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 Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, Year A
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THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD YEAR A
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
Recognise that the pilgrimage of these Eastern sages is the perennial journey of the soul. Epiphany is not merely a narration of past events, it is the ongoing drama of the human heart's orientation towards its creator. Our creator manifests as an infant vested in the cloak of our humanity.
Creative wisdom takes on a concrete existence and has become the light of all who seek real life. Wise men still seek him because true wisdom is the recognition that our deepest desire is not for more information but for an encounter. We seek him because we know that our wisdom is not a fortress to be defended but a road to be travelled.
This road was travelled by the Magi, who were men of sparks and dreams, possessing the highest natural wisdom of their age. Yet, they were truly wise precisely because they knew their wisdom was incomplete. In our Kamalai tradition, St. John of the Cross teaches in the essence of Mount Carmel that all our natural lights must eventually give way to the dark night of faith.
The Magi did not allow their sparks of insight to lead them to pride. Instead, they followed the star not as masters of the universe but as beggars for the truth. As St. John Chrysostom noted, this star was no ordinary celestial body.
It was a miraculous guide comparable to the pillar of cloud in a desert. The star signals that the Logos has become tangible, inviting our reason to wander in wonder, leading to an obedience of faith. However, in the Gospel, we encounter the terrifying counter-posture of Herod.
He possesses the scribes and the scrolls. He knows where Christ is to be born, but he lacks the openness to tread wisdom's footstep. When King Herod heard this, he was perturbed and so was the whole of Jerusalem.
We must admit here, there is Herod in each of us. The path that clings to the throne of our own plans, stagnant, deceptive, uncomfortable with the status quo. The Epiphany teaches us that Christ's role is not competition.
He comes not to take away our humanity but to restore it. In contrast to Herod's paralysis, the truly wise move. Their journey mirrors the interior ascent described by St. Teresa of Avila in Interior Castle.
Teresa insists that the most important thing is to know who dwells in our centre. The king dwells in the centre of this castle. When the magi fall to their knees, the nothing meets the everything.
Their gifts mirror the path of union. Gold is the surrender of the will. Frankincense, the essence of prayer.And myrrh, the substance of the cross. These virtues anchor the theological disposition of charity, hope and faith as the inner collaboration with the divine guidance. Finally, the gospel notes their return by a different way.
They emerged empowered, carrying the light within. Today, the star leads to the Scriptures and the Scriptures conducts us to a bended knee. There in the Eucharist, we'll find the same king who sat on Mary's lap.
Wise men still seek Him for they know that in the centre of our being, the logic of love awaits.