Lectio Divina July 2017
Pope's Prayer Intentions for July 2017
Lapsed Christians
That our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life.
Lectio Divina July- Julio - Luglio 2017
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- Saturday, July 1, 2017
- Sunday, July 2, 2017
- Monday, July 3, 2017
- Tuesday, July 4, 2017
- Wednesday, July 5, 2017
- Thursday, July 6, 2017
- Friday, July 7, 2017
- Saturday, July 8, 2017
- Sunday, July 9, 2017
- Monday, July 10, 2017
- Tuesday, July 11, 2017
- Wednesday, July 12, 2017
- Thursday, July 13, 2017
- Friday, July 14, 2017
- Saturday, July 15, 2017
- Sunday, July 16, 2017
- Sunday, July 16, 2017
- Monday, July 17, 2017
- Tuesday, July 18, 2017
- Wednesday, July 19, 2017
- Thursday, July 20, 2017
- Friday, July 21, 2017
- Saturday, July 22, 2017
- Sunday, July 23, 2017
- Monday, July 24, 2017
- Tuesday, July 25, 2017
- Wednesday, July 26, 2017
- Thursday, July 27, 2017
- Friday, July 28, 2017
- Saturday, July 29, 2017
- Sunday, July 30, 2017
- Monday, July 31, 2017
Lectio Divina: Matthew 13,36-43
1) Opening prayer
Lord, God of our fathers,
through Saints Joachim and Anne
You gave us the Mother of Your Incarnate Son.
May their prayers help us
to attain the salvation
You promised to Your people. Amen.
• Matthew 13,36: The request of the disciples to Jesus: the explanation of the parable of the wheat grain and the darnel. The disciples, in the house, speak and ask for an explanation of the parable of the wheat grain and the darnel. (Mt 13,24-30). It has been said many times that Jesus, in the house, continued to teach his disciples (Mk 7,17; 9,28.33; 10,10). At that time, there was no television and people spent together the long winter evenings to speak about the facts and events of life. On these occasions, Jesus completed the teaching and the formation of his disciples.
• Matthew 13,38-39: The meaning of each one of the elements of the parable. Jesus responds taking again each one of these elements of the parable and giving them significance: the field is the world; the good seed are the members of the Kingdom; the darnel is the members of the adversary (the evil one); the enemy is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, the reapers are the angels. And now reread the parable (Mt 13,24-30) giving to each one of these six elements: field, good seed, darnel, enemy, harvest and reapers, the right significance. In this way the story assumes a completely new sense and it is possible to attain the objective that Jesus had in mind when he told people the parable of the darnel and the good seed. Some think that this parable should be understood as an allegory and not as a parable properly so called.
• Matthew 13,40-43: The application of the parable or of the allegory. With the information given by Jesus, you will understand better its application: Just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of failing and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the upright will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father”.
The destiny of the darnel is the furnace; the destiny of the grain is to shine like the sun in the Kingdom of the Father. Behind these two images there is the experience of the persons. After they have listened to Jesus and have accepted him in their life, everything has changed for them. This means that in Jesus what they expected has taken place: the fulfilment of the promises. Now life is divided into before and after having accepted Jesus in their life. The new life has begun with the splendour of the sun. If they would have continued to live as before, they would be like the darnel in the furnace, life without meaning, which is good for nothing.
• Parable and Allegory. There is the parable. There is the allegory. There is the mixture of both which is the more common form. Generally, everything in the parable is a call. In the Gospel of today, we have the example of an allegory. An allegory is a story which a person tells, but when she is telling it, she does not think about the elements of the story, but about the theme which has to be clarified. In reading an allegory it is not necessary first to look at the story as a whole, because in an allegory the story is not constructed around a central point which later serves as a comparison, but rather each element has its own independent function, starting from the sense which it receives. It is a question of discovering what each element of the two stories tries to tell us about the Kingdom, as the explanation which Jesus gave of the parable: field, good seed, darnel, enemy, harvest, reapers. Generally the parables are also allegories, a mixture of both.
