The Ascent of Mount Carmel

The ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL is the third major work of St. John of the Cross, the father of our Carmelite Order. It has three books explaining how to reach divine union quickly and contain some of the most important and insightful aspects of Christian mysticism. It is a beautifully written piece of prose of the finding of Christ, the subsequent devotion to Him and the love that so characterizes the charisms of being a Carmelite.

St. John of the Cross began writing this book after his escape from prison (details will be in another post). ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL is considered to be the story of loneliness and suffering of the soul before its union with God. This book provides a road map for the mystical journey to union with God.

You may read this book here:

https://www.catholicspiritualdirection.org/ascentcarmel.pdf

Today's gospel woman!

Dear DLL Jesus,

This unnamed woman in today's gospel has always fascinated me. In fact, all the women, especially the sinful ones, have always fascinated me. Be this woman, or the Samaritan woman, or Mary at the feet of Jesus listening to him, or the woman who anointed his feet with the ointment, and of course Mary Magdalene - they all have fascinated me, touched me with their conversion stories and brought me closer to you! Somewhere deep in my heart I have started to believe that all of them are me and it's my life that has got transformed by your grace!

Mary Magdalene has been the favourite of them all - and yesterday's gospel reveals that the Mary who sat at your feet and the woman who anointed your feet are the same women - and that she happens to be none other than Mary Magdalene! She lived in Magdala with her sister Martha and brother Lazarus and followed you as your disciple wherever you went!🤗 

But my instinct tells me that even this woman in today's gospel is Mary Magdalene! I am not too sure about it but Lord, my instinct says so!🙏🏻

Allegiance to Jesus Christ

In my post of 13^th July, 2018, I had written about the meaning of ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS CHRIST!

http://jubileecardozo.blogspot.com/2018/07/allegiance-to-christ.html   

 

By now even I have fully understood the meaning of Allegiance to Jesus Christ and living a life totally dedicated to Him. Yes, I still succumb to my temptations but I try not to live too long in them! I try to get up fast and remain in Christ’s steadfast love instead of the temptations! Life is better this way!

 

Now, let me come back to what it means to be allegiant to Christ.

 

The second chapter of the Rule of Carmel has this to say: "In many and various ways the holy fathers established how everyone, whatever his order or whatever kind of religious life he has chosen, must live in allegiance to Jesus Christ and serve him faithfully from a pure heart and a good conscience."

 

So for all Carmelites, whether religious or lay, allegiance to Christ requires our full devotion and loyalty. We need to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, who is the person at the very centre of our life. The Scripture commands us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. As Carmelites we serve Him faithfully with a pure heart and a clear conscience.  We are called to a higher standard of morality in severe contrast to the morally corrupt culture.

 

Living in allegiance to Jesus Christ is living in hope.  It is fixing our eyes on what is to come.  It is the joyful expectation that the promises made are to be fulfilled.

 

So, let's express our absolute allegiance to Christ and be surrendered to His love.

Alphabetical Understanding of Carmel

After the book, it has now occurred to me that I should give an alphabetical understanding of Carmel! So from today onwards I will alphabetically write about all the important aspects of Carmel!

From today's Gospel

Chapter 7: Contemplation

The heart of the Carmelite charism is prayer and contemplation. This involves us in listening to God who speaks to us in many ways and especially in the words of Scripture. 

The heart of Carmelite spirituality lies in this silent interior encounter with God. A result of this loving encounter is an interior silence, which St. Elizabeth of the Trinity believes is essential to hear the quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth experienced this interior silence herself as a refuge where a renewal “takes place at every moment in the bond of love.” (Heaven of Faith 4.1, 13). Elizabeth of the Trinity’s most celebrated teachings are those on contemplative prayer, but there is even more to discover in her writings, and perhaps her most sublime teachings have only begun to be appreciated and applied in the quietest hearts in the quietest monasteries throughout the world.

She is most definitely a saint for the lay faithful as much as for cloistered contemplatives. Many of her letters were written to her lay friends and one of her four major works was a ten-day retreat called "Heaven in Faith" that she wrote for her younger sister, a married laywoman.

Chapter 6: Two strong pillars of Carmelites – Word of God and Eucharist

Carmelite life has always been centred round the Eucharistic celebration. Be it St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, The Little Flower, St. Edith Stein, Blessed Titus Brandsma, or St. Elizabeth of the Trinity - they all loved the Eucharist because they believed that by receiving communion we enter into union with Christ. They all write about the importance of receiving the Eucharist. The first hermits on Mount Carmel gathered daily for the Eucharist. The Eucharist was their one daily, community exercise. The one and only time they came together was for the Mass. The Carmelites chose to be together for daily Mass from their first days on Mount Carmel.

Reduced to its most fundamental expression, Carmelite spirituality is centred on prayer, understood as loving friendship with God, and contemplation as the free gift of God. We have set apart special times for prayer – morning, evening and night. Our morning prayers are known as Lauds and the evening prayer Vespers. Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross speak of prayer and contemplation as ‘friendship with God’ and ‘union with God’ respectively.

Another aspect of the Carmelite Spirituality is Word of God. We are a community centered on the Word of God.

We meditate on the Word of God. We not only read the Scriptures, we study them. We read the writings of Carmelite saints and take St. Joseph as our role model. Hence, Carmelite spirituality is focused on attention to one’s relationship with Jesus.