Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm.

The General Chapter of 1995 was the last to be held this century and it launched the Carmelite Order towards the new millennium. At the Chapter we tackled three principal tasks:
1) To examine and approve new Constitutions;
2) To elect a Prior General and General Council and
3) To examine the theme, "Carmel: A Place and a Journey into the Third Millennium - Our Mission Today - 'Get up and eat lest the journey be too long' (1 Kg. 19,7).

For many years and at many international meetings the Order has focused on our Carmelite identity. It was felt now to be time to reflect on Carmel's mission. The "place" mentioned in the theme is for us of course Mount Carmel which stands for the fundamental values of our Carmelite life. These values are well expressed in the new Constitutions.

The concept of journey speaks to us of a dynamic reality. We are on the way but to where? Towards the third millennium certainly - towards the future but what will the future hold for us? We are invited into God's future who alone knows what that will be and who is already constructing the future out of our present. We are laying the foundations now for what we will be in the future.

We are told in the new Constitutions (art. 14) that Carmelites follow Christ above all by committing ourselves to searching for the face of the Living God (the contemplative dimension of life), to community and to service in the midst of the people. These values are intimately related to one another. They are united by means of the experience of the desert. Carmelites are committed to make of Christ crucified, naked and emptied, the foundation of our lives. We are to destroy every obstacle which prevents us from being perfectly dependent on him and every obstacle which prevents us loving God and others perfectly. The process of stripping away everything that is not God, which leads to union with God, is called in our spiritual tradition "puritas cordis" and "vacare Deo", concepts which express total openness to God and a progressive self-emptying.

When, through this process we arrive at the point where we can see the whole of reality with the eyes of God, our attitude towards the world will be transformed and this changed view will be incarnated in our life of community and service. The two figures who inspire us above all to follow Christ in this way are of course the Prophet Elijah and Our Lady, the Mother of Carmel.

The Call to be Contemplative

The Carmelite is called to be a contemplative. Contemplative do not only live in enclosed monasteries. There are many contemplatives who live in the midst of a very busy world. There are contemplatives in every neighbourhood and in every area of life. The word "contemplative" does not refer to a state but a way of relating to God. By our Carmelite vocation, we are called to be contemplatives but what does that mean in practice?

What does it mean to seek the face of the Living God? Surely we have been taught from our earliest years that God is everywhere and therefore does not need to be sought? However it is also true that God is very elusive. God cannot be grasped by the human mind. We know by experience that God alone can ultimately satisfy us since we have been created with a capacity for God. God's desire is to unite with us in a way which is beyond the power of human words to describe. This is God's gift but it will not be given to anyone who does not wish to receive it. I think that what God wants to give us is beautifully summed up in the following reading from the letter to the Ephesians:-

"This then is what I pray, kneeling before the Father from whom every family whether spiritual or natural takes its name, that out of His infinite glory He may grant you the power, through His Spirit, for your hidden self to grow strong so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith and then planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until knowing the love of Christ which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God. Glory be to Him who wants to do far more for us than we could ask for or even imagine. Glory be to Him in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen" (Eph. 3, 14-21).

The writer wants us to be filled with the utter fullness of God. To be filled with the utter fullness of God is to be a mystic. Mysticism or contemplation is not for an elite few: it is for everyone. Remember the prophetic words of Karl Rahner, "The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not be a Christian at all." To be a mystic means to become an intimate friend of God. This is the call which we receive in baptism and mysticism or contemplation is the full flowering of the baptismal grace. In our world we are witnessing a thirst for prayer, a thirst for God. Carmelite spirituality can lead people to the source of living water where their thirst can be quenched. As Carmelites we are not only expected to be good parish priests or teachers but also and above all we are expected to be able to lead people in their search for God. We are expected to speak of God from our own experience.

In order to be able to lead people to the Source of living water, we must know something of the desert which is a necessary and integral part of our vocation. The desert can take many forms. It may come in the form or an illness or an appointment to some difficult position or the failure to be elected to a position of authority, or removal from some apostolate which we have made our own, or from a community where we have become very comfortable and so on. God uses the ordinary things of life to challenge us to grow, to move from where we are to where we can be. This is a difficult journey which we really do not want to make and so God gives us a push to get us moving and to continue our journey when we get stuck.

The desert is where God erupts into our comfortable little world and knocks down some of the things which have provided our security in the past so that we might learn by experience that our security can only be based in God. The desert never comes in a way that we expect so that we cannot control what is happening.

The faith to which we are called is very radical since it goes to the roots of our existence as we are gradually transformed to become what God knows we can be. We are asked to take the risk of letting go control of our own lives and allowing God to take control. Mary, our Mother and our sister, points the way for us. She allowed God to have full freedom in her life and she challenges us to do the same. Too often we make Our Lady into a plaster cast statue and say lovely prayers to her but we ignore what she says to us through the pages of Scripture. Remember what she said to the servants at the wedding feast - "Do whatever he tells you". (Jn. 2,5)

Called to form community

We seek God alone not as isolated individuals but as a community which needs to be continually built up because it does not grow naturally. We have been called to live as members of a community. Living fully this very important element of our vocation is prophetic in that it points out that the love of Christ can break down the walls of division which human beings use to separate themselves from others. Community is God's gift to us because relationships are essential to our growth. We can all be very good at loving our neighbour if we never have to meet him or her. Community living can at times be difficult but it is through close interaction with other human beings that we grow.

