-up and honest with me
at times when my Sisters in community are too polite or
gracious to do it! And I need my sister’s empathy and
understanding at times when even those I live with do not fully
understand a struggle I am going through.
My sister’s birth, all those years ago, was a day of great
blessing for me. Yes, Mum, I am so grateful to have a sister.
Thank you, God, for my sister.
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Wednesday 4th January 2023
Across the Miles
A few months ago, Sr. Emmanuel returned to her community
in Vietnam after spending three years in our community here
in Kilmacud . During that time she had an opportunity to study
aspects of our Carmelite Charism and also perfect her
English, with the added flavour of a slightly Dublin 4 accent!!
Some of our sisters accompanied her to Dublin Airport to say a
final goodbye.
These days about 45,000 people per day are passing through
the Airport. Many are accompanied by parents and
grandparents who have come to say goodbye as loved ones
return to jobs, study, etc., after celebrating Christmas with
family and friends in Ireland.
At the airport we can see love manifest in human form.
Everyone wants to say goodbye, and to say it well in gesture
and word. Sometimes, no more than a whisper in the ear and
that last touch of the hand at the departure gate. Lips moving
so clearly that one can spell the words: “Don’t forget the
rashers and the Tayto! Say hello to everyone.”
To breathe in a deep gulp of love for a second and --- then to
hold it for another year. Oh, there is time for one last,
enormous hug; that extra hug that a child can carry with them
across the miles over the seas. And teary-eyed parents and
grandparents loudly whispering: “May the Lord bless you and
keep you. And until we meet again, may God hold you safely
in the palm of His hand. And don’t forget to give a taste of
God’s love to anyone who may need it. WE LOVVVVVE
YOU!!”
May each one of us always treasure the love of our family and
friends.
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Thursday 29th December 2022
The Mystery of Christmas
Those of us living in the west are fortunate that the celebration
of Christmas falls in the darkest week of the year. In this time
of physical darkness Christ’s birth brings light into our lives in
a very vivid and evocative way. The reality of the darkness
highlights the coming of Christ as the light of the world. He
came to enlighten our lives with love, joy and peace. Even
many people without faith prepare for this mid-winter festival
and become touched by the spirit of joy and kindness that
surround it. Yet for some the reality of peace may seem
unattainable. In these days when there is so much suffering in
the world, from war, famine and a series of pandemics, how
can we understand the message of peace?
Edith Stein reflected on this in a lecture entitled ‘The Mystery
of Christmas’ which she gave in January 1931. She points out
that on the very day after the celebration of the birth of the
Christ Child we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the first
Christian Martyr and then two days later, the Feast of The Holy
Innocents, murdered so brutally on the orders of a jealous and
fearful king.
Edith goes on to say, ‘What is the meaning of this message?
Where now are the jubilant sounds of the heavenly choir?
Where the peaceful bliss of Holy Night? Where is the peace
on earth? Peace to those of good will; but not all are of
goodwill. Therefore the Son of the Eternal Father must leave
the splendour of heaven because the mystery of evil has
wrapped the earth in dark night.
Darkness covered the earth and he came as light to illumine
the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend him. To
those who received him he brought light and peace; peace
with the Father in heaven, peace with everyone who like them
are children of light and children of the heavenly Father, a
deep interior peace of the heart; but no peace with the children
of darkness. To them the Prince of peace brings no peace but
the sword…This is the one hard and serious fact which we
may not allow to be obscured by the visible attraction of the
Child in the manger. The mystery of the Incarnation and the
mystery of evil belong together…The child in the manger
extends his little hands, and his smile seems to be saying
what would come forth later from the lips of the man: ‘Come to
me all you who are weary and heavy burdened’; and the poor
shepherds out on the hills of Bethlehem, who heard the good
news of the angel, follow his call and make their way with the
simple answer, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem’. Also upon the kings
from the orient lands, who followed the wondrous star with
such simplicity, there dropped from the Infant hands the dew
of grace and ‘they rejoiced with great joy’. These hands give
and request at the same time: you wise men, lay down your
wisdom and become like children; you kings give up your
crowns and your treasures and bow down meekly before the
King of Kings; do not hesitate to take up the burdens, sorrows
and weariness which his service demands. You children who
as yet cannot give of your own free will, of you these little
hands will request your gentle life before it has even begun; it
can serve no better purpose than sacrifice in praise of the
Lord.’
