JACKSON – The Discalced Carmelite nuns, Carmelite Seculars of the Diocese of Jackson and Father Bonaventure Sauer, OCD, provincial delegate, attended a Mass in the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz Saturday, June 6, in honor of the fifth centenary of the birth of St. Teresa of Avila. Retired Bishops Joseph Latino and William Houck concelebrated.
Father Sauer was the homilist and centered his message on the theme the sisters chose for this special anniversary, “keeping Christ present is what we of ourselves can do.” “We are called to a life of ‘keeping Christ present’ to ourselves in our families, our friendships, our work, our play, in the movements of our hearts, in the working and rumination, the prejudices and presumptions of our minds,” he said.
Father Sauer noted when it comes to prayer, we can learn to quiet ourselves, to gather up our scattered minds and still our busy hearts, setting aside all the internal clutter we are collecting each day, every day, all the stuff that is piling up like so many scraps of paper. “We can, very simply, strive to be still and, in that inner stillness, right here, right now, enter into the presence of Christ, our crucified and risen Lord.”
Members of the Carmelite order will continue celebrating this milestone for an entire year. All are invited to the monastery on Terry Road in Jackson for the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel on Sunday, July 19, at 7 p.m.