The Presence of the living God

"You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.

These words of St. Augustine echoed in the mind and heart of some pilgrims and hermits from Europe as they settled in the land of Jesus and Mary about the year 1200. These men, who were searching for a deeper awareness and understanding of the living God, became the first Carmelites. They imitated the prophet Elijah by living on Mount Carmel.

They deeply believed that God is always present among us. This was the basic insight that Jesus taught in His sharing among the people. God treasures every individual with a personal and everlasting love. In the words of St. John's Gospel 3: 16: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might have eternal life."

God has first loved us and continues to share that love with us day by day in so many personal ways. God is always with us, caring for us, supporting, and providing for us in all our needs. As the first Carmelites strove to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and to follow His example, this fundamental message of the Gospel became paramount.

Carmelites have this ideal: to seek and search for God, to give and spend time with God (vacare Deo is the traditional Latin phrase), to be with God by their commitment to follow Jesus, and thus "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all you mind." (Luke 10:27)

This ideal excites and inspires us still. It opens a horizon that calls, provokes, and challenges us to try to empty ourselves so that we might be filled with the God who created us, guides us, and speaks to us today. (Psalm 94)"

-- Fr. John Malley, O.Carm.

Solemnity of St John of the Cross

"St. John of the Cross stands as one of the most important mystical philosophers in Christian history. He was born at Hontoveros, Old Castile, 24 June, 1542; died at Ubeda, Andalusia, 14 Dec., 1591. The son of poor silk weavers of Toledo, John was born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez in Fontiveros. John's father died when the boy was quite young, leaving his mother, a member of a lower social class, to raise him alone. John was sent to the poor school at Medina del Campo, whither the family had gone to live, and proved an attentive and diligent pupil; but when apprenticed to an artisan, he seemed incapable of learning anything.

Thereupon the governor of the hospital of Medina took him into his service, and for seven years John divided his time between waiting on the poorest of the poor, and frequenting a school established by the Jesuits. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1563, continuing his studies at the University of Salamanca, where he began to teach while still a student. After being ordained in 1567, John met St. Teresa of Avila, another of the great mystics of the Christian tradition.

Following Teresa's lead in attempting to reform his Order, John, in 1568, initiated a very severe form of monasticism in a tiny farmhouse. These monks went so far as to go barefoot, indicating their commitment to poverty, lending to them the appellation of "Discalced" or "shoeless." Over time, a rift arose between the traditional Carmelites and John's Discalced Carmelites, leading in 1576 to John's arrest and imprisonment. During this period of imprisonment, John wrote much of the poetry that would provide his greatest contribution to later generations.

Eventually, the rights of the Discalceds were recognized, and John took on various roles of leadership within the order. After some fifteen years of leadership, he died in 1591, leaving behind a number of remarkable works of Christian mysticism: Ascent of Mount Carmel, Dark Night of the Soul, and the Spiritual Canticle of the Soul."
 
-- Biography taken from Poem Hunter

Holy Father John of the Cross, pray for us!

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"Oh, then, soul, most beautiful among all creatures, so anxious to know the dwelling place of your Beloved so you may go in search of him and be united with him, now we are telling you that you yourself are his dwelling and his secret inner room and hiding place. There is reason for you to be elated and joyful in seeing that all your good and hope is so close as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without him. Behold, exclaims the Bridegroom, the kingdom of God is within you [Lk. 17:21]. And his servant, the apostle St. Paul, declares: You are the temple of God [2 Cor. 6:16].

It brings special happiness to a person to understand that God is never absent, not even from a soul in mortal sin (and how much less from one in the state of grace).

What more do you want, O soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfaction, fullness, and kingdom - your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with him, for you have him so close to you. Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find him, or enjoy him more securely, or sooner, or more intimately than by seeking him within you. There is but one difficulty: Even though he does abide within you, he is hidden. Nevertheless, it is vital for you to know his hiding place so you may search for him there with assuredness. And this, soul, is also what you ask, when with the affection of love you question: "Where have you hidden?""

