Fr. Healy - Track 1

Fr. Healy - Track 2

This is a Draft Version. Final Revision Will be posted soon!

We read so much of the prescriptions in our Constitutions. We hear the prescriptions and the principals of our saints in Carmel, and they are great. But most of all if you want to realize the beauty and significance of your vocation, look at the accounts of the Blessed Virgin, in the gospel.

You hear so much about what goals you have this weekend. Honest to God, and I say honest to God, your real goal is the same as ours, as friars or as nuns, you are truly our brothers and sisters in Carmel. And the main goal is the same. It is simply to come as close to God as is possible, in the fulfillment of your vocation and as a result of this union to bring God into the lives of others. That was the vocation of Mary, when she bowed her head and said "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." She brought Jesus Christ into the world, and she wanted that son of hers to be a brother of yours. And that is our whole spirit in Carmel. So if you want to really realize the beauty and the significance of your vocation, within a vocation, whether you be married or single, the vocation is to come as close to God as is humanly possible. To serve Him as Mary did.

First of all lets take her name. The spiritual writers will tell you that the word Ave Maria as given in Latin, the 'A' means away from, separate, separate, distinct, and the 've' woe is. Away from all the woes of sin. Away from all the temptations that she would belong completely to God, and God would give Himself completely to her. The name Mary means a lady, in the honorable way. So, you can see the resemblance in the Old Testament He said. The Lord God said "My name shall be called 'Lord' for all generations." And she has the name a lady. Mary means a lady for all generations. You can see her vocation. It was not to easy to say 'behold the handmaid of the Lord' because if you understand Luke says she was betrothed to Joseph, and in those days a betrothal meant before God I take you as my spouse, my wife, or the husband in marriage. Then they separated for a year, like an initiate to test their fidelity one to the other, and if that fidelity was broken, the one who broke the fidelity was disgraced forever and ever, and could even be put to death. So when the angel came to Mary, and said "Hail, full of grace." The assurance that she had is the same that you carry in your Carmelite life. The Lord is with you. If you and I can just repeat those words, slowly and deliberately throughout the day, because of the absolute truth the words are not just a pious thought.

The Lord is with you. The Lord gave you the gift of life with the Father. He gave you your faith. He made you a Carmelite. And you are one of us. In absolute truth because of the beauty and the significance of the vocation. God gave to you, and God gave to me. The Lord is with you, and if you accept this truth with giving Him the compliment of your faith, that without seeing Him you're relying on the words of scripture 'I am with you always, night and day, in joy and sorrow, and whatever you may experience you are never alone'. As John of the Cross put it on Mount Carmel, "God alone and I". It is not a selfish prayer. it means may I see things God as you see them, and have the thoughts you want me to have, and put into action the deeds you want me to perform, this day, in the fulfillment of my vocation.

The Lord then is with you. As I must pray and accept that for my own vocation. And as Teresa put it "If God is with us, who can be against us?" Let the world be against us though we be victorious because its God who made the world. And its He who is supreme authority. So in getting back then, Mary realized the law if the fidelity was broken she could be disgraced forever. And Joseph as you very well know, was troubled about what he should do with her. I mention this because in your vocation when you have troubles, look upon the Holy Family, the Holiest family on the face of the earth, but they were tried. Mary in regard to the fidelity. And Joseph what he should do with her. And it literally took an angel from heaven to come down and prompt him to take her as his wife. Which he did. After the struggle, I'll divorce her privately...I'll put her away so she'll not be disgraced. Only after that was the fulfillment taken place. Take her, as your wife.

Now, about your apostolate, people think you have to do something extraordinary. We have nothing against it. Extraordinary ministers, extraordinary helpers in the church. But look at Mary. When she was told what she should do, it was the will of God. She remembered the promise the angel made, and your cousin Elizabeth in her old age, is with child. For nothing is impossible with God. She made the journey. There was no difference in her appearance. She looked like a simple maid visiting her cousin, Elizabeth. And yet, by her very presence, Elizabeth realized. "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus." As far as you're concerned preaching for you, is not necessary as you poor things are listening to this. Not by your words. But being yourself and recognizing the presence of God in your life, that's all that's necessary. Your carrying Him into the lives of others. You are a living sermon. For others, by your faith, which is manifested in your actions. By your trust, and by your confidence in His promise that the Lord is with you, you don't have to preach. Just be yourself and I repeat your carrying God into the lives of others and that is your apostolate. It begins in your own home. Where you do not preach, but by your charity and understanding towards each person in your family, individually and personally, you radiate the union you have with God, and they'll be able to find it, in the love and the interest you extend to each one.

