During the Provincial Chapter of the American Province of Saint Elias held on 9-12 June 2015 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Michael Kissane, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Br. Robert Chiulli, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Fr. Paul Denault, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Joseph Nguyen Do, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Fr. Sean Harlow, O.Carm.
ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME
1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.
2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.
Nothing in this world is indifferent to us
3. More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will”. Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.
4. In 1971, eight years after Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological concern as “a tragic consequence” of unchecked human activity: “Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation”. He spoke in similar terms to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations about the potential for an “ecological catastrophe under the effective explosion of industrial civilization”, and stressed “the urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity”, inasmuch as “the most extraordinary scientific advances, the most amazing technical abilities, the most astonishing economic growth, unless they are accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitively turn against man”.
5. Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first Encyclical he warned that human beings frequently seem “to see no other meaning in their natural environment than what serves for immediate use and consumption”. Subsequently, he would call for a global ecological conversion. At the same time, he noted that little effort had been made to “safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology”. The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement. Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the established structures of power which today govern societies”. Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and “take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”. Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is.
6. My predecessor Benedict XVI likewise proposed “eliminating the structural causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correcting models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring respect for the environment”. He observed that the world cannot be analyzed by isolating only one of its aspects, since “the book of nature is one and indivisible”, and includes the environment, life, sexuality, the family, social relations, and so forth. It follows that “the deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes human coexistence”. Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behaviour. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless. We have forgotten that “man is not only a freedom which he creates for himself. Man does not create himself. He is spirit and will, but also nature”. With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves”.
United by the same concern
7. These statements of the Popes echo the reflections of numerous scientists, philosophers, theologians and civic groups, all of which have enriched the Church’s thinking on these questions. Outside the Catholic Church, other Churches and Christian communities – and other religions as well – have expressed deep concern and offered valuable reflections on issues which all of us find disturbing. To give just one striking example, I would mention the statements made by the beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, with whom we share the hope of full ecclesial communion.
8. Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken in particular of the need for each of us to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, for “inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage”, we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation”. He has repeatedly stated this firmly and persuasively, challenging us to acknowledge our sins against creation: “For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins”. For “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God”.
9. At the same time, Bartholomew has drawn attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of environmental problems, which require that we look for solutions not only in technology but in a change of humanity; otherwise we would be dealing merely with symptoms. He asks us to replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which “entails learning to give, and not simply to give up. It is a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs. It is liberation from fear, greed and compulsion”. As Christians, we are also called “to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbours on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the slightest detail in the seamless garment of God’s creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet”.
On the 18th-22nd May 2015, the International Formation Commission convened at the General Curia in Rome. P. Benny Phang, O.Carm., General Councilor for Formation chaired the meeting with P. Noel Rosas, O.Carm. (Administrative Secretary for Formation); P. Onesmus Muthoka, O.Carm. (Ken); P. Krispinus Ginting, O.Carm. (Indo); P. Jose Alex Valanattu, O.Carm. (Ind); P. Desiderio García, O.Carm. (ACV); P. Wayne Stanhope, O.Carm. (Aust); P. Quinn Conners, O.Carm. (PCM); P. Albeiro Luis Romero, O.Carm. (Ita-Col); and P. Giampiero Molinari, O.Carm. (Ita).
The first day included reflections facilitated by Dr. Donna Orsuto, professor from the Gregorian University, and P. Jose Cecilio Magadia, S.J., General Councilor for Formation. During the following days, the commission identified its vision and direction for the work in various areas of formation. To help every Carmelite and community appreciate the revised RIVC, the commission will publish a Companion to the RIVC later this year. Within this sessenium, the commission will organize programs for formators, vocation promotors, and students. For better participation, ongoing formation program will occur in regional geographical areas. The next international formators’ and vocation promoters’ gathering will be in Malang, Indonesia in 2016.
During the Provincial Chapter of the Italian Province held on 1-6 June 2015 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Giovanni Grosso, O.Carm.
- Vice Prior Provincial: Fr. Tiberio Scorrano, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Fr. Giuseppe Midili, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Fr. Matteo Palumbo, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Luca Sciarelli, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Fr. Giampiero Molinari, O.Carm.
The Pope’s Prayer Intentions for June 2015
Universal: Immigrants and refugees - That immigrants and refugees may find welcome and respect in the countries to which they come.
