Faith, Hope and Love
“And now these three remain: faith hope and love; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor 13:13) Faith is one of those words used by us all the time. By faith we Carmelites believe in God and believe all that He has revealed to us. As we grow in faith we grow in our relationship with Jesus. We see Mother Mary as a model of faith and are called to trust and openness ourselves. Her faithfulness to Jesus serves to spark that faith in us. The virtue of faith is the foundation of all Christian virtue, and it is at the heart of every Carmelite’s life.
The first hermits on Mount Carmel came from different countries of Europe. They had journeyed from their native soil to settle in the Holy Land of Jesus and Mary, seeking the face of the living God. Perhaps hope and love had driven them to that special place where God might be found, and for this reason they made a pilgrimage of trust to the mountains and the deserts of Israel. It is not surprising then that the journey theme, rooted in faith, hope and love, became such an integral part of our Carmelite spirituality.
We see these virtues of Carmelite spirituality in the lives and writings of our greatest saints Teresa, John of the Cross, and Therese. Their writings have given us tremendous insights into the meaning of the virtues and certainly have a primacy in our Carmelite tradition. Perhaps the latest Doctor of the Church, St. Therese, has placed this primacy into particular focus for us. It is difficult to describe Therese’s intense love of God and of the members of her community in Lisieux, but her spirituality begins with this truth. Her sister Pauline once said of her: “She breathed the love of God just as I breathe air.” Therese completely believed and trusted the beautiful words of St. John: “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
Hope is termed a theological virtue because its immediate object is God, as is true of the other two essentially infused virtues, faith and love. Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. Hope is the gift to trust that God will grant us eternal life. The Beatitudes express our commitment to living by the virtue of hope. They teach us how to live virtues of hope, love and faith and how to make our daily commitment to God. This is the distinctive note of Carmelite life – intimate friendship with Christ.
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