Sister Ruth Burrows, o.c.d.

We find it hard to accept how involved God is with us, how vital we are—by his free choice—to his complete happiness. Scripture encourages us to find our analogies in human images. We are adopted children. Consider a blissfully happy couple finding all they need in one another. For no other reason than generosity and the desire to share their happiness, they decide to adopt children as their own. From then on their life undergoes a profound change. Now they are vulnerable; their happiness is wrapped up in the welfare of the children; things can never be the same again. If the children choose to alienate themselves and start on the path to ruin, the couple are stricken. They will plead, humble themselves, make huge sacrifices, go out of themselves to get their loved ones to understand that the home is still their home, that the love they have been given is unchanging. This perhaps gives us some insight into redemption. In a mystery we cannot fathom, God "empties," "loses" himself, in bringing back to himself his estranged, lost children. And this is all the Father wants. This is the only remedy for his wound. God is no longer pure God, but always God-with-humanity- in-his heart.

Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen, o.c.d.

There is no limit to God's mercy. He never rejects us because of our sins, he never grows weary of our infidelities, he never refuses to forgive us, he is always ready to forget our offenses and to repay our ingratitude with graces. He never reproaches us for our offenses, even when we fall again immediately after being forgiven. He is never angered by our repeated failures or weakness in the practice of virtue, but always stretches out his hand to us, wanting to help us. Even when men condemn us, God shows mercy to us; he absolves us and sends us away justified....

How far does our mercy go? How much compassion do we have for the faults of others? The measure of our mercy toward our neighbor will be the measure of God's mercy toward us....

God does not require us to be sinless that he may shower upon us the fullness of his mercy, but he does require us to be merciful to our neighbor, and moreover, to be humble. In fact, to be sinners is not enough to attract divine mercy; we must also humbly acknowledge our sins and turn to God with complete confidence. "What pleases God," said Saint Therese of Lisieux, "is to see me love my littleness and poverty; it is the blind hope I have in his mercy. This is my sole treasure." This is the treasure which supplies for all our miseries, weaknesses, relapses, and infidelities, because by means of this humility and confidence we shall obtain the divine mercy. And with this at our disposal, how can our wretchedness discourage us?

Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur

It is not pride, is it, to call myself your friend, one you have called, your chosen friend? I see the traces of your love everywhere, the divine call everywhere, my vocation everywhere. You made use of trials, suffering, and illness to make me completely yours and to make me holy, first drawing me to you solely by your action within me. You have done everything. Now complete your work; make me holy according to your will; use me for others, for my beloved ones, for all your interests; use me for your greater glory, and let all be done in silence and in an intimate encounter between us alone. From the depths of my being and my misery I say, "Lord, what will you have me do? Speak, your servant listens; I am the handmaid of the Lord; I come, Father, ready to do your will" (Lk 1:38).

Patience, gentleness, humility, silence, kindness. To hide all that I can of my physical suffering, and all my moral suffering, my spiritual deprivations. To cover everything with serenity and smiles: all my discomfort, sadness, and renunciations. To try to reconcile the tastes, desires, and needs of each and to take no account of myself, not to think of what I might wish; to sacrifice even my greatest hopes, when, misunderstood, they might irritate or displease another. I shall have all eternity in which to contemplate him whom I adore, to unite myself to him, and to pray. Here, I must think of my neighbor, of others; I must sacrifice myself, and practice contemplation in action. There is plenty of material for renunciation and profound and constant self-denial in this unending abandonment of all that is my deepest longing.

Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur

Monsignor Romano Guardini

Christ on the cross! Inconceivable what he went through as he hung there. In the degree that we are Christian and have learned to love the Lord, we begin to sense something of that mystery of utter helplessness, hopelessness. This then the end of all effort and struggle! Everything, without reserve—body, heart, and spirit given over to the illimitable flame of omnipresent agony, to the terrible judgment of assumed world—sin that none can alleviate and whose horror only death can end. Such the depths from which omnipotent love calls new creation into being....

Ardent with suffering, he was to plunge to that ultimate depth, distance, center where the sacred power which formed the world from nothing could break into new creation.

