My dear Friends
I thought I would write a little about Jonah today. Jonah had a mission to convert the people of Nineveh, but he was a reluctant prophet who ran away from his mission. He embarked on a long sea voyage in which there was a storm and the people thought they were dying. Jonah took this to mean that the wrath of God was against him and volunteered to jump into the sea to alleviate the storm. Once in the sea God arranged for him to be swallowed by a whale to preserve him.
Jonah was inside the whale for 3 days and 3 nights. He prayed fervently to God for all that time, a truly sublime prayer of repentance which God heard and saved him by having the fish spew Jonah out onto dry land. Jonah then decided to take up his mission and to preach to the people of Nineveh.
Can we ever escape from the hand of God? And if we truly have a mission can we ever turn our back on it? We would do well to heed Jonah's story. For it is in running away that we truly find ourselves, when God leads us gently back.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Benigna
My dear Friends
Last weekend I went to visit Benigna. Benigna is a sweet white haired 91 year old lady in whose house I lived for sixteen years. And what a beautiful house it is. 5 bedrooms and 3 reception rooms-a telly room, a dining room and an elegant drawing room complete with Blutner grand piano. Benigna still plays and has several pupils, and I remember all the music-making we used to do together, while she played and I sang.
Benigna is also very hospitable to all visitors, inviting the poor and the lonely into her lovely home. The house has an extended garden and at the bottom of the garden is a wooden hut which served as a chapel for The Little Sisters of Joy for a time. Indeed it was in Benigna's house that The Little Sisters of Joy officially began, on the 7th March 1999 in the upper room. Maryvonne le Goanvic and I got together and founded it and it has really grown, as youo know.
Sometimes now Benigna's memory is not what it once was and she needs reminding of people and places, but then she comes alive when the memories come back. Hundreds of people have passed through her house and been touched by it and there is a nice Indian family living there today-they look after Beninga and care for her.
So-happpy memories for me!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Last weekend I went to visit Benigna. Benigna is a sweet white haired 91 year old lady in whose house I lived for sixteen years. And what a beautiful house it is. 5 bedrooms and 3 reception rooms-a telly room, a dining room and an elegant drawing room complete with Blutner grand piano. Benigna still plays and has several pupils, and I remember all the music-making we used to do together, while she played and I sang.
Benigna is also very hospitable to all visitors, inviting the poor and the lonely into her lovely home. The house has an extended garden and at the bottom of the garden is a wooden hut which served as a chapel for The Little Sisters of Joy for a time. Indeed it was in Benigna's house that The Little Sisters of Joy officially began, on the 7th March 1999 in the upper room. Maryvonne le Goanvic and I got together and founded it and it has really grown, as youo know.
Sometimes now Benigna's memory is not what it once was and she needs reminding of people and places, but then she comes alive when the memories come back. Hundreds of people have passed through her house and been touched by it and there is a nice Indian family living there today-they look after Beninga and care for her.
So-happpy memories for me!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Newsletter no 13
'The harvest of righteousness shall be sown in peace by those who make peace.' (St James)
FRIENDS OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF JOY
An ecumenical foundation of prayer, peace and reconciliation
My dear Friends
Finally the long cold winter is over and everything has yielded to spring, with leaves and trees budding. The last 6 months has been a mixed time for me, after my return from that radiant trip to Ireland; my health has not been good and I have been suffering from nervous tension.
On the bright side though, there have been a few key events in the life of The Little Sisters of Joy. In January on Tu Bishvat, the Jewish New year for Trees, we held our annual celebration, this time to commemorate the 11th anniversary of The Little Sisters of Joy. It was held in the beautiful home of Kitty Stidworthy, one of our Associates and about 10 people were present. We all brought food and drink to share.After a little while, I gave an overview of the Foundation and its progress to date and then we all chatted happily. At the end, Kitty read out her translations from the Rusian poems of Tarkovsky, son of the filmaker and this was reallly moving. Kitty is a fine poet in her own right.
February/March saw the move into Lent, culminating in Holy Week. On the Monday of that week I co-hosted a Passover Seder at Sawston Parish Church, singing the Hebrew music of my childhood. About 45 people were ther from different churches, including the Anglicans and the people from the Free Church. Fr Dick Healy, from the large Catholic Church in Cambridge, was the co-celebrant and the 'Father' for the evening. while I was the 'Mother.' The ritual foods looked lovely on the table and the kosher wine was delicious.
The Seder dish with places for the Bitter Herbs, the shankbone of the lamb, the roasted egg, the haroseth and the green vegetables.
