Severe mercies

My good friend Richard died early yesterday morning.  When we first met thirty years ago we discovered that we had been born on literally the same day - and that gave us a special bond.  I will hold in my memory the thought of Richard’s unfailing kindness and helpfulness.  For example, he happily stepped in and drove a friend of mine sixty miles there and back when I could not keep my own promise of a lift to that friend.  His passing will leave a hole, but I instinctively turn to Carmel as my resource and consolation.  When bereaved of my beloved spouse sixteen years ago I knew that God had given me Carmel to help me cope.  That is not easy to explain but I can simply say this: in Carmel we learn to accept everything as a gift from God, not just the pleasant and delightful things.  As St Therese said, Everything is grace.  Hence even the loss of loved ones is for our good.  The celebrated writer C S Lewis coined a phrase in his correspondence with a friend who had lost his spouse aged around forty, telling him this was a severe mercy.  That friend - Sheldon Vanauken - later made this phrase the title of his autobiography, and I often have recourse to it as I ponder the downs and troughs in my own life and in the lives of others.              

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Theresa K, Fr Jon B, Catherine, Roy Seymour

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Sophia – blind infant

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

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness

Mark – brain infection

Defence of the unborn and the elderly

RIP Richard Parker, Martin Gilham, Sue Burton, Wojtek, Joy Smith OCDS