Since the Lords death, this has become reality, in which all things have changed. It is from here that we live—as far as we are really alive in the sight of God.

If anyone should ask: What is certain in life and death— so certain that everything else may be anchored in it? The answer is: The love of Christ. Life teaches us that this is the only true reply. Not people—not even the best and dearest; not science, or philosophy, or art or any other product of human genius. Also not nature, which is so full of profound deception; neither time nor fate.... Not even simply "God"; for his wrath has been roused by sin, and how without Christ would we know what to expect from him? Only Christ's love is certain. We cannot even say God's love; for that God loves us we also know, ultimately, only through Christ. And even if we did know without Christ that God loved us—love can also be inexorable, and the more noble it is, the more demanding. Only through Christ do we know that God's love is forgiving. Certain is only that which manifested itself on the cross. What has been said so often and so inadequately is true: The heart of Jesus Christ is the beginning and end of all things.

Monsignor Romano Guardini

Pope's Intentions

Universal: Families in Difficulty - That families in need may receive the necessary support and that children may grow up in healthy and peaceful environments.

Evangelization: Persecuted Christians - That those Christians who, on account of their faith, are discriminated against or are being persecuted, may remain strong and faithful to the Gospel, thanks to the incessant prayer of the Church.

Ebook:

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Are you poor? Like Lazarus covered with sores, put your trust in him. Lazarus was poor, Abraham was rich. When we hear in the Gospel that that poor man with his sores died and was carried up by angels to Abraham's bosom, all the beggars, the sore-infested, the cripples, the rejects—when they hear that reading, what do they say? "He was talking about us." Perhaps a poor man in want, scarcely able to support himself, or a beggar perhaps, notices some rich man standing in God's house clothed appropriately to his station. When he hears that reading he says, "He was talking about me; I too, when I die, am going to be carried up by angels to Abraham's bosom." He hears the Gospel say in the same place about the rich man, that when he died he began to be tormented in hell. When the poor man hears this he says to himself, "He said that about me, this about him over there."...

He rewards loving kindness with a crown, not poverty. Sure, God is not going to say in his judgment, "Let the nobleman approach me, let the commoner depart from me." But neither is he going to say, "Let the commoner approach me, let the nobleman depart from me." What he is going to say is, "Let the just approach, let the unjust depart."

So, poor man, hold onto loving kindness if you want to arrive. If you really want to know that what the Lord chose is loving kindness, and it's not riches that he condemned— the poor man was carried up—but where to?—to Abraham's bosom. Read what Abraham was, and you will find he was rich. The rich man went ahead and prepared hospitality and a home for the poor man. That's just what you have in the psalm, all together, rich and poor (Ps 49:2).

Let us glorify God and our Lord Jesus Christ in our good works, and say from the bottom of our hearts, have mercy on me, Lord have mercy on me, because— not in gold, not in silver, not in honor, not in wealth, not in a powerful friend, not in a crowd of supporters, not in a retinue of servants, but—in you my soul has put its trust.

from http://www.gcatholic.org

Carmelites

History

• 1200: Established as Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Carmelites) (English) / Ordens der Brüder der allerseligsten Jungfrau Maria vom Berge Karmel (Karmeliten) (Deutsch) / Ordre du Carmel (Carmélites) (français) / Ordine della Beata Vergine del Monte Carmelo (Carmelitano) (Italiano) / Zakon Braci Najświętszej Maryi Panny z Góry Karmel (Karmelici) (polski) / Ordem dos Irmãos da Bem-Aventurada Virgem Maria do Monte Carmelo (Português) / 加爾默羅會 (正體中文) / カルメル会 (日本語) / Ordo Fratrum Beatissimæ Mariæ Virginis de Monte Carmelo (latine) / O. Carm. / O.C.


