Each week one of our Sisters contributes a reflection on a
topical subject, or a theme in the Liturgy.
Wednesday 8th November 2023
Elizabeth of the Trinity
On November
8, we celebrate
the Feast of St.
Elizabeth of the
Trinity who was
a Carmelite nun
at Dijon in
France. Born
Elizabeth Catez
in 1880, she
had one
younger sister
Marguerite,
known as Guite.
When the little
girls were aged
4 and 7 their
father died
suddenly, as the result of a heart attack, and some time
afterwards their mother enrolled them both in the Dijon
Conservatoire to study music. Elizabeth began her studies
there when she was 8. If God had not called her to Carmel she
might well have been a celebrated concert pianist. When she
was thirteen she won first prize for her playing, having already
won first prize for theory of music. The following year she won
the much coveted Prize of Excellence for piano, but already
her heart was set on God.
Elizabeth had a natural capacity for contemplative prayer.
Long before she entered Carmel she had an intense
awareness that she was living in God’s presence. Elizabeth’s
deep prayer animated her and she became actively involved in
various works in her parish. She taught catechism and ran a
club for the children of workers in a tobacco factory; she
visited the sick and of course, as a musician, she sang in the
parish choir.
Elizabeth took part
in all the usual
activities common to
girls of her age at
that time. She
dressed in the latest
fashions, enjoyed
dances and loved
walking in the
country, where she
deeply appreciated
the beauty of
creation. She had a
great gift for
friendship and was
popular with her
peers, but in
everything God was
at the centre. She
said that when she
played the piano
she forgot all about the audience and played only for him.
On August 2nd 1901 Elizabeth entered Carmel she was full of
joy; she found God everywhere, in her work as well as at
prayer. She loved the silence of her cell where she liked to
ponder the scriptures, discerning what God was saying to her.
She gradually found her vocation to be a Praise of his Glory, a
phrase she discovered when reading Ephesians. It was also
from her study of scripture that Elizabeth’s gained deep
insights into the mystery of the Trinity. She was extraordinarily
aware of the indwelling of the Trinity in her soul and often
referred to the Divine Persons as My Three.
Elizabeth died of Addison’s Disease on November 9th 1906 at
the age of 26, saying, ‘I am going to Light, to Love, to Life’.
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Friday 3rd November 2023
My mission - your mission
My mother often told me as a child that we are each born with
a mission. You have something to do for God that only you can
do. No one else can fill your space. She was a wise deep little
woman and how right she was comes home to me when I hear
St. Teresa speaking of the dignity and beauty of every single
person made in the image and likeness of God. He dwells
within us. If only we could grasp how precious each of us is in
His sight – with what tenderness He bends over each one of
us. St. John Henry Newman had a sense of it in his beautiful
prayer.
The mission
of my life.
God has
created me to
do Him some
definite
service. He
has
committed
some work to
me which He
has not
committed to
another. I
have my
mission. I
may never
know it in this
life but I shall
be told it in
the next.
I am a link in
a chain, a
bond of
connection
between
persons. He
has not
created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work.
I shall be an angel of peace, while not intending it if I do but
keep his commandments.
Therefore , I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be
thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness will serve Him,
in perplexity, my perplexity may serve him. If I am in sorrow ,
my sorrow, may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows
what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may
throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate,
make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows
what He is about.
Dear Reader let God’s Living Word from the liturgy confirm
you in your mission: Think of the love the Father has lavished
on us by letting us be called God’s children…
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Friday 27th October 2023
Our journey through November
Next week we begin a month to remember the Holy Souls.
November can be a bleak month with dark misty days and
cooler challenging weather. But the first day of the month
begins with All Saints Day. It sets a positive tone to the month.
The Church is saying to us as we remember our beloved
dead; we are all included in the feast of All Saints. The Holy
Souls are in God’s Presence, already in the embrace of God.
It is nice to have a month to remember the un-named saints.
The little saints rather than the well known bigger Saints. We
all know people we have lived with, people who did not
consider themselves saints but were good, compassionate
and always ready to listen to others. And there are saints we
would be surprised to learn that they are included! They may
not have belonged to any particular Church or Religion but
they were compassionate, honest, searchers of the Truth.
Take some time over the next few weeks and during the month
to remember these people. If we have unresolved issues with
people who have already passed into Eternal Life, it is never
too late to be reconciled.
In the Church we talk about the mystical body of Christ and it
is a beautiful image. The Good News is we all have a place at
the table.