We are unique individuals but we share a common heritage. We seek the face of God together and we find God in and through one another. Community is an important element of our way to God. Our love for God is proved by the way we treat one another. Do you love God? If you really want to know the answer to that question, just ask the members of your community.

The value of building community is very much connected with the first value of being a contemplative because how we relate to other people depends very much on how we relate to God. If we can begin to look on creation and see things as God sees them, then our relationships with others will bring them life and freedom. Until God has purified us, our tendency is to manipulate people, very subtly at times, to conform to what we desire. Love must be unconditional or it is a form of manipulation. God's way of loving is unconditional ; our way is conditional on the response we get. So our way of loving must be purified and the only way this can happen is if God does it. God respects us totally and will only do accomplish this if we co-operate.

We need to consent daily to the presence and action of God in our lives, remembering always that God's ways are not our ways. God will act in our lives to purify us in ways that may seem very strange to us. If we are to recognise the presence and action of God at work in our lives we must tune into God's wavelength. The only way of doing that is by spending time, quality time, alone with God and seeking God together with the members of our community.

Called to serve

The third fundamental Carmelite value is to serve in the midst of people. We know that the Carmelites at a very early stage changed their lifestyle from hermits to mendicant friars. The fundamental idea of the mendicant movement was to provide a different model of following Christ than that of the monks. The mendicant ideal was to find God at the heart of the world and to serve people where they were.

We know that what makes the Carmelite is not the particular work but the underlying attitudes with which the work is approached. If we truly have tasted God in our prayer, we will want to share this love with the people whom we are called to serve. We know that love cannot be just words but must be very practical.

The choice which the early Carmelites made to become mendicant friars has deeply marked Carmelite spirituality. The desert and the mountain top, where one can be alone with God, still exercise a fascination for the Carmelite. There is a need to find space where one can be alone with God but the desert is often to be found among people.

St. John of the Cross once said that a single drop of divine love is worth far more than all the good works. This means that much more is accomplished through a life which is totally surrendered to God than by many good works which are vitiated by egoism. When our lives are totally surrendered to God, we are like God and we love as God loves. Therefore our very being brings life to others. The work of surrendering our lives to God totally is truly the work of a life time and is the hardest work we will ever do.

Our prayer, our work and our community lives are to form a seamless whole. Our prayer will make us more involved in the service of our neighbour because the point of prayer is not to feel good but to see with the eyes of God and to love with the heart of God. In turn our apostolic work will force us back to prayer as we see that we can do nothing without God but that with God all things are possible. Our community life is a fruitful source of our apostolate and is also a proof that the Gospel really works when people see that we can truly live in harmony with one another.

Some Challenges

What then are the challenges which we face as we move into the third millennium? The principal challenge of course is what it has always been - to become what we are called to be. However, among others, I would like to underline the following four concrete challenges:-

1) Vocations and formation
2) The quality of community life
3) A renewal of our commitment to prayer
4) New evangelisation

1. Vocations and Formation

All of us have the serious duty to work and pray for vocations. The best way to attract new vocations is simply to be what we are called to be. The Carmelite ideal has lost none of its attractiveness throughout the centuries. We must of course be where young people are. It is not necessary to be a specialist in this field. Young people are looking for people who will listen to them, without always feeling the need to preach. We do not need to know all the answers. It is essential to have a good policy for vocations ministry and to have communities which will truly be places of welcome for young people who wish to "come and see" (Jn. 1,39) and where they can experience what our life has to offer.

When vocations do come to us, we have the sacred duty to form them according to the Carmelite ideal If we provide an excellent formation for our new vocations this will pay off very well in the years to come. Then whatever sacrifices we have had to make will have been worth it.

Obviously our spirituality is not only for the friars or nuns but is shared by all the groups which make up the Carmelite Family. The charism of an Order is a gift of God for the Church and the world. Therefore an important element of the work for vocations and formation is to share our Carmelite ideals with anyone who is interested. I am thinking here of the many groups which are attached to the Order and also of individuals who are simply attracted by our spirituality. All of these could be said to be members of the Carmelite Family even though the connection might be very loose. In order to share our Carmelite ideals we must not only know them but have interiorised them and live them.

2. The quality of community life

It is very clear that we have been called together as members of a contemplative family and the witness we give is truly prophetic. One of the challenges we have for the future is to work on the quality of our community lives.

We need to examine ourselves individually and as communities. How much time are we willing to give to building up the community? Each of us must ask, "Does my presence add to the happiness of my sisters and brothers or am I a difficulty for them?" It is not enough just to say prayers together or to eat together. Are we willing to talk about and be open about the issues which really matter and which affect the community? People are thirsting for real community. The building up of community requires a lot from us but equally will give us a great deal in return.

3. A Renewal of our commitment to prayer

Prayer is not just words that we say; prayer is our relationship with God. Our vocation is to be transformed - to become a new creation. This is not something we can bring about. It is God's work but it requires of us a total commitment. The way of prayer is very demanding and so there is a great temptation to settle for much less.

By calling for a renewal of commitment to prayer I am not asking for us as individuals or as communities to say more prayers. What I am calling for is a re-commitment to consent to God's presence and action in our lives however that is manifested. Obviously we need to set aside adequate time for personal and community prayer. We need the space and the silence to listen to God who speaks in the depths of our hearts with a still , small voice. If our lives are filled with too much noise, we will not be able to hear this voice. I believe that a renewal in our commitment to prayer will have a profound impact on our personal and community lives and also on our apostolic work.

