Blog | Carmelite Spirituality

Loved into Existence

Loved into Existence

Have you ever thought about how amazing it is that you exist? From one perspective, it can seem like random happenstance. But if just one of those relationships hadn’t happened, you, unique as you are, would not exist. God arranged all these things with you in mind, because He thought of you and loved you even before He created you.

Just as I Am

Just as I Am

A good priest I know defines prayer as “the real you, conversing with the real God.” At one point, I was becoming discouraged in prayer, because it seemed I was always distracted…

Choosing the Right Fire

Choosing the Right Fire

A friend recently brought up an interesting concept. Are the fires of purgatory the Holy Spirit? If so, it would make that time of purgation much less intimidating!

God’s Relentless Pursuit

God’s Relentless Pursuit

Mother Luisita wrote in her spiritual notes: “What a great joy to have in my company, to possess, to have as my own, Jesus Himself! Who could ever snatch my Jesus from me?”

A Unique Love, an Objective Reality

A Unique Love, an Objective Reality

God thought of you, and the thought of you so utterly delighted Him that He created you. That is why you were made. You are His handiwork, a masterpiece of His art.

The Courage to be Loved

The Courage to be Loved

When the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus by the well, I wonder how she felt as He watched her draw water. She had gone there alone in the heat of the day to avoid the other women, carrying with her the weight of her past: broken relationships, painful situations, loneliness…

Everyday Pentecost

Everyday Pentecost

Pentecost is not just one day on the liturgical calendar that comes at the end of Easter. It’s the spirit in which you live your life in the Spirit. It’s a reminder that not only is God with you, guiding you, He’s also within you, breathing life in and through you.

The Other Side of the Wound

The Other Side of the Wound

There’s a principle in spiritual discernment that the enemy will attack us at the weakest place in the armor, where He sees we may be most likely to fall.

He is Alive

He is Alive

Our Lord said to St. Faustina: “When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, my hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul, but souls do not even pay attention to me. They leave me to myself and busy themselves with other things … they treat me as a dead object”