Opposition from within the Family

I have been reading a very moving biography of Clare Theresa Crockett (1982-2016), a young girl from Derry in Northern Ireland who was converted from a life of drinking and partying while still at school. (Clare Crockett. Alone with Christ Alone, by Sister Kirsten Gardner SHM).  In 2001 Clare joined the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother (SHM) in Spain, where she took the name Sister Clare Maria of the Trinity and the Heart of Mary.  She was killed in an earthquake in Ecuador in 2016 and is a candidate for sainthood.  I think it was interesting that her baptismal middle name was Theresa.  Two things that stand out for me in her experiences were firstly that she felt an initial strong resistance to the call of God and struggled for quite a while to let go of her old habits, and secondly that her Catholic family were fiercely opposed to her entering the religious life.  The pleading voice of her father accompanied her at the airport as she was leaving for Spain.  This reminded me of the subterfuge Teresa of Avila had to employ to escape from her Catholic family, leaving her home in secret to go to the convent.  Clare was one among many saints who have had to carry the cross of the pain they have caused their family by their resolve to follow their Spirit-led calling.

Intercessions

RIP Fr Jon Bielawski, Jacqui, Sister Maisie, Ann Widdecombe

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Catherine, Alex (43 with five children), Theresa K, Elena

Sophie – newborn having heart surgery; Sianna, young child in the post-operative phase; James, recovering from heart surgery

Ivy – sick child

Brian (recovering from Pneumonia)

Kevin (heart attack)

William Gove (in recovery)

Illness:  Katy Keeling

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Mark – brain infection

Michael, Kira – vulnerable youngsters

Defence of the unborn and the elderly