by Fr. John Russell, O.Carm.
In turning to a more specific consideration of the Carmelite charism — the community's gift to be given to others — I will pass over two aspects already mentioned: the foundational character of ongoing conversion to Jesus Christ which we share with all Christians and the communal and ecclesial aspects of Carmelite commitment.
The prophetic/Elijan spirit associated with the Carmelite heritage is lived with particular vigor these days in many Carmelite provinces in South America. For many Carmelites in North America (perhaps this is the case with many other religious men and women), the prophetic dimension of our charism comes upon us with a certain newness. We need time to sift through the implications of the prophetic call. Many are not quite sure of what it means personally. Certainly religious need to be open to the demands of the call to serve human dignity and freedom. Papal teaching for the past twenty-five years, in particular, has been reminding religious and others of the relationship between creation and redemption. Freedom, as the 1986 Vatican Instruction put it, "demands conditions of an economic, social, political and cultural kind which make possible its full exercise." [9] While the prophetic nature of the Carmelite charism seeks to respond to the social configuration of sin and the existence of unjust structures, parochial ministry often enough keeps us mindful of the need to comfort people, to touch the lives of those who suffer the consequences of human weakness and sinfulness as individuals: the divorced, the sick, the lonely and troubled, the victims of drugs, alcohol and child abuse as well as the unemployed, the depressed, the empty, the anxious. In a word our ministry includes in practice not only a challenge function but also a comforting one. I believe that both aspects characterize parochial experience. I believe, too, that the prophetic role calls Carmelite religious to initiate and to support movements within the parish which raise the consciousness of the community to the demands of justice and the requirements of human dignity.
Two other aspects of the Carmelite charism require some reflection. Carmelites have an essential call to contemplation, and our heritage has been consistently labeled Marian. The contemplative character of our charism continues to seek both individual and communal responses. Does contemplation mean that Carmelites spend a great deal of time each day in personal and communal prayer? Or is contemplation a particular degree of prayer subsequent to years ofascetical discipline? Is contemplative a name which designates Carmelites as teachers of prayer? Is it a mark of identity attached to us simply because we are monks or friars? Some judicious observations were made over fifteen years ago by a former Prior General in a circular letter on the Carmelite Rule. He stated that the Rule "is valid for both those living a purely contemplative life or the active life. It is flexible and adaptable. It proposes for both ways of life the same specific purpose, vacare Deo, that is, total occupation with God, the life of Christ lived with his Father. . . . Among the pure contemplative Carmelites [this occupation with God] finds its expression in their extended prayers, silence and sacrifices. Among the active Carmelites it finds its expression also among their apostolic activities." [10]
If I read the letter correctly, the active Carmelite embraces the contemplative vocation in the very activity of directing or centering his or her life in the Lord in the many ways that such a movement occurs. The Prior General wrote: celebrating "the sacraments, preaching the word of God, teaching, counseling, all these over and above being a service to the Church and [people] should bring us to a more intimate relationship with God." [11] The Carmelite rule, mitigated by Pope Innocent IV in 1247, has changed our relationship to external solitude. The letter continues: "we are not bound to the solitude of isolated places, but only to that solitude necessary for contemplative life, or in the case of active friars and sisters to a solitude that will help us to pray." [12] What is essential to the Carmelite charism is interior solitude, an abiding desire to seek the Lord's presence in our lives, a concern to be open to the demands of the apostolic life. The contemplative charism, it seems to me, has us concerned in particular about one pole of the paradox of our humanity: the deep need we have to seek interior integrity, Christian identity, unity of purpose, singleness of heart. The other pole of the paradox legitimately recognizes and expresses our social nature, our bonding with all men and women. Our contemplative vocation expresses the conviction, as Parker Palmer once put it, "that until we are at home with ourselves, our relations with others will be distorted and distorting." [13] It is interesting that presently one of the best sellers on the New York Times Book Review list for non-fiction is Anthony Storr's Solitude: a Return to the Self, a book which argues that "the capacity to be alone [is] a valuable resource, which [facilitates] learning, thinking, innovation, coming to terms with change, and the maintenance of contact with the inner world of the imagination." [14]
Within parish life so much of the ministry in sacramental catechesis, marriage preparation, preaching, counseling, R.C.I.A. evokes a contemplative depth: to assist people in coming to recognize and to arrive at authentic personal Christian responses along the journey of faith, hope, and love. Perhaps religious have not given sufficient attention to the contemplative encounter with others in parochial ministry which reveals a continual story of grace. Being open to mutuality in ministry promotes contemplative awareness.
Another feature of the Carmelite charism centers upon its Marian character. The present Prior General circulated a letter on the Marian Year. He suggested that Marian renewal urges Carmelites to seek Mary in the Gospels: "the Woman of Faith who is a constant source of inspiration in humbly listening to and obeying God's word, and the Disciple of Jesus who rejoiced to be included among the poor and was committed to the service of others." [15] The renewal of Marian devotion in parishes might center first of all upon the biblical stories: Mary's faith and openness to God in the Annunciation, her own experience of suffering and separation from her Son within the mystery of the Cross, her generous heart encountered in the story of her visit to Elizabeth. People can absorb a feel for their own faith responses in hearing these stories again and again. Liturgical celebrations need to reflect the biblical portrait and the direction given at Vatican II, especially in the document on the Church, Lumen Gentium. Mary stands always united to Christ. Our relationship to her needs to celebrate, according to the document on the Church, not "fruitless and passing emotion" but Mary's unique role as mother and model of faith, hope, and love.
[9] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation (March 22, 1986), Washington, D.C.: U.S.C.C., No. 995, p. 3.
[10] Most Rev. Kilian Healy, O.Carm., The Carmelite Rule after Vatican II (Rome: Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani, 1971), p. 17.
[11] Healy, p. 14.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Parker Palmer, "The Monastic Way to Church Renewal," Expressions (Jan./ Feb., 1986, St. Benedict Center, Madison, WI 53705), p. 6.
[14] Anthony Storr, Solitude: A Return to the 5c//(N.Y: The Free Press, 1988), p. 202.
[15] Most Rev. John Malley, O.Carm., "Father General's Letter for the Marian Year," (Rome: Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani, July 16, 1988), p. 14.
