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
Sixth Sunday of Easter
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
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
On this sixth Sunday of Easter, one thing particularly emphasised in all the readings is the presence and mission of the Spirit of God. The first reading presents the Holy Spirit as the guide of the Apostles in deciding and continuing the ministry of Christ entrusted into their care. In the second reading, John, the author of the Book of the Apocalypse is led in the Spirit to see the vision of the new city that God is creating, where God dwells among men.
The Spirit is the gift of God which Jesus promises in the Gospel today. In the farewell discourse of Jesus, John presents Jesus nearing the end of his post-resurrection appearances. He is about returning to the Father, and like he did before his passion and death, Jesus informs his disciples, and thus, prepares them for that reality of his departure.
However, Jesus does not abandon, nor does he stop caring for the disciples. Rather, he promises them the Holy Spirit, whom he calls the Advocate. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.
The Advocate is one who stands in place of the accused, takes his place, and defends him. Why does Jesus promise an Advocate? We must understand that there is a continuation in the ministry of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Apostles, and the work of the Church. Jesus already knew that there would be persecutions for the Christians and his followers.
The sending of the Spirit is to encourage, guide, and inspire them to continue the work he had already taught them. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace that the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Peace does not necessarily mean absence of war or conflict.
As St. Augustine puts it, peace means serenity of the mind, simplicity of heart, and tranquilly of soul. This is God's gift to us. This peace is an effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit, that faced with difficulties, they will be calm and untroubled.
This same Spirit is still at work in the Church and indeed in the life of every Christian that has been configured in baptism to the image of Christ. It is the same Spirit that we see manifested in the resolution of the Council of Jerusalem in the first reading. The disciples were able to take decisions that had a universal consequence to the Church, and that is admitting the Gentiles to Christianity without first making them Jews, because Jesus is still present in their midst.
That Spirit is still present in the Church in many ways, in the authority of the Church, when matters of faith and morals are defined, when the Church celebrates the sacraments, when the Church gathers to pray, the Spirit is still within us as individuals. But we need to pray and discern the Spirit of God, as St. John encourages us to test every spirit to know which is from God. The good news today is that God has not left us alone like orphans.
He has not abandoned us. He has left with us what is necessary for following Him and for remaining united with Him in His love, and by obeying His commandments. We have His powerful, caring, and life-giving presence for us in the Holy Spirit.
Let us be docile to that Spirit of God at work in us, and let us manifest it in our lives by our choices and decisions in life.