Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
"The fundamental temptation, for Jesus as for us, is to set ourselves up as rivals of God our Father," writes Discalced Carmelite friar Antoine-Marie Leduc, who reflects on Jesus' temptation in the desert.
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"I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection," wrote St. Thérèse. But rather than looking for a person to climb each step with her, Thérèse opted for the direct route: a lift from Jesus in his arms.
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St. Thérèse believed that she had an apostolic vocation, "to travel over the whole earth" to preach Jesus' name. On 14 February 1992, St. John Paul II referred to her special calling in his ad limina speech to French bishops.
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We recall the birth of the Servant of God Hermann Cohen on this date in 1820, with links to biographical sketches by his admirers and fellow Jewish converts. Cohen himself cries out, “I love Jesus Christ—that’s the secret of my immense peace.”
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Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. reflects on the Jesus' admonition that we must carry our own cross and follow him to be his disciple. The bishop says that "when Jesus speaks of the cross, he isn't simply talking about suffering. The cross is synonymous with extreme love, like that of Jesus."
Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, always a spiritual director to her own mother, offers this word of wisdom in a letter written on this date in 1906: “The Master called the hour of his Passion ‘His hour’... When faced with great suffering or a tiny sacrifice, oh, let’s think right away that ‘this is our hour’...” Elizabeth faced great suffering in that moment of her life; was she encouraging herself, too?
Fr. Denis-Marie Ghesquières, OCD from the Paris Province comments on the Gospel of Luke, where we read: “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” (Lk 12:50).
Titus Brandsma's love for Mary was contagious. He had learned to live "with Mary, for Mary, and in Mary", according to the teachings of Carmel's Marian spirituality and he explained this to his students, directees, and friends.
In December 1915 St. Teresa of the Andes took a pivotal step toward her Carmelite vocation when she received permission to profess a private vow of chastity.
For the birthday of a novice, Sr. Martha of Jesus, St. Thérèse wrote a poem on 16 July 1894. It reads, in part: "Close to you, O my loving Mother! I've found rest for my heart..."
St. John Paul II reflects on the Gospel account of the woman in the crowd who raised her voice and cried out to Jesus, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!"
Life is so short! What happiness it is to think of that, to tell ourselves that tomorrow we shall be in Heaven, near Jesus Who loved us enough to die for us, near Mary who loved us...
Carmelite poet Jessica Powers contemplates the image of St. Mary Magdalen, who "ran on Easter morning, her hair wind-tumbled and her cloak awry. [...] She sought, as love so often seeks and finds, a Radiance that died or seemed to die..."
On the evening of Love, speaking without parable, Jesus said: "If anyone wishes to love me All his life, let him keep my Word.
In the Sixth Dwelling Place of the Interior Castle, St. Teresa once again commends the practice of reflection on the Passion of Our Lord: "Life is long, and there are in it many trials, and we need to look at Christ our model, how He suffered them, and also at His apostles and saints, so as to bear these trials with perfection."
Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. explores the theological depths of Christ's death on the cross: "The cross of Jesus is the cathedra of infinite love, limitless forgiveness, and mercy that can change the world."
Coming to him, we shall love him always. We want him to remain, filled with peace, In our Love!
You must try to maintain a deep peace in yourself and not allow yourself to become troubled. Ask Jesus to command the winds and the storms and bring about calm and tranquility in [your] inner life.
Jesus, my Jesus! [...] You see my weaknesses, my cowardice, my fears, my miseries! [...] I'm afraid of sacrifice, of the Cross.
With the help of the book called the Bible, we read and understand the book of life, we listen to the Lord through life's events and we prepare ourselves to respond to Him.
!["I took for my advocate and lord the glorious St. Joseph and earnestly recommended myself to him. [...] I don’t recall up to this day ever having petitioned him for anything that he failed to grant."](https://scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t39.30808-6/336879821_1374507696727108_3000064146961560788_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=GeKBPoaKfMcAX_QOTF6&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfBQ98yZ_dpFqhPvUWdp1Cq8NMY7bwsNY0_97P0_Bcsw3g&oe=64238CFB)
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Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. ~ St. Teresa of Avila
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