-- Spiritual Canticle by St John of the Cross

Where are You, my Beloved?

"My Beloved, where are You? Who has seen my Beloved? I have searched for Him and I have not found Him...

My Beloved, I walk, I run, I weep: I have not found my Beloved...

O Jesus, my Love, I cannot live without You. Where are You, my Beloved? Who has seen my Jesus? Who has found me Beloved?

You know, my Love, that all the earth means nothing to me without You and all the waters of the sea would not suffice to refresh my heart."

Only in silence can the Word run out in God's infinity

"'It is better,' writes Ignatius of Antioch (died c 110 AD), 'to be one who keeps quiet and is something than one who talks and isn't something. It is a good thing to teach if those who talk also act. One is The Teacher who spoke and it happened. WHat he did in silence is worthy of the Father. Those who really have Jesus' word can also hear his silence. In this way, he becomes perfected, acts through what he says, and is recognized through silence.'

One who lives in close association with God's word can also listen to God's silence. The words lead him into an ocean of silence; God is greater than what human speech can say about him. One who reads Scripture in the spirit in which it was written, in the Holy Spirit, has a growing need of silent prayer, contemplation, worship. One there, in silence, can the Word run out into God's infinity. THere is a time when the Word (and the word) says to us as to Mary Magdalen: 'Do not hold on to me' (Jn 20:17), release your grip, drown in God's measureless sea.

In Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity's (1880-1906) known prayers, we encounter both word and silence, to listen to God's word and drown in his silence. She writes: 'O eternal Word, my God's Word, I will spend my life in listening to you. I will be an ideal ear for you so that I learn all of you.' But she also writes: 'O my all, my blessedness, endless Loneliness, the Immeasurable where I lose myself; as an exchange, I give myself over to you. Hide yourself in me, so that I become hidden in you.'

Silence is both a preparation for and a consequence of God's presence. 'Let all the earth keep silence before him! says Habakkuk (2:20). And Zephaniah: 'Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is at hand' (1:7). The silence which is a preparation for God's visit is something we should crate ourselves. But it is quite different when the silence is created by God! What he does has really another weight.

It is about this silence the Book of Revelation speaks when it describes how the Lamb in heaven opens the scroll, breaks its seal, and reveals God's secret counsel: 'When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour' (8:1).

One can read in the mystics about this silence. The silence doesn't deny  the word; it shows instead the power of the word. Like a rocket fires off a spaceship and propels it outside the earth's field of gravitation into endless space, so the word can propel people out of the human world's narrow limitations into God's endlessness."

-- Nourished by the Word: Reading the Bible Contemplatively by Fr Wilfrid Stinissen, ocd

I'm never alone in that little inner sanctuary of my soul

"At the heart of Elizabeth's teaching is the need for stillness and silence, a silence of listening and openness to the still, small voice of the Spirit within. In an age of ever-increasing noise and activity, her teaching shines like a beacon of sanity and carries a message of hope. It is the message of God's love, of his presence in our lives, and of his invitation to intimacy. Most important of all, Elizabeth speaks out of her own experience, out of the lived reality of her own life. A young woman rich in human qualities, vibrant with the sensitivity of an artist and the courage of a soldier, she speaks words of wisdom and of common sense.

Once Elizabeth discovered, at the age of ten, that her name meant House of God, she was determined to make that house a home, where she would live as attentively as possible to the presence within. This presence became her joy. Though she lived only twenty-six years, it was enough for her to live with total intensity, both as a lay contemplative and as a Carmelite nun, the mystery of God's life that she shared through baptismo an age searching for meaning and identity, she tells of her own search and her own discovery: her thirst for the deeper reality within and the joy of finding, and surrendering to, love:  love is something infinite, she once wrote, and you can always go farther in infinity! (L 192).