So, as you go on. Mary's purpose in life, since she recognized the Lord is with you, had just one intention. I shall do the will of my God. You find that expressed in the Our Father. It says 'thy kingdom come' and the next part is 'thy will be done'. Thy will be done is the explanation of the kingdom, which takes place not at only the end of time, but each day. As you seek to fulfill that will, in your thoughts, your words, and your deeds. Indeed the whole purpose of your prayer life is to strengthen you in this faith, that you will accept this truth, and live it, in the vocation, I repeat, God has given to you.

You're all familiar with the story of the (201 ?) woman, who came up to Jesus and said "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you." And He answered "Yeah, rather blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it." And Paul the Sixth explains, "He was not putting Mary down, or taking anything from the praise the heavenly Father has given her. He was saying great is my Mother. She brought me into the world, but she is even greater because she does the will of my Father." And that's the greatest compliment God can give to you, and God can give to me. You're doing the will of my Father. It is not what you do in life that counts, its with what love you do it. So, in your apostolate, as we said without preaching, perform the tasks assigned to you. Whether as a housewife, whether as its an executive, its not what you do, its how, with what love you do it. So with Him, through Him, and for Him, as its said in the Mass. Whatever you do, you are doing in a spirit of your brother, Jesus Christ, the one Mary brought into this world, and you're imitating her.

Your familiar with the story of the wedding in Cain of Galilee? The greatest disgrace that could befall a wedding feast was to have the wine fail. Because the Jews always considered that wine was blest by God. To bring joy, enthusiasm into life. And that was the center of the marriage. They did not over drink because out of respect to God, it was do be done in moderation. But to accept the wine as a joy, and to have that give out, was a great disgrace for the married couple. So when Mary turned to Jesus and said, "They have no wine." Very likely He smiled. "What is that to us? My hour has not yet come." He didn't refuse and she understood that. That's why she said to the steward..."Do whatever He tells you." And here again...you have your vocation. Do whatever He tells you. And you can only know what He tells you, when you go to Him in prayer.

The whole purpose then of your meditation and mine is to motivate us to fulfill the will of God. I repeat, to motivate us. To recognize the union we have with God, and God has with us, if only we'll recognize His presence. And to motivate us whatever our profession, whatever our vocation may be, that we will do it, as Mary did. For her whole life, whatever she did, it was a simple housewife "simple" in quotation marks, but whatever she did she did with Him, through Him, and for Him. As far as her husband was concerned, Joseph, he became the model or the patron of the church because he saved the founder of the church when Herod wanted to kill Him, by taking the dark night into Egypt, with Mary and Jesus.

So our whole Carmelite vocation, I repeat, can be realized if we study the life of the Blessed Virgin. For you and I are her children. We often believe that Mary became our Mother at the foot of the cross. When from the pulpit of that cross He said "Behold your Mother, and behold your son." But she became your Mother and our Mother, when she gave birth to our brother Jesus Christ. In bringing Him into this world, we can call her the co-redemptrix, because she fulfilled the will of God bringing the Savior, the Redemptor into the world, for each and every one of us.

The significance of the gospel which we hear over and over again, depends on how you and I take the message to heart. Personally and individually. And we've come to the conclusion that life is worth living. Each day of our mortal existence because we are preparing by the love we have in our hearts, to meet God face to face. So even in Mary's assumption, body and soul she was taken up into the celestial kingdom, that same reward is destined for you and me. For some day in the providence of God, when the invitation is given "Come (? 293) to my Father. Receive the reward prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

We are destined, body and soul, the honest to goodness 'you' transformed, or transfigured, whatever you want to do it, its the real, honest to goodness you destined to meet your God face to face, forever. So while we consider the wonderful things that happened to Mary, her Immaculate Conception, in our baptism we are completely washed. When you think about the profession, a housewife in her case. And we are doing it with whatever we do in the company of Jesus Christ, our brother, with the glory of the heavenly Father. The praise of glory as Elizabeth put it. For the glory of the Father, and the very fact that you and I make this consecration simple as it is 'Thy will be done' shows a presence of the Holy Spirit, because we couldn't even make that resolution without His presence. As Paul so beautifully put it, we cannot even mention His name, Jesus Christ, without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. And isn't your life and my life centered upon the presence of the trinity within us, the interior castle?

So as Teresa put it, its not going outside of ourselves to find God. Its going within. In the closest union imaginable. The indwelling and by the reception of the sacrament of the Eucharist. How close then you are to God, and I speak to you as an individual. One individual to another. How close you are to God. And oh, how close God is to you. That your thoughts may be His thoughts, and His thoughts your thoughts. All for the praise and glory as you recognize the union between yourself and the one God in three persons.

