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
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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
God, through the prophet Amos, warns us against prioritising evil schemes against God's injunction, even as he promises never to forget such evil actions. Oppressing the poor, needy, weak, and treating them with contempt because one's appetite for illicit wealth must be satiated, amounts to dishonouring God and the dignity he bestows on all human. In the Psalms, God does not just propose that we treat the downtrodden and weak justly, which could be framed as neutral action towards the afflicted.
Positive value-adding support that would help the downtrodden escape misery should be provided. Writing to Timothy under God's leading, Paul points to the positive impact that Christian life and practise could have both on others and ourselves. This is demonstrated by his call for prayers to God for all humans, especially leaders, to make sure we live devoid of war and disquiet, disorder and noise.
The Gospel according to Luke shows a master and a steward. They understood that actions have consequences. The yearning for ontological security drives human life and actions.
This longing and the search that accompanies it often lead to error in judgement. But in God's good pleasure, desire that we know the rich network of relationships that he has given to us, first with himself and second with the body of Christ. It is his will that we use them for our good according to his ultimate purpose.
This discerning of God's will is integral in Carmelite spirituality. We learn from the great teachers of Carmel that the true coordinates for securing innermost peace or contentment are not self-derived. They can only come from God, and therefore it behoves us to be discerning collaborators.
Thus, prayer becomes a lived relationship between collaborators which has a colossal effect. Prayer is personal but at the same time apostolic in that it is a business beyond the nine-five demand. Mother Teresa emphasises that as Christians it is our calling to draw closer to God, guided by his grace and to reflect his image in our lives.
This transformation in us has a profound impact on how we engage with others and shapes the social values that influence our relationships. According to her, at that time I was so frivolous and blind that I thought it a virtue to be grateful and loyal to anyone who liked me. Cursed be such loyalty when it goes so far that it militates against loyalty to God.For we owe to God all the good that men show us, yet we consider it a virtue not to break our friendships with men even if they cause us to act contrarily to his will. Teresa of Lisieux highlights the apostolic nature of prayer, just like Mother Teresa, in the fifth chapter of The Story of a Soul. She prayed for the conversion of a notorious criminal, Pranzini, before his execution for murder.
She prayed that he would repent before his execution. God heard her prayers. Pranzini had mounted the scaffold without confessing or receiving absolution, and the executioners were already dragging him towards the fatal block when all at once, apparently in answer to a sudden inspiration, he turned round, seized the crucifix which the priest was offering to him and kissed our Lord's sacred wounds three times.
I had obtained the sign I asked for, and to me it was especially sweet. Lord, I offer myself to you anew, in scaling the heights of Carmel by taking to heart your word and wisdom communicated through this time of meditation. May I be transformed into a prayer presence in the world.
Amen.