A TIME TO FIND A CARMELITE IDENTITY IN OUR LIFE!

A TIME TO FIND A CARMELITE IDENTITY IN OUR LIFE!

'A Carmelite is someone who looked at the face of the Crucified one, who has seen Him offering Himself as a victim for us; pondering on this tremendous vision of Christ's love he has understood the love burning within him and has longed to give himself to Him.'

- St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

There are several ways you become a member of a family: (a) by birth; (b) by adoption; (c) by marriage; and (d) by choice. We can safely dispense with the first three methods and concentrate on choice. Whether you were called, followed, or chosen, you are here now, present at this meeting of the family of Carmel, which means you want to be identified and be called a Carmelite. We have all read, that there is a CARMELITE IDENTITY. It motivates and attracts us to seek out a distant lifestyle, be part of an Order, and belong to a community. Although attraction and motivation will lead us to Carmel, they must be fortified with other elements to transform us from who we are to whom we hope to become. Let us view the basic elements to show our Carmelite identity in our life of Carmel

A Vocation to Prayer

In accord with the Rule of St. Albert, the Discalced Carmelite seeks to pray always and everywhere. The community comes together daily for the celebration of the Eucharist and for the chanting of the Liturgy of the Hours, the Prayer of the Church. In addition, each friar is committed to an hour of personal prayer in the morning and another in the evening, to seek union in friendly, solitary conversation with the God who loves us. All our prayer, private and communal, has an apostolic dimension since it is always within and for the Church, especially for those who are most in need, those who are abandoned, and those who never pray for themselves. And faithful to the desires of St. Teresa of Jesus, we pray always for the unity of the Church, that the day may soon come when all the baptized will gather around the one table of the Lord to celebrate the loving mercy of God.

Why can we not live without prayer?

It is the very vocation of a Carmelite to bear witness to a life of prayer. A special part of our prayer is time spent with God in silence. Sustained by the word of God and the sacred liturgy, we are led to live in intimate friendship with God. In prayer, we are called to a ‘hidden union with God’, in the form of life and fraternal sharing in which contemplative prayer and action combine to become a single apostolic service of the Church.

By growing in the virtues of faith, hope and above all charity, we deepen our prayer life and come to resemble Christ himself. I cannot leave this basic, many will argue about it with me. Our ministry is prayer. It is the source of our life. We cannot live without it. Through it, we deepen our friendship with God and find his loving presence in the world.

A Vocation to Ministry

St. Teresa of Jesus, along with her collaborator St. John of the Cross, founded the Discalced Carmelite friars to be of manifold service to the Church, combining a deep spiritual life with meeting the needs of God’s people in a variety of ways. Because our holy parents are acclaimed in the Church as masters and models of intimacy with God, the Discalced Carmelite friars strive to serve the Church through a special apostolic involvement in promoting a deeper spiritual life among the faithful. That is how they serve the Church according to their charism, and faithfully carry on the spiritual tradition of the Order. we see some of the people who showed their identity in their ministry.

1. St Elijah and the Carmelites

In Rome, in the Basilica of St. Peter, we find statues of the founders of many Religious Orders. Under the statue of Elijah, we read: “The entire Carmelite Order erected [this statue] to its founder”. Elijah is not the founder of the Order in a historical sense. However, in the biblical story of Elijah, we find all the foundation stones on which the Traditions and Spirit of Carmel are built. He is the prophet of prayer and the true worship of God. He is single-minded in his “zeal” for God. He is sent by God to do God’s work. He must depend upon God for everything. He experiences God in stillness and silence. In the New Testament story of the transfiguration, Elijah is a witness before all of us to the true identity of Jesus. Carmelites from the beginning have felt called to live in the “spirit and power” of Elijah.

2. Our Lady & the Carmelites

Our Lady of Mount Carmel was the first tabernacle, and she served her Son faithfully and pondered His words deep in her heart throughout her life. She is the model of faithful allegiance to Jesus Christ. She is also the model of a life lived in constant prayer and apostolic service to the church. When a friar is professed into the Order of Discalced Carmelites, he vows to live, with the Virgin Mary, in faithful allegiance to Jesus Christ. We seek the help of the Mother of God through constant prayer and service of the Church. We wear the scapular, the habit of the Order, as a special sign of our devotion and dedication to the Blessed Virgin and of her motherly protection. This habit mainly shows our Carmelite identity in our Ministries.

3. The Spirit of St Teresa of Avila & the Discalced Carmelites

St Teresa of Avila is one of the great women of history as a writer, reformer, foundress, doctor of the Church and saint of God. Her influence, like her personality, is larger than life. She challenged old ways, and created, out of her life and her reform, something new and beautiful for God. She defended women and reformed men, walked with God and never lost the common touch, a would-be solitary who became an intrepid traveller, an artless writer of literary and spiritual gems and a reluctant saint who became the mother of Carmel and doctor of the Church. she emphasizes more about the life as Carmelites in community.

A Vocation to Community

Community prays its hour of mental prayer, Called together by the Spirit of God, the Discalced Carmelite friars live in a community of shared responsibility and support of praying, working and recreating together, sharing their lives, their concerns, their hopes and their needs. Members in each monastery are connected to the larger community of our Province, the Discalced Carmelite Order (represented internationally in more than seventy countries) and most especially within the larger community of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. Within a community, we strive for a creative balance of solitude and fraternal interaction in the spirit of brotherly love that St. Teresa desired for her friars and nuns.

Why do we live in a community?

To be a Carmelite is to live, pray and work as a member of a united family in Christ, as a gathering of Christ’s friends. It helps us to grow in Christian friendship and to serve one another. Community life nourishes our search for God and our work with people. There should be mutual acceptance in a true family relationship, with no one being made to feel excluded. The difficulties of community life are faced up to in truth and charity, and overcome in a spirit of humility and forgiveness, so that all grow in mutual love and true friendship.

There are still more fortifying elements to show our Carmelite Identity in our life, they are

- Love of God, of Mary, of the Order.

- Sacrifice giving up, denial, detachment, poverty of spirit, sharing, caring Attitude, humility, an open mind, a generous heart

- Focus on changes evolving from self-knowledge, self-evaluation, and obedience

- Commitment whole-hearted, free and zealous

- Appreciation of the gift of vocation we have received.

Even though we have many elements, a basic reason to show our Carmelite Identity is our choice to live a life of Communitarian Spirit in all the above-said aspects.

Conclusion

Parents and children, husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters all have expectations, obligations and responsibilities. They interact with each other, depend on one another, and work together for the common good. A sound family structure is built on love, loyalty, obedience and service and all the other characteristics that are the fruits of those principles. Family ties are strengthened by frequent gatherings, attending traditional celebrations, offering advice, encouragement and consolation in times of trial, and guarding the reputation and the family's honour and good name. Life within any family is a constant challenge if you want to maintain peace and harmony. Most positively, a family like that could mould you, shape you and inspire you to be the person God wants you to be.

In no small measure, the Order of Carmel does the same for her own family. Whereas a family abides by unwritten rules, Carmel has the Rule of Life and the Constitutions to help their members live a certain way in an organized manner in the spirit of the Gospel according to the Teresian charism.

Carmelite formation is an ongoing, life-long process. There is no graduation day. Instead, progress is rewarded with increased responsibility and more active involvement in the welfare of the community. Spiritual formation in conjunction with active involvement in the community ensures stability, continuity, conformity and growth. Returning to the subject of choosing a family of Carmel, commitment is not an option. It demands love, sacrifice and determination and is the most essential ingredient of all TIME.