Th Singing Heart

By Sr. HopeTherese

The Lord has consecrated me

To help deaf hear and blind to see

I will repeat what needs to be said

Or tell you what I see up ahead

If my heart could talk it would bless every deed

That I can do for all those who are in need

My mouth can talk, joke, or sing with you

If you are lonely and feeling blue

If you are scared or confused and shed a tear

I can tell you that there is nothing to fear

If my heart could talk if would tell you how glad

I am to be comfort to those who are sad

My hands I can give to those to hold

Who have feelings that need not be told

To those who can no longer stride

My feet will give you a quick ride

If my heart could talk it would tell the bliss

Of such a joyful and humble service

With every good thing that I have got

I can be to those what they have not

I can ever joyful and happy be

Because no one can take my Lord from me

The most precious treasure is God's son

The best gift I can give anyone

If my heart could talk it would surely sing

The praises of Lord Jesus Christ our King

If my heart could sing it would sing the song

Of how God showed me just where I belong

In His Presence

By Sr. Hope Therese

I could praise and glorify your name

No words could give you your due acclaim

I could petition for something I think is best

You know what it is I want before I request

I could give to you a prayer of thanksgiving

Poor repayment for joy I have from living

I could pray for you to intercede

You know better than I what I need

I could worship and adore you in everything

I am not worthy to honor so great a king

It feels too little to offer the life I live

God always loves everything that I have to give

Faith and trust in the Lord can be enough

If you know God will help when things get rough

Give to God every single little worry and care

You can not see the future God is already there

He understands all that you are going through

He was also a human once just like you

Sometimes best friends do not have to say a word

What is on your mind has already been heard

My favorite prayer is just to be in his company

That is always the closest thing to heaven for me

My Thoughts On Vocation

Sr. Hope Therese

I am thrilled that I recently celebrated three years of religious life and love. Every year grows more beautiful in every way. I struggle to remember a time when I did not want to be a sister. As a young child playing nun I did not have a full understanding of the sacrificial love

required, but religious were so beautiful and admirable to me. I went to public school, so I knew very few religious. I was more enamored with concept of giving my life to Christ than with any individual who had done it. I wanted to give back to Lord after all he had given me.

It just seemed so natural. So the years passed. I graduated college and my mother asked if I still thought of religious life. I said yes, but I was not yet ready to give up the idea of being a mother. So I got a job as a COTA (Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant). I left the job because I felt it was not what God was calling me to do. I helped take care of my mother who was sick with breast cancer. When she got well she asked me again If I still thought of being a sister. The answer was a resounding yes. There were no more excuses. It was time.

 I visited other orders, but the as soon as I met the Carmelites I knew they were the ones. I discerned with them for a year. I entered three years ago on the day I prayed to enter a religious order on, St. Valentines day. The rest, as they say, is history. A sister once told me that God would never call me to someplace place I was unhappy. I can't say religious life has never been difficult for me, but I can say I have never been happier. I do not regret a moment of my life as a Carmelite Sister for the Aged and Infirm. The love and kindness of the sisters, staff, and residents here at Carmel Manor in Kentucky continues to increase my confidence and fulfillment in my vocation. Having the title of Sister in front of my name does not, in itself, make me me holier than anyone else. I am called to live out the love the title implies. Loving communion with, and service to God and those He puts in our path, absorbing and reflecting God's sacrificial love, and carrying out His will in our daily life are the the things that sanctify us.

 I have a religious vocation because I believe it gives me the grace to carry all of this out most effectively. Many people do not have vocations to religious life, but are still being sanctified just as, perhaps even more, effectively. There have been saints that have been lay people and saints that have been popes. What made them holy was that they followed God's will for them to the highest degree. The greatest title anyone can have is Child of God. Everyone created by God is a king or queen of the Lord's heart and should be treated with due love and respect. Anyone who is where they see love most clearly, experience love most fully, and give love most freely is living out their vocation. That is because God is love! All that will matter in the end is how well we loved.