Carmelite Monastery of St Joseph, Kilmacud - Sisters' Reflections

      In a nut- shell Therese 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 Therese, 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...

  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...

  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.   They 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 li...

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 prope...

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...

  Last week we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Knock. It brought back memories to me of the visit of Pope John 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 he...

  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 ...