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Soundings from the Carmelite Monastery, Ormiston,
Queensland
Issue 4 (Jan 2002)
 She
has been called a “New Superstar”. At the end of this month,
the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux will be arriving in
Australia. Anyone who has seen the headlines she has made in the media
in other countries will realise that this is no superstitious devotion
for the pious. It is, rather, a celebration of the beauty and influence
for good of the life of one young person. Her message is that holiness
is for everybody, not least, for the young people of today’s world.
“All you need is love”, sang the Beatles. Thérèse
has proved it!
Details of the itinerary of Thérèse’s tour are available
now. She will be in Brisbane Archdiocese the last week of April, and here
at Ormiston Carmel from April 29 to May 1. We'd love you to come and be
with us during that time. Our Church will probably need to be open all
day and all night. We are planning to erect a marquee outside, where talks,
tapes, videos, photos and books will help to bring Thérèse’s
message alive for those who visit. Father Aloysius Rego ocd is coming after
Easter to give a series of talks on Thérèse at different
venues in Brisbane. And don’t miss the ‘Lenten
Journey with St. Thérèse’ - a calendar which we
have prepared, with a thought for each day. In this issue of ‘Seeds
of Carmel’ we continue our reflections on Thérèse. We
also introduce our YCG section. This will be a regular feature from now
on. In December, our Sister Marie Tania made her final commitment as a
member of our community. She tells us what this means to her.
A Word from the Prioress
  Dear
Young Friends,
Our telephone ringing for prayers in the early hours of the morning was
our first indication of the horrific events of September 11, 2001 in New
York and Washington. Since that day, much ink has been spilled commenting
on its meaning and its consequences for the future of the human race.
While this still remains in the realm of speculation, one thing, however,
is certain. History will record our response, and our future will
depend, not on the effectiveness of the ‘war on terrorism’, nor
on
whether we regard the attack as a sign, as a moment of destiny
already foreseen and foretold, but on prayer, and according to the
prayer offered, one of two things will happen. Either these tragic
events will unite people all over the world as nothing else ever
has or ever will, and love will see God’s plan for the world
fulfilled, or it will divide people into camps of ideology and racial
hatred which will systematically destroy ourselves, and at the same
time, overthrow God’s eternal plan of love.
With St. Thérèse whose vocation was to be love in the Heart
of
the Church, we know that Divine Love is bigger and stronger than
all the human fear and suffering generated by the September 11
events, and that God has chosen the weak of this world, whose only
weapon is prayer, to confound the strong. It is a moment of Truth - a
moment of Hope for all believers in the power of prayer, enabling
us to greet the year 2002 as leading to a new springtime of
communion with God and with each other, and not to a future of
disaster. Shalom!
Prioress
If you have questions, comments, stories, prayer requests, anything at
all write to us here:
Sister Katherine,
Carmelite Monastery,
287 Wellington St,
Ormiston. QLD 4160.
e-mail: 
Visit us at: www. carmelite. com
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YCG Brisbane
The Young Carmelites are committed young Catholics, aged 18-35, who
meet together regularly to deepen their faith and love for Jesus Christ
and His Church, through Scripture, the truths of the faith, and especially
through an intimate personal relationship with Him in prayer. The Sydney
group has been meeting monthly for some years now under the guidance
of Father Greg. The Brisbane group will meet one Sunday every couple
of months at our monastery here, depending on Father Greg’s busy
schedule.
The dates will be posted on the website.
The programme begins with Eucharist at 9.00 am. There
are three sessions with Father Greg, sometimes with help from another
Carmelite. The day includes a sharing with the sisters, Evening Prayer,
and time for quiet prayer, ending at 5.00 pm. A light lunch is provided.
On 7 October 2001 Father Greg Homeming ocd and two of the young people
from the Young Carmelite Group in Sydney were at Ormiston Carmel to
inaugurate the YCG in Brisbane. Simun Soljo
and Marilyn Kerjean joined thirteen young adults from around Brisbane
for the first meeting of the group.
A second meeting was held on 9 December 2001.
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Some Impressions of the YCG. . .
For a while now I have been looking for a place
where I could meet other young people who were dedicated to following Christ.
It was by chance that I returned to my previous parish and came to hear
about the Young Carmelite Group. I attended on 9th December. It was a beautiful
eye-opening experience. I found so much more than other young people! I
found a place where I could learn about our Church and our God, but I also
experienced something else. Something that was not dependent on the words
spoken or the things we did or learned, but something that is still silently
with me, and from which I am drawing strength, joy and life as from a careen
through my day. I wish I could describe it better, but I guess that you
will just have to come along to find out for yourself.
