July 2023

God, our Father, we come to pray, we come to the source.

Because our world has dried up and we are dying, caught as we are between the consumerism of some – of which we are sometimes one – and the crying poverty of others.

Because our world feeds its senseless wars and starves entire populations.

We have come to pray, to listen to your Word above all, to remind ourselves that a Source exists and that it can spring up and spring up again, that deserts can bloom again.

That there is a Way – a sacred path – that is never defiled, and that deep down in each one of us, in every living being, this Way has already been traced, that it is already being made.

If we are willing to let you open our eyes, open our ears deafened by well-being, free our voices from indifference.

So that the song of hope sung by the young woman Mary for the poor of her people may still spring forth in us and through us.A song that the Spirit knows how to revive, from age to age, as soon as it finds a passage in some good will.

Jesus, Lord,

Mary’s prayer is full of the prayers of so many mothers today…

The plea of the mother whose child is in the grip of a terrible illness.

The desperation of the mother whose child is crying out for food, when in so many parts of the world today there is nothing left to eat.

The torment of the mother whose child has taken up arms against his brothers, or has taken to the sea to flee to a high-risk El Dorado.

The helplessness of the mother whose child has lost his way in drugs, delinquency and the violence of recent days.

Jesus, Mary’s prayer is full of the prayers of these mothers who feel understood, listened to and comforted by her.

Lord, listen and hear the prayer of your Mother!

Lord, God of Elijah and Mary, on this feast day for the Carmelite Order we stand before you, aware both of the beauty and relevance of our vocation and of the fragility of the future for our communities.

And yet we believe that we have and will have a place to hold at the heart of this world. A place that is often discreet and hidden, but no less essential.

When you call, Lord, it is always so that we set out on our journey. This implies that we risk the unknown, that we leave behind our certainties, and that we do so not just once but every day anew. Only then will we be able to allow the truth to burrow into us and through us into the heart of our societies, which are struggling to stay the course. Only in this way will we discover the promised hundredfold, and will our joy be able to make a sign. Only then will our journeys be able to encourage others not to be afraid of facing their own.

Lord, awaken in our hearts that first love that gives itself so desperately and hopes for everything.

Awaken and mobilise in us this Easter faith that will make your power of Life effective. For it has already crossed all our deserts and our nights, and we bless you for it, God, who can do everything in those who trust in you.

Yes, Father, let the desert and the barren land be full of joy, let the hands that weaken and the knees that wobble be strengthened. Your Spirit can do this again and again, if we offer him the very little of our faith and our unquestioning acquiescence. May Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, support our prayer this evening, in the name of Jesus, the Christ, our Lord and our Brother.