The beautiful words from the prophet Micah today talk about the One who is to come and who will be Peace. Can we dare to imagine that we, too, carry within us the Peace of God? Can we welcome the presence of God within us and one another? Can we find the ways to nourish our awareness of that presence, let it grow stronger and deeper until our whole life is filled with God, immersed in God and overflows in every word, thought and action of ours? Read more

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The Carmelite Library has been successful in its application for a Community Heritage Grant from the National Library of Australia, in the 2021 round of applications. The project is a ‘Significance Assessment of the Carmelite Library Rare Books Collection’. We are very excited about this recognition and look forward to working with an assessor in the coming year. The Library holds an important and growing rare books collection, with titles from every century since the 16th century. More story.

Br Carlito Da Silva has been appointed Head of General Administration at the Higher Institute of Philosophy and Theology (ISFIT), Fatumeta, Dili, Timor-Leste. The 5-year appointment was made by the Timor-Leste Bishops’ Conference. He has also been appointed as lecturer in the ‘Organization and Management of Education and Training’ course at the Institute from the beginning of 2022. Carlito returned from Portugal at the beginning of this year after finishing his studies in educational administration. We congratulate Carlito and wish him well for his new ministry.

Carmelite Librarian, Philip Harvey, recently led a Zoom session about the poetry of St John of the Cross. Philip took 4 of St John's poems as examples of John's encounter with the God of Love. You can read Philip's words here.

Saint John of the Cross was born at Fontiveros in Spain about 1542. He entered the Carmelites and with the permission of his superiors began to live a stricter life. Later he was persuaded by St Teresa to begin, together with some others, a reform within the Carmelite friars which cost him much hard work and many trials. He died in Ubeda in 1591, outstanding in holiness and wisdom, to which his many spiritual writings give eloquent witness. His writings were first published in 1618. After his death the reform he introduced within the friars eventually separated from the Carmelite Order to become the Order of Discalced Carmelite Friars. John was canonised in 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926.

The Gospel opens with the people, the tax collectors and some soldiers, having heard the call to change their lives, all asking John, ‘What must we do?” These three groups would normally be very suspicious of each other. The Roman soldiers occupying the country, the locals who collected tax on behalf of the Romans, and the crowd, often the victim of both. Yet somehow John’s preaching has brought them all together in a community of sorts. Read more

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The sense of preparing is very strong in our readings this weekend as we focus on the ministry of John the Baptist. The loving action of God gently fills in the valleys and lowers the mountains and straightens and smooths the roads so that we can be fully open to the living and transforming presence of Jesus so that ‘all mankind shall see the salvation of God’ in and through us. Read more

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You can download and save the scripture texts, reflections and prayers for Lectio Divina for each day of this month. Lectio Divina is a traditional way of praying the Scriptures. Visit our Lectio Divina page for more information about how to pray using Lectio Divina. Join our Lectio Online group every Friday at 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) to prayerfully reflect on the coming Sunday's Gospel. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The Carmelite Parish community at Coorparoo (QLD) celebrated a 'contemplative mass' on the Feast of Christ the King, drawing to a close a Year of Prayer in the parish. Held in gentle candlelight, the mass included more time for silence and reflection than regular Sunday masses and featured the music of the ecumenical community of Taizé in France. Experiencing the mass at a gentler pace one parishioner said, 'I woke up to what we are actually doing in Eucharist because we had more time to experience the various aspects of the liturgy'. Fr Matthew Tonini, OCarm, said that the mass was better attended than usual as parishioners had also invited their friends to be present. The Year of Prayer, he said, had provided different ways and experiences of prayer in the parish.

The Vatican announced this week that Pope Francis had approved the miracle that will allow Fr Titus Brandsma to be declared a saint. Fr Titus, a Dutch Carmelite, was martyred in Dachau Concentration Camp on 26 July 1942. He was a theologian, journalist and author who forcefully opposed and denounced the anti-Jewish laws that the Nazis were passing in Germany before World War II. More story & Video

More about Titus Brandsma here.

Read our previous story: A step closer to sainthood here.