Our transformational process can come about in different ways, by the discovery of personal strength and by a person’s unanticipated failure or as the experience of one’s own sinfulness. The call to Carmel is a journey of “pure, naked, dark faith,” and Carmelites as people of faith respond to and integrate these experiences into their adult lives, describing them as both a natural development and a surprisingly grace-filled event. Thus, attentiveness to one’s human development throughout one’s life as a Carmelite is fundamental to ongoing formation in Carmel. Religious growth and transformation is seen in terms of a Carmelite’s maturing sense of:
– identity as a person and as one called to live a “a life in allegiance to Jesus Christ,” growing in the contemplative dimension of one’s life;
– the ability to love and give of oneself in the context of community living;
– the capacity for responsible care and stewardship, expressed in “service in the midst of the people.”