The Context of Community

Article by an anonymous OCDS member.

How often, when I speak of my vocation to the Secular branch of the Discalced Carmelite Order, do I use the word “I”? I was called; I came; I was formed. I committed. I am still being formed. An essential element of our vocation, however, is its community context. It is hopefully as a member of a community, as well as as a son or daughter of Teresa and our Mother Mary that we become not only “a Secular Carmelite” but siblings in Carmel, a particular branch of God’s Church, his family.

I am not called by myself; I am called as one of you, one with you, according to God’s own plan. I often say my call to Carmel was threefold, meaning that I was invited, in succession over 9 months, by three very different people, to “Come and see” whether God might be calling me to Carmel. I often speak with Secular Carmelites who say Mary called them to Carmel, or led them here; or St. John of the Cross or St. Therese or Teresa of Jesus herself. But as our holy mother Teresa reminds us, God initiates a true vocation. Again, three distinctive Persons, often speaking through human voices, but God it is who has laid the groundwork, prepared our souls to hear the call, according to his intimate presence with us, his intimate knowledge of us who knows us better than we know ourselves.

And it is God the Son, it is Jesus whom he ultimately sends to befriend us at just the right moment. We either enter into this holy friendship with Jesus ... or we do not. If we do say Yes to this First Friendship, Jesus proceeds to introduce us to others of his friends, and then to widen the circle of friends - this holy society - until we discover ourselves as members of the communion of saints.

It is the Spirit of God dwelling within who moves us toward - or away from - a desired object. In the case of spiritual friends, it is to me a spiritual phenomenon of spirit meets spirit, and a friendship is born which transcends usual societal common ground.

This is how God builds his kingdom, one saint at a time. He calls, we come, we discover, we commit: we enter in with our own Fiat.

So it is in Carmel. No one is called to Carmel alone - by myself. Each of us is called because God our Father, in his love and mercy and knowledge of our needs, and his need of us, desires that we live out the rest of our lives in Carmel. With these people. Through the prayerful, attentive, observance that is the discernment process, as the individual candidate and the local council participate in the grace of discernment with the Holy Spirit, through each stage of formation, we come to see not only that one is indeed being called to a deeper holiness of life through association with the members of Carmel and practice of her spirituality and Rule, but that the life is a good fit ... or not. For all Christians, that holy communion with the friends of Jesus is an essential nutrient for our growth; but the vocation to Carmel may or may not be part of God’s plan for this individual daughter or son. The charism of Mary’s Discalced Carmelite Order, as given to our mother Teresa of Jesus, fulfills the natural inclination by which one is drawn to interior prayer and contemplation in silence and solitude, to study and learn more, but also the desire for companionship with others who are so called, the need to share our gifts with others and to receive the gifts of others, for the sake of loving God in this way. As uniquely as each of us reflects our image of God, we hold in common this holy bond and treasure that is Carmel. This is then the gift we bring to the Church.

I have for many years appreciated the special gift to the Church from the Dominicans: The Magnificat daily prayer and worship book. As a young girl and woman, I was taught by Benedictines, by Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Mercy, School Sisters of Notre Dame, and Redemptorist priests. Later the Paulist Fathers pastored one of my parishes and left their distinctive mark. Today, we are ministered to in our diocese by the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary and the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, who have befriended me. I can see in retrospect that each Order has its own personality and mission, a particular gift which they bring to the Church and society. I consider all of these members of my Church family. I have a deep gratitude for the treasures new and old of our Catholic Church, including the variety of Orders our Lord has seen fit to provide for our formation as his children. Carmel is only one Order, with several branches. Yet my God knew me well enough to see that this Order of Discalced Carmelites is where I belong; this is the Church home which best suits my created spirituality, feeds my hunger and disciplines my disorders ... to which I can contribute best, and best serve God. Praise be to God for his magnanimous love and provision!