A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 15:9-17 Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more, because a s ..read more

https://www.thecarmelitecentremelbourne.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-25-April-MP3.mp3 Meditation for Thursday 25th April 2024 “Meditation is a particular attitude to the things we experience in life, or way of relating to life, that holds the promise of both alleviating our suffering and making our lives rich and meaningful.”(1) When meditating we are attuned to our moment-to-moment experience thus giving us a direct insight into how our minds create unnecessary anguish. When our minds topple forward into worries meditation helps bring us back to the relative safety of the present momen ..read more

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 15:1 – 8 Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more. You are pruned already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you. Make your home in me, as I make mine in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me,  with me in him, bears ..read more

https://www.thecarmelitecentremelbourne.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-18-April-MP3.mp3 Meditation for Thursday 18th April 2024 Meditation is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end. We meditate so that “the bridge of illusion can be brought down before a real bridge can be constructed over which human beings can pass over to reality.”(1) With the war in the Middle East, the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine and daily reports of violence in our communities it is our task to resist violence without absorbing the very poison that feeds it; anger, paranoia and the thirst for ..read more

https://www.thecarmelitecentremelbourne.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-April-Divine-Beauty-Centering-Prayer.mp3 Over the last few months we have reflected on themes of Peace and Gratitude, Choosing Life, and this month Divine Beauty, using John O’Donohue’s book of that title. John O’Donohue tells us: ~ At birth we were awakened and emerged to become visible to the world. At death, we will surrender again to the dark to become invisible…awakening and surrender: they frame each day and each life. When the Celts…or the Ancient Greeks searched for meaning they raised their eyes beyond the horizon t ..read more

https://www.thecarmelitecentremelbourne.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-April-11-mp3.mp3 Meditation for Thursday 11th April 2024 Posture is important when meditating as when we sit straight this helps to stabilize the mind. Our breathing should be slow, smooth, and natural and our eyes gently closed or in a soft gaze. Our attitude is one of letting go of everything and resting in the effortless state of no-mind. We are in a state on non-doing. We are sitting and forgetting. This moment of meditation is a time when we engage in no activity or connect with anything that is perceived. We have ..read more

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 24:35-48 The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of the bread. They were still talking about this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts?  Look at my hands and feet; yes it is indeed.  Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have ..read more

https://www.thecarmelitecentremelbourne.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-Apr-4-MP3.mp3 Meditation for Thursday April 4, 2024 Back to basics; I’ve taken the liberty of quoting liberally from the University of New England’s website material about meditation. “Meditation is the practice of uncritically and non-judgmentally attempting to focus your attention on one ‘thing’ at a time and gently letting go of distractions as they inevitably come into your mind. This one ‘thing’ is usually called the object of attention and may be a word, a phrase or simply being mindful and aware of the sensation ..read more

Scripture Reading John 20: 1-9  It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’   So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but ..read more

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 20:19-31 In the evening of the same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.  Jesus came and stood among them.  He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and showed them his hands and his side.  The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me so I am sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are fo ..read more