Dear Friends, Family and Fellow Carmelites,

Once again spring has come to Oklahoma. This one is laden with drought, and the lack of rain has allowed the dry ground to be buffeted and swirled by the wind—spreading dust everywhere. The farmers may not have a wheat harvest and the ranchers will need to find ways to water their cattle. We keep praying for rain and see it falling everywhere but here. Of course too much rain is also dangerous and we have been praying for those areas in the U.S. where snow and flooding have been a problem.

The image of dry land is an appropriate one for Lent. At one time or another many of us feel we are in a personal drought—our souls dry, lifeless and without water (Ps. 63). We yearn for the Living Water of grace that many of the Lenten readings speak about. Jesus repeats to each of us; If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4). Yet, too many times we feel we are not worthy of God’s love and forgiveness and so we continue in our dry barren emptiness. Jesus yearns to fill that emptiness and promises, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him (John 7:37b-38). God can transform us if we trust in His promise and return to Him—and that is what Lent and Easter are all about: God’s total and unconditional love for each one of us.

Our life has been quite intense the last few months. Our new year began with a bang. . .literally! We replaced the parquet in two hallways due to water damage. Water had seeped under the floors leaving dark spots and causing wood to pop up in several areas. We had hoped to keep the parquet but decided to replace it with solid wood flooring. Many cracks were discovered in the cement and these were filled and a water barrier spread over both halls. We also stained and varnished the Chapel floors and replaced the area under the pews with tile.

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The last of January our ‘crew’ from Hartshorne also came to help us clear debris from the creek. We really appreciate the time the Ranallo clan give us. This year the weather was beautiful for them although we were not able to burn due to severe drought conditions in our area. On Friday it was 74 degrees and by Tuesday we had a below zero wind chill with blizzard conditions! In one week the state went from -36 to 80 degrees. . .a change of 100 degrees. We had planned to be out of the chapel for two Sunday’s but two blizzards in one week delayed the work for another week. Unfortunately the snow contained very little water content.
Of course all this work caused some creative shifting on our part. Our refectory became our chapel and the serving room our refectory. Once the installation of the flooring began we were displaced from our cells for several weeks. We found ‘refuge’ in different parts of the monastery and became a ‘pilgrim people’ as we moved from one area to another. This work created quite a dust storm and although we covered everything we could in plastic wrap and cleaned afterwards we are still finding dust. The work was completed the second week of March and this gave us just enough time to prepare for the meeting with our Father General Saverio Cannistrà from Rome.

Our monastery hosted the meeting for Carmelite Nuns from Associations throughout the United States. Due to space restrictions, attendance was limited to the Prioress and her delegate. The Nuns were pleased with the meeting. Prior to the General’s meeting, the Council for our association–Mary, Queen of Carmel arrived at the monastery to plan for the upcoming General Chapter in September. On March 19 we invited all the Nuns and Fathers Saverio, John Grennan (English Speaking Definitor) and Gregory (Provincial of Oklahoma Province) to our monastery for Vespers, dinner and a tour. We were quite a group!

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Following the meeting, the CCA (Carmelite Communities Associated) Council stayed to conduct their business meeting. Needless to say, we were tired but happy that all went so smoothly. We enjoyed a few days of needed R&R after the Sisters left on March 27th.
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Our postulant, Brooke Harris went into retreat that evening and received the habit during Morning Prayer on April 3rd (Laetarie Sunday). She is now Sister Brooke Marie of the Divine Mercy. We had a wonderful dinner tocelebrate the occasion, and topped it off with a Tres Leche cake for dessert. Please pray for her as she begins her journey to follow in the footsteps of Our Holy Mother St. Teresa. Present at Sr. Brooke Marie’s ceremony was Kristina Nelson, a young woman interested in Carmelite life from Duluth, Minnesota. Kristina spent a few days with us and is now considering if a Carmelite vocation is in her future.

Around mid December we learned that Bishop Paul Coakley from Salina, KS would be our new Archbishop. He was installed on February 11th at St. John’s in Edmond. We watched the installation on EWTN and were impressed at the number of bishops present. We were also glad to see Archbishop Quinn. We look forward to meeting Archbishop Coakley during the Easter season. We also want to thank Archbishop Eusebius Beltran for his years of service to the Church in Oklahoma.

We continue to ask your prayers for Fr. Kirk Larkin whose brain tumor has grown significantly. We were happy to have Fr. Larkin as our celebrant for Midnight Mass. Although he is dying, he spent his time living life to the full. He spoke about his ‘bucket list’ and how fortunate he was to have done all the things he wanted before he died. Fr. Elmer Schwarz concelebrated with Fr. Larkin. Please also remember Fr. John Magdalene, OCD in your prayers. Father survived a near fatal car accident in October and is still recovering from multiple injuries.

We wish all of you a Blessed Easter season. Love and prayers