You Are Mine

     It was late in the afternoon, my last day of retreat, when I decided to continue the tradition my sister Rachel and I had begun years ago. Our routine included a change of clothing – dressing up in something special -- which was symbolic of the change that had occurred spiritually within.

     Our tradition was also, our way of making the last evening special; a way to thank God for all the graces and insights with which we had been showered; a time to breathe in God’s love and bask in the still and quiet of the retreat house, one last evening.

Victim No More

     It was the morning of the second day of my retreat. Upon waking, questions that I needed to pose to God became apparent.

     As a secular Carmelite, I will choose a name at the time of my profession. Although it is more than a year away, it is something about which I have already been thinking and praying. The name that God placed upon my heart is “Therese Joy of the Wounded Hearts.”

God's Gift of Peace

     While on retreat, after soaking in the realization of God’s love for me, I remembered the scripture my director had suggested I bring to prayer: “For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call Me, when you go to pray to Me, I will listen to you. When you look for Me, you will find Me. Yes, when you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me with you, says the Lord and I will change your lot”
(Jer 29:11-13).

     I wanted so much to hold onto the truth of God’s constant, never changing love for me. I did not want to allow life’s disappointments or my unmet expectations, to be the measuring stick with which I determined God’s love.

Renewed in Love

     “Come away by yourself to a deserted place and rest a while.”
                                                                                                             Mark 6: 31


     It had been a couple of years since I’d been away on an extended retreat. Out of the blue, during my prayer time, I felt the call. It was a surprise, and not something about which I was thinking.

     After some discussion, my husband agreed to give it to me as an early birthday gift. I was delighted, to say the least!

     As the time for the retreat approached, I wondered how God would work in my heart. I pondered which area would be labeled “under construction.”