4. New Evangelisation

We know of the Church's call for an era of new evangelisation as we approach the third millennium. We mentioned in the final document coming from the General Chapter 1995 that we could see in the experience of Elijah an example for ourselves. He was deeply depressed because he believed that, despite his wonderful victory over the prophets of Baal, they had in fact won. He believed that he was alone but God pointed out to Elijah that there were very many who had not bent the knee to Baal. Like Elijah, we are asked to look at our reality with new eyes, to see the good things which are there despite the counter signs. We are to be like the watchers on the towers of the city who are the first to see the dawn. There are signs of light everywhere heralding a new dawn to those with eyes to see.

It is not allowed for a Christian to be a pessimist! We are to be optimists because Christ has already won the victory over sin and death. We are the heralds of Christ. Even when we cannot see any reason for optimism, we are asked to believe in the power of God who is creating even now a new heaven and a new earth.

Perhaps one of the big problems for us in this work of evangelisation is to find a new language to express the unchangeable truths of the faith. Perhaps the traditional language no longer speaks to modern people. In order to find a suitable language it is necessary to soak ourselves in the Gospel message. The best language is a life which has been transformed in God. If we are "filled with the utter fullness of God", we will speak very powerfully to people of the love of God or rather God will speak very powerfully through us and, using our hands and voices, will touch the hearts of many. Love is not an abstract ideal; it is very practical. If in our apostolic work, we can show people in practice what the love of God is and what it feels like, they are more likely to believe it.

Look for CHRIST OUR LORD in every one and you will then have respect and reverence for all.

( St. Teresa of Jesus )

In response to the General Chapter of 2013, the Order’s commission for evangelization and mission at its September meeting began to work on a project that might engage the whole Carmelite Family. On the 30th March 2015 a letter from this commission, together with a short booklet in the three official languages of the Order (Italian, Spanish, English), was circulated to all provincials, superiors general and affiliated groups. This letter expressed the desire of the commission to engage in a conversation with the whole Carmelite Family on evangelization and mission. There are seven short reflections with an overall theme “To be a Carmelite today: A joy ever new, a joy to be shared.” Each section has quotations from Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis, the final message of the General Chapter and an invitation to reflection and prayer. The letter and the booklet can be downloaded from the Order’s website

http://ocarm.org/en/content/ocarm/letter-commission-evangelization-and-mission

and were necessary translated, printed and distributed to communities, monasteries, TOC groups and individuals. A brief summary of community, province or individual reflections can be posted back on the area provided on our website and will be used by the commission to further the mission of the Order with regards to the challenge of evangelization today.

Jesus calms the storm
Jesus sleeps in our boat
Mark 4:35-41

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 in us silence 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 from 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 to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

There are days when life is like a small boat lost among the waves of a rough sea. Everything around us looks dark, a storm is brewing. God is hidden, Jesus is absent, no one close to us can help, encourage. One feels like giving up!
Let us listen to the story of the calmed storm. As we read, let us pretend to be on the boat with Jesus and the disciples. Let us try to live with them what is happening and pay attention to Jesus’ attitude and the reaction of the disciples.

b) A division of the text to help us with the reading:

Mark 4:35-36: Jesus decides to cross over to the other side of the lake
Mark 4:37-38: A sudden storm endangers the life of all
Mark 4:39-40: Jesus calms the storm and criticises the lack of faith
Mark 4:41: Fear and lack of understanding on the part of the disciples

c) Text:

35 With the coming of evening that same day, he said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' 36 And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. 37 Then it began to blow a great gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. 39 They woke him and said to him, 'Master, do you not care? We are lost!' And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Quiet now! Be calm!' And the wind dropped, and there followed a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?' 41 They were overcome with awe and said to one another, 'Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.'

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 pleased you most in this text? Why?
b) What situation do Jesus and his disciples find themselves in, and what is their reaction?
c) What was the stormy sea in the times of Jesus? What is the stormy sea in the days Mark is writing his Gospel? What is the stormy sea for you today?
d) Read Isaiah 43:2 and Psalm 107(106),25-30, and compare these texts with the passage of the calmed storm. What can you conclude?
e) What does all this mean in our life today?

5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme

a) The context that sheds light on the text:

A beautiful painting hung on a well-lit wall seems even more beautiful thanks to the colours of the wall that underscores the beauty. The same is true of the painting of the calmed storm. The wall of the context makes it more beautiful. Mark has just narrated two parables that bring out the mystery of the Kingdom present in the things of life (Mk 4:1-34). Now he begins to talk of the mystery of the Kingdom as present in the power exercised by Jesus for his disciples, for people and, above all, for the excluded and marginalized. Let us take a look at the sequence: Mark begins by presenting a Jesus who overcomes the sea, the symbol of chaos. In Jesus there is the power of a creator! (Mk 4:35-41). Immediately after that he shows a Jesus who overcomes and drives out evil spirits. In him there is a liberating power! (Mk 5:1-20). Finally, he describes at length the manner in which Jesus overcomes impurity and death. In him there is the power of life! (Mk 5:21-43). In Jesus there is a creating power that liberates, purifies and communicates life to those who approach him!
Mark is writing for the persecuted communities of the 70’s who feel like a small boat lost on the sea of life, with little hope of being able to reach the desired harbour of peace. Jesus seems to be asleep in their boat, because they do not feel the divine power to save them from persecution. In that desperate situation, Mark brings together various passages that underline the power with which Jesus is present in the communities. It is the victorious Jesus! They need not fear. This is the aim of the story of the calmed storm.

b) A commentary on the text:

Mark 4:35-36: The point of departure: “Let us cross over to the other side”.
It had been a heavy day with much work. There were so many people that Jesus, so as not to be crushed by the crowd, had to go into a boat to teach them by means of a parable (Mk 4:1). There were days when there was not even time to eat (Mk 3:20). When he finished telling the people the parable, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross over to the other side!” And there and then, they took him in the boat. Jesus was so tired that he stretched out and went to sleep. This is the first frame that Mark presents to us. A beautiful frame and quite human.