• Have you tried to speak with other persons to discover the sense of some parable?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, your faithful love is in the heavens,
your constancy reaches to the clouds,
your saving justice is like towering mountains,
your judgements like the mighty deep. (Ps 36,5-6)
The Closing of the 450th Anniversary of the Birth of St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi
The 25th of May, the feast of St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, marked the closure of the 450th anniversary of her birth, a celebration that began on the 2nd of April, 2016 (see CITOC-online 23/2016). The Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, led the celebration of the Eucharist at the Carmelite monastery in Florence where the body of this great Carmelite mystic is venerated.
The final celebration was attended by the nuns and friars who were taking part in the International Course on St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi taking place in Sassone (see CITOC-online 35/2017) and who in the afternoon visited the ancient monastery (now the location of the diocesan seminary), the monastery that the saint originally entered. A report of the day’s proceedings along with a selection of photographs may be found on the webpage at our website or on our Facebook page.
Provincial Chapter of the Neapolitan Province
During the Provincial Chapter of the Neapolitan Province held on 12-14 June 2017 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Enrico Ronzini, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Fr. Francesco Ciaccia, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Fr. Domenico Fiore, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Giovanni Cimmino, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Br. Antonio Di Sarno, O.Carm.
Extraordinary Provincial Chapter of the German Province
During the extraordinary Provincial Chapter of the German Province held on 3 June 2017 was elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Peter Schröder, O.Carm.
Lectio Divina June 2017
Pope's Prayer Intentions for June 2017
National Leaders
That national leaders may firmly commit themselves to ending the arms trade, which victimizes so many innocent people.
Lectio Divina June- Junio - Giugno 2017
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- Thursday, June 1, 2017
- Friday, June 2, 2017
- Saturday, June 3, 2017
- Sunday, June 4, 2017
- Monday, June 5, 2017
- Tuesday, June 6, 2017
- Wednesday, June 7, 2017
- Thursday, June 8, 2017
- Friday, June 9, 2017
- Saturday, June 10, 2017
- Sunday, June 11, 2017
- Monday, June 12, 2017
- Tuesday, June 13, 2017
- Wednesday, June 14, 2017
- Thursday, June 15, 2017
- Friday, June 16, 2017
- Saturday, June 17, 2017
- Sunday, June 18, 2017
- Monday, June 19, 2017
- Tuesday, June 20, 2017
- Wednesday, June 21, 2017
- Thursday, June 22, 2017
- Friday, June 23, 2017
- Saturday, June 24, 2017
- Sunday, June 25, 2017 - 14
- Monday, June 26, 2017
- Tuesday, June 27, 2017
- Wednesday, June 28, 2017
- Thursday, June 29, 2017
- Friday, June 30, 2017
Lectio Divina: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Renouncing all to follow Jesus
"No one who prefers father or mother to me
is worthy of Me!"
Matthew 10:37-42
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
b) A division of the text to help with the reading:
Matthew 10:37: Love of Jesus must be above love of father and mother and children
Matthew 10:38: The cross is part of the following of Jesus
Matthew 10:39: To know how to lose one’s life so as to keep it
Matthew 10:40-41: Jesus identifies Himself with the missionary and the disciple
Matthew 10:42: The least deed done to one of the least is rewarded
b) A key to the reading:
In the 13th Sunday of ordinary time, we meditate on the last section of the Discourse on Mission (Mt 10:1-42). This discourse contains words and counsels of Jesus, teaching us to carry out the mission of proclaiming the Good News of God. Jesus does not deceive, and points out clearly the difficulties that this mission implies. As we read this text, it is good to pay attention to what follows: “What is Jesus’ basic demand of those who go on mission?”
c) Text:
37 'No one who prefers father or mother to Me is worthy of Me. No one who prefers son or daughter to Me is worthy of Me. 38 Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in My footsteps is not worthy of Me. 39 Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for My sake will find it.