Last week I made a trip to Ware in Hertfordshire to see the Carmelite Sisters. Where is Ware? I can hear you say. Ware is halfway between Cambridge and London on the A10. The Carmel foundation dates back to Elijah the prophet and Mount Carmel in Israel. a A grouup of hermits gathered round the mountain and many years later the Carmelite Order was founded, being reformed later by St Teresa of Avila.
The monastery is on a hill, which is very Gospel based. I attended a lovely Mass, with a good priest, preaching a fine sermon about our vocation in life. This took place in the beautiful little chapel adjacent to the monastery. Afterwards I chatted at lenght with one of the Sisters who is my special friend and who entered in 1951, the year of my birth. We covered all aspects of my current life and then I had a lovely lunch, provided by the Sisters. A short walk followed, along the road which leads to a farm, before I returned to chat to my friend. Then I left to go back to Cambridge.
This week I was due to give a talk on my religious journey to a group of Anglicans, but adverse circumstances made it not possible to do so. Here are the first few lines of the talk:
'I was born in London in 1951 into an Orthodox Jewish family. My father took me to the Synagogue at a very early age and I loved it. I also loved the Sabbath and the Festivals. I went to a Jewish primary school until age 11 we moved to Glasgow.'
I have had a long and interesting journey and am now taking a bit of a Sabbatical. I hope to go to Provence in the summer and I wish you all happy journeys.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Clare Priory
My dear Friends
I have just had a visit to Clare Priory, which is in Suffolk. This 750 year old monastic foundation is in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, near the villages of Cavendish and Long Melford, which boast very fine churches.
Clare Priory is a little comunity of four priests and 2 lay women living and praying together. They welcome guests of all denominations and you are free to 'do your own thing' without any set programme. I went to rest and to pray, and was given a lovely room in the guest house overlooking the garden.
The grounds are not extensive but are very pleasant, and there is a little rose garden which is particularly beautiful. I spent quite a lot of time sitting outside as the weather was mainly very sunny.
Prayers, if you want to participate in them, are three times a day before meals (which are delicious!) with Mass every day as well. This takes place in the Oratory in the main building which is finely decorated inside. In the grounds stands the Parish Church, a dark and contemplative place which is open all day.
The Priory is adjacent to the river and there are some lovely walks, although the family of swans seems to have disappeared for the moment. apparently there is an extensive family of ducklings which I unfortunately did not see, although I did the last time I visited. Apart from being by the river I wandered into the village of Clare close by and had a drink or two in the Bell Inn-the guiness was delicious!
Ivisited the majestic Parish Anglican Church, huge and quite bare inside. It spans both side of the road in the very centre of the village and is well worth a visit.
Last night a young woman from Northern Ireland arrived at the Priory and we had a long walk in the surrounding countryside;altogether a lovely peaceful time!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
I have just had a visit to Clare Priory, which is in Suffolk. This 750 year old monastic foundation is in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, near the villages of Cavendish and Long Melford, which boast very fine churches.
Clare Priory is a little comunity of four priests and 2 lay women living and praying together. They welcome guests of all denominations and you are free to 'do your own thing' without any set programme. I went to rest and to pray, and was given a lovely room in the guest house overlooking the garden.
The grounds are not extensive but are very pleasant, and there is a little rose garden which is particularly beautiful. I spent quite a lot of time sitting outside as the weather was mainly very sunny.
Prayers, if you want to participate in them, are three times a day before meals (which are delicious!) with Mass every day as well. This takes place in the Oratory in the main building which is finely decorated inside. In the grounds stands the Parish Church, a dark and contemplative place which is open all day.
The Priory is adjacent to the river and there are some lovely walks, although the family of swans seems to have disappeared for the moment. apparently there is an extensive family of ducklings which I unfortunately did not see, although I did the last time I visited. Apart from being by the river I wandered into the village of Clare close by and had a drink or two in the Bell Inn-the guiness was delicious!
Ivisited the majestic Parish Anglican Church, huge and quite bare inside. It spans both side of the road in the very centre of the village and is well worth a visit.
Last night a young woman from Northern Ireland arrived at the Priory and we had a long walk in the surrounding countryside;altogether a lovely peaceful time!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
The Cat Flap
My dear Friends
Have you ever done amy voluntry work? Volunteering is a good way to get to know people and to use your skills. In the past I have worked with the elderly and also in the Oxfam shop in Cambridge, although my skills with a till are not very good.I have also worked with the Women's Royal Voluntary Service in the local hospital, washing dishes and serving meals, a job which I quite enjoyed.