As we remember our saints and the holy souls we not only
pray for them but with them and ask them to help us until we
meet again. Come to think of it November has its own natural
beauty and softness as we journey into winter and onward
toward new life.
The following may seem irrelevant.
It is the conclusion of a poem Aos Óg by Padraig Daly. In it he
is reflects on city life as he gazes out from his window in
Dublin city. He sees the young people full of life and love but
perhaps unaware of where it all comes from.
‘They are happy as we ever were
They do not ask the why of the stars:
This world and its circumstances suffices them.
They do not think of death or sin,
They harm no one knowingly.
Little they know,
Walking in light down city promenades,
Answering phones, distracted by gadgets,
Smothering out transcendence.
That they and all their artefacts
And all the earth and all the fiery stars
Are plunged in God.”
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Tuesday 17th October 2023
75 Years on the Carmelite Road
“E.M.S. is not what you think” is the title of a book by my
nephew in the States sharing his exciting experiences as a
paramedic in E.M.S. (Emergency Medical Services).
Carmelite life is not what you might think, about “strict fasting
and hard corporal penances”!
On my final visit to Kilmacud Carmel before entering, the
novice mistress advised me, as a preparation for the Carmelite
life, to make “little acts of self-denial” – what my mother in her
native tongue along with St Therese would call “petites
sacrifices”. It was simple advice, and wise too!
As a novice, my mother gave me a present of a Bible (trans.
Ronald Knox). Two powerful passages have really sustained
me all down the years.
“It is I, the Lord your God, who hold you by the hand and
whisper to you: ‘do not be afraid for I am here to help you’ “
(Is.41:13).
“As the Father loves me, I love you. Remain in my love.” (John
15:9)
I witnessed the election of several Prioresses. Great
characters with different personalities, but all were blessed
with genuine prudence and wonderful kindness.
I had a novice companion who had a great sense of humour,
full of fun and pranks! I owe her a lot. By just being herself she
kept me afloat when I was at a low ebb.
Prayer, a loving relationship with the Lord, and the petite
sacrifices that crop up in many ways every day prove
priceless.
St Therese believed that “the smallest actions done with love
win the heart of Jesus more than brilliant deeds”.
So, to “put your whole self in” to prayer and sacrifice and to
live by love in his presence.
That’s what it’s all about!
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Thursday 12th October 2023
Letting Go
It is the season of letting go. Trees are letting go leaves, and
animals are preparing for winter. Recently I have noticed how
many ways we can experience loss. On a large scale, we see
reports of wars causing widespread destruction of human life
and property and we hear of people forced to leave their
homes with few belongings. We learn of the deaths of people
closer to home, our own or loved ones of people we know.
There is loss associated with ageing, reduced mobility or
energy levels. There are also smaller daily losses when life
interrupts our well-set plans and schedules. All these losses
cause s greater or lesser amount of stress and grief that we
need to work through and move on from.
Letting go is indeed painful and difficult. Years ago, a wise
person gave me some great advice for times of grief and loss.
He said that because we are physical beings, it can be very
helpful to create a personalised and practical ritual of letting go
that is specific to the experience we are going through. Our
personal ritual should be something that comes from within us,
as an expression of our thoughts and emotions about the loss
we are going through. I have found this advice most helpful at
times in my life and I have found that being creative around
the experience helps to bring about a closure and inner peace.
Indeed, the Irish custom of “wakes” after the death of a person
is an example of communal ritual that gives a sense of “letting
go” to the community.
Nature teaches us to be not afraid of “letting go” as it is part of
the cycle of the seasons. Our Carmelite Saint Therese of
Lisieux talks about having “empty hands” before God, because
it is only then that we can receive something new. This attitude
is one that brings hope and healing. May we live with
expectation of something new and beautiful after every “letting
go” experience that we have in life.
Lord, make me brave
Let me strengthen after pain
as a tree strengthens after rain
Shining and lovely again.
Lord, make me brave
As the blown grass lifts,
let me rise from sorrow with quiet eyes,
Knowing Your way is wise.
Lord, make me brave
Life brings such blinding things.
Help me to keep my sight; help me to see aright
That out of doubt comes light.
-Author unknown
Image: pixabay.com
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Friday 29th September 2023
St Thérèse
In a nut- shell Thérèse tells each of us - you are God’s
precious child. He delights in you. You are the apple of His
eye. Have boundless confidence in your merciful loving Abba
Father. Dare to hope. That same power which raised Jesus
from the dead is working in you too. Nourish your life on the
Scriptures. Be love in the heart of the church and the world..