Getting back then to Mary. When she stood beneath the cross, and listened to the jeers of the crowd. She had a double sorrow. recognizing that the person on the cross was her son, and her God. Therefore, no one appreciates your returning love for Him than Mary does. She would have received Judas Escariot, if Judas would have struck his breast and said "My God, forgive." Because she saw the worth of every individual purchased at the blood of Jesus Christ. These are the truths that you and I must accept, and should accept. Not only as christians in the broad sense of the term, but in Carmel. Our goal is to recognize how close God is to us, individually and personally. And oh how close God is to you.

This weekend is dedicated in the special way to the Eucharist. And we believe or often believe, that the words of consecration were spoken at the last supper, when He said "This is my body and this is my blood. Transubstantiation as you and I have learned is the changing of one substance into another. Completely, without reservation, and only in appearance. But the first transubstantiation took place when Mary said "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." The son of God became the son of man. The Divinity became humanity. He became our brother in the truest sense of the term, because the Virgin Mary uttered that one sentence "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." And so when you and I in our vocations do the same, behold here I am, whatever God you want me to do, we're bringing God into the lives of others. So parenthetically, in America people work for money and money is essential. But they forget the most important part. To labor is to pray. And so when they say, "God, I give you thanks for the ability to work. (? 376) of mind and body that you gave me. I offer to you my God, present within me, the work becomes a consecration and the work becomes a prayer. There isn't a moment in your life according to the promise of Jesus Christ, I am with you always. There's not a moment in your life, working hours or sleeping hours, prayerful hours, joy or sorrow, He's not with you. And isn't that what your vocation and my vocation happen to be all about. To recognize that presence, wherever we happen to be, and whatever we happen to be doing. So you and I have us another claim on Mary, our scapular. When people question the vision of Simon (? 390) because of the dates, as I mentioned before, once at Lourdes and once at Fatima, she appeared as our Lady of Mount Carmel. The distinguishing part is that she wore the scapular. So artists may picture Mary, with various robes, as they do. But there is one she wore twice. The robe of Carmel, the scapular itself.

The scapular at first was sort of an apron. It was to remind the wearer, the friar of the contemplative life, the combination of contemplation and action. You do not separate the two. You are not a contemplative when you pray, an active person when you are doing your charity, or whatever you have to do. You are a contemplative in action, by the consecration that you make of whatever you happen to be doing. Then the scapular became, it was to signify the tabernacle veil resting over the tabernacle, Jesus Christ was in it of course. But whether Vatican Council had this in mind or not I do not know. But it says as a result of your baptism you are another Jesus Christ. Jesus which means savior. Christ because your anointed.

So then the scapular for you, should represent the seamless road that Mary made for your brother, Jesus Christ. And sandwiched between the two pieces of cloth, yourself. You are to be another savior by your prayers. An anointed one by your baptism. You are identifying yourself with Him, under the robe of the Blessed Virgin. And when you are mindful what the robe signifies for you, you can't go wrong, because you are constantly thinking the person within the two pieces of cloth represents Jesus Christ. And the cloth itself, Mary's sacramental. The robe she prepared for you, and the robe she prepared for me.

While the scapular medal right now has all the so called blessings to it, the scapular came about in the Boar War, the one that you are wearing. The soldiers said, the scapular can become infested. So the appeal was made to Rome, have a medal made that might replace the scapular because of the battle, the hardships we're going through. The Pope said "I never intended to replace the scapular." But the medal was stricken and it is to be honored. It has to be blessed every time you put a new one on, but the scapular as you very well know does not have to be re-blessed. Its very significance shows the blessing itself, and you're wearing it.

So with all this in mind, you poor things.

Audience: Laughter.

With all of this in mind, my intention in life is to come as close to God as possible in thought, in word, in deed. And actually carry my God within the depths of my own person. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, every single part of that body. Our brother, Jesus, took upon Himself, your body and mind, and accepting our human nature. So what is life then, all about? God give me the grace to accept the love you have for me. Thy creation, which you made me unto your image and likeness. By my faith, which I acknowledge your presence, even within me. And when I accept these truths my love increases. You try to replace or try to imitate as far as possible, the love you have for me. I'm not (? 456) God alone and I take it to heart. It's not a pious thought. It's the absolute truth. And in God's good time recognizing that Mary was with you in the scapular, you are imitating her life. In God's good time you cannot fail. You carry these dispositions with you day by day. As you live, so shall you die. And death will be nothing else, but a union with Mary. Seeing the trinity face to face. With whom you lived and carried within you each day of your mortal pilgrimage. God bless you.

Top of Page | Audio Home