40 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes Me; and anyone who welcomes Me welcomes the one who sent Me. 41 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he is righteous will have the reward of a righteous person. 42 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What part of the text touched you most? Why?
b) What recommendations does this text hold for us? What is its basic demand?
c) Jesus says, "No one who prefers father or mother to Me is worthy of Me” – How are we to understand this statement?
d) What does the text tell us about the mission we must undertake as disciples of Jesus?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the topic
a) The context of our text in the Gospel of Matthew:
The Gospel of Matthew organizes the words and actions of Jesus around five great discourses: (i) Matthew 5 to 7: The Sermon on the Mount describes the gateway to the Kingdom. (ii) Matthew 10: the Discourse on the Mission describes the way those who follow Jesus must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom and the difficulties involved. (iii) Matthew 13: the Discourse of the Parables, by means of parallels taken from daily life, Jesus reveals the presence of the Kingdom in people’s lives. (iv) Matthew 18: the Discourse on Community describes how Christians ought to live together in such a way that the community becomes a revelation of the Kingdom. (v) Matthew 24 and 25: the Eschatological Discourse describes the future coming of the Kingdom of God. Through this literary device, Matthew imitates the five books of the Pentateuch, and thus presents the Good News of the Kingdom as the New Law of God.
In the Discourse on the Mission (Mt 10:1-42), the Evangelist puts together words and recommendations of Jesus that shed light on the difficult situation of the Judeo-Christians towards the second half of the first century. He wants to encourage them not to lose heart in spite of the many and grave difficulties they have to face in proclaiming the Good News to the brothers and sisters of their race. It is indeed at this time, the 80’s, that the Jews are recovering from the disaster of the destruction of Jerusalem which took place in the 70’s, and are beginning to reorganize themselves in the regions of Syria and Galilee. A tension is growing between the “Synagogue” and the “Ecclesia”. This tension, source of much suffering and persecution, forms the background to the Discourse on the Mission and, therefore, to the Gospel of the 13th Sunday of ordinary time.
b) A commentary on the text:
Matthew 10:37: Love of Jesus must be greater than love of parents and children
Jesus says, “No one who prefers father or mother to Me is worthy of Me; no one who prefers son or daughter to Me is worthy of Me”. We find this same statement in the Gospel of Luke with even greater force: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Lk 14:26). Does Jesus then want to disintegrate family life? This cannot be so, because elsewhere He insists on the observance of the fourth commandment which binds us to love father and mother (Mk 7:8-13; 10:17-19). He Himself obeyed His parents (Lk 2:51). These seem to be contradictory statements. One thing is certain: Jesus does not contradict Himself. We shall give an interpretation to show that the two statements are both true and not mutually exclusive.
Matthew 10:38: The cross is part of following Jesus
Jesus says, “Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow in My footsteps is not worthy of Me”. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me!” (Mk 8:34). In those days, the cross was the death sentence imposed by the Roman Empire for thieves and the marginalized. To take up one’s cross and follow Jesus was equivalent to agreeing to be marginalized by the unjust system of the Empire. Jesus’ cross is the consequence of the free commitment taken on to reveal the Good News that God is Father and that, therefore, all are to be accepted and treated as brothers and sisters. Because of this revolutionary proclamation, Jesus was persecuted and was not afraid to give up His life. Greater love than this no man has, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Matthew 10:39: To know how to lose one’s life so as to keep it
This manner of speaking was quite common among the early Christians because it expressed what they were living through. For instance, for Paul to be faithful to Jesus and obtain life, he had to lose everything he had: career, the respect of his people, and suffer persecution. The same happened to many Christians. Christians were persecuted for being Christian. Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ”. “I wish to experience His cross and his death, so that I may also experience His resurrection.” “I am crucified to the world and the world to me”. This is the paradox of the Gospel: The last is first, the one who loses wins, the one who gives all keeps all, the one who dies lives. The one who has the courage to lose life obtains it. This is a logic that is quite different from the neo-liberal system that rules the world today.
Matthew 10:40-41: Jesus identifies Himself with the missionary and the disciple
For the missionary and the disciple, it is very important to know that he/she will never be alone. If she/he remains faithful to her/his mission, she/he will have the certainty that Jesus identifies Himself with her/him, and through Jesus the Father will reveal Himself to those to whom the missionary and disciple proclaim the Good News. And so, just as Jesus reflected the face of the Father, so also the disciple should be a mirror where people can glimpse something of the love of Jesus.
Matthew 10:42: The least deed done for the little ones, reveals the presence of the Father
In order to change the world and human relationships, the political decisions of powerful people are not enough, nor are the decrees of Councils and of bishops. What is needed is a change in the lives of people, in interpersonal and community relationships; otherwise, nothing will change. That is why Jesus puts so much importance on small acts of sharing: a glass of water given to a poor person!
c) A deepening: To love father and mother, to hate father and mother!