Mark 4,37-38: The desperate situation: “Do you not care? We are lost!
The lake of Galilee is close to high mountains. Sometimes between the cracks in the rocks the wind blows hard on the lake and causes sudden storms. This is what happened. A strong wind blew on the sea causing a storm. The boat filled with water! The disciples were experienced fishermen. If they thought they were about to perish, then this meant that the situation was really dangerous! Jesus is not aware of anything and goes on sleeping. This deep sleep is not only the sign of immense weariness, it is also an expression of his quiet faith in God. The contrast between Jesus’ attitude and that of the two disciples is great!

Mark 4:9-40: Jesus’ reaction: “Have you still no faith?”
Jesus wakes up not because of the waves but because of the desperate cry of the disciples: “Master! Do you not care? We are lost!” Jesus gets up. First he faces the sea and says: “Quiet now! Be calm!” And the sea calms down. Then he turns to his disciples and says to them: “Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?” The impression one gets is that the sea did not need to be calmed since there was no danger. It is like when one goes to a house and a little dog by the side of the master of the house, barks at the guest. There is no need to be afraid because the master is there to control the situation.
The passage of the calmed storm recalls the exodus, when the crowd, without any fear, crossed the waters of the sea (Ex 14,22). It recalls the prophet Isaiah who said to the crowd: “should you pass through the waters, I shall be with you!” (Is 43:2). Jesus retraces the passage and fulfils it in the prophecy made in the Psalm when it says: “They cried out to Yahweh in their distress, he rescued them from their plight, he reduced the storm to a calm, and all the waters subsided, and he brought them, overjoyed at the stillness, to the port where they were bound!” (Ps 107(106):28-30).

Mark 4:41: The lack of knowledge of the disciples: “Who can this be?”
Jesus calms the sea and says: “Have you still no faith?” The disciples do not know what to say in reply and ask themselves “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” To them Jesus seems to be a stranger! In spite of the long time spent together, they do not really know who he is. Who can this be? With this question occupying their minds, the communities continued to read. And until today, this same question urges us to continue reading the Gospel. This is the desire to know Jesus more and more in our lives.

c) Further information: Who is Jesus?

Names and titles given to Jesus:

Mark begins his Gospel with the words: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God” (Mk 1:1). At the end, at the time of the death of Jesus, a pagan soldier exclaims: “In truth this man was Son of God!” (Mk 15:39) Thus both at the beginning and the end of the Gospel, Jesus is called Son of God. Between the beginning and the end, many other names are attributed to Jesus, more that twenty! Here is the list of names and titles attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark between the expression Son of God at the beginning (Mk 1:1) and that at the end (Mk 15:39):
* Messiah, Christ (that is, anointed) (Mk 1:1; 8:29; 14:61; 15:32)
* Lord (Mk 1:3; 5:19; 11:3)
* Beloved son (Mk 1:11; 9:7)
* Holy one of God (Mk 1:24)
* Nazarene (Mk 1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6)
* Son of Man (Mk 2:10.28; 8:31.38; 9:9.12.31; 10:33.45; 13:26; 14:21.21.41.62)
* Bridegroom (Mk 2:19)
* Son of God (Mk 3:11)
* Son of the Most High (Mk 5:7)
* Carpenter (Mk 6:3)
* Son of Mary (Mk 6:3)
* Prophet (Mk 6:4.15; 8:28)
* Master (frequently)
* Good Master (Mk 10:17)
* Son of David (Mk 10:47.48; 12:35-37)
* Rabbunì (Mk 10:51)
* Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Mk 11:9)
* Rabbi (Mk 11:21)
* Son (Mk 13:32)
* Shepherd (Mk 14:27)
* Son of the Blessed One (Mk 14: 61)
* King of the Jews (Mk 15:2.9.18.26)
* King of Israel (Mk 15:32)

Jesus is greater than any of his titles or names:

