Carmelite Monastery of St Joseph, Kilmacud - Sisters' Reflections

Today is the feast of St. Joseph the worker. A feast introduced in 1955 by Pope Pius X11 to counteract   Labour day which had socialist and communist overtones. It was to highlight the sanctifying notion of work. No better man than St. Joseph to do this – he who   worked in the home of Nazareth in the company of Jesus and Mary. See this beautiful statue of St. Joseph which came to us from the Delgany Carmel and notice the white lily in his hand. It was skilfully crafted on to his staff by one of the Vietnamese sisters who lived with us for some time. In their country they appeal to St. Joseph in their every need and they urged us to pray to him for the gift of new vocations. They even translated the prayer they say into English for us! Now we say it after Mass for some years and with good results! Our great St. Teresa had enormous devotion to St. Joseph and named many of her monasteries after him. Let her words about him sink into your heart!   I took for my Advocate and Lord t

  What a very interesting comment?   But it is worth reflecting on. When I first read it I was taken aback and then I wondered what if it is true? What if I did not concern myself with what people think about me? We all like to be liked. We like to create a good impression. And, of course In daily life it is important that we portray a good image of ourselves and not be disagreeable.   You will have your own reaction to the above quote but I think it is also empowering.   When I thought about it I realized I should leave the other person their freedom to form their own opinions.   I need to be free to live from my own inner truth and convictions. We are on a journey and with the help of God we all try to work on improving ourselves. And we ask God where we need to improve. While reflecting on the above I was reminded of St Th é r è se. St Th é r è se in her book, the   Story of a Soul talks about an occasion when a sister came into a room where the community were gathered and

  It’s not easy for us to grasp the reality of Christ’s Resurrection. None of us has ever witnessed a dead person come to life again. We must use our imaginations in order to try and understand what it was like for his family and friends to see him fully alive again in person and sharing meals and conversations with them. Yet, sometimes in life we catch a glimpse of the real miracle and wonder of Resurrection. These are times of grace, and I would like to share my personal experience of Resurrection these past few weeks. For 23 years I have ministered to people in prison through correspondence and offering them a loyal friendship. Exactly one month ago, one of my friends learned that a judge had granted his release. He has been decades in prison and has worked hard to improve himself in that time. Now he is a new man with a future ahead of him as he re-joins society. He has paid the price and done his time and now it is time for him to live a new life of Resurrection! When I head

Yes, Holy Week and the Easter Triduum is a journey into the heart of God’s forgiveness and compassion – the greatest Love Story ever told.   God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life. (Jn. 3)    Pope Francis in his wonderful letter Misericordiae Vultus says:  “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s Mercy.” Then he makes up a new word “mercifying.” God’s gaze has mercified us he tells us, blessing us with kindness, empathy, mercy and love. Isn’t it wonderful that through the loving gaze of Jesus God has revealed to you and to me that we are his loving children. Pope Francis says, “God is always first, first to wait for us, first to love us, first to help us.”  Let us hold that wonderful news in our hearts this Holy Week .Through God’s gentleness and compassion, we have been mercified. We in turn can be merciful to each other. We can change the way we receive people into our lives and share with them. W

It’s a leap year, so a perfect time for a reflection on “leaping” in the Bible! Wherever this word occurs in Scripture, it is in the context of a joyful encounter with God. King David was so overcome with joy when the Ark was ceremoniously brought into the city, that he leapt and danced unselfconsciously (2 Sam 6:16). To see a King leaping is one thing, but in a poetic way the psalms even speak of mountains, hills and nations leaping: He makes Lebanon leap like a calf… Ps 29:6 Mountains leapt like rams, hills like lambs…   Ps 114:4 And then there is a gentler description of an interior movement: “my heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him” Ps 28:7 Leaping for joy is the reaction of all creation when the Almighty God comes close, and even God does some leaping too! The Beloved in the Song of Songs is described as coming to find his lover (the human soul) “leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills” (Songs 2:8). What a wonderful joyful image of the Lord who

For many people Lent is a time to give up things, perhaps things that could be harmful to us if taken in excess, like smoking, drinking alcohol or overeating.  Forgoing such things can be a good discipline and improve our health, but the real purpose of giving things up in Lent is to unite with Jesus 40 days of fasting in the desert.   Some saints and spiritual writers see a more basic call to give up all that is not necessary to make room for God to enter and fill us with his Loving merciful presence. Among our Carmelite writers we see it especially in St. John of the Cross, but even further back we find similar ideas expressed by Johann Tauler (1300-1365). He was a Dominican priest and theologian and was a follower of Meister Eckhart, but he holds his own place as one of the Rhineland Mystics, who stressed friendship with God.  He wrote: It is certain that if God is to be born in the soul it must turn back to eternity. It must turn in towards itself with all its might, must recall it