All Carmelite Souls

This month of November is a mixture of light and shade, joy and sadness. We are called to think back to our memories of those who have gone before us. We cannot stay with them too long, we have to get on with life as it is here and now. When I look back, I am hugely grateful to those who helped me on the way into faith in Christ, into the Catholic Church, into Carmel. Some helped me to make a very small step forward, a few helped me to make a very big one. Our lives are like buildings erected brick by brick - living temples. The bricks to build our lives are given by God in the shape of lessons or teachings or ideas that we pick up along the way. Sometimes we receive no special teaching but inspiration pure and simple. To pick just one example from my life: a year or two ago I discovered the books written by Pat Lyne OCDS (d.2021), whose two loves were Carmel and Connemara ponies. To read about how her heart was drawn irresistibly to Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) was a delight for me, and she remains a source of inspiration.