Silver gratitude

So, today's the day I officially become a Silver Sister! My silver jubilee: twenty-five years since I made my first vows to God, in the Society of the Sacred Heart. No profound words; just profound gratitude... for God's enduring and unlimited fidelity, patience and grace; for Love's irresistible call, and for the mystery of this gift and grace of vocation. I remain utterly bowled over and amazed at God's choice and call, even as I remain utterly convinced that this is what I was made for. 

But I will add a few more words. Yesterday I received a Twitter notification: someone had liked a reply I'd tweeted two months ago to a question asked of the Carmelite nuns about how long it takes to become a nun. And on the eve of my jubilee it was so good to be reminded that I'd written: You start becoming a nun the day you enter. You think you've "become a nun" when you make your vows. And in many ways you have. But actually, you discover you go on becoming a nun for many more years, as you can never stop growing, deepening, discovering, learning.

And it's sooo true! And that is the wonder of it, and the joy. I can never stop this journey into Love, through the open Heart of God in the heart of our world. A jubilee, like any milestone, is an opportunity to pause, to rejoice, reflect and give thanks - and then, renewed, to continue moving forward. You will see greater things... Jesus promised Nathanael, and says to me, today. 

The best is yet to come. The journey, and the jubilee, continue...