• 1568.11.28: Branched to create Order of Discalced Carmelites (Teresian Carmelites)

Superiors

Prior General:	Fr. Míċéal O'Neill O.Carm.  (2019.09.17 – ...)
Prior General:	Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O. Carm. (53) (2007.09.13 – 2019.09.17)
Prior General:	Fr. Joseph Chalmers, O. Carm. (63) (1995.09 – 2007.09.13)
Prior General:	Fr. John Malley, O. Carm. (1983.09 – 1995.09)
Prior General:	Fr. Falco Thuis, O. Carm. (1971.09 – 1983.09)
Prior General:	Fr. Kilian Healy, O. Carm. (1959 – 1971.09)
Prior General:	Fr. Kilian Lynch, O. Carm. (1947 – 1959)
Prior General:	Fr. Hilary Doswold, O. Carm. (1931 – 1947)
Prior General:	Fr. Elijah Magennis, O. Carm. (1919 – 1931)
Prior General:	Fr. Pius Maria Mayer, O. Carm. (1902 – 1919)
Prior General:	Fr. Simone Maria Bernardini, O. Carm. (1900 – 1902)
Prior General:	Fr. Luigi Galli, O. Carm. (1889 – 1900)
Prior General:	Fr. Girolamo Priori, O. Carm. (1854 – 1863)
Prior General:	Fr. Giuseppe Raimondo Lobina, O. Carm. (1849 – 1854)
Prior General:	Fr. Agostino Maria Ferrara, O. Carm. (1843 – 1849)
Prior General:	Fr. Giuseppe Palma, O. Carm. (later Bishop) (1841 – 1843.04.03)
Prior General:	Fr. Giuseppe Cataldi, O. Carm. (1838 – 1841)
Prior General:	Fr. Luigi Calamata, O. Carm. (1832 – 1838)
Prior General:	Fr. Manuel Regidor y Brihuega, O. Carm. (1825 – 1832)
Prior General:	Fr. Luigi Antonio Faro, O. Carm. (1819 – 1825)
Prior General:	Fr. Timoteo Maria Ascensi, O. Carm. (1807 – 1814)
Prior General:	Fr. Rocco Melchor, O. Carm. (1794 – 1805)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Tufano, O. Carm. (1788 – 1790)
Prior General:	Fr. Andrea Andras, O. Carm. (1780 – 1788)
Prior General:	Fr. José Alberto Ximenez, O. Carm. (1768 – 1780)
Prior General:	Fr. Mariano Ventimiglia, O. Carm. (1762 – 1768)
Prior General:	Fr. Gioacchino Maria Pontalti, O. Carm. (later Bishop) (1756 – 1761.11.27)
Prior General:	Fr. Luigi Laghi, O. Carm. (1742 – 1756)
Prior General:	Fr. Nicola Ricchiuti, O. Carm. (1738 – 1742)
Prior General:	Fr. Ludovico Benzoni, O. Carm. (1731 – 1738)
Prior General:	Fr. Antoine-Joseph-Aimable Feydeau, O. Carm. (1728 – 1730)
Prior General:	Fr. Gaspare Pizzolanti, O. Carm. (later Bishop) (1722 – 1727.06.25)
Prior General:	Fr. Carlo Cornaccioli, O. Carm. (later Bishop) (1716 – 1722)
Prior General:	Fr. Pedro Tomás Sanchez, O. Carm. (1710 – 1716)
Prior General:	Fr. Angelo de Cambolas, O. Carm. (1704 – 1710)
Prior General:	Fr. Carlo Filiberto Berberi, O. Carm. (1698 – 1704)
Prior General:	Fr. Juan Feyjóo González de Villalobos, O. Carm. (later Bishop) (1692 – 1698)
Prior General:	Fr. Paolo di Sant’Ignazio, O. Carm. (1686 – 1692)
Prior General:	Fr. Angelo Monsignani, O. Carm. (1682 – 1686)
Prior General:	Fr. Ferdinando Tartaglia, O. Carm. (1680 – 1682)
Prior General:	Fr. Francesco Scannapieco, O. Carm. (1674 – 1676)
Prior General:	Fr. Matteo Orlandi, O. Carm. (1666 – 1674)
Prior General:	Fr. Girolamo Ari, O. Carm. (1660 – 1666)
Prior General:	Fr. Mario Venturini, O. Carm. (1654 – 1660)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Antonio Filippini, O. Carm. (1648 – 1654)
