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Dear Carmelites,
Am penning this November newsletter (dedicated to the Holy Souls), with a few thoughts around our upcoming retreat, and some thoughts as your Formator.
We joyfully received Catherine, Ann-Marie and Therese into Formation with a Liturgy at our October meeting.
Let us continue to pray for vocations to our Community and reflect on how we can examine the quality of our response to our Christian and Carmelite vocation…
Ā
Please continue to keep our November Retreat and Fr Michael-TheĢreĢse in your prayers to ensure a truly blessed spiritual time. Here’s a thought from St Mother Teresa of Calcutta…
The aim of taking a retreat is to advance in the knowledge and love of God, to purify ourselves, and to reform and transform our lives according to the life of our model, Jesus Christ. It is not so much a looking back on the achievements and failures of the past, as a looking forward to a more generous imitation of our Lord himself.
Let us also reflect on the quote from St TheĢreĢse for our Retreat…
Since He has shown me that He alone is perfect happiness.
How much our world needs to take that thought to heart in these increasingly troubled times. His Mother Mary, as a humble daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit entrusted a great gift to all the world in Bethlehem… let us continue to await His coming again… Deo gratias!
Our group study Formation continues with “Story of a Soul” and am including these recent words from Pope Francis as his letter on St TheĢreĢse also arrived on our Feast Day of St Teresa of Avila. Pope Francis says that St TheĢreĢse is a āDoctor of synthesisā, leading the Church to an understanding of the essentials of the Gospel to what is āessential and indispensableā. And the first line quotes the little Saint: āCāest la confiance et rien que la confiance qui doit nous conduire aĢ lāAmour.ā (āIt is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.ā)
The bishop of Rome stressed that St TheĢreĢse ālived devoted to God, forgetting about herself, loving and consoling Jesus, and interceding for the salvation of all.ā The 150th anniversary of her birth and the 100th anniversary of her beatification are celebrated this year.
For the occasion, the Holy Father has granted a Jubilee Year in honour of St TheĢreĢse of the Child Jesus that will last until Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, and has the theme āFor trust and loveā, the last words of her autobiography, Story of a Soul.
Christchurch's Peace of Christ Community Formator