Each name, title or attribute is an attempt to express what Jesus meant for some people. But a name, no matter how nice, will never unveil the mystery of a person and much less of the person of Jesus. Besides, some of these names, even the most important and traditional ones are questioned and doubted by Jesus himself. Thus, as we read on the Gospel, Mark constrains us to review our ideas and to ask ourselves each time once more: “In the last analysis, who is Jesus for me, for us?”
i) Some hoped that the Messiah would be the “Holy One of God” (Mk 1:24), that is a High Priest. The devil alludes to this hope, but Jesus orders him to keep silent! (Mk 1:24-25)
ii) Others hoped that the Messiah would be the Son of David. But Jesus himself questions this title: “How can the Scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself calls him Lord” (Mk 12:35-37).
iii) Others hoped for a Messiah King. But when Pilate asks Jesus whether he is a king, Jesus neither affirms nor denies, but replies: “It is you who say it” (Mk 15:2). And when he was speaking of kings and rulers he insisted with his disciples: “Among you this is not to happen” (Mk 10:42-43).
iv) The same goes for the title of Messiah. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. But when Jesus draws the consequences and begins to speak of the cross, Peter will have none of it (Mk 8:31-33). Jesus is the Messiah, but not the kind that Peter imagined.
v) People possessed by evil spirits called Jesus “Son of God” (Mk 3:11) and “Son of the Most High” (Mk 5:7). But Jesus ordered the evil spirits to keep silent and leave the persons possessed (Mk 3:12; 5,8). Before the court, the enemies accuse Jesus and ask: “Are you the Christ, the Son of Blessed One?” He replies: “I am! And you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with clouds of heaven” (Mk 14:62). When he has to confirm the name, Jesus does not say that he is the Son of God, but that he is the Son of Man. Is this the same thing? One thing is sure: Jesus is not the Son of God in the way that the evil spirits (Mk 3:11; 5:7) and his enemies imagine (Mk 14:61). Then how is he the Son of God? The question remains an open ended one in the minds of the people, of the disciples and the readers!
Then, who is Jesus? The more we read the Gospel of Mark, the more all titles and criteria fall apart. Jesus is not any of these names, does not fit into any scheme, any title. He is greater than all of these. The more we read, the more we give up the idea of framing Jesus into some preconceived concept and accept him as he presents himself. Love seduces, the head does not! It is better to bow one’s head and adore and not fear when the sea breaks into a storm!

6. Praying with Psalm 107 (106): 21-43

If the waters stir, God will protect us!

Let them thank Yahweh for his faithful love,
for his wonders for the children of Adam!
Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
and recount with shouts of joy what he has done!

Voyagers on the sea in ships,
plying their trade on the great ocean,
have seen the works of Yahweh,
his wonders in the deep.
By his word he raised a storm-wind,
lashing up towering waves.
Up to the sky then down to the depths!
Their stomachs were turned to water;
they staggered and reeled like drunkards,
and all their skill went under.

They cried out to Yahweh in their distress,
he rescued them from their plight,
he reduced the storm to a calm,
and all the waters subsided,
and he brought them, overjoyed at the stillness,
to the port where they were bound.

Let them thank Yahweh for his faithful love,
for his wonders for the children of Adam!
Let them extol him in the assembly of the people,
and praise him in the council of elders.

He has turned rivers into desert,
bubbling springs into arid ground,
fertile country into salt-flats,
because the people living there were evil.
But he has turned desert into stretches of water,
arid ground into bubbling springs,
and has given the hungry a home,
where they have built themselves a city.

There they sow fields and plant vines,
and reap a harvest of their produce.
He blesses them and their numbers increase,
he keeps their cattle at full strength.
Their numbers had fallen, they had grown weak,
under pressure of disaster and hardship;
he covered princes in contempt,
left them to wander in trackless wastes.

But the needy he raises from their misery,
makes their families as numerous as sheep.
At the sight the honest rejoice,
and the wicked have nothing to say.
Who is wise? Such a one should take this to heart,
and come to understand Yahweh's faithful love.

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank 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 that which 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 Assembly of the Federation “Mater Unitatis” (7 monasteries), was held 27th April 2015 at Madrid, Spain. The following were elected:

• President:    Sr. Elena María Samper, O.Carm. (Zaragoza)
• 1st Councilor:   Sr. Noemi Temprano, O.Carm. (Madrid)
• 2nd Councilor:   Sr. M. Luisa Ruiz, O.Carm. (Madrid)
• 3rd Councilor:   Sr. Regina Mumbua, O.Carm. (Huesca)
• 4th Councilor:   Sr. Ana Wairimu, O.Carm. (Zaragoza)

Pope’s Prayer Intentions for May 2015

Universal: Care for the suffering - That, rejecting the culture of indifference, we may care for our neighbors who suffer, especially the sick and the poor.

Evangelization: Openness to mission - That Mary’s intercession may help Christians in secularized cultures be ready to proclaim Jesus.

Lectio Divina May -  Mayo - Maggio 2015

Thomas McGinnis, O.Carm.

We have noted above that Carmel calls to mind mental prayer. Yet vocal prayer also has its importance, being intimately connected with mental prayer. That form of vocal prayer which principally affects the Carmelite life is the Divine Office, and a study of prayer in Carmel would not be complete without its mention.

No matter what some may think or say, the Divine Office, performed in choir, pertains to the essence of the Carmelite life. This can be seen first of all from Carmel’s position among the ancient Orders as one which practices the mixed life. Above we have cited the words of Father Garrigou-Lagrange, showing the place which liturgical prayer holds in such a life. Truly, when well recited, such prayer is the culminating point of the religious life, since it leads to contemplation and union with God. To be such a culminating point, this prayer must not be recited, as it so often happens, in a hurried and mechanical fashion. Then it not only ceases to lead to union with God, but can cease as well even to be a prayer. This is especially true of choir recitation which, if slovenly executed, can be a positive obstacle to recollection. « One thinks », writes

Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, « that by going fast he is gaining time, when in truth he is losing the best time of his life, that time which is due to the Lord, during which, if one is docile, he can find the true breath of the soul, the renewal of all his energies, and his rest». The religious in whose life such prayer does not enter deeply resembles, when he preaches, « the traveler who wants to talk about the beautiful view from the summit of Mt. Blanc, without ever having made the ascent».

