Loving greetings from Jackson!
July is a month of great devotion and thanksgiving as devotees the world over unite to honor our Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. We had a quiet celebration with just a handful of people in attendance during our conventual mass on the solemnity of Our Lady. Another day was alloted on a weekend, July 17, a Saturday, for a votive mass in honor of Our Lady so that those who were not available the previous day can join us. It was at 7 p.m and was presided by Rev. Kevin Slattery, the vicar general of our diocese with 4 priest concelebrants and assisted by two seminarians and Carl, our ever loyal mass goer. Our secular members lead the congregation in the singing. A sizable crowd attended the event and we had a simple agape in our monastery grounds after the mass.
Earlier that month, we invited Fr. Enrique "Rique" Fuentes, a Filipino priest who is currently assigned in a parish in Oceanside, California to celebrate his birthday with us and to be the presider for our July 16Mass. Since it was his first time to come over and he wanted to know more about Mississippi, there was no better way than to bring him to our local museum. The sisters enjoyed a day off with him travelling through time in the newly restored national treasure, the Old Capitol Museum in downtown Jackson. We relished the state of the art display of artifacts and mementos complete with periodic taped reenactments of significant historical events of this great state.
Also in July, one of our Filipino sisters, Sr. Cecile had to return to the Philippines because her biological sister Lucy was critically ill. Unfortunately, Lucy eventually succumb to sepsis and passed away after a month of Sr. Cecile' arrival. May we commend her to your prayers. After taking care of some family matters and with permission from her community, Sr. Cecile is now back with us.
Also in the same month, we invited Sr. Pauline of Bacolod Carmel, Philippines who at the time was with her twin sister in Calgary, Canada. She came over to celebrate the solemnity of Our Lady with us and we were happy that she stayed longer. We extended an invitation for her to join our carmel for a few years which she and her home carmel fortunately accepted. Thanks be to God, her petition papers for her R-1 US visa as a religious worker is already approved and God willing she'll be here with us soon.
We welcomed the month of August with a ten day community retreat with Rev. Raphael Kitz, OCD. The themes were the immensity of God's love and faithfulness through all ages and the practice God's presence within and among us as we live our life of prayer amidst the challenges of living in community.
The last week of August came and the state of MS and the nation at large awakened in shock with the news of the brutal murder of two missionary sisters early in the morning of August 25 in their home in Durant. Sr. Paula of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky and Sr. Margaret of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee
were both nurse practitioners who selflessly devoted their lives operating a clinic in the county to cater to the medical needs of the people in the area and beyond regardless of their ability to pay for several years already. On August 29, the diocese of Jackson dedicated a memorial Mass for them which was presided by the Most Reverend Joseph Kopacz at St. Peter's Cathedral. Many symphatizers even from other religious denominations and those from out of state flocked to the cathedral to join the memorial. All priests and consecrated men and women of the diocese were encouraged by our Bishop to attend which we willingly complied.
Meanwhile, some sisters in our community got sick with varying kinds of respiratory infections one after another. We are grateful to Dr. William Loper III for rendering his services gratis et amore and by the grace of God, the infections abated.
In an effort to keep us updated, Fr. Kevin Slattery had a series of conferences with us once a week last September wherein we discussed the new apostolic constitution of Our Holy Father Pope Francis. On the last weekend of the month, Fr. Raphael Kitz, OCD stayed with us for a few days when he came for the secular members. He officiated in our daily conventual masses and we were delighted to hear his homilies once more.
Together with the unfolding of these events, the repair and maintenance of our monastery specifically the replacements of the portion of our enclosure wall which was previously damaged by a car accident, with new bricks as well as our rotten, wooden fire exit staircase with sturdy steel were also addressed. We also had to replace the malfunctioning airconditioning unit in the kitchen and install a new one in the old prioral office. So many things had to be done but as of now we need to wait for God's providence.
On October 1st, we celebrated the solemnity of St. Therese with a special mass with veneration of her relics and the usual blessing and distribution of roses for the attendees. Fr. Ralph Reyes, OCD also dropped by on his way to Mobile, Alabama to give a retreat to the secular members over the weekend. After which, he stayed with us for a couple of days and we were glad to hear some updates in the church and some current events in our order.
We celebrated the solemnity of our holy mother St. Teresa with a special mass with Rev. Kevin Slattery as the presider. We were joined by a large crowd of devotees, some being new faces who just recently learned about the presence of our monastery in the area. In his homily, Fr. Kevin emphasized the invaluable teachings of our holy mother on prayer and it's significance in our present times.
After the mass, he requested the congregation to join in prayer for the healing of Sr. Marie. After which he also gave her the anointing of the sick.
With Christmas just arround the corner, our kitchen is also bustling with activities as we are busy baking loads of brown breads and rum cakes for our bake sale. Please pray with us for a large turn out of foodie lovers.
Our diocese also launched the #iGiveCatholic on #GivingTuesday, a 24 hour online fund raising drive on November 29 from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. or one can opt for an advance day giving between November 18-28. We are one of the beneficiaries. One can visit www.iGiveCatholic.org and search for Carmelite Monastery of Jackson to pledge. Please join us in prayer for generous responders to this plea. The cumulative online pledge of a minimum of $25 can go a long way to alleviate the lives of others, in line with Our Holy Father's declaration of the extraordinary jubilee year of mercy.
See you again in our next QIC. Lots of love and prayers from all of us.