Prior General:	Fr. Leone Bonfigli, O. Carm. (1643 – 1647)
Prior General:	Fr. Alberto Massari, O. Carm. (1642 – 1643)
Prior General:	Fr. Teodoro Straccio, O. Carm. (1631 – 1642)
Prior General:	Fr. Gregorio Canali, O. Carm. (1623 – 1631)
Prior General:	Fr. Sebastiano Fantoni, O. Carm. (1612 – 1623)
Prior General:	Fr. Henry Sylvio, O. Carm. (1598 – 1612)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Stefano Chizzola, O. Carm. (1592 – 1596)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Batista Caffardi, O. Carm. (1578 – 1592)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Batista Rossi, O. Carm. (1562 – 1578)
Prior General:	Fr. Nicolas Audet, O. Carm. (1523 – 1562)
Prior General:	Fr. Bernardino Landucci, O. Carm. (1517 – 1523)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Batista de Parme, O. Carm. (1516 – 1517)
Prior General:	Blessed Fr. Baptist Spagnoli, O. Carm. (1513 – 1516.03.20)
Prior General:	Fr. Pierre Terrasse, O. Carm. (1512 – 1513)
Prior General:	Fr. Pons de Raynaud, O. Carm. (1503 – 1512)
Prior General:	Fr. Guillaume de Domoquercy, O. Carm. (1481 – 1503)
Prior General:	Fr. Cristoforo Martignoni, O. Carm. (1471 – 1481)
Prior General:	Blessed Fr. Johannes Soreth, O. Carm. (1451.11.01 – 1471.07.25)
Prior General:	Blessed Fr. John Soreth, O. Carm. (1451 – 1471)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Faci, O. Carm. (1434 – 1450)
Prior General:	Fr. Natale Bencesi, O. Carm. (1433 – 1434)
Prior General:	Fr. Bartolomeo Roquali, O. Carm. (1430 – 1433)
Prior General:	Fr. Jean Le Gros, O. Carm. (1411 – 1430)
Prior General:	Fr. Matteo de Bologne, O. Carm. (1404 – 1411)
Prior General:	Fr. Jean Le Gros, O. Carm. (1389 – 1411)
Prior General:	Fr. Jean de Raude, O. Carm. (1386 – 1404)
Prior General:	Fr. Raymond de Vaquerie, O. Carm. (1384 – 1389)
Prior General:	Fr. Michele Aignani, O. Carm. (1381 – 1386)
Prior General:	Fr. Bernard Olery, O. Carm. (1381 – 1384)
Prior General:	Fr. Bernard Olery, O. Carm. (1375 – 1381)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni Ballistari, O. Carm. (1358 – 1375)
Prior General:	Fr. Pierre-Raymond de Grasse, O. Carm. (1342 – 1358)
Prior General:	Fr. Pierre de Casa, O. Carm. (1330 – 1342)
Prior General:	Fr. Giovanni d’Alerio, O. Carm. (1321 – 1330)
Prior General:	Fr. Guy Terreni, O. Carm. (1318 – 1321)
Prior General:	Fr. Gerardo de Bologne, O. Carm. (1297 – 1318)
Prior General:	Fr. Raymond de L’Isle, O. Carm. (1294 – 1297)
Prior General:	Fr. Pierre de Millaud, O. Carm. (1277 – 1294)
Prior General:	Fr. Radulphe, O. Carm. (1271 – 1277)
Prior General:	Fr. Nicolas Le François, O. Carm. (1266 – 1271)
Prior General:	Saint Fr. Simon Stock, O. Carm. (1254 – 1265.05.16)
Prior General:	Fr. Alain, O. Carm. (1253 – 1254)
Prior General:	Fr. Gottfried, O. Carm. (1249 – 1253)
Prior General:	Fr. Berthold, O. Carm. (1237 – 1249)
Prior General:	Fr. Cyrille, O. Carm. (1232 – 1237)
Prior General:	Fr. Brocard, O. Carm. (1200 – 1232)
Frist Prior:	Saint Fr. B, O. Carm. (1154 – 1195) (Rule of #1)

