Carmelite Monastery of St Joseph, Kilmacud - Sisters' Reflections

           The Spirit Empowers us and Speaks to us in the ordinary events of daily life   We have been preparing during the past few weeks for the feast of Pentecost. The time when the Holy Spirit came to the Mother of God and Jesus’ Disciples in the upper room.   ‘ They (the Christian Community) all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.’ Acts 1:4.   The Spirit empowered them to go out, with courage, and spread the Good News. What is that Good News? The Good News of Christ is that, He came down to earth not only that He may share in our humanity, but that we may share in His divinity .   Jesus came among us to show us the way to live our lives and remind us that he is present with us, individually and collectively, until the end of time. And there is more! But how do WE today experience this outpouring of the Spirit? There are times when I can be so full of my own thoughts and ideas that I don’t stop and

  Last Sunday we celebrated the joyful   feast of the Ascension, Jesus’ homecoming to the Father; a great feast of HOPE.   He left us, not as orphans, but promising to be with us to the end of time and to continue to work with us through the Holy Spirit. Hope stretches us beyond what we can see or feel, and our faith assures us that where Jesus now is, one day we hope to follow.   If we take time to be still and quieten our hearts of all the fleeting, dizzying attractions the world offers, we soon discover, like St. Augustine, that our hearts will be restless until we rest in Him. Yes, we are wired for eternity.   Our hearts will live for ever and ever.   Heaven is our Homeland.   It’s as if we all come into the world with a return ticket . Like Jesus, we have come from the Father and we are returning to Him, no matter how long or how many twists and turns on our life’s journey... I find that the elderly help us to reclaim this focus, readjust our radar, as it were.   The lure

The weather has been very changeable here in Ireland since the beginning of May, and before that, April and March were colder and wetter than usual. It has really affected farmers and other outdoor workers a lot. Here at the monastery, we have been praying for better conditions to allow them to keep their important livelihood going. Reflecting on the recent weather has brought to my mind some Golden Oldie hit songs centred on the theme of weather. Do you remember Fred Astaire in the 1935 film Top Hat singing: “Isn’t this a lovely day?” (song written by Irving Berlin).    He didn’t care about the rain, once he was with the woman he loved: The weather is frightening the thunder and lightning Seem to be having their way But as far as I'm concerned, it's a lovely day … Let the rain pitter patter but it really doesn't matter If the skies, skies are gray long as I can be with you, it's a lovely day In contrast, the sunshine could not lift the spirits of Buddy Holly

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