Mount Carmel

Tradition tells us that almost one thousand years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Elijah lived on Mount Carmel. Elijah was a contemplative: not one who escaped the reality of life, but one who sought God above all else.

You will be familiar with the account of Elijah expecting the voice of God as he dwelt in the cave. God was not in the powerful, earth-shattering earthquake, wind or fire. Unexpectedly the voice of God was heard in the sound of “sheer silence”. (1 Kings 19:12).

This powerful experience of God in stillness and silence for Elijah led us to see Elijah as the ‘father’ of the contemplative life.

In the early thirteenth century a group of monks formed together on this same site, Mount Carmel. These monks sought God before all else. As their communities spread around the world, they became known as the Carmelites.

I was delighted this morning to receive a ‘comment’ from the Carmelite sisters in Christchurch as we prepare to visit Mount Carmel tomorrow.

Sisters, on our visit to Mount Carmel tomorrow we will pray for you. I invite all pilgrims, especially those who have returned home, to join with us in prayer tomorrow (Thursday) for the Carmelite community of Christchurch. We pray especially in thanksgiving for the fidelity of their witness to God in our diocese of Christchurch. We pray too that God will bless our sisters with vocations of women who will continue this powerful witness to God in our diocese.

John