Evangelization: Vocations - That the personal encounter with Jesus may arouse in many young people the desire to offer their own lives in priesthood or consecrated life.
Lectio Divina June - Junio - Giugno 2015
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- Monday, June 1, 2015
- Tuesday, June 2, 2015
- Wednesday, June 3, 2015
- Thursday, June 4, 2015
- Friday, June 5, 2015
- Saturday, June 6, 2015
- Sunday, June 7, 2015
- Monday, June 8, 2015
- Tuesday, June 9, 2015
- Wednesday, June 10, 2015
- Thursday, June 11, 2015
- Friday, June 12, 2015 - 00 - 08
- Saturday, June 13, 2015
- Sunday, June 14, 2015
- Monday, June 15, 2015
- Tuesday, June 16, 2015
- Wednesday, June 17, 2015
- Thursday, June 18, 2015
- Friday, June 19, 2015
- Saturday, June 20, 2015
- Sunday, June 21, 2015
- Monday, June 22, 2015
- Tuesday, June 23, 2015
- Wednesday, June 24, 2015
- Thursday, June 25, 2015
- Friday, June 26, 2015
- Saturday, June 27, 2015
- Sunday, June 28, 2015
- Monday, June 29, 2015
- Tuesday, June 30, 2015
During the first Provincial Chapter of the unified German Province held on 25-29 May 2015 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Dieter Lankes, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Fr. Peter Schröder, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Br. Andreas Scholten, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Klemens August Droste, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Br. Guido Niessner, O.Carm.
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Aracena, Spain, was held 21 May 2015. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. Elena M. López Font., O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. M. Remedios Alvarez Soriano, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. Milagros Herrera Badillo, O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. M. Remedios Alvarez Soriano, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Milagros Herrera Badillo, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. Elsy Arackal Inasu, O.Carm.
God gave us faculties for our use; each of them will receive its proper reward. Then do not let us try to charm them to sleep, but permit them to do their work until divinely called to something higher.
(St. Teresa of Jesus)
We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God
We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.
(St. Teresa of Jesus)
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It is love alone that gives worth to all things.
(St. Teresa of Jesus)
A soldier pierces Jesus’ heart
John 19:31-37
1. LECTIO
a) Opening prayer:
Lord Jesus, grant that we may stand before your Word in a listening attitude. Help us to stay calm, not to be superficial and distracted. If we meditate on your Word, then we shall, certainly, experience an invasion of tenderness, compassion and love that flows from your pierced heart on humanity. Grant that we may understand the symbolism of the blood and water flowing from your heart. Grant that we too may gather that blood and water so that we may share in your infinite passion of love and suffering when you underwent every physical and moral suffering. May our meditating on those symbols break our egoism, our self-centredness and our indifference. May the water and blood mentioned in today’s Gospel calm our anxieties and worries, take away our vainglory, purify our greediness, transform our fears into hopes and our darkness into light. As we open ourselves to the force of your Word, we say to you with all our heart and soul, “Jesus, you are truly the revelation of love”.
b) Reading of the Gospel:
31 It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies' remaining on the cross during the Sabbath -- since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity -- the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32 Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. 33 When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs 34 one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water. 35 This is the evidence of one who saw it -- true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true -- and he gives it so that you may believe as well. 36 Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture: Not one bone of his will be broken; 37 and again, in another place scripture says: They will look to the one whom they have pierced.
c) A moment of silence:
Let the silence in this meeting with the Word be truly a prayer: a conversation with God, a listening to Him who reveals himself and calls you and invites you to be one with Him.
2. MEDITATIO
a) A key to the reading – content and division:
This passage of the Gospel begins with a mention of the Pasch of the Jews and with a request to Pilate (19,31). For the Evangelist such an event holds extraordinary importance. The centre of the Gospel passage is the piercing of the side whence flow blood and water. We should take note of the symbols in this passage: the blood symbolises death and love to the end; the water whence life comes is the symbol of love expressed and communicated. In the context of the Pasch, these symbols point to the blood of the Lamb who conquers death, and the water, source that purifies. These symbols seek to show that this love (the blood) saves by giving its entire life (water-Spirit). That which the Evangelist witnessed, is the basis of faith. The passage is organised thus: first the obligation of rest on the festive day which leads to the request made of Pilate that the bodies be taken down (19,31); there follows the scene on the cross when a soldier pierces Jesus’ side (19,32-34); finally the witness of the Evangelist, based on the Law and the Prophets (19,35-37).
