October

October

For us Carmelites the month of October is very significant. In addition to being dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the Rosary, October opens with the feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux, and continues, on the 15th with the feast of Saint Teresa of Avila, whom we call Our Mother (because she reformed and founded Carmel).

In Bozoum one of the 3 sector chapels is dedicated to Saint Teresa and at the end of last week a few days were taken aside for reflection and preparation. On Sunday we celebrated the feast right in this chapel. It was an opportunity to pray to Saint Teresa and ask her to be our guide for our Christian life.

Late that morning I left for Bangui. The road has gotten even worse!  It took over 3 hours to travel the first 80 km. The construction that began over a month and a half ago, has halted: only 10 km have been started, but without compacting or adding of any material, so it is very rough terrain.

Monday is the actual day of the liturgical feast of St Teresa, which I celebrated with the Carmel community in Bangui.  Saint Teresa founded many monasteries and every time she opened a new one she was happy to offer God a house that friars or nuns would have filled with prayer and fraternal life. I stayed in Bangui for three days, from Tuesday to Thursday, to work with the Caritas from other dioceses, and reflect on the work that’s been done and all that remains on the to-do list! There were bishops, priests, sisters and lay people, all committed to being "the hands of the heart of the Church", as Pope Paul VI said.