We can never plumb the depths of the Mystery of Christmas
but we know with Isaiah that:
‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Upon those who dwelt in the land of shadow a light has
shone.’
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Thursday 22nd December 2022
Emmanuel
Naming a new- born baby is such a special thing. Don’t we all
wait with a certain excitement for the name a couple will
choose for their child. Jesus brought His own name with Him.
The angel announced it to Mary. It means God Saves. Jesus
will be the one to deliver humanity from all evil, violence and
injustice. He will bring in the Reign of God’s mercy and
compassion and forgiveness. But there is another astounding
name that Jesus has, and it is Emmanuel, a name that means
God- is- with- us. That is the message of Christmas. God has
come to us as a child. He has not come to impose himself on
humanity. He comes with the tenderness of a little child. He is
very near to you and me right here in the middle of our lives if
we can open ourselves up to the mystery. God can be born in
us. We need not feel alone ever again. He is with us, in us,
upholding us in our joys and struggles. Thats why the angels
sang at the birth of Jesus - that is the reason for all the
excitement of Christmas.
But isn’t it true. We must sit quietly with ourselves and let the
mystery dawn on us. Hear the voice of Love sounding within
ourselves. We must let the wonder of God-with-us sweep us
off our feet, reduce us to wonder and awe and thanksgiving.
Then we will truly rejoice. How the early Christians loved the
name of Jesus… They knew He was God- with-them. They
lived and died with His name on their lips.
The young Carmelite in this photo is called Emmanuel. She is
our dear Vietnamese sister who lived with us in Kilmacud
Carmel for 3 years. See her now in her Carmel of Hue in
Vietnam holding out the Infant Lord to us and reminding us of
St. Therese’s words:
I could never be afraid of a God who made Himself so small
for love of me… I love Him….
He is all love and mercy.
Happy Christmas dear reader. Rejoice! God -is- with-you!
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Thursday 15th December 2022
Unpacking the crib
As I watch Sister Mary Brigeen unpacking the crib it brings
back memories of previous Christmases. I am reminded of
people I have shared this special season with. But going
further back I reflect on the Christmas story and the events
which led to this great God Intervention in time. I think of that
young woman Mary who said ‘yes’ to an invitation to be the
Mother of God while not fully understanding the mystery of the
journey God was inviting her to take (Luke 1.26 -38). The
statue Sister is unpacking reminds me not of a lifeless statue
but of that real person who was Mary, a living flesh and blood
woman. She lived in a very oppressive country. When only
weeks away from giving birth she had to go on a long journey
to fulfil her and Joseph’s civil duties. It would take about a
week to travel over that rough terrain. She did not travel by
helicopter or in a first class carriage in an express train but
probably went on foot. It was all very real and very
uncomfortable.
I am reading a book that has greatly helped me in this
reflection to consider Mary’s reality. It is a book by Dr Ruth
Patterson. Ruth captures what Mary, the young woman, might
have been like. She describes the statue she saw while on
pilgrimage in the Holy Land. ’Here is a young girl hair loose,
striding forward as if to meet the future and all that it may hold,
her face eager and alight, embodying the ‘yes’ that is given
after the questions, the wonder and awe, the struggle. She
steps ‘into an unknown future, leaving herself open to being
impregnated by a love that changes and continues to
transform the world.’ In Ruth’s understanding of Mary we see
another human person who faced pain, suffering, struggle and
mystery.
