Whispers from Carmel to encourage and inspire | Susurros del Carmelo Teresiano
When I get to Heaven and I see Jesus busy talking with someone, I’ll quickly go open the water taps and all the earth will have water, and as soon as Jesus turns around I’ll turn the water off right away, I’ll leave, and he won’t know that anyone turned on the water…
Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified
Cahiers Réservés, CR10
This English translation is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Gospel — John 2:1-5
There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They don’t have any wine.”
Jesus replied, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet.”
His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Commentary
The Mother of the Lord shows us the way: whatever he tells you, do it. Do what he says, put his gospel into practice, make it a body in motion, of flesh and blood. The huge, empty water jars in your heart will be filled — he will transform your life, from empty to full, from dull to happy.
The attitude of Mary
must be our attitude as a Church:
trust-filled but active.
This involves not only Jesus’ action but it involves our action, as well. “Truly, a New Covenant is pledged at this wedding. And a new mission is entrusted to the servants of the Lord, namely, the entire Church: ‘Do whatever he tells you’. To serve the Lord means to listen and to put his Word into practice. It is the simple, essential recommendation of Jesus’ Mother. It is the program for a Christian’s life” (Pope Francis).
Bishop Silvio José Báez, O.C.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Hermits who lived in caves near a spring. Sound familiar? We’re talking about Mount Carmel, correct? Actually, we are talking about the Carmelites who migrated to France from Mount Carmel in Palestine.
Bob Cromwell, “The Toilet Guru”, has completed extensive research on the primitive, but effective plumbing system at the Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire in the Luberon region of Provence, the first Carmelite monastery in France. Cromwell makes reference to our Order’s first monastery on Mount Carmel as the birthplace of the Order from whence the French Carmelites migrated.
Archeologists who have studied the system of channels that delivered water from the spring to the other areas of the 13th c. monastery property on Mount Carmel have been amazed at the advanced engineering. The comparison between that system and the system at the Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire described by The Toilet Guru is just as amazing. It seems that there are more similarities here than simply hermits living in caves near a spring…
Read more at Monastic Toilets at Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire in Provence
Let us come now to speak of the third water by which this garden is irrigated, that is, the water flowing from a river or spring. By this means the garden is irrigated with much less labor, although some labor is required to direct the flow of the water. The Lord so desires to help the gardener here that He Himself becomes practically the gardener and the one who does everything.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Book of Her Life: Chapter 16 Copyright © 1976 by Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars, Inc. Photo: Abigail King/Flickr
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