The month of July is an important month for all
Carmelites. On July 16th we commemorate, with great solemnity, the
feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In the first book of Kings, chapter 18, we
hear of the beauty of Mount Carmel and how the prophet Elijah defended the
faith of the true God of Israel. It is there that Elijah showed that there is
but one God in heaven. The people of that time turned from the Lord God and
were praying to the false gods of Baal. Once the prophets failed to show that
there was a god known as Baal, Elijah came forward to offer sacrifice to God,
praying, “LORD, God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel
and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are
God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.” (1 Kings 18: 36-37)
With great power and glory, God made His presence known and the people prayed,
“The Lord is God! The Lord is God!” (1 Kings 18:39)
Like a
true prophet, God was always at the center of all Elijah did. Elijah was always
ready to show the presence of God to His people. Later in 1 Kings, Elijah is
quoted as saying, “I have been most
zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts…” (1 Kings19:10).
Then centuries later, at the beginning of the
thirteenth century, under the title of “Saint Mary of Mount Carmel,” the Order
of Carmelites had its formal beginning on Mount Carmel. The monks originally
were called to live in solitude on Mount Carmel. But as the years went on, the
early monks started to move throughout Europe and the order grew and devotion
to Our Lady of Mount Carmel also continued to grow. It is through her openness
to the will of God in her life that Mary is center to the lives of every
Carmelite.
Pope Paul VI, in his Allocutions, said of Mary, “We
can readily see that the Blessed Virgin Mary was endowed in high measure with
remarkable interior enlightenment, such as might have been anticipated in view
of her sinlessness and the nature of her task in the world.” Pope Paul VI goes
on to say, “She teaches us how to listen, how to explore, to accept, to make
sacrifices; she teaches us how to meditate, to wait, to examine; she teaches us
self-possession, and calm, absolute assurance in judgment and action; she
teaches us, in short the fullness of prayer and communion with God.”
As we commemorate the feast of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel, let us imitate Elijah in being zealous for the Lord, the God of host,
and, Mary, in being always ready to do what God asks of us and to have Christ
in the center of our lives.
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