Now I am branching out into the world of cats, albeit at secondhand. There is a charity shop in Cambridge called The Cat Flap, selling all kinds of items and probably even something for cats! So as I have a beautiful pussy cat called Thomas I am giving it a go, maybe twice a week. It's a bus ride away, over the bridge in Mill Road in a bustling international neighbourhood so it will be fun. Wish me luck!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Have you ever done amy voluntry work? Volunteering is a good way to get to know people and to use your skills. In the past I have worked with the elderly and also in the Oxfam shop in Cambridge, although my skills with a till are not very good.I have also worked with the Women's Royal Voluntary Service in the local hospital, washing dishes and serving meals, a job which I quite enjoyed.
Now I am branching out into the world of cats, albeit at secondhand. There is a charity shop in Cambridge called The Cat Flap, selling all kinds of items and probably even something for cats! So as I have a beautiful pussy cat called Thomas I am giving it a go, maybe twice a week. It's a bus ride away, over the bridge in Mill Road in a bustling international neighbourhood so it will be fun. Wish me luck!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Friday, 21 May 2010
My religious journey (Part 3)
In August 1999 I went to see my Bishop Peter Smith to tell him of my calling, of founding a religious community. He was very sympathetic and asked me to write a Rule of Life. I woke up the next day on the Feast of the Assumption and wrote 6 pages under the guidance of the Holy spirit. Constitutions followed over the next few years. David and I were divorced and annulled in the year 2000. But although I recruited as best i could, no-one has come to join me. I started an Association of Friends, sending them a Newsletter twice a year and now The Little Sisters of Joy is turning into a foundation for Peace and a registered charity.
This has come about in a rather unusual way. IN July 2004 I went to see my present Bishop, Michael Evans, about The LIttle Sisters of Joy.It was not altogether a fruitful meeting, but it was still something of a shock when he rejected the whole thing in a letter in November of that year. Carry on with the peace and reconciliation, he said but you have not suffered enough to found a religious community and yor gifts can be better used elsewhere. 4 days later, in the middle of the night, I felt moved to look for at a book of music. I went into my living room and my hand fell on the Canadian Book of Catholic Worship. All the hymns that I loved from all over the world were contained in that little book and I spent most of the night weeping. I felt that all the seminal moments in my life were coming together and fusing into one question from God: 'Will you go back to Toronto?' I slept again for a little while and at 8am went into my living romm where from the window I could see the first frost.
Later that day and all through the coming week, I felt that god was asking me to set up a Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, based on the Friends I had gthered. I felt the presence of mary very strongly, while I was 'giving birth' to this Foundation.
At the turn of the year I decided to look into emigration to Canada. I decided I might as well go the whole way. At the same time I decided to make a trip to toronto. I stayed with the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blodd on Madison Avenue, a central location near the University, which I also explored. The Sisters' house was very nurturing and I made my daily excursions from there quite happily, enjoying the delights of this lovely city. I went to the local Churches and the Cathedral for Mass.
I made 2 subsequent visits to Toronto and on one occasion met the new Archbishop. tom Collins, who issued a welcome for me to bring a community over there. He listened to the last page of my Constitutions and said: 'They are beautiful, Gila, especially the part about hospitality.' I even found a building which I thought would be suitablee for a Motherhouse for The Little Sisters of Joy-the location was near to the place I was staying in, with Gary, a Jewish man and his wife EMiko.
On my 3rd visit I went to stay with my cousins near Calgary but on my return my illness reared its ugly head again and I landed in the psychiatric hospital, where I decided I could no longer emigrate after all. Sinsce then things have gone quiet and I patiently await God's will for the next step.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
This has come about in a rather unusual way. IN July 2004 I went to see my present Bishop, Michael Evans, about The LIttle Sisters of Joy.It was not altogether a fruitful meeting, but it was still something of a shock when he rejected the whole thing in a letter in November of that year. Carry on with the peace and reconciliation, he said but you have not suffered enough to found a religious community and yor gifts can be better used elsewhere. 4 days later, in the middle of the night, I felt moved to look for at a book of music. I went into my living room and my hand fell on the Canadian Book of Catholic Worship. All the hymns that I loved from all over the world were contained in that little book and I spent most of the night weeping. I felt that all the seminal moments in my life were coming together and fusing into one question from God: 'Will you go back to Toronto?' I slept again for a little while and at 8am went into my living romm where from the window I could see the first frost.
Later that day and all through the coming week, I felt that god was asking me to set up a Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, based on the Friends I had gthered. I felt the presence of mary very strongly, while I was 'giving birth' to this Foundation.
At the turn of the year I decided to look into emigration to Canada. I decided I might as well go the whole way. At the same time I decided to make a trip to toronto. I stayed with the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blodd on Madison Avenue, a central location near the University, which I also explored. The Sisters' house was very nurturing and I made my daily excursions from there quite happily, enjoying the delights of this lovely city. I went to the local Churches and the Cathedral for Mass.
