 |
| Br. Ged and friends in Lourdes |
My name is Brother Gerard Walsh; I am a
Carmelite friar in first vows, living in our community in York, England. I am currently working in chaplaincy,
dividing my time between the University of York and the York Hospital. Earlier this year I applied and was accepted
for Solemn Profession of vows, which will take place at The Friars, Aylesford
in October. Here I will publically
profess the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to God, within the Order of
Carmelites, for life. Over the next
weeks I will blog how my preparation is progressing both practically and
spiritually. This is my third blog entry
. . . enjoy.
Best wishes
to all our visitors to the ‘Carmelite Street’ blog, it was great reading about
Brothers Severin and Kurt’s first vows and it certainly made me reflect on my
own forthcoming final vows, which take place in less than one month’s time.
Since my
last entry I have been busy with the on-going practical arrangements and it is
good to see things falling into to place.
I recently attended my friend’s wedding and saw the organisation that
went into that terrific day; I was glad that my own special day would be a
smaller affair. Happily the practical
side of my own celebration is progressing nicely and this enables me to focus more
on the spiritual side.
Last time I
blogged I was just about to commence the second part of my preparation
retreat. As I said, this was taking
place at the Carmelite Monastery of Thicket Priory, located just outside
York. What I didn’t tell you was that
Thicket is very special to me; it was where I began my Carmelite journey back in
2003. As someone discerning a religious
vocation, I was invited by our vocations director to attend a vocations retreat
there. I remember the occasion most
vividly and especially the walk up the long drive, that lead to the then
monastery, a large Victorian manor house.
Incidentally, in 2009 the nuns relocated to a smaller and more user
friendly, purpose-built monastery, located in some of the land of their
previous home.
On reflection,
it only seemed fitting, that I concluded the preparation for my final vows in
the same place I began this important journey of initial formation. The time I spent at Thicket was wonderful,
unfortunately the weather wasn’t very kind and this restricted me to the
comfortable flat that the nuns provide for relatives and friends. I built my day around the prayer of the
Church, which was celebrated with the nuns in choir. Each day, one of the local priests would come
and celebrate mass for us all. In between
the liturgy of the hours, I was left to my own direction. The flat was self-catering, so I would cook
for myself and spend the remainder of the time in prayer and reflection and
spiritual reading. The main feature of
this retreat was that it was spent in silence and solitude; this enabled me to
direct my thoughts towards what God was really asking of me.
Silence
seems to be a rare commodity in this world, our lives seem to be ruled by TV’s,
PC’s and anything that has a fruit sign!
It was important for me to be able to literally ‘retreat’ from all these
distractions and, in the words of the great Carmelite Saint, Teresa of Jesus,
to take time to be alone with Him, who we know loves us.
Best wishes,
love and prayers to all our readers, I pray especially for the students who are
either embarking on or returning to their university education at this time.
God bless,
Br. Ged, O.Carm.
Thanks Ged.
As Ged prepares for his Solemn Profession of Vows, maybe you could spend some time thinking about your own attitudes to commitment. Does commitment frighten me? is the prospect of making lifelong vows either in religious life or marriage a daunting prospect? Do I include God in this decision?
Remember that the place where God wants you to be, is where your deepest gladness meets the worlds deep hunger.
