Auxiliary Bishop William Waltersheid left Pittsburgh last month for the Australian Outback, where he preached a retreat to the discalced Carmelite nuns of Mathoura. In a Dec. 2 reflection for the diocesan website, he shared about the Advent wisdom he found there.
Bishop Waltersheid explained that the nuns live in notable simplicity. He wrote that the prioress, Mother Marian Joseph, greeted him by saying, “Welcome to our Third World Carmel!”
The sisters have no permanent monastery, and even the chapel and chapter room are located under a large tent. In his reflection, he said the religious sisters’ circumstances brought to mind a line in John’s Gospel: the Word “dwelt among us,” adding that the Greek verb for “dwelt” can mean “to pitch a tent.”
“Certainly, Our Lord pitched a tent in Mathoura and His brides are dwelling in His Eucharistic Presence there,” the bishop wrote.
Bishop Waltersheid wrote that Mother Joseph expressed surprise at the distance he had traveled, telling him, “It is hard to imagine that Your Excellency has flown one halfway around the world to come to this place in the middle of the outback.”
“Actually, the nuns have done the same,” he wrote, “They have come to a place that is filled with hardship and sacrifice, not for a visit, but to spend their lives.”
“They have found Bethlehem there,” he said, “the place where Jesus is born day after day and is presented to the world.”
He reflected on Bethlehem as being “wherever you meet the Savior and adore Him!”
The Carmelites’ dedication to prayer also brought to mind the Advent call to watchfulness. The sisters maintain prayerful vigil before the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day, offering intercession for the Church, clergy, and anyone who asks for their prayers. Locals call them “the Angels on the Hill,” a title the bishop said they live up to through their hidden but powerful spiritual work.
Another Advent grace was the bishop’s sense of the Blessed Mother’s presence in their community. When Mother Marian Joseph asked, “Can you feel it here?” he immediately replied, “Of course, Our Lady is strongly present here.”
“You feel enveloped by the consoling and powerful presence of the Woman whom Jesus from the Cross gave to us to be our Mother,” he wrote. “Advent is really a pilgrimage of faith and hope with Our Lady from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The nuns of Mathoura are on this pilgrimage every day of their lives.”
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