One of the things that Jesus insists on for those who wish to follow Him is that of leaving behind father, mother, wife, children, sisters, house, land, to leave everything for love of Him and His Gospel (Lk 18: 29; Mt 19:29; Mk 10:29). He even commands us “to hate father, mother, wife, children, sisters, brothers. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciples” (cf. Lk 14:28). These demands are not just for some but for all those who wish to follow Him (Lk 14:25-26, 33). How can we understand these statements that seem to dismantle and break up all family ties? We cannot imagine Jesus demanding of all men and women in Galilee to leave their families, lands, villages to follow Him. In fact, this did not happen except for a small group of followers. So what is the meaning of these demands?
If we place the demand to leave one’s family within the social context of the period, we can see another meaning, much more fundamental and practical. The invasion of Palestine in 64 B.C. and the imposition of the tribute by Herod (35 to 3 B.C.) and his son Herod Antipas (3 B.C. to 37 A.D.), a policy in favor of the Roman government, brought progressive impoverishment and growing unemployment. Through Herod’s policy, supported by the Roman Empire, the Hellenic ideology permeated daily life, thus bringing with it growing individualism. All this caused the larger family, the clan and the community to disintegrate. Thus the small family began to feel bound to turn in on itself and not able to practice the law. Besides, the practice of ritual purity caused people to despise and exclude those persons and families that lived in legal impurity. The economic, social, political and religious context made it possible for families to turn in on themselves and weaken the clan. Preoccupation with family problems stopped people from uniting in community. It stopped the clan from realizing the aim for which it was created, that is, to offer real and adequate protection for families and persons, to preserve identity, to defend land, to prevent exclusion and to welcome the excluded and the poor, and thus to reveal the face of God. Now, for the Kingdom to reveal itself again in the sharing, it was necessary to break the vicious cycle. People had to overcome the strict limits of the small family to open themselves to the larger family and the Community. This is the context that forms the background to the words proclaimed by Jesus.
Jesus Himself gives an example. When His family tries to claim Him, He reacts and says, “Who are My mother and My brethren?” And, looking around, He says, “Behold My mother and My brethren! For whoever does the will God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Mk 3:33-35). He stretched the family. He created community. The people He attracted and called were the poor and the excluded (Lk 4:18; Mt 11:25). He asked the same thing of those who wished to follow Him. The excluded and marginalized must be welcomed again into the sharing and thus feel welcomed by God (cf. Lk 14:12-14). This was the way to achieve the end of the Law that said, “There should be no one of you in need” (Deut 15:4).
Jesus tries to change the process of disintegration of the clan, of the community. Like the great prophets of the past, He seeks to consolidate community life in the villages of Galilee. He takes up again the deep meaning of the clan, of the family, of the community as an expression of the incarnation of the love of God in the love of neighbor. That is why He asks of those who wish to be His disciples to leave father, mother, wife, brother, sister, house, all! They have to lose their life in order to possess it! He is the guarantor of this: “Amen I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and for the Gospel’s sake, who shall not receive now in the present time a hundredfold as much, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands – along with persecutions, and in the age to come life everlasting” (Mk 10:29-30). Truly, those who have the courage to break the closed circle of their family will find again, in the clan, in the community, a hundredfold whatever they have left: brother, sister, mother, child, land! Jesus does what people expected in messianic times: to lead back the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents, to rebuild the clan, reweave the social pattern.
6. Psalm 19:7-14
The Law of Yahweh is perfect
The Law of Yahweh is perfect,
refreshment to the soul;
the decree of Yahweh is trustworthy,
wisdom for the simple.
The precepts of Yahweh are honest,
joy for the heart;
the commandment of Yahweh is pure,
light for the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is pure,
lasting forever;
the judgements of Yahweh are true,
upright, every one,
more desirable than gold,
even than the finest gold;
His words are sweeter than honey,
that drips from the comb.
Thus Your servant is formed by them;
observing them brings great reward.
But who can detect his own failings?
Wash away my hidden faults.
And from pride preserve Your servant,
never let it be my master.
So shall I be above reproach,
free from grave sin.