Living Bishops (4 Archbishops, 7 Bishops)

Deceased Bishops (2 Patriarchs, 20 Archbishops, 181 Bishops)

Other Former Prelates (2)

from the Ratio

The meeting of two paths

 In Carmelite tradition, prayer has often been identified with contemplation. However, it is important to speak specifically about prayer, which is the door to contemplation.62

 God seeks us out, drawing us close.63 We are invited by the Spirit to focus our attention on God64 , to listen, to welcome the Word, and to open ourselves to God’s transforming action. Our search for God is a response to his voice, and the loving dialogue65 which is the substance of prayer is at once God's initiative and the fruit of human cooperation.

 Prayer, however, is above all the work of the Holy Spirit who, present in us, not only suggests what we should do and say - because "we do not even know what we should ask for"66 - but includes us in the prayer that Jesus, the beloved Son, addresses to the Father67 in a continuous dialogue of love. Prayer "penetrates to the very core of the Word in the Father's heart."68 Jesus associates us with his own prayer and leads us, step by step, into full communion with himself and with the Father in the Holy Spirit. Through fidelity to the Word and active observance of the commandment of love, we become open to the Holy Trinity who comes to dwell within us.69

Preparing the way for the encounter

 The Rule invites us to remain in solitude in our cells,70 which "give warmth to the children of grace as to the fruit of their own wombs, nourishing them, embracing them and bringing them to the fullness of perfection, making them worthy of intimacy with God."71 The cell is not merely an external structure; we must build it at the heart of our inner selves: therein dwells God72, who invites us to enter and seek the One who is.73

 From the outset, our spiritual tradition invites us to immerse ourselves in "the silence of a solitary hiding-place."74 In order to listen to the voice of the Lord and to hear his Word, we must know how to be silent: "The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and he speaks it in an eternal silence; and in silence it must be heard by the soul."75 To learn God's language and to begin to speak a few tentative words in response, we must allow ourselves, in every aspect of our lives (spiritual, psychological and physical), to adjust to the silent sound of God’s voice76 and to God’s light.77 From our brothers and sisters, masters of the spiritual life, we have received many teachings on this subject.

 The silence which we must cultivate does not come from an inability to communicate or an impossibility of communication; on the contrary, it is the fullness of dialogue, where words are often unnecessary and can become obstacles. Solitude is not isolation; it is filled with the Presence, and it sends us back transformed to the company of our brothers and sisters.

Alone before God

 Prayer is essentially a personal relationship, a dialogue between God the human person. We are invited to cultivate it and to find time and space to be with the Lord.78 Friendship can only grow through "frequent one-to-one encounters with the One whom we know loves us."79

 Our tradition suggests various ways of praying. The Rule invites us to prayerful attention to the Word, which must "live abundantly on our lips and in our hearts."80 Mary, the prayerful woman who "cherished these things and pondered them in her heart,"81 is the sublime model for this form of prayer. From Elijah we learn to remain in God's presence.82 As we become accustomed to his presence and as we learn to receive it silently, we begin to "breathe almost exclusively the essence of God, as we breathe the air around us."83

 What is important, beyond all matters of form, is to cultivate a deep friendship with Christ: perfect prayer "does not consist in thinking much but in loving much."84 In prayer, the loving heart reaches out towards God85 and rests in him.

Together before God

 In the Carmelite tradition, liturgical prayer celebrated in community has always been a source of spiritual growth, and therefore of inner transformation. Each day, punctuated by the liturgical moments, finds its centre - spiritually, if not chronologically - in the common celebration of the Eucharist, source and culmination of the life and activity of the Church. 86

 In the Eucharist, the Lord unites us to his own offering of himself to the Father "so that day by day we may be perfected in our union with God and with one another, through Christ the Mediator."87 From the encounter with Christ, who is Word and Bread of life, comes the strength which enables us to continue on our journey.88 By the celebration of the Eucharist, we are inspired to reach out gratuitously to others and to welcome them with openness.

 The celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours in community unites us, with the Church, to Christ's unceasing praise of the Father.89 This becomes our personal and communal way of participating in the sanctification of time and of history.

 "The prayer of the Carmelite community is a sign of the praying Church to the world"90 and recalls the example of Mary in the upper room, surrounded by the disciples.

