Did you know that you are a unique gift to the Church and to the world?  There is only one you and there is something that God wants to offer His people which He has entrusted to you alone.  What is that gift?  
    God has also entrusted unique gifts within every ecclesial community, for the sake of the Church and the world.  We call such gifts charisms.  Communities within the Church that have received charisms from God include religious orders, like the Carmelites.  What is the Carmelite charism?  This question can be difficult to answer, just as it may be difficult to discover personal charisms.  
    In our search for the Carmelite charism the following video may be helpful.  It was produced by the Carmelites of the Province of Aragón and Valencia.  Who knows, perhaps by watching it you may come to appreciate more, not only the Carmelite charism, but your personal charism as well.        

    As we live our days, periodically we come accross puzzling phenomena.  For instance we may experience and question the cultural habits of different ethnic groups, wonder how it is that man can invent marvelous devices and technology such as cars, planes, computers, the internet, etc., be amazed at the beauty of conjugal love, or awaken to the realization that the hearts of our friends and our own hearts can never be fully known.  In all these experiences there is a mystery that calls for respect, all the while inviting us to contemplate within them something of the divine.  The following four-part video reveals such a mystery, the mystery of a Carmelite vocation.  Why is it that Carmelites live the lives they lead, mystical lives of abandonment and selflessness for a love that is signified by an object of condemnation?  We will never fully understand this simply by watching a video.  However, if we give the following Interview with a Carmelite Nun a chance perhaps we will begin to see what she sees and consequently be lit with the same joy her face radiates.