Looking again at our crib statue I see how all of this and how
Mary can identify with our world. She is there for us and with
us. We are not alone.
I conclude this reflection with a poem. I write during the days
while the snow is falling and there is a heavy snow fog which
makes travelling very difficult or almost impossible. But there
are always some guiding lights to help us take the next step
on the journey as reflected in the following poem.
Advent by Joyce Rupp
It is time for the pilgrim in me
to travel in the dark,
To learn to read the stars
That shine in my soul.
I will walk deeper
Into the dark of my night.
I will wait for the stars,
Trust their guidance,
And let their light be enough for me.
https://whatwasithinking.blog/2020
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Thursday 8th December 2022
Does it ring a bell?
Recently many of us were awakened by the sound of our
chapel bell ringing out loud and clear into the silence of the
calm night. With deliberate confident strokes it spelt out the
Angelus pattern: 3 strokes by 3 and then the long
uninterrupted 9 strokes, as it always does, but... this was
Midnight! This had never happened before... What could be
wrong??? What must the neighbours think of us disturbing
them at this hour of night???
Relieved that the striking had stopped we returned to bed , but
I was sleepily beginning to wonder...What was the meaning?
Who could have rung the bell? For me it had special
significance because this Advent I‘ve been struck as never
before how this prayer of the Angelus draws us into the whole
mystery of the Incarnation...of God becoming Man, which is
what Christmas is all about...
And the Word was made flesh...and dwelt among
us
As we pray the Angelus together in community three times
every day, I want to stay with those words and let the wonder
of them take hold of me...Yes, Jesus the Son of the Father,
truly became Emmanuel, God-with-us... and He is still
Emmanuel, God with us in the here and now of our lost,
anguished, violent, upside-down yet beautiful world...
Doesn’t that mind-boggling reality call for the ringing of bells to
let the world know this Good News? It wouldn’t be the first
time that someone rang her Monastery bell to alert everyone
and call them to ’wake up’ to the astounding fact that ‘Love is
not loved’ (St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Carmelite mystic of
16th century!)
I will never forget the emotion that welled up in my heart when
I heard church bells ringing in the distance for the first time
after the deadening silence of the long Covid lockdown. Back
again too are joyous wedding bells and the slow grave toll of
funeral bells...
But Christmas is above all the season of bells.. .Every child
knows the sheer magic of ‘Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells’ and the
tinkling of sleigh bells. Bells feature big in Christmas
decorations, cards, stamps etc...
Each evening at 6 p. m. RTE TV and Radio mark a respectful
pause for the Angelus...fittingly before the daily news. How
appropriate, because this is the greatest Good News there is,
and it’s a new reality every day: the Word is made flesh and
dwells among us, Emmanuel...
But to get back to our mysterious nocturnal Angelus bells...we
never discovered the cause. Could it have been the Angels
reminding us of the greatest news ever told? In the coming
days when you hear the Angelus bell, I hope something of the
wonder of the real meaning of Christmas will fill your heart with
Joy and peace...
When I apologised to our neighbours for the intrusion, they
kindly made light of it saying they thought it must have been to
mark ‘a special feast day’ How right they were!
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Saturday 3rd December 2022
Voice in the Wilderness
Once Advent comes, our annual Christmas mailing rolls into
action! One of our Sisters has been doing trojan work for the
past couple of weeks packing envelopes, and distributing them
around to other Sisters in the Community who like to add a
final personal word to the recipients. There are many people
who hear from us by mail only once a year, and we like to
bring them a message of hope and peace during this special
season.
Our world often seems like a “wilderness” as regards God’s
presence. One has only to switch on any news bulletin to hear
reports of wars, sickness, violence and natural disasters. It
can sap the energy and lower the spirits of even a most
positive person. Avoiding the public news is not the solution,
however, as even in our personal lives and those close to us,
These reflections are also posted on our new BLOG page.
Click here…