 Our Constitutions suggest other moments of communal prayer, in addition to the liturgy. Lectio divina, in particular, provides an opportunity to share our experiences of God on our spiritual journey,91 and to seek God’s will together.

Ways leading to prayer

 We must cultivate the various forms of prayer92, especially those that are dear to the Carmelite tradition, such as systematic meditation, Lectio divina, the practice of the presence of God, the prayer of aspiration, and silent prayer. The Eucharist must be seen as the source and high point of our relationship with Christ.

 In developing community plans, adequate time and space shall be set aside for prayer, in order that members may learn to pray and gradually develop their own personal styles of prayer so that prayer may permeate all of life. "Prayer is life, not an oasis in the desert of life."93  

 It is also important to ensure that the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours are celebrated in community, and to insist on the importance of faithful participation.

 Finally, a climate of external and internal silence and a simple lifestyle must be developed and fostered, as these are conducive to prayer and reflection.94  

62 Cf. St. Teresa  of Jesus, The Interior Castle, 1,7.

63 Cf. Hos 2,16.

64 Cf  Dominic of  St. Albert, Exercitatio, 24: "Cultivating holy prayer consists in genuine, total, and real attention to God."

65 Cf. St. Teresa of Jesus, Life, 8, 5.

66 Rom. 8:26.

67 Cf. Jn 1:1.

68 St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi, I Colloqui, 50, 922.

69 Cf Jn 14:15-23.

70 Rule, 10.

71 Bl. John Soreth, Expositio Paraenetica in Regulam Carmelitanam, 13.

72 Cf. Ibid.

73 Cf. St. Teresa of Jesus, the poem "Seek yourself in me"; St. John of the Cross, Canticle B, 1, 6-10.

74 Cf. Institutio primorum monachorum, 1.5.

75 St. John of the Cross, Words of Light and of Love, 99.

76 Cf. 1Kings 19:12; St. John of the Cross, Canticle B, 15, 26.

77 Cf. St. John of the Cross, Ascent, 2, 9, 1; The Dark Night, 2, 5, 3 and 5.

78 Cf. Rule, 10; Constitutions, 80.

79 St. Teresa of Jesus, Life, 8, 5.

80 Rule, 15; see also Constitutions, 82.

81 Lk 2:19, 51.

82 Cf. 1 Kings 17:1; 18:15.

83 Michael of St. Augustine, Introductio ad vitam internam, tractatus quartus, seu Fruitiva Praxis vitae mysticae, 14.

84 St. Teresa of Jesus, Foundations, 5,2; The Interior Castle, 4, 1, 7.

85 John of St. Samson, Le vrai esprit du Carmel, 122,1; St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Ms. C, 25r.

86 Cf. SC, 10; LG, 11; Constitutions, 70.

87 Constitutions, 70; see also SC, 48.

88 Cf. 1 Kings 19:5-8.

89 Cf. Constitutions, 72.

90 Cf. Constitution, 64.

91 Cf. Constitutions, 82.

92 Cf. Constitutions, 66.

93 Bl. Titus Brandsma, Godsbegrip Rede uitgesproken..., 26.

94 Cf. Constitutions, 67.

Fr. Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm.

In order to continue the journey, we need a little push from time to time. Remember the scene where Elijah sits under a bush and wishes that he were dead. (I Kings 19, 4). God has a plan for him and the divine plan could be thwarted if Elijah does not continue his journey so God sends an angel. This divine messenger gives Elijah a push, offering food and drink. The angel has to repeat the process before Elijah is willing to get up and continue his journey. We have no facile answers to the problems of the world. It is an insult and a blasphemy to assure someone who is crushed by some event or illness that it is the will of God. Why bad things happen to good people or why bad things happen at all is a mystery. When Jesus was crucified, he experienced the absence of God and especially in our modern day, this is a very common experience. God seems to be absent from our modem world. Many people, even believers, seem to be practical atheists in the sense that they live as though God did not exist even though they might go to church on a Sunday.

