The global dimesion

News from Carmel in Australia, New Zealand, & Oceania. A newsletter has recently arrived from them - and it is a very substantial one. Just another reminder of the universality of our Order. Not just of the Order itself but of its charism, of its way of looking at life, if its great personalities, of its answers to life's big questions. To pick out one delightful item - the story of Sister Marie Ange of Jesus of the Auckland Carmel in New Zealand. She entered the Monastery in Saigon, Vietnam, in 2013. The prioress asked her to learn English (not a standard language in that country, colonised by the French). She did not like the language but accepted this as God's will, and it led eventually to her transfer to New Zealand. Two things strike me about her testimony. First, that she alerts us to the sheer length of time that individuals may need to make a complete commitment to a vocation - in her case ten years. Second, her joking remark about surrender to God and letting his will prevail: "He has his way anyway, so might as well!"