Newsletter #23 - Easter Blessings
Dear friends of M.A.R.Y.,
The glory of Easter is here, and while we may have celebrated it differently this year than previously, we were no less enthusiastic and joyful! Our Holy Week and Easter Octave have been the quietest on record: no family visitors yet, few workmen, many Auxiliary members coming by with donations. May God bless you for your generosity to us!
We Sisters are well, having been spared the coronavirus, but we know families and friends who have been affected. We are not boasting! Hopefully all of you are well, and protected by the measures in place.
A couple of local geese have decided to “shelter-in-place” in our backyard, and have been spotted as high as the top of the tile roof on the chapel, or as low as the artificial pond. They are a nuisance, but they must feel “called” to Carmel to persist with us. Our God has made beautiful creatures that show forth His creativity…but do they have to show it forth here?
We wish you a joyful Spring and a beautiful Eastertide. We keep you in our prayers and never forget you before the Lord.
Gratefully in Christ,
Mother Mary Bethany and Sisters
Auxiliary News
Copyright: Divine Mercy Cliparts #3028343
Easter Blessings to you all! We are still in the midst of social distancing and closed businesses and stay-at-home orders. We miss going to Mass in our parishes and with our priests and friends. But hopefully you have all found ways to stay connected throughout the Triduum and celebrate the Risen Christ, by going online. This Sunday we celebrate Divine Mercy. Thomas J. McKenna of Catholic Action For Faith and Family writes, “At a time when we are all wondering how long this pandemic-induced anxiety and confinement to our homes will last, we need a word of hope and our Church offers the essential hope. During this pandemic, we may be asking how long will this last? Another month? Another year? How long will we be in the hurt? Pope John Paul II mentioned in his homily of the canonization Mass of St. Faustina Kowalska, April 30, 2000, that ‘no one can say. We are not given to know. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr. Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium.’”
The Sewing Group for the Auxiliary have made masks, and if any of you are unable to get a mask for yourself, please contact me and I will help you get one. This is one way we can be a support for you.
I want to thank all the people who have responded to our requests to support the Sisters, with your donations of food, of elastic for their masks, and of your monthly financial donations. This last has been extremely important for the Sisters, to meet their monthly bills. So thank you for your support!!
The Auxiliary Board met and discussed what all of this social distancing might do to our plans for the Luncheon this year. The short answer is that we really do not know what the rest of the year will look like. So we are leaving it in God’s hands and keeping our date of September 26 for the Luncheon, in hopes that everything will be back to normal by then. If not, we will look at perhaps an online auction option. ’Til then we will wait on the Lord.
If any of you would like to get a Holy Face Kit from us, and pray the Devotion to the Holy Face Chaplet, please email us and we will be happy to send you one. You can learn more on the website.
I would also remind you of my suggestion that we try to increase our numbers by each inviting one more person to join the Auxiliary in support of the Carmelite Sisters. They can sign up online at our website. Blessings to you and your families for this joyous Easter Season, albeit a strange one!
In Christ,
Patty MacEgan
President, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Auxiliary