March: Dedicated to St Joseph (Patron of Carmel)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Carmel,

So, Lent has arrived! I hope each day of this Season is proving blessed and fruitful for you all. Every day a new beginning.

Just a reminder too, about the online Retreat. It is well worth the effort. For those who have not experienced it before have a look at: retreat-online.karmel.at

You can register there and then it will be automatically sent to you every Lent and Advent.

Sadly, it is not possible to print and post it to those of you without access to the internet, as the week’s offering only comes in a couple of days prior to the week’s beginning. And NZ Post is so slow, as we have found with the Newsletter. No wonder they call it snail mail!

Now for some exciting news! Plans for The Day of Recollection we spoke of at our February meeting are well underway. So please keep Sunday 15th March free for some good Carmelite food for your Carmelite Souls! It will also be Laetare Sunday, so a great way to “Rejoice”!

Our Carmelite life is a daily endeavour, sometimes not so easy, and it is very easy to get complacent. We need a good boost every now and again! A day apart from the hum drum, the noise and distractions of the outside world, to soothe and uplift the spirit and renew our resolve. Sr Lauren has very kindly agreed to be involved and her help and encouragement are much appreciated. I shall send out the Programme as soon as it is finalised.

We shall get started on the first subject of the study for this special year of Saint John of the Cross this month. Creation as a ‘Palace’ (Romances 3; 4:1-38) The text is enclosed as part of this newsletter. I am hoping our Special members will be able to read along with us and be part of this time with St John of the Cross too, if you can.

Just a reminder about the current Ordo. The printer in Wellington made an error and there are some odd lines of text at the bottom of some pages. Just ignore them! There was not enough time to get them reprinted. Mary Heffernan who does a great job with the Ordo every year was most apologetic, but was anxious to get them to us all.