Within the Order, too, we find ample testimony of the role which the Divine Office should play in the Carmelite life. « Our Order is not an Order of liturgical prayer », writes Fr. Titus Brandsma, « but liturgical prayer has a special confirmation in our own Rite and must always hold a high place in our living with God. The Rule calls us together to the choir to say the Office in community, liturgically... The influence of simple and devout Carmelite liturgical life has always been great. More than one Carmel ... has been founded because of it» (Carmelite Mysticism - Historical Sketches). The regularity and solemnity of the recitation of the Office, together with the resumption of the chanting of Matins at midnight were among the regulations of the Touraine Reform. « The Divine Office », said Father P. Thibault, head of that reform, «is the work of God, and His curse shall fall upon those who perform it negligently. One must assist at choir with exterior modesty, gravity, and silence, and with interior attention ».

The remark is often heard, when one insists upon a certain mode of recitation for the Divine Office, that the Carmelite Order is not the Benedictine Order. Now the conclusion which some would like to reach by using that proposition as a minor is too fallacious to require refutation. We need only recall that, for the recitation of the Divine Office, objective norms are to be sought, which, consequently, have an absolute value, the same for all Orders. True it is that, commonly throughout the Order, the chanting of the Office in Gregorian music has been replaced by the use of the monotone or recto tono, as it is called. The correct execution of this entails the use of a singing pitch, on which the words, well articulated and accentuated, are recited at a moderate pace, with a slight prolongation of the final cadence. When executed in this way, such a chant can express, as the Discalced Carmelite author of Le Carmel (Paris, 1922) has written, «something of the soul’s nakedness, of the ineffability of love, and of the repose of divine union ». Very easily, however, can a poor recitation give the lie to such beautiful thoughts, making them seem even comical. Let us cite the words of St. Benedict himself: « We believe that God is everywhere, and that His eyes behold, in all places, the good and the wicked. But we should believe this most of all, we should have no doubt about it, when we assist at the Divine Office. Therefore should we consider what our conduct must be in the sight of God and His angels, and thus conduct ourselves in choir, that our mind may be at one with our voice ». These words, taken from St. Benedict’s Rule, hardly seem to have a purely esoteric value.

Conclusion

We hope that we have given some idea of Carmel’s prayer life. Certain it is that prayer depends primarily on the grace of God. Still must we remember that God gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4: 6), so that humility, together with mortification, which is the spirit and practice of detachment from sensible things and from self, is the best preparation for a life of prayer. Furthermore, to lift our hearts often to God, to create a holy silence in our souls, will certainly advance our prayer. To have unbounded confidence in Christ and to allow ourselves to be led by the road which He Himself has chosen for us, will secure us of persevering. Gradually will we see that there is a close connection between prayer and the rest of the spiritual life, and that, as progress is made, the distinction between them tends to disappear; prayer overflows from the time set apart for it and begins to penetrate the rest of the day, so that, whether in word or in work, our souls are always lifted up to God in a union of love.

However late we see the full possibilities of the spiritual life by finding the right way of prayer, it is of capital importance that we resolve to advance to close union with God and do not let ourselves be overcome by the fear that it is now too late. Even though our past has been stained by sin and our time has been wasted through mistaken direction or an unsuitable way of praying, absolutely nothing in our past can be an insuperable obstacle to holiness, if we but turn our hearts to God Who is within us. He has infinite power and infinite mercy, by which He can utilize all our past and turn it to good account. No matter how late the hour or how great the obstacles, we must turn to God with unlimited confidence. In fact, since all the glory is to be His, there will always be some apparently insuperable difficulty or weakness on our part. Nevertheless, all things are possible to him that believeth: no matter what is lacking to us, be it time or merit, our sufficiency is from God.

All of us, as Carmelites, are called to fervent, continual prayer which will flower into that infused contemplation whose fruit is intimate union with God. All of us, even if we are but tertiaries in the world, for life in the world but modifies a perfect life; it does not render it impossible: grace, joined to generous effort, can always triumph over any obstacles, be they from temperament or from surroundings. All of us have been invited to that exalted communion with God, well expressed in a simple yet profound phrase spoken by Him to St. Catherine of Siena: « Think of Me and I will think of thee ».

Thomas McGinnis, O.Carm.

The General Relationship between the Life of Prayer and the Life of Action

In reality, at the present time the danger seems not to be that Carmelites will neglect methodical prayer, 'but rather that they will refuse to rise above it, will look upon it as a sufficient fulfillment of the precept of continual prayer contained in the Rule, particularly since so many Carmelites now live the mixed life. Some would go so far as to deny our vocation to infused contemplation, saying that it is incompatible with the active life. Such a conception results, first of all, from a misconception of the mixed life. Furthermore, it forgets that the position of prayer in Carmel has never been changed or modified, not even by the adoption of activity. Finally, it seems to entertain a very inferior notion of the nature of true sanctity.

Regarding the compatibility of contemplation with action, Father Lejeune writes in the Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique: « It is opportune here to respond in a few words to that prejudice which looks upon contemplation as incompatible with the duties of the apos tolate, as something de luxe, almost as a hindrance for souls devoted to zealous activity.... This prejudice which we are attacking is far from new. In the seventeenth century Father Lallemant had already met it, and he refuted it in an article which he thus concluded: 'With contemplation, one can do more for oneself and for others in one month, than in ten years without contemplation. If one has not received this excellent gift, it is dangerous to give oneself over much to those activities which directly regard the neighbor. In such activities one must engage, as it were, after the manner of a trial, if obedience does not otherwise demand¹ » (Vol. Ill, art. Contemplation).