Beth - 23
God’s presence is felt and received when we
gather with the Young Carmelite Group. From our meetings and questions
we have come to understand our faith more deeply. I have experienced Evening
Prayer for the first time. Now I feel that praying the Office together,
with the silent prayer afterwards, helps personal insights and reflections
in the presence of God.
Rachel - 28
My association with the Sisters and the Young Carmelite
Group has been very joyful and helped me to develop a deeper relationship
with God.
Teresa - 28
I was first drawn to the group by the opportunity
to see Christ from a
different viewpoint, along with a mild curiosity as to how the Carmelites
actually lived behind those walls all day. I knew they prayed a lot, but
I
didn’t really know how or for what purpose. When I heard that a Carmelite
friar was coming up from Sydney to talk about Carmelite spirituality, I
jumped at the opportunity.
I like the YCG because there are no distractions (apart from the magpies).
It is a time for learning, reflection and prayer and I relish the change
of pace from regularity. I also appreciate the way in which they speak
of Christ. Since they spend all day every day talking with Him and loving
Him, they have some very interesting things to say about Him. It’s
this unique insight into the heart of Christ that I keep coming back for.
Davide - 21
Themes. . .
St Thérèse of Lisieux
Thérèse was only fifteeen when she left home to give her
life to God as a Carmelite. Although two of her sisters, Pauline and Marie
were already in the community, Thérèse was adamant that she
had come for Jesus alone and not to be with her sisters. From now on, her
life was given totally for others, and especially for priests, and she
found in the monastery a peace which was to sustain her to the end.
Carmel offered her many opportunities for prayer and sacrifice. Apart from
the austerity of the Rule as it was practised at that time, Thérèse’s
spirit was tested severely by the Prioress, and she came up against the
inevitable difficulties of living in a small community, where some people
were very different from herself. It was here that Thérèse
excelled in love, generosity and delicacy. She realised that it was humanly
impossible for her to love certain people, so she asked Jesus to love them
in her, and she in turn saw only Jesus in them. She made constant efforts
never to miss an opportunity to smile, offer a word of encouragement, or
do some service for those sisters.
The confinement of their much loved father to a psychiatric hospital for
three years was a source of deep suffering for Thérèse and
her family, but a time of spiritual growth too. Her letters to her sister
Céline reveal her desire to be one with Jesus in His Passion and
death, while her outward composure manifested a maturity far beyond her
years. In spite of her youth, Thérèse was given the responsibility
of training the novices. In teaching them, she was able to formulate more
clearly what was to become known as her ‘little way of spiritual childhood’
a very simple way of Christian living based on the Gospel, of trust, confidence
and recognition of our absolute dependence on God.
In 1896, Thérèse developed tuberculosis, necessitating very
painful and drastic remedies, all that were available in those days. At
the same time, an interior trial plunged her whole being in darkness, and
she struggled with the thought that after death, there might be no future
life of happiness, but only non-existence! Through these temptations, her
faith and trust in God grew deeper and stronger. With enormous courage,
she continued to work and take part in the common life until, exhausted,
she was moved to the in . rmary, where she was asked to finish writing
her life story. At the age of 24, Thérèse died as she had
lived. . . . of love, and at that point, her universal mission began.
I SAID ‘YES’ TO GOD
8th December 2001, feast of the Immaculate Conception,
was the first time I had ever been at a Solemn Profession ceremony.
It was a very powerful experience, and exciting too because, well, it
was my Solemn Profession! (Sr. Marie Tania ocd)
On that most amazing day of my life, I vowed myself to God forever,
with the vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. The fact that I am
happy - even delighted - about committing my entire life like this,
appears to be the cause of astonishment for many people. And this has
left me a little bemused: all I’ve done is say ‘yes’
to what’s deepest in my heart, and everything else had followed
on from there.
Although born in Brisbane, I grew up in the fruit-growing district
of the Granite Belt in south-east Queensland. There are seven in my
family (parents, two sisters and three brothers), and while I was growing
up we went through various phases of religiosity ranging from nominally
Catholic, to fervently devoted, with a brief “charismatic”
spell in between! I guess we were exploring and discovering our Faith
in the midst of the ups and downs of family life.
It was in this context then, that I was first introduced to Carmelite
spirituality and felt attracted to the idea of becoming a nun. My Mum,
on reading a book by St Teresa, told me that her definition of prayer
was ‘friendship with Jesus’. New to me, but it seemed to gel.
I must have been about eleven at the time.