But Thérèse, tell us again how you came by this wisdom at a
time when God was seen as a stern judge. Your Mother died
of breast cancer when you were only 4 and the life nearly went
out of you with grief and loss. Your sisters became your little
mothers but you were still fragile and lost. “God would have to
work a little miracle to make me grow up. I was really
unbearable because of my extreme touchiness. It was
Christmas night of 1886 that I received the grace of my
complete conversion…He made me a fisher of souls. I felt
charity enter into my soul and the need to forget myself and
please others: since then, I’ve been happy”.
A year later you knocked on the door of Carmel to enter with
one dream in your heart. I wanted to love …to love Jesus with
a passion giving him a thousand proofs of my love. I came to
Carmel to save souls and to pray for priests.
But with the passage of time Therese, you came to realize that
to love Jesus as He loved you was beyond you. God would
have to do it in you. “Instead of becoming discouraged I said
to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can then
in spite of my littleness aspire to holiness.” You searched the
scriptures for your answer and the whole mystery of God’s
mercy came toppling in over you. God gives himself to the little
ones, the poor in spirit. He comes down to lift us up. Being
Love itself he is drawn to the helpless.. Having nothing I shall
receive everything from God. You found your little way.
God worked marvels for you Thérèse in your life and ever
since. You kept your promise - “ I will come down… I will
spend my Heaven doing good on earth”.
On your feast-day this year please send healing and peace to
all who call on you.
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Thursday 21st September 2023
Three different lives but with a lot in common
Dorothy Day was a great American social activist, journalist
and above all champion for the poor. She was born in 1897.
Her cause for canonization has begun in the Catholic Church.
I am sure Dorothy would be surprised by this as she lived a
very unconventional life. Yet, she is considered to be the best
known political radical activist in the American Catholic
Church. Pope Francis recalled her great work when he visited
America some years ago.
I came across a quote by her recently that made me think
again about her and her empathy for the poor. It also reminded
me of the people who are not only inspired by her but imitate
her. Here is the quote ‘would you give food to a poor person
on an old cracked plate, thinking that was good enough? Do
you think Martha and Mary thought the old chipped plate was
good enough for their guest (Jesus)? It is not a duty to help
Christ (in the poor) it is a privilege.’
She lived life against the grain and was unafraid to speak the
truth. When she converted to Catholicism, as a young woman,
prayer was the bedrock of her life and choices. She was a
woman of prayer and action. She walked the talk.
There are people in Ireland who follow the inspiration of
Dorothy. I think of my friend Colm. He is a man of prayer, he
believes passionately in non violence and for most of his adult
life has dared to think differently. He was described in an
article as a ‘faith based activist’. He has made choices that are
not popular and like Dorothy has gone against the grain. Is he
powerful in worldly ways? No. Is he effective – I would think
and hope so. He has made his thoughts know by writing and
also by demonstrating outside government buildings with his
home-made placards in all weathers. At present he is actively
opposing those who wish to change the laws on Irish
Neutrality. In his reflection on this issue he said ‘if we lose our
neutrality our diplomatic clout will be diminished.’ I am sure
Dorothy Day is with him and his friends.
Dorothy Day had great love for St.Thérèse whom she chose
as her Patron. How would we connect these two women? St.
Thérèse said ‘one Sunday, looking at a picture of Our Lord on
the Cross, I was struck by the blood flowing from one of his
divine hands. I felt a pang of great sorrow when thinking this
blood was falling on the ground without anyone hastening to
gather it up. I was resolved to remain in spirit at the foot of the
Cross and to receive its dew. … I don’t want this precious
blood to be lost. I shall spend my life gathering it up for the
good of souls.’
Dorothy Day ‘walked the streets of the poor, noticing their
blood, drying their tears, trying in her own way to gather them
up. St. Thérèse did the same thing mystically, deep inside the
body of Christ. It is no surprise that Dorothy took St.Thérèse
as her model.
St. Thérèse, Dorothy and Colm are people unafraid to follow
their inner Truth for the good of humanity but not without being
misunderstood and suffering for their convictions.
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Wednesday 13th September 2023
Holy Ground
Many of
you will
recall the
compulsory
lockdown
experience
during the
Covid
pandemic
some years
ago and
how you
found it so
constrictive
and
burdensome...
Yet for us cloistered Carmelites it was very much our natural,
chosen, mode of living; a vital part of our lives, as ‘hermits in
community’. It is the milieu in which our hearts expand to
encircle the earth and embrace all our brothers and sisters.