Where is God in the midst of all our problems? Our faith tells us that God cannot really be absent from our lives. That would be hell. But perhaps we need to learn to discern the presence of God in the apparent absence of God and to learn a new language, God's language. Our brother, John of the Cross, tells us that,

One word the Father spoke, which word was His Son, and this word he speaks ever in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul⁴

We have to cultivate a profound silence within so that we can hear what God wants to say to us. We need to listen to God in prayer of course but also in the events of daily life. Often we have so much noise going on inside us that we cannot hear or discern anything else. As Carmelites, this silence should come naturally to us, or at least the desire for it. This is not just an ascetic practice and it is not referring merely to an external silence. It is an internal silence in order to discern the presence of God in the midst of even the most hopeless situation so that we can continue our journey with hope.

We need to try to identify the noise inside us: the commentaries on others, on events, and on ourselves. Once we have become aware of our internal noise, we can begin to let it go so that it does not influence everything we do, think and say If we continue the journey we will be brought face to face with our prejudices, our irrational fears and our presumptions. This experience is not to depress us but so that we can be liberated from them.

It is necessary to cultivate an interior silence so that we will be aware that God is speaking to us through some simple and humble messenger. If we are not silent within, life passes us by and we never grasp the true significance of what happens to us. It is interesting to have a period of silence with a group. After a few seconds, the coughing starts, then the shifting in seats, the odd rustling of paper can be heard. Many of us are not completely at ease with external silence. We wake up in the morning and turn on the radio. We spend our day working where we are often surrounded by noise of all kinds; we do not have much time even to think. We have an internal tape or cd that comments on everything and everyone throughout the day. The comments on the internal tape are based on our particular perspective on life, which of course is usually in our favour. We instinctively defend ourselves if we feel under attack and we seek the esteem and acceptance of others. We do this usually without being aware of what is going on inside us. It is a constant internal noise that makes it difficult to hear any other voice. The journey of faith towards transformation takes us through bright sunlight and dark valleys. God uses all the events of our life, good and bad, as instruments of purification, which is essential if we are to become what God has created us to be. We have to make the effort to attempt to discern the hand of God at work but this discernment is much easier if we can calm the noise inside us and hear the voice of God who speaks in the sound of the gentle breeze, or as some exegetes have it, "the sound of sheer silence" (I Kings 19,13).

Remember the experience of Elijah. He has just won a great victory for Yahweh on Mount Carmel but he is threatened by Jezebel and immediately his internal noise drowns out his trust in God. He goes into the desert, which is traditionally the place of silence. God speaks to Elijah through the angel so that Elijah will continue his journey. Elijah has difficulty in discerning the voice of God in the midst of all his troubles but eventually plods on to Horeb. When he arrives there, God asks him what he is doing there. Elijah replies that he is filled with great zeal for the Lord God of hosts. He tells God that he is the only champion of Yahweh remaining in the whole of Israel. God does not respond at this point but simply tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain. There Elijah meets God but not in the way he expects nor in the way that his whole religious tradition has taught him to expect. Elijah has to silence all his internal voices that tell him what God is like so that he can receive God as God is. Once Elijah has met God on God's terms, and not on his own terms, he is open to hear the truth, which sets him free from illusion. He thought that God really needed him since he was the only prophet left. God very gently points out that in fact there are 7000 others who have not bent the knee to Baal. Now freed from illusion, Elijah receives a new mission from God, which is in fact mostly carried out by his successor, Elisha, who is the recipient of a double portion of his spirit.⁵

Fr. Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm.

In our faith journey, there are moments when we as individuals or as groups are brought into the desert. Sometimes we walk into the desert following God's call or sometimes we just find ourselves there by force of circumstance. The desert is arid and it can be a frightening place. What does it all mean? We have tried our best to be faithful to Christ's call to follow him. We have worked in Carmelite parishes or schools for a number of years and for a variety of reasons, the future looks bleak. As priests and religious, we have lost status and we can be tempted not to go any further on the journey because we feel it is just not worth all the trouble. Then God sends a messenger to us. This messenger can come in all shapes and sizes and he or she encourages us to eat and drink for the journey is long. We are encouraged to eat the bread of life and drink from Carmel's wells, that is the Carmelite tradition, which has given life to many generations before us and is responsible for new life springing up all over the world. But perhaps we are too depressed to even be aware of this, so God's messenger nudges us again and encourages us to eat and drink. It is a great challenge to recognise what God is saying to us in the midst of daily life and to recognise the voice of God in and through the voice of some very unlikely person.