Clear and concise principles from which the true nature of the mixed life can be seen are set forth by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange in his article, Unite et elevation de la vie apostolique, synthese de la con- temptation et de faction (La Vie Spirituelle, XIX, pgs. 387-410). He points out that the mixed religious life tends principally and primarily to contemplation and union with God, and secondarily to action, which in the religious is the effect of his contemplation, and which, to others, should be a means capable of disposing them to the contemplation of divine things and to union with God. « From this superior point of view, it can be seen that all the elements of the mixed religious life are ordered in a very harmonious ascending scale: 1) regular observances; 2) study; 3) liturgical prayer, which, when well made, leads to contemplation, to union with God, from which, 4) must be derived external and apostolic activity. This life thus rises gradually to God, to arrive at divine intimacy, and then descends to souls to sanctify and save them, by making them know and love the mystery of Christ, Who will Himself lead them to the Father ».

The Relationship between Prayer and Action in Carmel

No one will deny that, at first sight, the Carmelite ideal of prayer is somewhat frightening. How can we be expected to live in continual prayer in the midst of the absorbing occupations which, outside of the time fixed for prayer, are the lot of most religious men and women? Viewed in this light, St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross may seem more admirable than imitable. We can think, however, of someone more accessible, of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (died 1691) for example, who is still too little known, although he is close to us by virtue of his simplicity. He taught that continual prayer is the fruit of a continual attention, full of faith and love, to the presence of God. He insisted also that it is a mistake to consider that the time of prayer must differ from any other time, for we are as strictly obliged to be united to God through action when it is time for action as by prayer when it is time for prayer. Not that one’s attention should be turned away from the action in which he is engaged in order to think of God; this would be the source only of complication and division. Rather the actions themselves should be turned into prayers which proclaim our love for God. In this way will the Lord be found in the most simple work, even « among the pots and pans », as St. Teresa put it. « For me », writes Brother Lawrence, « the time of action is no different from that of prayer. I possess God as peacefully amid the bustle of my kitchen, where several persons are often asking me for many different things at the same time, as I do before the Blessed Sacrament» (cf. L’Experience de la Presence de Dieu, pgs. 77, 118).

That continual prayer can be practiced despite much activity, and that it can develop to those higher stages characteristic of Carmel, St. Teresa tells us in her Book of the Foundations. « I assure you that lack of solitude need not prevent you from preparing to attain this genuine union of which I have spoken and which consists in making our will one with the will of God ». But she lays down one condition: « Remember, I am assuming all the time that we are acting in this way out of obedience or charity: if one of these motives is not involved, I do not hesitate to say that solitude is best» (chap. 5).

Venerable John of St. Samson, the blind lay brother who was to the Touraine Reform in the seventeenth century what John of the Cross was to the Teresian Reform, thus wrote of the union with God expected of all Carmelites: « The religious must be in closer union with God than his body with his soul. The soul who desires God must live always in this pure, faithful, and continual attention to His presence, as if God and she were alone in the world » (Oeuvres, pg. 36).

This is not the place to discuss the various methods for the practice of God’s presence. We can say in passing, however, that Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., has expressed the doctrine of Carmel in his short work, Piccolo Catechismo della Vita di Orazione. « The best form of this exercise is that which fits with a person’s character and point of spiritual advancement; it is not to be determined a priori, but from experience. What is more, in this holy exercise we must not limit ourselves exclusively to one determined method, but we can leave room for variety according to circumstances. Nevertheless, we should habitually prefer one form to all the others, that form which has proved most useful for us » (chap. 6, 11).

Thomas McGinnis, O.Carm.

We have shown in a previous article that the principal end of the Carmelite Order is found in true and infused contemplation, which is God’s crowning gift for a life of faithful and generous asceticism  It follows, therefore, that the Carmelite school of spirituality does not see in prayer merely a means to secure progress in virtue. Rather is prayer the center of the entire Carmelite spiritual life, the exercise of love par excellence, as can be seen from the seventh chapter of the Carmelite Rule: « Each one is to remain in his cell or near it, meditating day and night on the law of the Lord and watching in prayer, unless occupied in some other lawful work ». In reference to this chapter of the Rule, the present Constitutions of the First Order tell us this: « Let it be deeply impressed upon our minds that the life of the religious is prayer, and that if prayer be wanting spiritual death will result, whereas if prayer abound life also will abound. And this is so true of our Order that we profess the principal and primary end of the Order to consist in prayer and contemplation » (art. 148).

When one thinks of Carmel, one thinks principally of mental prayer. Such a thought tends to frighten some of us, since we forget that St. Teresa has said that mental prayer, in her opinion, is nothing else but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him Who, we know, loves us (cf. Life of St. Teresa by Herself, chap. 8). We have seen above that prayer is an elevation of the soul to God, by which we will in time what God from all eternity wills that we should ask of Him, namely, the different means of salvation, especially progress in charity. But we feel the need of a more intimate prayer in which our soul, in deeper recollection, may come into contact with the Blessed Trinity dwelling in us. This we desire that we may receive more abundantly from the interior Master that light of life which alone can make us penetrate and taste the mysteries of salvation, and reform our character by supernaturalizing it, by making it conformable to Him Who invites us to seek peace of soul in humility and sweetness. This intimate prayer is mental prayer, the prayer that prepares for infused contemplation. It is that spontaneous, intimate prayer with which all truly simple Christian souls are acquainted. It was the prayer of all the saints, long before the modern treatises on meditation.

