1 Prayer and Reflection in preparation for the General Chapter of the Carmelite Order, 2013 "A word of hope and salvation" (Const. 24): living the charism and mission of Carmel today”. Some Quotations and Reflections while you are getting ready .... A serious and constant discernment is necessary, to hear what the Spirit is saying to the community (cf. Rev 2:7) to recognise what comes from the Lord and whatever is contrary (cf. Vita consecrata, 73). Without discernment, together with prayer and reflection, consecrated life runs the risk of giving into the criteria of this world: to individualism, to consumerism, to materialism: criteria by which fraternity is diminished and consecrated life itself loses its appeal and its edge. Be masters of discernment, so that your brothers and your sisters take on this “habitus” and your communities become an eloquent sign for the world of today. (Pope Beneict XVI
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Prayer and Reflection in preparation for the General Chapter of the Carmelite Order, 2013
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Prayer and Reflection
in preparation for
the General Chapter
of the Carmelite Order,
2013
"A word of hope and salvation" (Const. 24): living the charism and mission of
Carmel today”.
Some Quotations and Reflections while you are getting ready ....
A serious and constant discernment is necessary, to hear what the Spirit is saying
to the community (cf. Rev 2:7) to recognise what comes from the Lord and
whatever is contrary (cf. Vita consecrata, 73). Without discernment, together with
prayer and reflection, consecrated life runs the risk of giving into the criteria of this
world: to individualism, to consumerism, to materialism: criteria by which fraternity
is diminished and consecrated life itself loses its appeal and its edge. Be masters of
discernment, so that your brothers and your sisters take on this “habitus” and your
communities become an eloquent sign for the world of today. (Pope Beneict XVI
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addressing the assembly of the Union of Superiors General, 2011. Quoted in the
address by the Prior General to the 2011 General Congregation in Niagara.)
So, we see the old tree, transplanted to new ground, maintained its growth. That
growth was influenced, of course by new conditions but it survived the storms and
winters of its new environment. By its inner vitality and the care of the Heavenly
Gardener it set its roots deep into the new soil. At times the storms tore off a branch
here and there and its life was threatened but the old trunk could not be destroyed. It
puts forth new shoots and its branches spread wider than ever before. And now it
stands, not the least among the noble trees in the great garden of the Church. Titus
Brandsma, The Beauty of Carmel, p. 58
Lectio divina is an authentic source of Christian spirituality recommended by our
Rule. We therefore practise it every day, so that we may develop a deep and genuine
love for it, and so that we may grow in the surpassing knowledge of Christ. In this
way we shall put into practice the Apostle Paul’s commandment, which is mentioned
in our Rule: “Let the sword of the spirit, the Word of God, live abundantly in your
mouth and in your hearts; and whatever you must do, do it in the name of the Lord.”
(Constitutions, # 82)
All of us who wear this holy Carmelite habit are called to prayer and contemplation
(5M 1,2) (...) any of you who sees your Order falling away in any respect must try
to be the kind of stone the building can be rebuilt with – the Lord will help to
rebuild it (F 4,8).For love of our Lord I beg them to remember how quickly
everything comes to an end, and what a favour he Lord has done in bringing us to
this Order and what a punishment anyone who starts any kind of relaxation will
deserve. They must always s look at the raced we are descended from – that race of
holy prophets. What numbers of saints we have in heaven who have worn this habit
of ours! We must have the holy audacity to aspire, with God’s help, to be like them.
The struggle will not last long, but the outcome will be eternal. (F 29,33) (St. Teresa
of Jesus)
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls
away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old
wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved." (Mt 9:16-
17)
Recent decades have seen the advance of a spiritual “desertification”. In the
Council’s time it was already possible from a few tragic pages of history to know
what a life or a world without God looked like, but now we see it every day around
us. This void has spread. But it is in starting from the experience of this desert, from
this void, that we can again discover the joy of believing, its vital importance for us,
men and women. In the desert we rediscover the value of what is essential for
living; thus in today’s world there are innumerable signs, often expressed implicitly
or negatively, of the thirst for God, for the ultimate meaning of life. And in the
desert people of faith are needed who, with their own lives, point out the way to the
Promised Land and keep hope alive. Living faith opens the heart to the grace of
God which frees us from pessimism. Today, more than ever, evangelizing means
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witnessing to the new life, transformed by God, and thus showing the path.
