COMMUNITY
Carmelites are called to live as members of a COMMUNITY. We seek God not as isolated individuals but as brothers and sisters who are committed to supporting one another in prayer and in the service of other people. Living in community involves close personal interaction on a daily basis, which helps each one to grow as a human being. Being community is prophetic in a world which can sometimes tend towards fragmentation and individualism. In community, Carmelites try to accept one another in all their diversity and to see in this reality something of the richness of God and humanity. Building community always demands commitment and generosity but it gives much in return, especially through companionship, support and solidarity in facing the challenges of human living, the needs of the Church and the world.
All Carmelite SERVICE and ministry flow from community living and prayer. Our ministries are varied and, like all Christian service, are directed towards the coming of the Kingdom of God in response to the words of the Lord’s Prayer – your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Like the spirituality of all the major religious orders (Benedictines, Franciscans, etc.), Carmelite spirituality is a distinct preaching of the one Christian message. Through our charism Carmelites blend prayerful contemplation with active service of those around them, and this takes many different forms depending on the time and the place they find themselves in.
Over the centuries ‘Carmel’ has produced some of the greatest Christian thinkers, mystics, and philosophers, such as Teresa of Jesus (of Avila), John of the Cross, and Thérèse of Lisieux (three Carmelite ‘Doctors of the Church’). In the twentieth century, the Carmelite Family bore witness to the Gospel.