b) The festive rest and the request to Pilate (19,31):
The Jewish leaders, because of the legal purity required by the Pasch now close at hand, and worried that the execution of the death of Jesus might profane the Sabbath or even the whole feast of the Pasch, «asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away». They are not in the least aware that their Pasch has been substituted by Jesus’ Pasch. The mention of the bodies is significant. Mention is made not only of the body of Jesus, but also of the bodies of those crucified with him, as if to express Jesus’ solidarity with those crucified with him and with the whole of humanity.
Jesus’ body on the cross, that makes him one with humanity, is, for the Evangelist, God’s sanctuary (2,21). The bodies of those crucified could not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, since what was involved was the preparation for the most solemn feast in the Jewish tradition. Anyway, this feast will lose its traditional meaning and will be substituted by the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
«The Jews» put concrete requests before Pilate: that the legs of those crucified be broken so as to accelerate their death and thus avoid the problem that they pose at that particular time. None of these requests is carried out in the case of Jesus: the soldiers do not break his legs nor do they take him down from the cross.
c) The pierced side (19,32-33):
The soldiers break the legs of those with Jesus, but when they get to Jesus they see «he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs…» It is significant that the soldiers break the legs of those crucified with Jesus. They are still alive and now that Jesus is dead, they too can die. It is as though Jesus, by dying before them, through his death has opened the way for them to the Father and now they can follow him. By stating that they did not break the legs of Jesus, the Evangelist seems to be saying: No one can take life from Jesus, because he gave his life of himself (10:17ff; 19:30). «One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water». The reader may be surprised by the action of the soldier since Jesus was already dead. What need was there to pierce him? It seems that hostility goes on even after death. The piercing with the point of the lance wants to destroy him forever. This act of hatred allows Jesus to give the kind of love that produces life. This fact is extraordinarily important and contains great wealth of meaning. The blood that flows from Jesus’ side symbolises his death, which he accepts so as to save humanity; it is and expression of his glory and of his love to the end (1:14; 13:1); it is the gift of the shepherd for his sheep (10:11); it is the love of the friend who gives his life for his friends (15: 13). This supreme proof of love, which does not withdraw in the face of the suffering of death on a cross, is an object of contemplation for us on this solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From his pierced side comes love, which love is his and at the same time inseparably that of the Father. The water that comes out also represents the Spirit, source of life. The blood and water witness to his love proclaimed and communicated. The allusion to the symbols of water and wine at the wedding feast of Cana is evident: the hour has come for Jesus to give the wine of his love. Now the definitive wedding has taken place. The law of supreme and sincere love (1:17) shown on the cross, echoed in his commandment, «love one another as I have loved you” (13:34), is poured out into the hearts of believers by the Spirit. The divine plan of love is fulfilled in Jesus in the outpouring of blood and water (19:28-30); now it is the time for men and women to realise its fulfilment. In this fulfilment, we shall be aided by the Spirit that flows from the pierced side of Jesus, transforming us into a new humanity, capable of loving and of becoming children of God (1: 12).
d) The witness of the Evangelist and of Scripture:
With the scene of Jesus pierced on the cross, the Evangelist gives proof of a great and solemn witness so that all who listen to him might come to believe. This final and supreme manifestation will form the foundation of the faith of future disciples. We should note that only here does the Evangelist address his readers with the plural “you”: «so that you may believe as well”.
Jesus’ pierced side on the cross is the great sign towards which all the persons mentioned throughout the Gospels converge, but above all, all the readers of today, to whom it is given to understand the full meaning of Jesus’ existence. The passage concerning the pierced side is, for the Evangelist, the key that explains the giving of oneself for the salvation of humanity. Even if such a sign may seem paradoxical to the modern reader, in God’s plan it becomes the manifestation of his saving power. Could not God have chosen another sign of his saving love? Why did he choose the sign of a man sentenced to death and death on a cross? What image of God do we see in this sign? God manifests himself solely in generous love capable of giving life.
e) A few questions:
- What place does the contemplation of the pierced heart of Jesus hold in your personal prayer? Do you allow yourself to be involved in the symbols of blood and water that express the mysterious gift of God to you and to humanity?
