I begin writing this on the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. She is, as St. Simon Stock described, the tall vine, blossom laden; Mother so tender; Purest of lilies that flowers among thorns; and Gate of heaven. Her sons fled to the wadi of Carmel, like the Prophet Elijah, finding a wellspring to quench their thirst, both physically at the Spring of Elijah, and spiritually. They found respite from the fighting of the crusades, as Elijah found respite in flight from King Ahab. Some stayed for a short time, others, found a new way of life and became known as the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel. Their traditions and ways of the spiritual life has continued for more than 900 years, all from that initial image of gathering in silence, away from the stresses and worries of the world to see and listen to the sound of God’s presence.
Although this Sunday’s Gospel describes another Mary—have you ever wondered why there were so many Mary’s surrounding our Lord—this is the same action that the brothers and sisters sought to imitate and through Mary, the Mother of God. Mary learned from the first Mary.
We need to spend time sitting at the feet of our Lord, to be in quiet reflection so that we can reflect. This is what St. Paul understood and wrote about when he said that it was no longer he who lived but Christ living in him. Can you imagine the moon covered in clouds or filled by man-made structures. Or can you imagine if it never spent time in the light of the sun?
We can spend our time in busyness, even doing good things—Martha herself was serving the needs of the Son of God—but it was not the trek that the soldiers and pilgrims made from Europe to the Holy Land that founded a community of Saints. We do not celebrate the feast of the men who died trying to reopen the pilgrim routes and reopen the holy places of Christ to Christians. These were good works, but they do not lead someone into holiness and sanctity. Good works leads one to the beginning of the way of holiness, the long journey from Europe led people to the slopes of Mt. Carmel; it brought them to the invitation to spend time with God and encounter him.
Spending time in prayer, in its many forms, and especially in silent, contemplative prayer is essential to growing more reflective of the light of Christ; to smoothing the imperfections of our soul so that we can reflect more. We are in this sense, very much like the moon that does not produce its own light, but by spending time in the presence of the sun, then gives such light so as can be seen by those living in darkness.