Carmelite Monastery of St Joseph, Kilmacud - Sisters' Reflections

     Did you ever dream of being more like God? Well, there is a way for you and me and it is the only way. To be compassionate as our Heavenly Father is compassionate. I am always marvelling   at Jesus in action in the   Gospels. He is entirely devoted to people who need help. He can’t pass them by or turn a blind eye to them. He does what he can for them and identifies himself with their poverty and need. He refuses to tolerate unjust and inhuman systems. A story comes to my   mind.   Two men were racing to catch a train in another part of the world.   The street was full of poor fruit dealers trying to sell their produce. The men in their haste to catch their train knocked over the stall of a young boy who watched in consternation as   his fruit went flying all over the street. One man continued running for the train regardless of what had happened. The other bent down picked up the damaged fruit wherever it had scattered, then opened his wallet and paid the boy for the whole lo

It is easy to write down the above words- God’s Merciful Gaze - but to fully understand their meaning is the challenge. When we are feeling bad about ourselves and full of negativity can we truly turn our gaze to God or allow His gaze to melt away our hard edges? That is why I love Pope Francis because he keeps reminding us about God’s Loving Gaze on us. The images he uses are so powerful for example - that the Church is a field hospital for sinners.   God’s Love and Mercy is inclusive of EVERYBODY. While we were still sinners God sent His Son Jesus to save the world. God loved the world so much that ‘He showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.’ Romans 5:8 That is the crux of the matter.   It is while WE were still SINNERS and not when we had repented and had sorted out our lives. If we are honest, this baffles us and is not at all like we humans think or act. We like things more clear cut. It is hard to love even ourselves when

  To adapt Nikos Kazantzakis’ words ‘I said to the Amaryllis- Speak to me of the Resurrection, And the Amaryllis blossomed...’   Our green-fingered Sr. Monica had nearly given up on her Amaryllis plants.   They were covered and badly infected with white fly, shiny and sticky ... as good as dead.   She radically cut them back to the base...   Lo and behold, from the bed of new healthy leaves 4 strong stalks emerged, one after the other: 2 magnificent tall white ones and then up surged a glorious rich crimson one with another to follow... They bloomed just in time for Easter and seem to ring out: CHRIST IS RISEN    ALLELUIA!! I find myself going back to them again and again as they adorn our cloister corridor.   Breath-taking   Stunning   Awesome... A parable of the Resurrection Life out of death;   evoking something of the surprize and wonder of the Easter Gospels.. At this time all of Creation seems to have been caught up in the joy and radiance of the Resurrect

  The symbolism of darkness transformed into light has universal appeal for people of all faiths and none. It is an image that evokes hope and better times ahead. Thousands of years ago, our pagan ancestors built incredibly precise passage tombs that were designed to capture the sun’s rays on the shortest and darkest day of the year. The best known of these is Newgrange. The winter sun sheds a beam of light into the dark inner chamber, perhaps an example of pre-Christian hope in Resurrection. In recent years in May, a dawn walk has been organised by Pieta House, entitled “Darkness into Light” to offer support to those bereaved by suicide, and to raise funds for suicide prevention.   Thousands of people gather in the darkness to walk together until the sunrise brightens the sky. This year the event takes place on 6 th May and there are now over 200 venues across 15 countries. It certainly is an event that stirs the heart and imagination of many, and some years ago when a friend of mi