The Carmelite Way CIS on the Spirituality of the Order of Tuesday, March 9, 2021

The Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The spiritual focus of the Carmelite Order is contemplation. Until re- cently, Carmelite Spirituality had been interpreted almost exclusively through the writings of the two great mystical Carmelite from six- teenth century Spain, Teresa of Avila and . Carmelite tradition traces the origin of the order to a community of her- mits on Mount Carmel (Israel), during the initial period of the formation of the Crusader states. A group of men had gathered at the well of Elijah on Mount Carmel. These men, who had gone to Palestine from either as pilgrims or as crusaders, chose Mount Carmel in part because it was the traditional home of Elijah. Some time between 1206 and 1214 the hermits approached Albert of Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, for a rule. The hermits on Mount Carmel devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. In the mid-fifteenth century, Carmel re- ceived its first . Carmelite spirituality is a way of life focused on the Presence of God in the most ordinary, everyday things. Carmelites are contemplatives who live out the fruit of contemplation serving the world. They are prayerful and practical. They were founded 800 years ago on a mountaintop, but have their feet firmly planted in today’s problems and concerns. For Carmelites, union with God is primarily God’s work, yet the soul can correspond with a joyful detachment from everything that is not God. OPENING ACCLAMATION Officiant: Light and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

Psalm 51 - The Message

Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I’ve offended, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls. Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, Including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar!

CONFESSION Officiant: Let us confess our sins to God (Silence)

Together: God of all mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you, opposing your will in our lives. We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves, and in the world you have created. We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our be- half. Forgive, restore, and strengthen us through our Savior Jesus Christ, that we may abide in your love and serve only your will. Amen.

Officiant: Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through the grace of Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Officiant: O God, be not far from us. People: Come quickly to help us, O God.

TAIZÉ HYMN: Nada Te Turbe / Let Nothing Frighten You (Teresa of Avi- la)

A READING FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 1 Kings 19:11-14 The word of the Lord came to Elijah and said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Eli- jah?” Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God POEM - From Drink of the Stream St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) God, hear me, I implore You, And listen to my prayer. You saw me stand before You In darkness and despair. O lift me, gracious Ruler, Upon a rocky peak. With hope I look to see You, God, Your guiding hand I seek.

You are a sturdy tower Resisting every foe. I fear no stormy weather, With You I have no woe. You’ll offer me safekeeping Within Your tent of love, From danger I’m protected By sheltering wings above.

My prayers You have heeded, Your grace bestowed on me. Who holds Your name in honor Receives Your legacy. So grant long life to those who Devote themselves to You, Year after year preserve them And send Your blessings too.

Before the face of Heaven Let them forever be! For God’s unending mercy Lasts to eternity. And so I’ll sing a melody Just as I promised You, My praise a gift to You shall be Day after day anew.

From the autobiography of Thérèse of the Child Jesus (Lisieux, France - 1873-1897)

Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a heart and that this heart was burning with love. I under- stood it was love alone that made the Church’s members act; that if love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that love comprised all voca- tions, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places... in a word, that it was eternal! Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out, “O Jesus, my Love... my vocation, at last I have found it... My vocation is Love!” Yes, I have found my place in the Church and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love. Thus I shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized.

POEM - Saint Teresa of the Andes, (, 1900-1920)

Jesus is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven. Jesus alone is beautiful; he is my only joy. I call for him, I cry after him, I search for him within my heart. Jesus is Wisdom, from which nothing would be secret. Power, for which nothing would be impossible. Justice, for the sorrowful and the needy. Providence, which always watches over and sustains us. Mercy, which never ceases to pardon. Goodness, which forgets the offenses of his creatures. Love, which unites all tendernesses. Beauty which enraptures... Beauty, which is love itself. His passionate love made him take flesh in order that by seeing a Man-God, we would not be afraid to draw near him. This passionate love made him become bread in order to assimilate our nothingness and make it disappear into his infinite being. This passionate love made him give his life by dying on the cross. Don’t be afraid to draw near. Look at him, surrounded by little children. He hugs them, he presses them to his heart. Look at him in the midst of his faithful flock, bearing the lost lamb on his shoulders. Look at him at the tomb of Lazarus. And listen to what he says of the Magdalene: Much has been forgiven her, because she has loved much. What do you discover in these flashes from the Gospel except a heart that is good, gentle, tender, compassionate; in other words, the heart of a God?

PADRE NUESTRO Officiant: Hear our cry, O God. People: And listen to our prayer. Officiant: Let us pray. Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu Nombre, venga tu reino, hágase tu voluntad, en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentación y líbranos del mal. Porque tuyo es el reino, tuyo es el poder, y tuya es la gloria, ahora y por siempre. Amén.

THE COLLECT FOR TERESA OF AVILA (Great Cloud of Witnesses) O God, by your Holy Spirit you moved Teresa of Avila to manifest to your Church the way of perfection: Grant us, we pray, to be nourished by her excellent teaching, and enkindle within us a keen and unquench- able longing for true holiness; through Jesus Christ, the joy of loving hearts, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

COLLECT FOR JOHN OF THE CROSS (Great Cloud of Witnesses) Judge eternal, throned in splendor, you gave Juan de la Cruz strength of purpose and mystical faith that sustained him even through the dark night of the soul: Shed your light on all who love you, in unity with Je- sus Christ our Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. LA ORACIÓN DE LOS FIELES / THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Passionate God, meet us in our tender spaces and disrupt our lives with your transforming presence. Comforted by your faithfulness, we pray to you, saying, “Hear our prayer.”

Be the joy of your Church, and of this community gathered today to be filled with your truth and love. Help us to be heralds of your good news. God of joy, hear our prayer.

Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the ways of jus- tice and mutual care; that we may know that love is the way. God of jus- tice, hear our prayer.

Help us to walk the path of love; that we may address the seemingly in- surmountable challenges facing the world today: poverty, racism, self- ishness, deep ideological divisions, and apathy. God of surprises, hear our prayer.

Bless all those in need of food, shelter, clothing, and of your healing touch, especially those who have been most affected by COVID-19. God of faithfulness, hear our prayer.

Liberate us from all our fears and the unconscious belief that we are unlovable; that we may always know that we are your beloved - that we are deserving of deep love and affection. God of hopefulness, hear our prayer.

Come out and meet us in our own wilderness and surround us with your love and consolation; that your care for us may transform all aspects of our lives - past, present and future. God of our ancestors and our chil- dren, hear our prayer.

THE SERMON

SONG - The Dark Night of the Soul - St. John of the Cross / Loreena McKennitt

THE BLESSING (Together)

Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world.Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world. - Attributed to St. Teresa of Avila

—————— May today there be peace within. May we trust God that we are exactly where we are meant to be. May we not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May we use those gifts that we have received, and pass on the love that has been given to us. May we be content knowing we are children of God. Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow our souls the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

- Saint Teresa of Avila

THE DISMISSAL Officiant: Let us bless the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21

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Blessed Paul the Apostle recommends silence. It is good for the soul, and he tells us to work in it; the prophet too testifies that silence is the promotion of justice, for it strengthens us to do God’s work. The Rule of Albert / Carmelite Rule - as approved by Innocent IV (1247)

Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts 1 Kings 19:10

Celebrant and Preacher The Rev. Santi Rodriguez

Faculty Sponsor Dr. Jennifer Owens-Jofré

Readers Toni Álvarez Ashley Colley

Musicians Sarah Diener-Schlitt Alyssa Stebbing