The Word of God given to us in the Scriptures is a marvellous gift of GOD made to us humans. All along its history, Israel has been conscious of the great privilege of being the first ones to whom this Word was confided. The Psalms celebrate with wonder this gracious gift “The decisions of Yahweh are true and righteous every one, more desirable than gold, His words sweeter than honey… (Ps 18: 10-11). Your decrees are my eternal heritage; they are the joy of my heart… (Ps 118: 111-112). This Divine Treasure is now the legacy of every Christian and the Carmelites have taken great care to cherish this wealth placed in their hands.
Carmelite Order takes its roots in the Old Testament personage of Elijah. His personality was the inspiration for a group of crusaders who retired to Mount Carmel to restore, within the Christian faith, the life of a prophet committed to the Word of God and its demands. As well, the life of Mary as a sister and model shone through and distinguished Carmelite spirituality from the beginning.
For the hermits on Mount Carmel Elijah was a model searching for God in silence and solitude. He is described in the pages of the Bible as “the Man of God” (1 Kings 17: 18-24). For the people, Elijah was the “man of God and the word of Yahweh in (his) mouth as truth itself” (1 Kings 17: 24). He was also a man close to people. Communing with God did not remove him from people and their problems he was very much involved in their problems.
St. Teresa of Avila, the Reformer of the Order is known for her writings on prayer and contemplation. Worth recalling that during the time of Teresa, in Spain, the faithful were unable to read Scriptures unless they knew Latin since no vernacular edition was permitted. Teresa had to turn to the spiritual books which abounded with quotations from the Scripture. A study of Teresa’s life shows that she received no education in Sacred Scripture. Nonetheless, one is amazed by her knowledge and use of the Bible despite this lack of formal training and the limited access she had to the contents of the Bible. Without any previous knowledge of the passage, she would suddenly penetrate, through mystical experience, to the deepest sense contained there.
St. Teresa of Jesus had many mystical experiences, through which she was able to commune with God. But she was never proud of these experiences. She was always concerned whether or not her life and experiences were in agreement with the truths of the Sacred Scriptures. The word of God became a criterion to judge her mystical experiences. While speaking about the treasures that are contained in the Word of God, Teresa once exclaimed, “For one word of His will contains within itself a thousand mysteries, and thus our understanding is only very elementary.” The attitude, then, one must have when he or she approaches the Bible is humility. Through her mystical experiences, Teresa was able to grasp the deepest meaning of some of the biblical texts, such as God’s truth and fidelity, the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity, union with Christ in both His humanity and divinity and the peace of Christ. She has written a commentary on the Song of Songs too.
St: Teresa developed the image of journey or pilgrimage, to mean the interior journey to which God calls each person to help find themselves and to discover God. The person wanting to find Christ is called to make a pilgrimage to their center where the human and the divine meet.
St: Teresa has reminded us that to be a pilgrim on a journey we must be identified with the rejected and crucified Christ. She has also reminded spiritual pilgrims that to find the crucified Christ, they must seek Him in those who are being crucified- rejected, oppressed in our world. So pilgrims must be identified with the oppressed and learn, know and love the Christ they see in their lives.
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