Feast of the Presentation and Profession of Carmelite Promises My - PDF document

Feast of the Presentation and Profession of Carmelite Promises My brothers and sisters in the Lord, We celebrate in our Eucharistic liturgy this morning two significant events. First of all, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It replaces the liturgy of the fourth Sunday in ordinary time, indicating its special importance as a mystery of the Lord’s life and redemptive work. Secondly, we are celebrating with deep joy and gratitude, especially for the secular Carmelites gathered here and myself, the rite of profession or promises for three lay Carmelites of the St. Joseph Secular Carmelite community. After my homily these three will be making their promises to the Superiors of the Order of Teresian Carmel and to their Community. In my homily this morning I would like to reflect prayerfully with you on each of these events and try to indicate something of their relationship and connection. The feast of the Lord’s Presentation is indeed a suitable day for Carmelite promises. What is the meaning of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem? All of us have pondered and meditated this mystery over the years in praying the joyful mysteries of the Rosary. Joseph and Mary bring the infant, Jesus, to the holy temple of God’s presence and place of worship in Jerusalem in order to dedicate and consecrate him to God. According to the Mosaic Law every firstborn son belonged to God in a special manner and this needed to be acknowledged. If this was true in general, it was true above all in the case of Jesus. From all eternity Jesus belonged to the Father as his only begotten Son and the Father possessed him with infinite love and goodness.

In the mystery of the Incarnation, although Jesus became a member of the human family, the son of Mary, and one of us, he remained, nonetheless, first and foremost the beloved son of God the Father, belonging to him and being possessed by him in a unique manner. This special belonging to the Father on the part of Jesus was wonderfully expressed and made manifest in the mystery of the Presentation, in his being brought to the Father’ s house to be offered and consecrated to him in a formal way. How does the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple at the beginning of his human life, with his being offered and consecrated to God, pertain to us? It reminds us in a wonderful way, I think, that the Father seeks to possess each of us as his cherished children, as dearly beloved sons and daughters who truly belong to him. Not only do we belong to God by reason of his having created us, but much more so by reason of our Baptism by which we share in the life and family of God becoming the Father’s own sons and daughters through grace. On this feast day of the Lord’s Presentation, when Jesus was revealed as God’ s chosen Son, incomparably belonging to God, his Father, let us praise and thank God, our Father, for the incomparable gift and grace of our belonging to him. Moreover, let us strive more fully every day to live out this wonderful reality of belonging to and being possessed by the one who loves us most and seeks to share his very life and being with us. Now that we have reflected at some length on the mystery of the Lord’s Presentation let us look to the second important element of our liturgy today: the profession of our three Carmelites, the promises they will shortly make before the Lord to the Superiors of the Order and their own community. What is the meaning of their profession?

First of all, in kee ping with the meaning of the Lord’s Presentation, the promises are, I suggest, a gracious expression of a deep desire on the part of these three to be possessed by God in a fuller manner, to belong to Jesus and the Father in a deeper bond of friendship and covenant of intimate love. By reason of their Baptism and Confirmation our sisters in Christ are already one with Christ and the Spirit and already belong to the Father as his beloved daughters, but they seek to strengthen this glorious relationship and grow ever more fully in communion with the members of the Trinity. In suitable accord with their desire for a deeper communion with God our sisters will shortly in their formula of profession solemnly and seriously commit themselves to live out the form and paths of holiness which are grounded in the tradition of the Teresian Carmel as a proven and effective way of belonging to the Lord in a richer and deeper way. First and foremost among the responsibilities to which theywill commit themselves to is the continual effort to live in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience in accord with their state of life. Also and of great importance is their resolve to grow in contemplative prayer, to deepen their love of our Lady as mother and model for their lives and to witness to Christ and the Church by their words, their deeds and the lives they live. Moreover, an important element of our sisters’ resolve is the need to seek perfection and holiness, not in an isolated way but in fraternal love and companionship with their community members. More could be said about the meaning of the promises for the secular Carmelites, the depth of commitment they require and their proven efficacy but it is time to let our sisters consecrate themselves more fully to the Lord.

I know that you two have waited eagerly and long time to make your first promises as members of the Carmelite family. In so doing you become officially members of the Carmelite family and share more fully in the graces, ideals and spiritual heritage of the Order. And I’m sure you also have been eager for a good while to make your definitive profession to live as a dedicated member of the Carmelite family for the rest of your life. Today brings to a close the lengthy time of preparation and formation for each of you to make your promises but in a very important sense today is also a new beginning for you. When you make your promises each of you will belong more fully to the Lord and he will possess you more intimately and deeply, but living the promises well and perseveringly is an ongoing work and challenge. God, as C.S. Lewis has said, is easily pleased with us but never satisfied. The Father, who is always calling each of us to deeper love and communion, fervently desires to possess all of us more fully and works mightily to enable us to belong to him in a bond of perfect friendship beyond our ability to imagine or understand. Let all of us gathered here this morning consecrate and dedicate ourselves anew to Jesus, our Savior, and the Father and ardently seek to deepen our sharing of life with them.