This conception of the essential characteristics of all mental prayer should be kept constantly in mind, particularly by those who search in vain for a Carmelite method of mental prayer corresponding, for example to the method of St. Sulpice. The lack of fixed rules for mental prayer is simply the result of the Order’s antiquity. As Fr. A. Poulain, S. J., has written in his classical work, Des Graces d’Oraison: « Before the fifteenth century, or even before the sixteenth, the usage of methodical mental prayer — prayer, that is to say, where the subject, method, and duration are determined — is not traceable in the Church. It seems that the prayer of the old Orders consisted in penetrating the mind with ideas inspired by the Divine Office and Holy Scripture; then in free moments it reverted peacefully to these thoughts without any preconceived plan. The rules of Orders before the sixteenth century contain no definite instructions regarding prayer, apart from the Divine Office. Take the primitive rule of the Carmelites, for instance. Composed by St. Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, it was confirmed and modified by Pope Innocent IV in 1248. It was reestablished by St. Teresa for the reformed Carmelites, but she had to make the addition of two hours mental prayer » (chap. 2, art. 66).

From this, however, we must not conclude that the newcomer to Carmel should be left entirely to himself, without guidance, counsel, and advice, in the face particularly of the established periods of prayer which the more modern Constitutions demand. Carmel by no means rejects formal meditation, methodical mental prayer. In fact, as early as the fifteenth century we find a Carmelite strong in its support and propagation: Blessed John Soreth. He taught his fellow Carmelites that meditation has a threefold object: 1) The Book of Nature, worthy of our admiration as revealing so much of the mystery and law of God, an object which, after the Rule, the Carmelite should make one of the principal themes for his prayerful consideration; 2) The Book of Scripture, which must be meditated upon constantly, since it has been written expressly to manifest God’s law to us; 3) The Book of Life, which God

Himself writes for each one of us, to teach us how we in particular must walk in His sight and be perfect (cf. Expositio Paraenetica Regulae Carmelitarum, Textus VIII, chap. I). That Carmel today preserves this same attitude toward methodical prayer, namely, that it should be taught to beginners, we find clearly enunciated by Fr. John Haffert in a paper read in Rome at a meeting of all Carmelite Novice Masters in October, 1932. « Since the Carmelite must be totally dedicated to prayer », he writes, « it is a most serious duty of the Novice Master to instruct his subjects in the right manner of praying. He should explain several methods of prayer, from which each novice can select one according to his own character; for the same method which proves a help to one, can prove a detriment to another » (cf. Vita Carmelitana, pgs. 141-145). This is simply an elaboration of the teaching already contained in the present Constitutions of the First Order.

Thomas McGinnis, O.Carm.

saint John Damascene has defined prayer as the elevation of the mind to God and the petition of fitting things from Him. Still, we read in St. Matthew’s Gospel that our Father in heaven knows without our telling Him, all those things which we need (Matt. 6: 32). And we know too that God’s will is immutable, not to be affected by our petitions: But the triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will not be moved to repentance; for he is not a man that he should repent (I Kings 15: 29). It is impossible that we should enlighten God by our petitions, that we should make Him alter His designs, since He has said to us: I am the Lord, and I change not (Mai. 3: 6). Yet we find in the words of the Savior not only the precept of prayer, that we must pray always and not lose heart (cf. Luke 18: 1), but also an assurance of prayer’s infallible efficacy: Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened (Matt. 7: 7).

The Necessity and Efficacy of Prayer

The reconciliation between the immutability and omniscience of God on the one hand, and the precept of. prayer on the other, is to be found in the truth of God’s providence, from the consideration of which we can see clearly the utility of prayer, as well as its necessity and efficacy. Indeed, God’s providence does not decide simply which effects will be produced in time; it decides also from which causes these effects will be produced, in what order they will be produced. Among these causes are often found human acts; thus, for example, God has willed that there should be a harvest, but not without the laborious sowing of seed. Now it is evident that man in such cases does not act in order to change the divine disposition, but in order to effect results according to the plan decreed by God. The same is true of prayer; we do not pray in order to change the divine disposition, but in order to obtain that which God has decreed to give only in answer to worthy prayer. As St. Gregory the Great put it: « By prayer, man merits to receive what God has from all eternity decreed to give him ». A description of prayer considered in its function of secondary or subordinate cause is found in the Spiritual Canticle of St. John of the Cross: « ...although God knows and understands all things, and sees and observes even the least of the thoughts of the soul, yet He is said to see our necessities or to hear them, when He relieves them or fulfils them; for not all necessities or all petitions reach such a point that God hears them in order to fulfill them, until in His eyes the number of them is sufficient and there has arrived the proper time and season to grant them or relieve them » (Stanza II, 4).

Hence we see that, far from being useless, prayer is necessary: necessary to obtain God’s help, to lead an interior life, just as seed is necessary for the harvest. Moreover, prayer is infallibly efficacious because God, Who cannot contradict Himself, has decreed that it should be. True, humble, trusting prayer, by which we ask for ourselves what is necessary for salvation, is never lost. It is heard at least in this sense, that it obtains for us the grace to continue praying.