Over the years cloister, solitude and silence become more and
more needs of the heart. Thy heighten our awareness, slow
us down, teach us interiority. They tune us into the music of
life and give ears to our hearts to hear the cry of the poor.
They lead us to the wellsprings of life: ’the dearest freshness
deep down things (G. M. Hopkins).
They awaken our hearts to beauty, the healing harmonies of
Nature. They fill us with reverence and wonder at the mystery
of growth, the miracles-in-slow- motion that God is ever
working in
all of life.
Our
cloister
does not
insulate us
from
reality.
There are
few
outlets, no
nights out
at the
theatre or
holidays
abroad,
yet it is the
door into
reality, to
truth, to
self-
knowledge; a challenging and, at times, a rocky road, but one
leading to inner freedom.
During my walks in the garden, I love to look back at the
monastery. It gives me a sense of perspective. I am amazed,
and amused at times, at all the drama that can take place
within four walls, all the weathers of the human spirit even
within the space of a day. I remember one day, some years
ago, a magnificent rainbow appeared, encircling the whole
monastery like a benediction. My heart thrilled. Psalm15
sprang to mind;
For me the measuring lines have fallen on pleasant sites.
Fair to me indeed is my inheritance.
That sense of contentment has never left me. Yes, the cloister
is not an escape, but a sacred space of encounter, Holy
Ground. I take off my shoes!
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Thursday 7th September 2023
The Wonder of Bees
Many years ago, I got an idea to make a patchwork quilt – old
style – cutting out pieces of cloth and sewing them together. I
put great effort into my preparations, measuring everything
carefully and cutting them to equal size. Or so I thought! When
I began putting the quilt together, I realised I had to do some
gentle stretching and pulling to make the pieces fit into each
other! And so, I am always amazed and filled with wonder at
the precision of a honeycomb, made by tiny bees with no
measuring tools or rulers. Each six-sided cell has exactly the
same dimensions as those around it, so that all fits together so
neatly and perfectly!
For some time, we have had resident honeybees in the roof of
our chapel here in Kilmacud.
Last week we decided the time
had come to have them re-
housed by a professional
beekeeper in order that the
colony would not grow too
large. It was a painstaking and
difficult job, but the colony was
successfully removed and is
now settled for the winter in a
proper apiary. The beekeeper
told us that he estimates there
were 70,000 bees in our large
chapel-roof community! We
marvelled at a piece of the
comb he left with u s, explaining how the bees when building
their home leave exactly 8mm to move around between each
piece of comb, and this was evident in our roof, even without
man-made frames for them to build on! Such architectural skill
from tiny creatures is awesome and inspiring; and they have
no worries about pyrite or mica or aerated concrete because
they can make all their own building materials from their own
bodies!
In the days following the bee removal, before the roof was
repaired, many foraging bees and wasps came inside our
chapel, attracted by the smell of honey. They found
themselves trapped inside and buzzed against the windows
for hours before becoming exhausted. Sometimes the noise of
buzzing was so loud it felt like we were living inside a beehive,
and I could hear the noise in my head everywhere in the
house and even in bed at night! I wondered what I could learn
from these poor disorientated bees that could benefit my
distracted prayer in the chapel these days? Then it came to
me… there are many, many people in our world today who are
lost and trapped and trying to find an external or interior
freedom. Each poor bee buzzing on the window could
represent one of these suffering people. As the buzzing noise
was so clear to me, I prayed that it would also be clearly heard
by God and that He would bring relief and peace to those in
our world who need it most.
There is so much we can learn from bees, and how they
organise their colony and communicate with each other. They
each have assigned roles and each one is dedicated to the
survival and safety of the whole community. They provide us
with delicious honey and high-quality wax. Bees are so special
that they are specifically mentioned at the most solemn
moment of the greatest Church Liturgy of the year, i.e., the
singing of the “Exsultet” after the blessing of the new Easter
Candle. Yes, even the humble bees are acknowledged for
their work in providing the wax for this candle, as we sing:
“O holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work
of bees and of your servants’ hands…”
We thank and praise God for all we have learned and can
ponder about bees during this “Season of Creation”.
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Thursday 31st August 2023
Joseph and the Alphabet
I was recently given a link to an article in a Jewish History
website and was amazed to read that new research into
ancient documents found in Egypt, indicate that the first
alphabet was invented by Joseph the son of Jacob, the
Joseph who was sold as a slave by his brothers and ended up
saving Egypt and the surrounding country from famine.
