Category: Homilies

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Mary: Image and Mother of the Church

1.-olmc_avila

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

(Photo: Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm)

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My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and Our Lady of Mount Carmel,

Once again, I would like to welcome you virtually, to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, New York. Here, under the patronage of Our Lady, we strive to draw closer to Christ under Mary’s guidance and mantle, and to provide a place of prayer, silence, and grace to all who visit. We welcome all who are joining us in the Carmelite Symposium co-sponsored by the Center for Carmelite Studies at Catholic University of America, and the Carmelite Institute of North America, of which I am the Chair of the Board of Directors. With us present for the Mass and Morning Prayer this morning are the Novices of the North American Provinces of St. Elias and the Most Pure Heart of Mary, as well as Lay Carmelites who belong to the Shrine Community.

In the old days, this would have been the fourth day in the Octave of the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and tomorrow is the Solemnity of our Father Saint Elias. The Mass chosen honors the Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church and, of course, she is the Image and Mother of Carmel, our religious family. The members of a family always reflect the parents from whom they came, and in Carmel we are always meant to imitate and reflect Mary, the best and most faithful disciple of her Son. Carmelites are never confused: we live in allegiance to Jesus Christ with a pure heart and a good conscience, as our Rule teaches us. However, in that living, Mary – and Elijah of course, – give us examples of how to live in that full allegiance, and what that means. Anyone who turns to Mary can be assured that she will turn them toward Christ.

Among the beautiful sentiments and teaching found in the readings at today’s Mass, I would like to reflect briefly on a few points, in keeping with the theme that Mary is the image and Mother of the Church – and Carmel.

When once I was participating in a lectio divina session with a group of lovely diocesan priests, the text was taken from the Acts of the Apostles, as we heard it read today. Each priest shared what he understood the text to mean at that moment for him, and each sharing was meaningful. When I read the passage, my eyes immediately fell upon Mary at prayer in the midst of the apostles and disciples gathered. That was all I could keep coming back to in my mind. As we went around the circle, not one of the other priests mentioned Mary, which amazed me, and when my turn came, this presence of Mary in the middle of the early Church was the focus of my sharing and poured out of me. As Carmelites, what might we see in this passage? I think, first of all, we see an image of the Church, gathered together, praying, calling down the Holy Spirit, and Mary is with the believers, with us. Beyond anything we do, any kind of service we perform or project we undertake, we first of all have to place ourselves and keep ourselves in the middle of the Church, at prayer, invoking the Holy Spirit, and realizing Mary’s presence, guidance and love for us. This week’s Symposium will consider the place of Carmel and her spirituality in the midst of today’s world. I think that we need to affirm from the beginning, that Carmel’s place in the world is to be in the middle of the Church, always being the prayerful, Spirit-led community which imitates Mary, and witnesses to Mary and Jesus in our times and cultures. Whether we are Carmelites in parishes or schools, in the cloister or nursing home, with our families, children or in the workplace, we need to image and mother Christ’s presence in the world in imitation of Our Lady.

In truth, I don’t purport to be a scripture scholar, and I know that volumes have been written and movies produced about the gospel of the wedding feast of Cana which we just heard. Why did Mary say what she said? Why did Jesus say what he said, or do what he did? Why did Mary, the model disciple, basically ignore Jesus’ response and, instead, just tell the attendants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Maybe in heaven we will get the right answers, but even now we know that the result of their dialogue and the action of Jesus brought joy and relief into a very delicate situation and, in fact, the wine of Jesus was regarded as “having saved the best for last.” From this text, I draw two conclusions which, I think, are to the point. The first is: Mary is a very good intercessor, effective, and able to achieve results.  Asking Mary’s help when the cause is worthy, brings an answer from her Son. Again, we Carmelites who live in the midst of the Church, can safely and confidently, turn to our Mother Mary for Her heavenly intercession and encourage others to do so.  As St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross taught, we Carmelites are called to stand proxy for those who cannot, or will not pray for themselves and their needs, and we can be assured that our Mother will help us.

And, in this passage, we actually see Mary bring the best out of Jesus. He seems to hesitate, but she sails on full throttle. Mary draws a response out of Our Lord, and His response is the best. There is a lesson of faith here for all of us to ponder, and the lesson is a consoling one about the care which Mary has for her children, and the magnificence of Jesus’ care as well, granting exactly what is needed and best to those who persevere in calling upon Him.

Let us ask Mary, the Image and Model of the Church and Carmel, to teach us how to pray, how to intercede, and how to live as her children and as her brothers and sisters in the middle of the Church, as light and life.  May God bless our Symposium.

Father Mario Esposito, O.Carm.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

July 19, 2021

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Homily: End of the Carmelite Sisters 14th General Chapter

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My dear Sisters in Christ and Our Lady of Mount Carmel –

September 16th brings us to the conclusion of the 14th General Chapter of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.  Safely, and wholeheartedly, we can bring to the altar this morning prayers of gratitude and praise to God for His unfailing help, not just during these past nearly two weeks, but for all of the effort, time and care put into preparing for the Chapter, for it seems, the better part of two years. The Lord alone knows who really did what to bring the Chapter to fruition, and we ask God to bless all who shared in the work of the Chapter. We also thank Our Lady for accompanying us all, and we know that the Faithful Mother will stand at your side as you go forward, new Council, new plans, and new zeal for the Lord of Hosts.

