Knowing and Loving

At a Seculars meeting on Saturday we talked about the subject of formation.  We have our five-year course of formation - but of course it’s not the kind of course that you take with an exam at the end simply to show you have absorbed enough of a syllabus.  Carmel is as much about the heart as it is about the mind, and formation in love is as important as formation in knowledge.  It is impossible to imagine examinations in love.  We came across the phrase ‘a fruitful loss’ in the passage of Therese we were discussing and someone mentioned the beautiful story of the expensive perfume spilt over the feet of the Lord as an illustration of it.  To realise that this incident in the Scriptures has borne fruit in the lives of millions of believers down the centuries is to understand that phrase.  Her extravagant gesture stands as a lesson for us – she said out in a gesture of self-abandonment what she could not say in words – the adoration that Jesus deserves, that his devotion to us calls out from us.  ‘Heart speaks to heart’.

Intercessions: All who are suffering from the long-term effects of Covid.

Chris, currently in an Intensive Care Unit.