I do not know whether God causes everything that happens to us but I believe firmly that God is in the midst of every event, good or bad. God uses everything, big or small, good or bad, to challenge our normal way of being in the world, just as Elijah was challenged to let go of his expectations of how God would come to him. These expectations were deeply rooted in Elijah and our expectations and perspectives are deeply implanted in us. Before we can receive God as God really is, we have to learn to let go of all these. This is a painful process, a real dark night, but essential so that we can bear the light of day and be prepared for the encounter with God.

Our Carmelite tradition speaks of a journey of transformation. The events of our life are not meaningless. At the heart of every event, God is calling to us to take a step forward on our journey. God is calling to us to take a step forward from our predictable way of judging people, including ourselves, and situations to begin to see things from God's perspective. The end of our journey is our transformation when we are able to look upon all that is as if with God's eyes and love what we see as if with God's heart. We need to eat and drink lest the journey be too long for us. We find the necessary food for our journey in the daily celebration of the Eucharist, pondering the Word of God and in our Carmelite tradition.

Our faith, hope and love, those three essential Christian virtues, are at the beginning of our journey, based on what we have learned from others. As we continue on the journey, our human reasons for belief, for hoping in God and for loving as Christ commanded, begin to fail us. They are no longer sufficient. We can throw it all in because the journey is too precarious and the end is uncertain or we can reject the messenger and stay right where we are. Or we can continue the journey into the night. An essential element on our journey towards transformation is the dark night. This was never intended to be gloomy and impossible but an invitation to let go of our human and limited way of thinking, loving and acting so that we can think, love and act according to God's ways.

John of the Cross gives masterful descriptions of various elements that go to make up the night but it is not uniform for everyone. The night is experienced by each person in a different way and is made precisely to assist the purification of the particular individual. The dark night is not a punishment for sin or infidelity but is a sign of the nearness of God. The dark night is God's work and leads to the complete liberation of the human person. For this reason it is to be welcomed despite the pain and confusion involved. The dark night can be experienced not only by individuals but by groups and whole societies.

The journey of transformation usually lasts a long time because the purification and change that is wrought in the human being is so profound. This is not just a change of idea or opinion; it is a complete transformation of how we relate to the world around us, to other people and to God. There is a saying about walking a mile in someone else's shoes before we can understand another person. Jesus warned his followers not to judge (Mt. 7,1; Lk. 6, 37) and the reason is very simple: we cannot see things from another person's perspective and therefore we do not know what are the motives behind his or her actions. The process of Christian transformation, however, leads the human being towards a profound change of perspective, from his/her own particular way of seeing things to God's way. This involves a profound purification and emptying of all our attachments so that we can be filled with God.

Of course we need to make plans and goals and work towards their realisation. All of this needs to be done in an atmosphere of prayer in order to attempt to discern God's will and not just do what the majority wants, or even worse, to do what we want as individuals in a selfish way. No matter how much time we spend praying about our plans before we make decisions, there is no guarantee of their success. We know by bitter experience that all sorts of problems can arise to spoil our plans and to thwart our intentions.

This experience must not make us fatalists, refusing to plan ahead for fear of failure. We are called to work with Jesus Christ for the development of God's Kingdom. In order to become citizens of the Kingdom of God, we must change. God is creating a masterpiece in the life of each one of us and is bringing about the fulfilment of His plan of salvation through our lives and through our work. The great artist usually does not like to display an unfinished work and so we are not permitted to see what God is doing before the time. God is at work in our world and in our lives. Let us try to co-operate with God by continuing the journey towards transformation. Our Lady accompanies us on this journey as our Mother, Sister and Patroness. So do not let us falter. "Eye has not seen nor has ear heard, nor has the human heart conceived what God has in store for those who love him." (1 Cor. 2,9).