May the words of my mouth always find favor,
and the whispering of my heart, in Your presence,
Yahweh, my rock, my redeemer.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
The International Formation Course for the Carmelite Nuns
From 16 to 27 May, an International Formation Course for the Carmelite Nuns on S. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi is taking place in Sassone (Rome), on the occasion of 450th anniversary of her birth. Participants come from 29 monasteries in Spain, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, The Philippines, Peru, United States and Kenya. Some friars are also attending the course. You can follow the events on the page of the Order dedicated to the 450th anniversary at this site.
And on the Facebook page here
The Chapter of The Dutch Province and the Monastery of Hudson, United States
Provincial Chapter of the Dutch Province
During the Provincial Chapter of the Dutch Province held on 17-21 May 2017 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Jan Brouns, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Fr. Ben Wolbers, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Fr. Huub Welzen, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Tom Buitendijk, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Fr. Edgar Koning, O.Carm
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Electoral Chapter of the Monastery of Hudson, United States
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Hudson, United States, was held 11 and 19 may 2017. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. Lucia LaMontagne , O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. Sheryl Guzek , O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. Grace Rocha, O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. Lucia LaMontagne, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Sheryl Guzek , O.Carm.
Be a Brother, Be a Prophet
Carmelite Youth Group
Curinga, Italy
"The root of brotherhood, then, is faith, adhesion to the plans of the Lord, to his way of living and dying. And the fruits of brotherhood are freedom, joy, peace." This quote from the reflection of the Carmelite youth group in Curinga, Italy will help the Carmelites and those who want to follow the Carmelite Charism experience the values of the Carmel Call - vocation.
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Be a Brother, Be a Prophet
Carmelite Youth Group
Curinga, Italy
“I don’t think I should harbor this joy just for myself…” One of our group expressed herself in this way after our 1988 meeting/happening at Sassone. This conviction provides the motive behind our decision to share with our friends some aspects of our experience and of the guidelines which emerged from the meeting.
This report doesn’t even come close to being the acts of the congress. Nor does it pretend to exhaust the riches of the points that were made in the conferences and in the other interventions.
On the other hand, Sassone was not for us a congress in the ordinary acceptance of the term. It was not, that is, an occasion for a comparative study of diverse orientations and thrusts, a predominantly theoretic exercise.
Above all Sassone was a lived-out experience. The new messages we received came to us not so much by means of words as by gestures: the fact of praying together, of celebrating the Eucharist, of meditating, of singing, of sharing meals with many young people from various parts of Italy.
What follows is merely a series of notes about this living experience. We interpret these experiences as gifts of the Holy Spirit, as something, that is, which touched us and which is not our possession and for this reason should be shared, should be communicated, should be submitted to possible points of critique. Because the gift of God is infinite and perfect, whereas we are limited and imperfect, without doubt the way in which we received those gifts was partial and incomplete.
The Experience of Brotherhood
The first experience, the most lively and intense experience, was that of brotherhood. Brotherhood is a new way of being together with others, a new' atmosphere of relationships in which the other is an absolute for you and you are an absolute for the other. None of us - not even for a moment - ever felt self to be a number or a means; no one was used as an instrument for some other scope, however high and noble. Brotherhood is the acceptance of every person insofar as he/she is a unique and irreplaceable mystery.
Man understood in this sense of person - as an absolute and as a mystery - cannot but become an occasion to encounter the absolute and the mystery of God. It cannot but become the desire to be grafted into that tension of love of God for man in the form of total and generous giving which the love of God for man assumed in Jesus. "No one has greater love than he who gives his life for his friends” (Jn 15: 13).
The root of brotherhood, then, is faith, adhesion to the plans of the Lord, to his way of living and dying. And the fruits of brotherhood are freedom, joy, peace. 'That brotherhood which is not the authentic power of the Spirit, able to enliven and transform the world, risks being reduced to sentimentalism and to a certain type of group narcissism. It must be willing to face the daily grind of life, it must translate into intelligent dynamism, capable of individuating the real divisions that keep men apart.
At Sassone we were all challenged to the effort to overcome the barriers deriving from age, from different backgrounds, from different roles in the Church. There were young people between 13 and 30 years of age from Calabria, from Sicily, from Apulia, from Latium, from Tuscany, from Veneto; there were priests, religious, committed lay-persons and youngsters who were encountering the Church for the first time. We acknowledged one another in our common vocation to Carmel, in our being the People of God and the Body of Christ, at the service of the Kingdom.