Prophet of the presence of God, Elizabeth invites us to accept this gift of God and open our hearts to the reality within:

• He is always there, although you don't feel it; He is waiting for you and wants to establish a 'wonderful communion' with you. (L 249)
• Love ... dwells within us; and my only exercise is to enter within once again, to lose myself in Those who are there! (L 179)
• I am asking God to give you a taste, too, of the sweetness of His Love and His presence: that is that transforms, what illumines life, it is the secret of happiness! (L 174)
• In that little inner sanctuary [of my soul], ...I find Him at every hour of the day and night. I'm never alone: my Christ is always there praying in me, and I pray with Him. (L 123)"

-- Let Yourself be Loved: Elizabeth of the Trinity by Eugene McCaffrey, ocd

Can you be lonely when this loving Heart awaits you

"Our Lord does not dwell within the tabernacle solely to immolate Himself upon the altar, but also to abide in the midst of His people. We should be assiduous in our visits to the Blessed Sacrament made with profound respect and love. Our Lord repeats, ceaselessly, 'I have not wanted to leave you, to leave you orphans.'

There is no need for a servant to announce your visits, as the rich of this world require. You will always be welcome at the Court of Christ. There are no other nations so privileged as to have their gods so near to them. It is here that our Lord is truly Emmanu-el. God-with-us. It is here that we fully comprehend those words: 'Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the world.'

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How consoling it is to find oneself alone in a deserted church, alone with our Lord.

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'What happiness,' said St Francis de Sales, 'to be there alone, alone with God, without anyone's knowing what passes between Him and us, in that heart-to-heart communion in which we share our most secret thoughts and desires.' He continued, 'You come before our Lord hoping that He will speak to you, but that is seldom. Ordinarily it is to speak to Him, to tell Him your troubles, your sorrows. But very often we come before Him to witness by our presence that we desire to belong to Him.'

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In our visits to the Blessed Sacrament we must always observe a profound respect. There is the living God, the soul of our souls, the object of our love, of our faith. Of our faith, yes! Let that be shown in our attitude. He is there!

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A living faith must be shown in your attitude before the altar. You are in the presence of your King - your Divine Captive.

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The essence of our faith lies in the Real Presence of our Lord in the tabernacle.

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We must pray with all our hearts at the foot of the tabernacle, in response to the tender invitations: 'My children, give Me your hearts. Come to Me, not as a servant, but as a friend. Come to bring Me your love, to share with Me your most intimate secrets.' If you desire that our Lord treat you as an intimate, then you must be confidential with Him.

Let us heed the loving invitation of Christ: 'You who are weary and heavy-laden, come unto Me and I will give you rest.'

'O hearts wounded, forgotten, neglected, I call you to Myself. I open to you My own Heart. How often have I longed to enclose you within My Heart, as the hen gathers her little ones beneath her wings, but you would not. Come now, through yourself into My open arms!'

Can you be lonely when this loving Heart awaits you? Are you friendless, while He begs for your love?"

-- Seeds of the Kingdom: Notes from Conferences, spiritual directions, meditations by Almire Pichon, SJ

N.B.: Fr Pichon was the spiritual director of St Thérèse and her family prior to her entrance to Carmel.

Forbid suffering entrance to your soul

"We must not be slaves either of time or health; we cannot dispose of either as we will! If we thought of acting only when all the conditions were favourable, we would pass our lives doing nothing; or at least we would get out of life very little of what it can give us.

Go ahead! That is a phrase I like so much. Even if everything is far from perfect, we must learn to say it. And things will go ahead, since joy does not come from without or from circumstances. Its principal source is withing us.

That is why faith is such a sure source of happiness, even now. The faithful who keep themselves in a state of grace, or who see that they return to it without delay whenever necessary, possess in their souls God who is infinite Goodness. And it is his presence that keeps them in peace. Troubles and disturbing events will always cause suffering; it is a law of life, and we cannot alter it.

