The Fount of Elijah
  • Home
  • Discernment of Spirits
  • Coming to the Font
  • RCIA
  • Encourage
  • Lessons & Carols Tickets
  • St. Joseph
  • 7 Sundays Devotion
  • Study on Revelation
  • Spirituality
  • Fr. Kendall Ketterlin

Chapter 5: Suitable Foundations (desert reflections)

7/25/2016

0 Comments

 
"If the Prior and brothers see fit, you may have foundations in solitary places, or where you are given a site that is suitable and convenient for the observance proper to your Order."​
Picture
This chapter is a later addition to the Rule under the mitigation by Pope Innocent III.  As I have heard numerous times, it was added in order to allow Carmelites to accept a gift of land and/or house that often came with an invitation for the friars to begin a house.  This way of acquiring property can also be a very mendicant way of living--not for the Order to decide on property to purchase, but to live and minister according to the gifts that are received.  While this appears to be a very faith-filled way of responding to God's calls and the call of the needs of God's people, there is a very dangerous side to accepting land for foundations wherever they may be given, especially for an Order of hermit friars, moving from the seclusion of Mt. Carmel into European cities.  The Rule accounts for this danger, but it can seem as though our practice has often ignored its warnings.


Read More
0 Comments

Chapter 4: The Renunciation of Ownership pt.2: The Spiritual Benefits (adaptations)

7/12/2016

0 Comments

 
Live according to the Way of obedience, chastity and the renunciation of ownership.
Picture
The renunciation of ownership teaches us humility by placing the needs of others ahead of our own.  If we no longer claim ownership of things, then it is harder to grow prideful and believe that we deserve them more than others.  It teaches us patience.  It is hard to grow angry over things that we do not see as “our own,” or rather, it is far too easy to be hurt and upset over things that we have laid claimed to.  If someone criticizes our job, our opinions, or even our clothing, it can truly hurt deeply and more quickly motivate us to anger.  Yet we also know that these things are not who we are—I am not the sum of either my wardrobe or my latest joke which no one laughed at.  By renouncing ownership, we acknowledge this and are less hurt.  If I no longer take possession of my job, or of my time writing, then I become more patient with interruptions and more attentive to other things that may need my attention.  We learn patience too because there will be times when we want, or think that we need something, and it is not available to us—and so also we progress in the detachment from things and become less dependent on them.  We grow in solidarity as we see things less often as mine, we are forced to work in cooperation with others more often and we gain the first hand experience and understanding of what it is like to have to go without at times.  The renunciation of ownership increases our compassion, contentment and our faith; that we have more compassion for those who are in need, we are more content with fewer things and that we live more and more by the faith that God will always provide and less according to our individual need to accumulate and provide for ourselves.


Read More
0 Comments

Chapter 4: Renunciation of Ownership pt. 1 (adaptations)

7/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Live according to the Way of obedience, chastity and the renunciation of ownership.
Picture
Although it is a common perception, the renunciation of ownership should not be confused with a vow of poverty; the renunciation of ownership is not the commitment to live a life of simplicity, to go hungry, to wear a lower quality of clothing, to live without money in savings or to use broken-down, second-hand things.  The renunciation of ownership does not require one to live on the edge of financial security; it is not the voluntary decision to go without meeting one’s daily needs; it is not to be homeless, to have access to lower education or less access to basic health care.  The renunciation of ownership is not a condition of life that for some is involuntary, brought on by the environment of a surrounding neighborhood, sudden and unplanned unemployment, serious medical conditions, or  debilitating family situations.  Rather, the renunciation of ownership, like the other vows, is a disposition of the heart: to renounce pressing an exclusive claim of use, of authority, or of belonging over any thing.  By renouncing the ownership of things, we do not deprive ourselves of wants and needs, but transform and shape ourselves so that we want and need fewer things; that we don’t simply become more satisfied with less, but have our eyes trained toward the love of others and the truly valuable things in heaven.


Read More
0 Comments
    Picture

    Carmel's Way...

    is a series of reflections on the Carmelite Rule, the quintessential letter of St. Albert of Jerusalem which has lead Christians to a life in allegiance with Christ and the Perfection of Love for more than 800 years.  The blog brings the tenants of this ancient Way of Life into a contemporary context.
    ​​At the heart is a Way of Life, in the tradition of Elijah, that leads us to stand in the presence of the One who Loved us first and in a most perfect way; and to be transformed into one who loves more perfectly.

    Categories

    All
    Adaptations
    Chapter 1
    Chapter 2
    Chapter 3
    Chapter 4
    Chapter 5
    Chapter 6
    Chapter 7
    Chapter 8
    Chapter 9
    Desert Reflections
    Introduction

    Archives

    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed


    HOME

    SPIRITUALITY

    REMEMBERING GOD


Proudly powered by Weebly