But even this was not enough. The cenacle may become a refuge for our fears and our laziness if it is not permeated by the strong wind of Pentecost which disseminates us all over the earth.
To live brotherhood means squarely to look at the division which germinates in our own heart and which results in structures of oppression: hypocrisy, prejudice, fanaticism, protagonism, exclusivity of class. To live brotherhood means to dirty our hands in becoming the yeast of freedom and of redemption, wherever we find solitude, sin, deviant behavior, ignorance, hunger, war.
And if the living prophecy of the re-uniting of the divided human race is the Church, then the meeting of Sassone became for us an invitation to live as Church, even passionately. We are aware of our vocation, as part of all the baptized, to a worshipful knowledge of the Father. We acknowledge the service of truth and of charity on the part of Peter and of the Bishops. We accept the primacy of the Word, as we gather around Christ immolated in obedience to God. All this out of love for our brothers. We gather around the Eucharist, in other words, to gain strength, to give thanks and to have a foretaste of the feast of heaven.
What is a Prophet?
“Be a prophet" is an invitation that disturbs us. It does so because to be a prophet means above all to allow oneself to be possessed by the Word of God, by his vision, which alone gives meaning to the world and frees it, putting aside our own partial truths and visions.
But this type of dispossessing, this type of knowledge of nothing, to use the terminology of St. John of the Cross, is the sole condition to know the All of God - his honor and his glory. To be prophets in the Gospel sense, to be prophets in the Carmelite spirit, is summed up in this. Again, it’s a question of love.
It means becoming capable of knowing, of living, of witnessing, of freeing ourselves from the hellish prison of our egoism to become the signs of a much greater proclamation. “Be a prophet . . .” then is an invitation which gives enthusiasm. It follows that we are not truly youthful if we are not prophets. Surely to be young does not simply mean to be twenty years old, but rather to refuse to be humiliated by half measures and by compromises, in order to make a full and wholesome choice of life.
We are not young, we are not prophets if we refuse the uncertainty of a search. We are not young, we are not prophets if we accept the narrow viewpoints of a secularized world which denies openness to God, if we do not adore him, if we do not pray to him.
We are not young, we are not prophets if we give in to the temptations of consumerism, according to which you're only a man if you possess and if you count for something. Rather there must be a decisive affirmation that we are men only if we free our hearts of idolatry towards money and towards power, if we are meek, if we are peace-loving, if we are pure and simple, if we have hunger and thirst for justice.
We are not young, we are not prophets if we are resigned to the padded, obtuse shell of the prefabricated judgment of our families, of our own social group, of our own party, of our own religious association.
We are not young, we are not prophets if we are afraid to come into conflict with the world, which considers prophets different and dangerous: “As soon as King Achab saw Elijah, he said to him: ‘You are the ruin of Israel!' ”
We are not young, we are not prophets if we are not aware that to live our faith means to pay in our own persons, and often it will mean to live alone, calumniated, unemployed, deprived of friendships and affection.
When Elijah was sought out to he put to death, “…he grew fearful and entered the desert, walking a whole day. He seated himself under a juniper tree. He wished to die, and said: ‘This is enough, Lord! Take away my life because I am no better than my fathers.’” One of the most disturbing memories of our Sassone meeting was our encounter with a Carmelite bishop from Brazil, who had worked in a mine, whose office was more than once ransacked by the police. He spoke to us of the persecution which the Church in his country suffers because of the witness it gives to Jesus by means of its love for the poor and for the oppressed. The glory of God manifests itself in the anguish of Gethsemane and in the ignominy of Calvary.
God said “yes” to him who had been refused by men. Therefore, we cannot be prophets if we don’t believe that, with God who raised Jesus from the dead, change is possible; if we don’t live and proclaim the joyful expectation of the hope which enlivened the Apostle Paul: “Creation itself impatiently awaits the revelation of the sons of God . . . and fosters the hope that it will also be freed from the slavery of corruption in order to enter the freedom of the glory of the sons of God” (Rom 8: 19-21).