(Benedict XVI - Homily for the opening of the year of faith).
INTRODUCTION
The Purpose of the Carmelite Life
At the heart of the Carmelite tradition is the dual purpose of Carmelite life as
enunciated by Felip Ribot (Book of the First Monks, Book 1 chap 2): to offer God a
pure and holy heart, free from all stain of sin, and to taste somewhat in the heart and
to experience in the mind the power of the divine presence and sweetness of
heavenly glory, not only after death but already in this mortal life. If in fact we
regard this as a true statement about our lives, then, perhaps with new expressions,
we will find ourselves coming back to this notion again and again until we find that
it truly gives direction to our lives. It calls on us to think about holiness and justice
together (that we might live in holiness and justice all the days of our lives (Lk
1,75) and to affirm that we do not want these gifts only for ourselves but for all the
people with whom we share, life, ministry, community, joys and sorrows.
Three issues:
From an overview of events and statements by the leadership of the Order, i.e. the
Prior General and his Council as well as the Council of Provinces 2009 and the
General Congregation 2011, a number of very clear areas of concern emerge:
1) That we need to renew our pride and enthusiasm for our faith, our traditions and
what we as Carmelites have to offer to the church and to the world;
2) that we need to develop what will be for some members but not all, an entirely
new way of working with lay people, with members of the wider Carmelite family,
and with members of other committed organisations in the church;
3) that we should have some kind of particular focus for our work among the
people: some suggest that the area of prayer and spiritual guidance might be the
answer, others that we need to unite our gift of contemplation with the work of
transforming society by transforming the human person. All of this will continue to
be done in shrines, parishes, centres of education, our NGO, and many others. The
conclusions to these three questions could have important implications for the
Mission and the missions of the order, the new and the established one.
Our charism
Today we find that as a result of much study and discussion, our charism has been
defined and explained very clearly, in the 1995 Constitutions and in the RIVC. It is
a charism of contemplation by which we live in allegiance to Jesus Christ, in prayer,
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community and service, following the examples of Elijah and Mary. We know what
our charism is. What is needed now is for us to give life to that charism in ourselves
and in our communities as our service to the Church and to the world.
Context
We each have our own way of describing and judging the context in which we live
and in which our Chapter will take place. The context of the General Chapter is
marked by a number of realities: on the positive side, the growth of our order in
many parts of the world, the wealth of information we have about our charism and
tradition, a new awakening among lay people who want to be part of our family. At
the same time in many parts of our world there are severe cut-backs in peoples’
income, increased unemployment especially among young adults, a new kind of
distrust of institutions and their leaders, the increasing gap between the rich and the
poor, the severe threat to the natural habitat of humans and other species due to
greed and short-sightedness, faith and belief in all kinds of “gods” while the God of
the Christians remains on the margins, the hopes and expectations of Vatican II that
still have to be realised. In this context we, as Carmelites are called to offer and to
become a word of hope and salvation by living our charism and mission....
To become a word from God it is necessary to enter a process of interior
transformation and consent to the presence and action of God in our life. This is the
work of God but God will not do it without our consent. This process can be painful
because through it we come to see ourselves as we really are and not as we would
like to be. The great danger is that we will seek to run away from this encounter
with ourselves because we do not want to accept what is being revealed to us. This
process of transformation includes a disintegration of what is false within us so that
the true self can come to birth. (Joseph Chalmers, God of our Contemplation, 2004,
par. 39)
Questions for personal reflection at the end of each session:
1. What is it that moves me – an internal calling? what I see happening in the
world around me? a belief that I have something to offer?
2. What do I feel moved to do – be a priest? be a religious? live in community
that gives a witness? go among the poor? work with the powerful and
influential? teach and preach? become a spiritual guide?
3. With what resources will I work - my own giftedness?, my education? my
community? other people? my prayer and faith?
