+ Today we celebrate a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mount Carmel is located about three miles south of Haifa in present-day Israel. It is here that the Carmelite Order began around the year 1200, when a group of lay hermits formed a community on its western slope. Between 1206 and 1214 they received a "formula of life" from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, encouraging them to daily Eucharist, continual prayer (especially the psalms – The Divine Office) with silence otherwise, manual labor, and other traditional forms of spiritual asceticism. It was to be a life of both solitude and community, with a physical structure of individual cells surrounding an oratory (a communal place for prayer). The order received formal papal approval in 1298. From the very beginning the Carmelites identified themselves with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The oratory was dedicated to her, and the Carmelites became known as the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel whom they saw as their patroness. Noteworthy Carmelites in the history of the Order have been: Sts. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Therese of Lisieux. The Order is still going very strong today with about 2000 members worldwide.
Our first reading today speaks wonderfully of the desire of God to dwell among his people, not only in tents and tabernacles but also in their hearts and minds. It is in silence that the full effect of this magnificent presence can be experienced; but then it is only in action that it can be sustained – the action of loving service – labor of love! This is the will of the heavenly Father spoken of in the gospel passage: doing all to help build up the Kingdom of God – a spiritual superstructure of living stones – is the duty of any and all disciple of Christ, and member of any religious community. Any who listen for, hear and then observe the Father's will – are very pleasing in his sight! May we be so today!
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