That seems fairly young for a person to decide their direction in life.
However, having a definite goal to strive for sustained me during years
of emotional turmoil and insecurity, when tensions increased within
the family circle.
So what is this “vocation” or calling, and how does one recognise
it? For me it was very subtle, something that could be missed if I didn’t
listen carefully. I have already alluded to a kind of gradual unfolding:it
was as if I became aware one day of a seed planted in my heart, without
knowing Who put it there. As time went on I began to see how there can
be two indicators in a person which combine to make clear the deepest
aspirations of the heart. One indicator was the positive attraction
(though not without trepidation!) to the life of a Carmelite. The other
was the negative indicator of a big, empty, aching “hole”
inside me which even the best and most beautiful things in life didn’t
seem able to fill.
I had decided at about age eighteen, to take the Scriptures as the
touchstone of all my other choices in life. This is what helped me through
times when the ‘inner ache’ was particularly bad. When I would
come across promises of God such as “seek and you will find”
and “I have never said ‘search for Me in vain’: you will
search, and find Me when you search with all your heart”, these
would give me hope. I didn’t know what I was searching for - other
than for Something big enough to fill my heart - so I just had to hang
in there and take God’s word for it. That’s faith! From where
I am at this point of the journey, I can safely say that trusting God
pays dividends. What I discovered is that the hole inside is actually
God-sized! St Thérèse of Lisieux put it in a nutshell
when she said, “Only what is eternal can content us”. The
challenge is to have the courage to hold back from trying to fill up
the emptiness with anything else; the familiar term for this being “escapism”,
where good things can be turned into compulsive behaviours in an attempt
to dull the pain of life.
Another more amazing discovery - and this one clinched the deal for
me - is that not only are our hearts God-sized receptacles, but God
is just dying to get in. Literally! It slowly dawned on me that St Teresa’
s definition of prayer as ‘friendship with Jesus’ was not
only an initial insight into the Carmelite breed of Christian spirituality:
it was a pivotal one. And this friendship is not a matter of nodding
acquaintance... The powerful combination of the event of Jesus’
crucifixion together with the New Testament assertion that “God
is Love” (1John 4:16), really bowled me over with the image of
a God Who loves me to distraction, and is desperately trying to get
the message through to me...
Hey, can you blame me for throwing in my entire life with this?!
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Praying with. . .
St Thérèse of Lisieux
"Praying with..." is designed to introduce you to Carmelite spirituality
and help you to seek God in silence and prayer.
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O my God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to love You
and to make
you loved... In order that my life may be one act of perfect
love, I offer myself as a victim of holocaust to your merciful
love, asking you to consume me incessantly, allowing the waves of
infinite tenderness shut up within you to overflow into my soul.
St. Thérèse
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Love is the simplest thing in the world. We are made
for it. This is a short extract from Thérèse’s ‘Act
of Offering to God’s Merciful Love’ , in which she expresses
the deepest desires of her heart:to love God, to be loved by God, and to
help others love God. Thérèse wanted to remain always a child
before God - a child who would let herself be loved. Few of us are willing
to do that.
We like to be in control. Thérèse understood
intuitively the Heart of her
God, full of tenderness, compassion, mercy and love beyond imagining, wanting
to fill every human person to capacity, yet unable, because we resist such
unconditional love. We want to earn it, and we know we can’t. Thérèse
was happy to stand before God ‘with empty hands’ , open to receive
all the love God poured into her, not to clutch it to herself for her own
enjoyment, but to pass it on to others.
Take about 30 minutes to try this simple exercise:
- If possible, it might be good to make this prayer in a quiet chapel,
before Jesus in the Eucharist.
- Put aside all those things which have been preoccupying you.
- Be aware of Jesus’ presence in this sacrament of His Love; feel
your own aching need to be loved, and then think of how Jesus gave his
life for love of YOU.
- Ask Thérèse to be with you as you pray in the words of
her prayer above.
- Now just let Jesus fill you. You don’t need any more words. Let
yourself be loved... personally, tenderly, passionately, unconditionally.
- Remember, the emptier you are, the more miserable you are, the more
space there is for Jesus to fill, and the more love you are able to receive.
- If your mind is drifting off onto something irrelevant, continue to
pray Thérèse’s words in short phrases and allow them
to penetrate your inmost being:
- . . . to love You . . . I offer myself . . . to Your merciful love.
. . consume me. . . infinite tenderness. . . overflow. . .
After your time of prayer, you will want to share with
others in some way the love you have received.
Jesus alone can give us back infinitely more than we can give
to Him. -
St. Thérèse
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