Search for Meaning
To live out brotherhood, to follow the Christian vocation to be prophets, means, in the spirit of Carmel, to question ourselves about our search for truth, for a meaning for our lives. This question upsets the men of our times. Elijah, the Father of Carmel, was eaten up with zeal for the truth. His existence was consumed by the fire of his mission in an era when his people had left aside its freedom of faith in Jahweh and had allied itself with the naturalistic polytheism of the cultures of the surrounding nations.
We asked ourselves whether the man of today—the young person who lives in today’s society—does, with serenity, pose questions for himself about the meaning he should give to his own existence, to his actions, to his death.
Many are overcome by the fetishes of career, of money, of sex, of an automobile, of a Hollywood value system. Many note the boredom, the absurdity of a life without reference points, which brings on despair.
Many searches for a solution in "religion," in a cheapened sense of the sacred, which demands signs and extraordinary factors, forgetting that Jesus affirmed that the only sign of Cod is “the sign of Jonah,” namely, the sign of the Resurrection. The compensations of “religion” are not faith.
And so we asked ourselves if our being Christian is truly to enter into crisis when faced with Christ’s challenges, or just another form of egoism which makes an analgesic out of Christ.
Carmel gives special stress to the need for vigilance not only vis-à-vis every obvious manifestation of idolatry, but also towards the more subtle forms of paganism which can infiltrate the spiritual life of a Christian. Once more we make reference to St. John of the Cross, for whom all the commandments are included in the first: “I am the Lord your God, who look you out of the land of Egypt from the condition of slavery: you must not have any gods before me" (Ex 20: 2).
The meaning of life, then, is none other than that of which St. Paul writes: “Everything is yours, but you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” This is the fact: all things have a meaning, a truly human dimension, to the degree that man acquires a divine dimension.
We asked ourselves what does it mean for us, in this local Church, under the guidance of our pastor, to work to be of service to the person in search of meaning, of truth. It could mean:
to face the problem of proclamation of the faith to those who have wandered off, to do it with love and seriousness;
- to welcome and help the person who lives in doubt;
- to study and understand the thrusts of culture and customs in our locale;
- to foster a knowledge of the Bible;
- to collaborate in catechetical programs;
- to appreciate the cultural structures of our parish;
- to create in our parish the means of social communication favoring evangelization;
- to deepen local sensitivity to the problem of missions.
Yes, these are vague replies, but they could become the jelling of precious energies in the communion of so many component parts of our parish community. This would be a great help to him whom the Lord has set in our midst as a sign of unity and who has invested us with the specific ministry of proclaiming the Gospel.
Vocation in the Carmelite Brotherhood
“See, I stand at the door and knock. If a person listens to my voice and opens the door, I will dine with him and he with me” (Apoc 3: 20). Jesus is saying: not some other time. But when events, illuminated by the Spirit, speak loudly and clearly with the voice of the Son of Man who, hungry for love, asks to sit at our table, before he continues on his way.
This is Carmel for us: the place where we educate our hearts to recognize the gift offered us by the Lord, in trustful surrender to his grace, in prayer, in vigilance. It’s this that gives transparence to the succession of events and encounters of our lives, of the life of the world. It illumines the ways, the ways of the world, by means of which we can reach him.
The monastery of the Carmelite lay-person is the world and his cell is Christ. But in the world of our time—in the world of all times— it is not easy to hear the voice of God. The noise in society, in the Church, in our hearts is deafening.
To hear God there must be silence. And in Curinga, Carmel wants to be nothing else than this: a space of silence facing lies, illicit desires, suffering itself. On the road to the rediscovery of our vocation, the July mission (Ed. note: A group of Carmelite Vocation Directors held a “mission” of ten days in Curinga during July, 1985) and the meeting at Sassone were important and decisive stages. Today we feel that the Lord is calling us above all to a transformation of our being. Our commitment and our activity in the Church and in the world will be authentic only if they are born of an overflow of contemplation.
In this spirit we are available for the service of our Church community and also of our civic community. We are grateful to the Confraternity which supported our search. In this last period, with risk and even suffering, it knew how to listen to our request as Church. We are grateful to our fathers who, often with hidden efforts, knew how to hand on to us the patrimony of our faith, of values, of institutions, without which we would not be in existence today.
We are grateful to all those who, from now on, will pray and work that the Confraternity recuperate its foundational charism and be open to the demands of the world of our time, and so become A Contemplative Fraternity in the midst of the People.
(Carmel in the World 1988)
