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Father Mike O Keefe, O.Carm. My first thought in reflecting on being Carmelite is that I am proud of my association with the men who guided my journey through the minefield of adolescence to young adulthood at Mount Carmel High School. The Carmelites who taught me at Carmel were/are admirable men. Thaddeus O’Brien, Ben Hogan, Jordan Rooney, Jim Mullen, Bob Lee, et al., were professional, hardworking, available, and highly principled. Most importantly they were happy men. As different as were their personalities and strengths, each was centered because of faith. I wanted to be like them. These men in brown modeled the gentleness and strength of Mary, our Mother, and exhibited the zeal of Elijah. This is a powerful combination. They were well prepared and accessible every day and cared enough to demand from us our very best effort. They were enthusiastic in their ministry to students and families. I found this to be affirming, meaning I felt capable and more worthwhile in their presence. It is a formula that worked for us, the young men of Carmel. At the time I didn’t consciously think of the Carmelites I knew as holy, but they were more whole than most people I knew. There was a depth to these men which impressed me. I knew nothing of spirituality at that stage of my life, but I was seeing it in these well-rounded men. I now understand that working toward wholeness as a human being is as good a definition of holiness as there is. That experience led me deeper into Carmel. It has been the most fortunate, or should I say “blessed,” reality of my life. What do I owe to the Order in response to such a blessing? My daily attempt to be true to those qualities that I experienced as Carmelite. I do so with varying degrees of success. But that is what motivates me as a priest and as a member of our Order. This is what “being Carmelite” means to me. Whether in high school ministry or as a parish priest, I have endeavored to be well prepared to teach and to preach the Word. When helping to illuminate the path to faith for others, I pay tribute to the Carmelites who nurtured me. I have the privilege of being with individuals and families at the happiest and the most difficult moments of their lives in celebration of the sacraments. As a channel of God’s presence, my life has meaning, and, in that work, I honor those Carmelites who were so available to me and my family. To the extent that I can model humble dependence on God as a person of prayer, I share the abiding spirituality of Carmel, which has been generously shared with me. I see it as an objective of all Carmelites to strive to manifest trust in Christ’s victory by being daily more content, happy, and hopeful. It is an ideal that keeps me in touch with the charism of the Carmelites as I have known it. By way of my call to Carmel, and through 34 years as an ordained Carmelite, I have had the invigorating experience of working shoulder-to-shoulder with men of significant spirit who have found and built community in service.
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