FEAST DAY OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
St. John of the Cross-Sayings of Light and Love
#151
Let your speech be such that no one may be offended, and let it concern things that would not cause you regret were all to know them.
#141
Speak little and do not meddle in matters about which you are not asked.
Carmel de Laval-France
patience-the page will translate to English
patience-the page will translate to English
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
__________________
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Feast of the Presentation
World Day for Consecrated Life
Established in 1997 by the Late John Paul II.
Excerpt from John Paul II:
| On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple 5. The World Day for Consecrated Life will be celebrated on the feast which commemorates the presentation which Mary and Joseph made of Jesus in the temple "to present him to the Lord" (Lk2:22). This Gospel scene reveals the mystery of Jesus, the One consecrated by the Father, come into the world to carry out his will faithfully (cf. Heb 10:5-7). Simeon points to Jesus as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32) and by a prophetic word foretells the supreme offering of Jesus to the Father and his final victory (Lk 2:32-35). In this way the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent icon of the total offering of one's life for all those who are called to show forth in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels "the characteristic features of Jesus -- the chaste, poor and obedient one" (VC 1). Mary is associated with the presentation of Christ. The Virgin Mother who carries Jesus to the temple so that he can be offered to the Father expresses very well the figure of the Church who continues to offer her sons and daughters to the heavenly Father, associating them with the one oblation of Christ, cause and model of all consecration in the Church. For some years now, in the Church of Rome and in other dioceses, the feast of 2 February has almost spontaneously brought numerous members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life around the Pope and diocesan pastors in order to demonstrate together, in communion with the entire People of God, the gift and commitment of their call, the variety of charisms of consecrated life, and their special place within the community of believers. It is my wish that this experience be extended to the whole Church, so that the celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life may gather consecrated persons together with other faithful in order to sing with the Virgin Mary the marvels which the Lord accomplishes in so many of his sons and daughters, and to manifest to all that being a "people consecrated to himself" (cf. Deut 28:9) is the condition of all those who are redeemed by Christ.
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
__________________
|
Sunday, January 30, 2011
CARMELITE QUOTE
...I hereby resolve to show abhorrence to and to fly from praise of myself, and never to say anything that can occasion it either directly or indirectly.
In view of the fact, my God, that You have given me the clearest indication that a soul cannot be wholly Yours unless it free the mind and heart of every worldly care, I firmly resolve never to speak of things of this world, never to be curious about them, no matter how indifferent they may be, but to interest myself solely in that which can lead me only to You; furthermore, to strengthen myself in this resolution I propose, my God, in the Monastery to attend to myself alone, never to notice what my Sisters do, always to be silent about what they do, deaf to all they say, blind to all that I may accidentally see...all with the desire to employ all my faculties at all times only to serve, praise, and bless You, my God, my only Good.
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
___________________
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
THREE WORDS OF WISDOM
COME FOLLOW ME
St. Peter-Our first Holy Father
In today's Gospel, we hear Jesus calling Peter to follow him. “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” As baptized Christians, we know that God is calling us to be "fishers of men",too. Do we live out this baptismal calling to evangelize and spread the Good News, or are we content to keep our faith to ourselves?
Jesus called Peter and his successors to be our spiritual leaders and holy fathers who teach us the faith and keep us on the true path to union with God through following his Son, Jesus Christ. We know that this path is narrow, painful, and difficult. We need the teachings of the Church to light our way and guide us.
We must be formed by the Holy Spirit in order to be his missionaries in spreading the Good News. We must be willing to learn and study our faith, the teachings of the Church. This mission of evangelization, the great commission of Jesus to "go and preach to all nations" is the core sacrament of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
#738-Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity: (the Catechism then quotes St. Cyril of Alexandria)
All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us,...and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity.
As Secular Carmelites we are called to be witnesses in the world to our charism of contemplative prayer. Why? I believe this question is answered directly by the teachings of the Church in the excerpt of the Catechism I have quoted above:
in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity.
Can you hear Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity telling us the same thing through her writings? We see her whole life caught up in this mystery, this indwelling of the Holy Trinity. She evangelizes and spreads the Good News of this Holy Communion of the Trinity living and working in us, the members of the Church.
Let us be faithful to our Carmelite calling of being witnesses in the world. Perhaps it is a quiet witness of being faithful to our Carmelite promises. Perhaps it's a quiet and gentle witness of sharing our Carmelite teachings with others. Let us remember, that whatever we do, we do in the name of the Lord. May it all be done in charity and with the grace and light and strength from the Holy Spirit, who forms us into one body and one Spirit in Christ.
COME FOLLOW ME
View previous posts on "Three Words of Wisdom"
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
____________________
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)