Concluding a Chapter is like a commencement ceremony without the pomp and circumstances. The end marks the beginning, like the birth of a child. No sooner is the new child born and people marvel at the beauty and life of the child. No sooner does this happen that someone remarks, “Gee, doesn’t she look just like Grandma”? Of course she does, because organically  we are part of a family, a continuum of past and present. Our Carmelite vocation lived in community is always just that, a living thing, and we are responsible to live it and to keep it alive. However, we are not on our own. God is always intimately a part of our reality. He constantly infuses in us, through His Holy Spirit, the charisms and helps we need and upon which we depend. The first reading at Mass today, just like at a wedding, brings home the message “The difference is love”, doesn’t it? The loving difference is not just in the ministry though, is it? The loving difference is in the community, in each of us personally. Whatsoever we do to the least in our midst, we do to the good Lord Himself, and this begins within the Convent, or the Priory, walls. Patience, kindness, humility, lack of jealousy, a loving way of speaking and acting, this makes the difference. Prophecy, tongues, and mighty deeds without love can help to get us into the newspapers, as will bad news, of course, but it will not help us on our way to salvation.

The gospel also offers us a note for reflection.  In the reading, Jesus asked the crowd, “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?” and then described them, us, like children.  Children see our highly complex world simply, because they see the world only through their personal interests, in a limited way, and judge accordingly.  I think Jesus is warning us not to be like the critics he mentions, so unfair, so quick to judge and childish, never happy, always ready to find fault, and so slow to have an open heart to understand.  Jesus invites us to lose the judgmental part of ourselves and to engage the loving, patient, intentional, listening, wisdom side of ourselves, good tools to take with us after today’s “graduation” ceremony.

Faith, hope and love remain and the greatest of these is love. May the love of God fill our hearts today, and if we carry anything away with us, let it be a deeper love and trust for God, which reaches to our neighbor. Amen.

Very Rev. Mario Esposito, O.Carm.

Vice-Postulator

 

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Homily: The Triumph of the Holy Cross

St. Teresa’s Chapel, Germantown, NY

Homily given at Saint Teresa’s Motherhouse on September 14, 2020 on the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross.

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My dear Sisters in Christ and Our Lady of Mount Carmel –

“We should glory in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered.” Thus today’s entrance verse, which we have captured in song, sums up the theology and the sense of this magnificent feast. The symbol of the cross is everywhere in our world, in practically every room in this house, on buildings, in art, in architecture. The cross is presented in every color, every type of material, with many variations, and is used and misused endlessly and universally. The symbol of the cross can be so present, that it can, sadly, become invisible and without awareness, lose its power to move and affect us. We always need as human beings, and as believers, to think again and remind ourselves again, what the cross means and says. The motto of the Carthusians is priceless and so true: “The cross is steady while the world is turning.” Lord knows that we need this steady anchor of Christ, the whole Christ who died and rose for our salvation, as the point of reference today.

Today’s feast and Holy Cross is not precisely the feast and Holy Cross of Good Friday. Today’s cross focuses us on the triumph of Christ, the Exaltation of Christ, the victory of Christ, through His cross, over all forces and powers of darkness, chaos and evil in the world. We need to go back to this over and over again, because some days it just feels like the good guys are really taking a beating. The innocent, poor, elderly and good folks seem to suffer, and others walk free. Or, we get a taste of bitterness, and wonder what it all means? The believer, you and I, have to reset our thinking, our feelings back into the world of faith and say, with the old hymn, “The strife is o’er the battle done, now is the victor’s triumph won.” In Christ, and through the cross of Christ, the brightness of our loving God will triumph and shine. Have holy hope. We can’t stop the world, or even our lives some days from turning and turning. But we can hold steady with Our Lord, and His cross enables us to hold on and go ahead.

This feast is also very important for us as Carmelites. It is the only feast mentioned in our Rule. The Carmelite Order was born in the atmosphere of the Holy Land. We celebrated the Rite of the Holy Sepulcher late into the 20th century and, increasingly, the loss of this Rite and its spiritual dynamism is being seen as a loss. The Rite of the Holy Sepulcher and our spirituality came not from a fixation on the tomb of Christ, but the empty tomb of Christ, the Resurrected One. In the Carmelite Rite, there is no feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday before Advent, but Carmelites celebrated Easter again on that Sunday. Always, the Risen Christ present in our midst, and our being present to the Risen Christ, was the draw of our spirit. Today we would begin the fast of the Order, and it would extend until Easter. The Discalced Nuns hold on to this element, and renew their vows today, and again at the Easter Vigil right after the renewal of baptismal vows. In my Province, we renew our vows either today or on the Feast of St. Albert the Lawgiver, on Thursday.

