Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS)'s Podcast
The Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS) is a centre for research and formation that promotes spiritual formation and renewal, drawing on the rich resources of the venerable Carmelite tradition.
It is an apostolate of the Anglo-Irish Province of the Discalced Carmelites, based at the Carmelite Priory at Boars Hill, Oxford, England.
OUR MISSION
CACS strives to achieve its mission through structured study and formation programmes in spirituality from the Carmelite perspective, especially Prayer and Spiritual Direction. At the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality, you are welcome to enter into the silence where God’s voice is heard in prayer, word and sacrament, inviting you to journey ever more deeply into a place of growth and wholeness. Our goal is to bring people to experience a life-transforming friendship with God through a lived experience of Carmelite spirituality that is authentic to its biblical roots.
Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS)'s Podcast
The Solemnity of the Annunciation
SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION
Word & Wisdom is a weekly reflection on the Sunday’s scriptures and the wisdom of the Carmelite tradition. It promises to offer you real spiritual food to sustain you on the journey.
This Word and Wisdom Podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality, Oxford (carmelite.uk.net).
To receive audio and written copies subscribe by emailing podcasts@cacs.org.uk
To connect with our Living Prayer Podcast on Youtube, kindly click: https://www.youtube.com/@CACSOxford.
Look, the young woman is with child, and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. The promise was given around eight centuries before the birth of Christ. Those must have been long 800 years of waiting.
The Israelites kept this promise alive within them by believing that Messiah would come. But how would they know to recognise Him when He finally arrived? We don't often associate the Feast of the Annunciation with the Dark Night of the Soul, but let me read you from a poem that I wrote that may give you a slightly different insight. The Darkest Night The longest, darkest night Crept over the soul of humanity for centuries The sun set in the Garden of Eden and did not rise again until Mary was greeted by Archangel Gabriel The new light dawned in the silence of Mary's heart, in her womb when all salvation starts The longest and the darkest night Reflected the patience of the Father Waiting for the right time All the wrongs done in the past Carved a way for the Saviour to come And write a hopeful story out of many crooked lines One maiden, devout and hidden, Loved God with all her heart With the very breath of her soul and the strength she carried inside And her strength was mighty For she was the only one who would carry God The dark night longest and loneliest In the history of humankind Was crowned with an occasional star A prophet's words, a king's throne Being prepared in the city of David The promise of God passed on from generation to generation From heart to heart And revealed in full To a virgin betrothed to a noble man Both in love with God who travelled to Bethlehem town The longest, darkest night Lasted from the time of Adam Till Mary gave birth to her only son Take a short moment of silence Pause this and reflect on what you heard What spoke to you the most? What fulfilment of a promise from God are you waiting for? A dark night purifies us not only to receive a promise from God but to receive God.
Saint John of the Cross wrote about the dark night as an essential part of the journey towards union with God. God sometimes uses the promises He gave us as an opportunity to purify our trust in Him. This loving gesture of God is to bring us closer to becoming people who we were always meant to be.
At the beginning of Luke's Gospel, we read the account of the angel Gabriel bringing God's message to Mary when He greeted her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Mary was disturbed at this greeting. The angel, however, reassured her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name Him Jesus. Through her holy and devout life, through her own union with God, Mary helps the whole of humanity to embark on this journey towards our own union with God.