I made 2 subsequent visits to Toronto and on one occasion met the new Archbishop. tom Collins, who issued a welcome for me to bring a community over there. He listened to the last page of my Constitutions and said: 'They are beautiful, Gila, especially the part about hospitality.' I even found a building which I thought would be suitablee for a Motherhouse for The Little Sisters of Joy-the location was near to the place I was staying in, with Gary, a Jewish man and his wife EMiko.
On my 3rd visit I went to stay with my cousins near Calgary but on my return my illness reared its ugly head again and I landed in the psychiatric hospital, where I decided I could no longer emigrate after all. Sinsce then things have gone quiet and I patiently await God's will for the next step.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thursday, 20 May 2010
My religious journey (Part 2)
At the end of the week things calmed down and I came into a kind of haven. But the road to baptism was not easy-it took until Easter 1989 until I was received into the Catholic Church.It was a glorious night at the Easter Vigil and I was baptised and confirmed and recieved Holy Communion in the peace which passeth all understanding.
In June 1989 I went back to Israel for the first time in 21 years. It was a momentous time. I made a retreat on the Mountain of Beatitudes with Sr Noboko of the Little Sisters of Jesus.
I also visted Neve Shalom/Wahaat al Salaam/ Oasis of Peace, a community of Jews and Palestinians living together in the Ayalon Valley. Each child learns Hebrew and Arabic in the School for Peace. The community was founded by Fr Bruno Hussar, a Catholic priest from an Egyptian Jewish background. HIs autobiography is called 'When the cloud lifts.' One day it lifted and God spoke and asked him to found a community of Jews and Palestinians living together. A tall order, but he started. At first only a few hippies came to help him and he said to the Lord: 'If you dont send a family of Jews and Palestinians within a week, I'm quitting!'But they came. Fr Bruno led me down to the Dumiyah, a building with a white shaped dome whose name means deep silence. As I stood inside facing Fr Bruno, I felt I had come home.
Later that year I met more of The Little Sisters of Jesus and felt it was my destiny to become one of them. But they finally rejected me in 1998. A month later I went to the Sisters of Pomeyrol in Provence. In the House of Silence I felt I received a call to found a new religious community of women. On my return to Paris I met Cardinal Lustiger and took a vow of celibacy before hime. Then I met Maryvonne le Goanvic and we officially founded The Little Sisters of Joy on the 7 March 1999 in the upper room of 22 Newton Road Cambridge. We hope to start the community in Israel, but Maryvonne told me the following year that she could not continue as she could not live the vow of poverty. I continued to live a normal consecrated life and returned to Israel for 3 months that spring. It was a marvellous time and I felt a reconciliation of opposites within my deepest being.
(To be continued)
Shalom from
Sister Gila
In June 1989 I went back to Israel for the first time in 21 years. It was a momentous time. I made a retreat on the Mountain of Beatitudes with Sr Noboko of the Little Sisters of Jesus.
I also visted Neve Shalom/Wahaat al Salaam/ Oasis of Peace, a community of Jews and Palestinians living together in the Ayalon Valley. Each child learns Hebrew and Arabic in the School for Peace. The community was founded by Fr Bruno Hussar, a Catholic priest from an Egyptian Jewish background. HIs autobiography is called 'When the cloud lifts.' One day it lifted and God spoke and asked him to found a community of Jews and Palestinians living together. A tall order, but he started. At first only a few hippies came to help him and he said to the Lord: 'If you dont send a family of Jews and Palestinians within a week, I'm quitting!'But they came. Fr Bruno led me down to the Dumiyah, a building with a white shaped dome whose name means deep silence. As I stood inside facing Fr Bruno, I felt I had come home.
Later that year I met more of The Little Sisters of Jesus and felt it was my destiny to become one of them. But they finally rejected me in 1998. A month later I went to the Sisters of Pomeyrol in Provence. In the House of Silence I felt I received a call to found a new religious community of women. On my return to Paris I met Cardinal Lustiger and took a vow of celibacy before hime. Then I met Maryvonne le Goanvic and we officially founded The Little Sisters of Joy on the 7 March 1999 in the upper room of 22 Newton Road Cambridge. We hope to start the community in Israel, but Maryvonne told me the following year that she could not continue as she could not live the vow of poverty. I continued to live a normal consecrated life and returned to Israel for 3 months that spring. It was a marvellous time and I felt a reconciliation of opposites within my deepest being.
(To be continued)
Shalom from
Sister Gila
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