JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Carmel,
I want to express my sincere gratitude for all of the love and support you have shown me throughout my journey with our community, and the enthusiasm with which you embraced me and all of the members of the newly elected council on Saturday. I am truly humbled to be able to serve you as your new president, and want to express my sincere gratitude to Rosemarie Ludwig who served tirelessly for two terms, as well as the council members, the Director of Formation, Harold Jeffers, and Margaret Seibolt and Vic Tinelli who served as the community's Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
We are all truly blessed to have been called by Our Lord and Our Lady to this community, and to have one another as companions as we ascend or drill down deeper (depending on which way the Holy Spirit is leading you) into the Mount of Carmel. Furthermore, as we approach the 500th anniversary of St. Teresa of Avila's birth, it is a fitting time to ponder how we can further St. Teresa's call and vision to foster a deeper love for God amongst all of humanity through loving attentiveness to Our Lord Jesus in prayer. By taking time throughout the day to 'choose the better part' as St. Mary Magdalene did, we are then nourished by Our Lord to bring His Divine Mercy and Goodness to all those we encounter. How our world so desperately needs this right now!
This week, on May 25th, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi of Florence, Italy (1566-1607). This beautiful mystic sought to be united to God at all times through the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and desired to bring mercy to all of humanity. She is recorded as having prayed the following, "O Trinity, O Father, O Word, O Spirit, give your light to your creatures, one by one, so that they may understand their malice; and give me the grace to be able to satisfy for them, even by giving my life when this might be necessary. O why can I not give this light to all? Would that we could all together give reparation for the offenses you receive, even though we could not satisfy for them except by your own goodness."
She also had a pure love of Our Lady, which is captured in the following prayer, "O most pure Mary, I offer and give myself to you, not only with that purity and innocence that I received when I consecrated myself to you, but adorned beyond that, and then repurified, and then adorned again. Receive me therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself."
What beautiful words to ponder as we approach the end of the month of May, dedicated to Our Lady. I pray that she may continue to draw each of us closer to her Beloved Son, Jesus and to Her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, in order to be pleasing to Our Heavenly Father. Minutes for the next meeting will be coming next week along with details concerning your formation groups, leaders, and any materials/books that you need to purchase. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, prayer requests or other information you wish to share with the community.
Please be assured of my prayers and love as we continue to sojourn through our Carmel in the desert together.
In Him,
Candida Kirkpatrick, ocds
President
