THREE WORDS OF WISDOM

 O HOLY NIGHT

During this Christmas season I was thinking of the hymn, "O Holy Night" and it reminded me of St. John of the Cross and the lines in his writing we as Carmelites are so familiar with: O guiding night! O night more lovely than the dawn!Yes, the night of our dear Savior's birth is a night filled with light, joy, and hope. A night in our salvation history that is filled with loveliness!

This theme of finding joy amid the darkness of our spiritual quest, in faith, for union with Christ, is a theme that is found throughout the writings of our Carmelite doctors of the church and our Carmelite saints.  It is a theme that we can find throughout the writings of any saint.  Sometimes we want to avoid the darkness in our life, we want 

to avoid the cross, but if we truly long to be one with Jesus, we must embrace the cross, and even die to ourselves each day in a spirit of joy and rejoicing amid this journey of faith that is walked in darkness.

Our Savior came into this world in darkness, in poverty, in humility, in love. Let us follow him from birth to death in order to experience the resurrection and life with Him for all eternity, for this is our calling as Carmelites. 

As Carmelites, we experience the "radiant darkness" in our lives of quiet prayer in faith on behalf of the church. This radiant darkness of Christ in our life is a stumbling block to the world who find a false light and joy in the attachment of created things. 

Let us give thanks to God that he has called us to Carmel. Let us pray for each other that we always follow Christ, even in our darkest moments of trial and temptation. We will never be led astray if we follow the Crucified and Risen Savior who is the light of the world.

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Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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