We shall never banish suffering in our life, but we can forbid it entrance to our soul, or at any rate to the higher part of the soul. We are there, as it were, on a mountain, and we regard our troubles as the dweller upon the mountain contemplates the storm sweeping over the plain.

But we do not reach that height all at once; we have to arrive at it by stages. The thousand and one petty annoyances that each day brings are our training. We must calmly watch them come and go. To want to avoid them all is impossible; to allow them to upset us is a weakness. There will always be some cloud on the horizon of our lives. But do not let any of these things stop you, or even affect you. In short: Go ahead!"

-- Where Silence is Praise by A Carthusian

Discover the presence of God - have a prayer life

“Vacare Deo translates literally as vacating for God. It is a significant part of the process of transformation for it disposes the individual to putting into practice what God wants in any situation. It entails being able to see reality with the eyes of God and so being enabled to see reality with the eyes of God and so being enabled to act with integrity in any situation. Oftentimes, the reason why we cannot see as God sees is because our hearts have fallen in love with what is not wholesome. Puritas cordis or purity of heart is both a fruit and source of the process of transformation and allows us to discard whatever is not useful for the journey of life.

It is becoming clearer, then, that contemplation is about being immersed in reality in order to discover the presence of God who is already in every person and situation. Hopefully you are agreeing with me in believing that this understanding of contemplation is both attractive and accessible to us all. We now must briefly explore the obstacles to the flourishing of this attractive interpretation.

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We are all busy people. Every day there are a thousand and one duties to be performed and time is precious. It can quite easily happen that amidst a very busy schedule, what goes to the wall is my prayer time. It must be clear from all that we have said thus far that if personal prayer goes to the wall, even for the best of reasons, the journey of transformation which is itself contemplation will suffer significantly. I cannot be a contemplative if I am not a person of regular intimacy with the Lord. In order to keep personal prayer alive in my life, I may need to re-establish my priorities. Not always either easy or pleasant, this insistence on a good prayer life is a non-negotiable.”

n Eucharist and Contemplation an essay by Brian McKay, OCarm in Hidden Riches- The Eucharist in the Carmelite Tradition edited by Eltin Griffin, OCarm

"You so earnestly desire that I describe the method by which I arrived at that habitual sense of God's presence, which our merciful Lord has been pleased to grant me. (...)

The account I can give you is: Having found in many books different methods of going to God and diverse practices of the spiritual life, I thought this would serve rather to puzzle me than facilitate what I sought after, which was nothing but how to become wholly God's. This made me resolve to give the all for the All.

After having given myself wholly to God to make all the satisfaction I could for my sins, I renounced, for the love of Him, everything that was not God; and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world.

Sometimes I considered myself before Him as a poor criminal at the feet of his judge. At other times I beheld Him in my heart as my Father, as my God. I worshipped Him the oftenest I could, keeping my mind in His holy presence and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from Him. I made this my business not only at the appointed times of prayer but all the time; every hour, every minute, even in the height of my work. I drove from my mind everything that interrupted my thoughts of God.

I found no small pain in this exercise. Yet I continued it notwithstanding all the difficulties that occurred. I tried not to trouble or disquiet myself when my mind wandered. Such has been my common practice ever since I entered religious life. Though I have done it very imperfectly, I have found great advantages by it. These, I well know, are due to the mercy and goodness of God, because we can do nothing without Him; and I still less than any.

When we are faithful to keep ourselves in His holy presence, and set Him always before us, this hinders our offending Him and doing anything that may displease Him. It also begets in us a holy freedom, and, if I may so speak, a familiarity with God, where, when we ask, He supplies the grace we need. Over time, by often repeating these acts, they become habitual, and the presence of God becomes quite natural to us.

Please give Him thanks with me for His great goodness towards me, which I can never sufficiently express, and for the many favors He has done for so miserable a sinner as I am. May all things praise Him. Amen."

-- The Practice of the Presence of God by Br Lawrence of the Resurrection, ocd