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4. What might I need that I haven’t got - others to work with? more training
and education? more cohesion in decision making? more financial resources?
1st MEDITATION
Theme: Contemplation at the heart of our charism: the love of God
transforming us.
Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road the way? (Lk
24:32)
The disciples on the road to Emmaus move from sadness and emptiness to the
joy of recognising him in the sharing of his word and in the breaking of bread.
Disciples who encounter Him in contemplation become heralds of his
resurrection and builders of community.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Spirit of Jesus,
you help us to serve God our Father
in the new life of the Spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter (Rm 7:6)
we pray to you;
when we read the Word of God,
lift the veil from our hearts
so that we will discover there the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 3:4)
Our awareness of what is happening in the world
Pause to consider alone or with others your experience of what is happening now in
the world... with special attention to the presence or absence of God.
As we ponder our world we find that we are ready more and more to turn to God
and seek his word:
Reading 1: Lk 24:13-35. They recognised him in the breaking of bread
Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem
called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew
near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He
asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking
downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are you the only
visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in
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these days?" And he replied to them, "What sort of things?" They said to him, "The
things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and
word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed
him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he
would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since
this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they
were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back
and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he
was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the
women had described, but him they did not see." And he said to them, "Oh, how
foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not
necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what
referred to him in all the scriptures. As they approached the village to which they
were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged
him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went
in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took
bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were
opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to
each other, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while he spoke to us on the
way and opened the scriptures to us?" So they set out at once and returned to
Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who
were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the
two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to
them in the breaking of the bread.
Reading 2: Living in the presence and the love of God
"Contemplation is the inner journey of Carmelites, arising out of the free initiative
of God, who touches and transforms us, leading us towards unity in love with him,
raising us up so that we may enjoy his gratuitous love and live in his loving
presence. It is a transforming experience of the overpowering love of God. This
love empties us of our limited and imperfect human ways of thinking, loving, and
behaving, transforming them into divine ways"40
and enables us "to taste in our
hearts and experience in our souls the power of the divine presence and the
sweetness of heavenly glory, not only after death, but during this mortal life."The
contemplative dimension is not merely one of the elements of our charism (prayer,
fraternity and service): it is the dynamic element which unifies them all. (RIVC, #
23)
Reading 3: Fidelity to our charism, courage in our decisions.
The absence of a sense of the deepest meaning of life, a pluralism of outlooks on the
world and on the human person, a feeling of existential dissatisfaction on the one
40
Costitutions 17; see also St John of the Cross, Canticle B, 22, 3-5; 26, 1; 39, 4.
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hand and hope in the struggle for a better world, on the other, give rise to a cry in
the human heart and a demand for transcendence and contemplation.
This cry and this demand require fidelity to our charism and courage in our
decisions. We will be faithful to our charism if we confront all that is happening in
our world with a prophetic outlook and an attitude of faith, by which we will
discover the God who lives and speaks in history. Every choice we make in the
service of our neighbour should proceed from and take its direction from this
contemplative attitude. (Falco Thuis, Prior General, In Wonder at the Mystery of
God, Conclusion. Rome, 1983.)
Questions for reflection, individually or in common,
1. What part does contemplation play in your life?
2. In what ways has the Carmelite Order been helpful to you in developing the
gift of contemplation in your life?
3. What do you think about the idea that contemplation is our Order's best gift
to the Church?
4. The disciples experienced the collapse of something in which they had put
their trust, only to find a new life open up in front of them through their
encounter with God’s word. If this is an image of what is happening to our
world, or to our Order, what kind of world can you see opening up in front of
us, through our fidelity to God’s word?
Let us pray in thanksgiving:
For the gift of knowing God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
For the gift of health and fulfilment, for the enjoyment of education and comfort.
Blessed be God for ever.
For the gift of people who nurture us, work with us and await a word of hope and
salvation from us.
Blessed be God for ever.
Aspirations – prayers that we bring with us and repeat often
O God, you are my God, for you I long Ps. 62
Like a deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my
God. (Ps 41)
Did not our hearts burn as he talked to us on the road? Lk 24:32