For a long time scholars thought that the Phoenicians had
invented the alphabet but they could not fit Phoenician words
with the texts. As far back as 1920 Hebrew had been
suggested but it was discounted as was the theory suggested
by W. F. Albright, a gifted scholar of Biblical Archaeology, who
believed that these writings were the work of Israelite slaves.
The oldest of these texts dates from about 1800 B.C. and the
most recent from the late 1500s B.C. After that, the alphabet
has not been found in Egypt but it suddenly appeared in
Canaan. Scholars were puzzled, but to those familiar with the
Old Testament this clearly indicates the Hebrew people, the
only ones who would have known this language.
However, it is unlikely that the Hebrew slaves would have
been able to create an alphabet, whoever did it had to be very
skilled with language and used to reading the hieroglyphics
used before the creation of the alphabet as well as being a
native Hebrew speaker
This description fits Joseph so exactly a Hebrew who became
the trusted servant of Pharaoh in Egypt. (See Genesis
Chapter 41 ff.)
For more detail as to the discoveries and illustrations see
https://aish.com/the-jewish-invention-of-the-alphabet/
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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Wednesday 23rd August 2023
Do whatever my Son tells you
(John 2:1-12)
Last week we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Knock. It
brought back memories to me of the visit of Pope Jonn Paul in
1979 to that great Marian shrine. His words made a deep
impression on me. He said: Mother in this shrine you gather
the people of God of all Ireland and constantly point out to
them Christ in the Eucharist and the Church. At this moment
we listen with particular attention to your words: Do whatever
my Son tells you and we wish to respond to you with all our
heart.
We entrust to your motherly care the land of Ireland where
you have been and are so much loved. Help this land to stay
true to you and your Son always. Keep them faithful in
prosperity to the faith they would not surrender in poverty and
persecution. Help them to work together to build a just and
peaceful loving society where the poor are never neglected
and the rights of all especially the weak are respected. Queen
of Ireland Mary mother of the heavenly and earthly church
keep Ireland true to her spiritual tradition and her Christian
heritage.
Isn’t it awesome for us to know that Jesus in his last agony
on the cross gave us his Mother to be our Mother too. He
could not bear that we should journey through life without her
Motherly protection. So let us hear her motherly voice in our
ears saying: Do whatever my Son tells.
Little Sr. Mary Paul now in Heaven for many years chose
those words of Mary as her motto on her profession day. They
lived in her heart and made her into the compassionate loving
person she was, her heart always open to the poor and
suffering.
Mary came to the help of the famine stricken, persecuted
people of Ireland in 1879. She will come to the help of our
people in their present need. She will come to the help of each
one of us.
How blessed we are to have the Marian shrine of Knock in
our midst as a place of healing and prayer.
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Friday 4th August 2023
Youth Festivals
This week thousands of young Catholics are gathered in
Lisbon, Portugal for “World Youth Day” with Pope Francis.
Also, this week, thousands of young scouts are gathered in
South Korea for the “World Scout Jamboree”. After the
restrictions and lockdowns of the Covid-pandemic, young
people must have anticipated these gatherings with great
excitement and joy.
International youth festivals like these are positive, affirming,
and energising experiences for young people. Life-long
friendships are made with people from all over the world.
Memories are created of fun experiences and mishaps
overcome. Often romance blooms too! My sister met her
husband at a scout jamboree. I personally know two couples
who met at World Youth Day events.
In today’s culture of social-media and virtual-connections with
people, time spent at these youth festivals in the real presence
of other like-minded young people is very special and helps to
build a solid identity in young hearts. The experience of
meeting so many others with similar interests helps to build up
self-esteem and courage for life.
As we pray for the youth who are meeting this week in various
parts of the world, let us “tap into” their joy and energy and
allow their gatherings to re-energise us too. Let us pray for
each one to have a positive experience of peer support,
friendship and support.
Joys Of Youth
by John Clare
How pleasing simplest recollections seem!
Now summer comes, it warms me to look back
On the sweet happiness of youth's wild track,
Varied and fleeting as a summer dream:
Here have I paus'd upon the sweeping rack
That specks like wool-flocks through the purple sky;
Here have I careless stooped down to catch
The meadow flower that entertain'd my eye;
And as the butterfly went whirring by,
How anxious for its settling did I watch;
And oft long purples on the water's brink
Have tempted me to wade, in spite of fate,
To pluck the flowers. -Oh, to look back and think,
What pleasing pains such simple joys create!
Poem: https://internetpoem.com/john-clare/joys-of-youth-
poem/
Images: Wikimedia Commons
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