The reading from the Book of Numbers begins today by telling us that Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert because the patience of the people was worn out. When our patience is worn out, and hopefully before it is, let us lift up our eyes to the cross, and remember the love and care of the one who said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” And as we say every Saturday at Evening Prayer I of Sunday, Jesus emptied Himself, and took our human form, in obedience to death on the cross, so that He could bring us with him to victory and glory in the Father. Jesus, lifted high on the cross attained victory, and we can announce for all time, as He said to Nicodemus, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is the true, Good News. The world can revolve, but we will stay with Jesus and hold fast. “We adore you O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.”

Father Mario Esposito, O.Carm.

Avila On Hudson

September 14, 2020

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Saint Joseph The Worker

 

Photo Courtesy: St. Teresa’s Motherhouse

Very Rev. Mario Esposito, O.Carm., Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa,  offered a Special Mass for the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, New York.  His homily is posted here for the members of The Mother Angeline Society.

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Maria

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ –

We are happy today to offer this Holy Mass in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on this beautiful memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. With this feast, we usher in May, often referred to as the Month of Mary, as spring continues to warm our hearts and make nature more radiant. This Shrine is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and she is always honored here. For the Carmelites, every month is Mary’s month and wherever there is Our Lady, there is Our Lord, our Savior and Redeemer, because her true gift to the Church and world is her Son. When we go to Mary, she gives us her Son. When we go to Jesus, as we learned at the foot of the Cross, He gives us His Mother to be our Mother. We stand with the Bishops of the United States and Canada today as they renew the consecration of our countries to Mary, once again imploring Mary’s protection and guidance for our two great nations, and asking her, pleading for her intercession and blessings during this extraordinary time of pandemic. Mary is the Health of the Sick, Comforter of the Afflicted and Help of Christians. There is no doubt, in fact, that never has she been known to fail in her maternal protection and intercession.

Can we not also say that where Mary is the communion of Saints is as well, and that no saint was closer to Mary than her beloved spouse, St. Joseph? As the centuries have passed, the Church has become even more conscious of the profound role of St. Joseph in the history of our salvation and how as the true spouse of Mary and foster father of Our Blessed Lord, he was entrusted by God with the most important persons of all time and was the head and the guardian of the Holy Family. The Carmelites from our earliest days have venerated St. Joseph as the Principal Protector of our Order, Mary’s Order, and Carmelites have looked to the example of Saint Joseph as practicing  the most sublime of the virtues: purity of mind and body; dedication to the will of God; faithfulness; silence and prayerfulness; love of Jesus and Mary; obedience. He is a model of work, of fatherhood, protector of the family and the Church, lover of God and neighbor. Side by side, Jesus and Joseph worked in Nazareth and, as the gospel tells us, Jesus was never ashamed to be known as a carpenter and the son of a carpenter, a workman. God worked in the act of creating the world. St. Joseph worked at the very beginnings of God’s act of recreating the world in Christ. And now it is our time to work – faithfully and wholeheartedly in whatever duties or labor assigned to us in order to sustain and build up the world. In this, St. Joseph remains a perpetual model.

Our world, our country, our families and our neighbors are all struggling at this time in the midst of the reality of the crisis brought on by Covid-19. As people who believe in the Christ who died and rose for us, we understand that the process of dying and rising, however unpleasant it can be at times, is part of working out our salvation in His Name. We turn to Mary and St. Joseph the leaders of the Holy Family, and ask their holy help and strength. We pray to St. Joseph for all those longing to return to their work, to their jobs, to school and productive labor, and ask his intercession. We pray to Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows and Health of the Sick, for all those who are ill, and all those who care for the sick, aged and needy. In all things, we place our trust in Jesus, the son of Mary and the man not ashamed to be known as the son of Joseph the Worker, and seek His mercy today and every day.

May Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa, O.Carm., Foundress of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm who gave her life in the service of those most vulnerable and most in need, come to the aid of her beloved elderly today, as well as her Sisters and their co-workers in their daily struggle to protect and care for our precious seniors in this time of crisis.

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Easter Greetings

Very Reverend Mario Esposito, O.Carm.

Dear Members of the Mother Angeline Society –

Peace be with you, and holy joy on this Easter Sunday, 2020. Although our world and all of us are struggling with the Coronavirus pandemic, nevertheless, Easter proclaims loud and clear for us the Resurrection of Our Lord, new life, healing and hope. Venerable Mother Angeline Teresa loved the liturgy and in her spirit, the Sisters in the Motherhouse were able to celebrate the various liturgies of the Triduum and Easter in a reserved, but joyful and beautiful way, and I was able to lead the Masses and services. As people of faith, we need to strive to always respond first with trust in God, as well as gratitude for the abundance of His grace and mercy. Jesus has healed us by His death, and granted us new life in His resurrection. This is the Easter proclamation.

Let us continue to support our Carmelite Sisters as they labor intensively and with many challenges to provide for God’s elderly during this pandemic. Every Carmelite Home is working diligently to care for the Aged and Infirm, to protect and comfort them under difficult circumstances. Please keep the Sisters, staff and residents in your good prayers.

Happy Easter to you. God bless you, and Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa, pray for us.

Father Mario Esposito, O.Carm.

Vice Postulator