Carmelite Archives - Page 20 of 20

Only in Silence

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 466 – Saturday, October 12, 2019

In today’s Gospel Jesus has the line, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” How can you hear the word of God, though? Saint John of the Cross says, “God spoke only one Word, his Son, in eternal silence; and only in silence can that word be heard.” So practice a little – just a little, a minute, two minutes – of silence. Turn off the phone, turn off the TV, turn off the iPad, turn off the noise; just for two minutes. See what you hear!

“God!” and the Devil Flees

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 465 – Friday, October 11, 2019

Today’s Gospel is about the devil and they’re accusing Jesus of being the devil. Teresa of Avila has a great line. She says, “Why are people so afraid of the devil; all you have to do is say the word ‘God’ and the devil flees.” It’s as simple as that.

11th Hour

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 464 – Thursday, October 10, 2019

Blessed Titus Brandsma was a Dutch Carmelite, arrested by the Nazis and slated to be executed at Dachau. When the nurse came in to give him his lethal injection, he said, “let us pray together” and handed her his rosary. She said, “I can’t pray.” He said, “Just do the line, ‘pray for us sinners.’” That was the last execution she did. She walked out of the concentration camp never to do that again and pursued instead a life of holiness. In today’s Gospel, it’s like the 11th hour and the guy is asking for loaves. It’s actually never the 11th hour.

Our Father

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 463 – Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Today the Gospel passage is the “Our Father.” Saint Teresa of Avila notes that there are seven petitions – you know, like “thy kingdom come” or “give us our bread” or “help us to forgive” – seven petitions to the Our Father. And she says, it is better to pray one petition mindfully than to pray the Our Father mindlessly. This comes from The Way of Perfection. So today, pray one petition of the Our Father instead of the whole Our Father.

Martha and Mary

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 462 – Tuesday, October 8, 2019

In today’s Gospel we have the story of Martha and Mary. The time-honored interpretation is that Martha represents the ‘active life’ and Mary represents the ‘contemplative life.’ Blessed Titus Brandsma says “The lives of the Carmelite saints are evidence that the active and contemplative life can be combined and lead to holiness.” Saint Teresa of Avila says it so much more simply; she says, “Martha and Mary must combine.”

Greatest Commandment

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 461 – Monday, October 7, 2019

In today’s Gospel passage we have the well-known Greatest Commandment — love the Lord your God with all your strength, soul, mind and body, and love your neighbor as yourself. Saint John of the Cross puts these two halves together brilliantly. He says, “As love of neighbor grows so does love of God; and as love of God grows so does love of neighbor.” It’s a spiral; that the two halves of this Greatest Commandment work together to bring us to ever greater and greater heights of love.