Gaudete, gratitude and rosy rejoicing

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing... ~ Isaiah 35: 1-2 (opening words of today's first reading)

Twenty-nine years ago today, I made my First Vows as a Religious of the Sacred Heart. Whenever I look back on that day, my strongest memory is of the joy which permeated every fibre of my being: a joy born of wonder at God's choice of me - me!?! - with all my flaws and limitations; and profound gratitude for this inexplicable, unmerited choice, and call. The following day was Gaudete Sunday, when, as I have written before, my own, personal rejoicing flowed into the Church's universal joy and celebration of the God who is not only near, but already among us. 

Every year, I celebrate this anniversary with my own quiet joy and ongoing gratitude and wonder. It always falls sometime around Gaudete Sunday: this year, the two have combined - a double, rosy reason for rejoicing! A double reason to rejoice and give thanks for Jesus's Heart, and for the gift and grace of being called to journey into its depths; a journey into Love, which is also a journey into the heart of our wounded, aching and beautiful world. A double reason for gratitude for being called to love, and to make Love known, and for everyone who has encouraged and challenged and helped me to live this vocation. A twofold reason to give thanks for God's patient, enduring fidelity; for every ounce of copious grace; and for every moment when I have known his steadfast, strengthening presence, and found his love in sometimes unexpected guises. And yes; an extra, rosy reason to look back with awed delight at times when my aridity and weaknesses have been transformed, and have indeed blossomed like a crocus, pushing through icy, winter-hardened soil, to announce the imminence of spring and burgeoning new life...

And today, trusting in the fidelity of God and the love of my sisters, I renew with all my heart the vows that I have made, and seek to live with all my heart... and - with awe and astonishment at the passing of the years - look forward to the beginning of my thirtieth year as a vowed RSCJ. As I head towards this new milestone, may my joy always be in Jesus, whose tender, all-encompassing, faithful and unconditional love is truly inexhaustible!