- Have you ever thought that at the time of greatest resistance to God and the death of Jesus, there begins the moment of grace, mercy, the gift of the Spirit and of the life of faith?
- How do you see your weaknesses? Do you see them as means of mercy, especially when you are ready to admit them? Do you not know that they may be instruments that God uses to evangelise your heart, to save you, to forgive you, and to give you new life to love in love?
- People who draw away from God, difficult young people, violence, hostility … often give rise within us of moans, discomfort, bitterness and scepticism. Have you ever thought that God may be saving people in their sins and beginning with their sins? Have you ever thought that so many men, women, young people who are in prison or in communities for drug addicts experience in those who help them a meeting with the Lord and thus feel loved and saved by him?
3. ORATIO
a) Isaiah 12:2; 4cd; 5-6
Look, he is the God of my salvation:
I shall have faith and not be afraid,
for Yahweh is my strength and my song,
he has been my salvation.'
'Praise Yahweh,
invoke his name.
Proclaim his deeds to the people,
declare his name sublime.
Sing of Yahweh,
for his works are majestic,
make them known throughout the world.
Cry and shout for joy,
you who live in Zion,
For the Holy One of Israel is among you in his greatness.'
b) Closing prayer:
At the end of this moment of listening to the Word, let us use the help of prayers that come from a loving and wise study of the Bible. Prayer begins with listening and leads to action «with a pure heart and right conscience». The title of the prayer is «That I may love, Lord!»: Is it an empty dream to imagine a united humanity, where all are glad to live with others and feel useful, understood and loved? How often people, yesterday, today and in the future, have had and will have such a dream, Lord! The need for unity and the desire for charity dwell in human nature. Love, the law that unites the universe, is the reason and vocation that You, Lord, entrust to everyone who comes to life. To live means to feel loved and to be able to love. When one feels lonely, empty, without love, it seems that life is worthless and colourless! How is it, then, Lord, that not all seek love, always, nor do they all live for others, nor are they capable of giving themselves? To give oneself to each other means transforming the existence of the world into gift. Grant, Lord, that I may understand and live this wonderful vocation of love! (Lucio Renna)
4. CONTEMPLATIO
On earth, the knowledge we can have of God is divine silence. Through the lectio divina our thirst for the Word is not quenched but is made more acute. St. Augustine said: «You find him only to seek him more avidly». When a heart is seduced by the Word, it feels as if it were dying if the encounter were to be deferred. This is what Teresa of Avila experienced: «Muero por que no muero» (I die because I do no die). To initiate this moment of contemplation, I would like to quote three sayings of Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity. They are taken from a part entitled “ a hymn” to suffering, but we must not think that suffering was the Absolute in her life. Rather she says that we are called to “enter into the joy of the Lord”. The first thought is: «Suffering is such a great thing, such a divine thing! It seems to me that if the Blessed in heaven could envy us one thing, they would envy us this treasure. It is such a powerful lever on the heart of the good God!» (Letter to Mrs. Angles, 14 August 1904). The second thought is: «Suffering is a string that produces even sweeter sounds and she (the soul) likes to make it its instrument to move more deliciously the heart of God» (Retreat on How to find heaven on earth). The last thought is: «Nothing moves God’s heart like suffering. If we cannot desire or go to meet it, then at least we can accept the trials that God sends us. The more he loves a soul, the more he makes it suffer» (Diary, 17 March 1889). Why is it that Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity sees in suffering «such a great thing, such a divine thing that moves the heart of God?» Because it is the road taken by Christ. Christ’s Pasch, passion and death on the one hand and resurrection on the other are one as are concave and convex.
With great joy we present the new edition of the electronic bulletin for the Carmelite Laity. In this third publication we want to share a major event that gathered large crowds: the Congress of the Third Order of Carmelites of Asia and Australia held in the Philippines. This edition also highlights the figure of our sister St. Teresa de Jesus, Doctor of the Church, because the Carmelite Family all around the world is celebrating the V Centenary of her birth. We thank you for reading this E-bulletin and for the suggestions that you constantly send us for the next editions. God bless you!
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During the Provincial Chapter of the Polish Province held on 18-22 May 2015 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Bogdan Meger, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Fr. Tadeusz Popiela, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Fr. Zbigniew Czerwien, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Wieslaw Strzelecki, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Fr. Marcin Siemek, O.Carm.
