Adult formation

I worked for a Catholic Charity as a fund-raiser for twenty-three years. I was tasked with travelling round the parishes and appealing at mass for the people to help the work. In my time on this job I stayed in a great number of presbyteries and spent time with a great number of priests. One issue that often came up was that of adult formation in the Catholic faith, which I have been thinking about as a result of a comment made in a Carmelite meeting. Someone observed that she had a friend who told her 'I go to mass, but I don't know why I do.' Then another person suggested that Carmel would be a good place to go to if a person wanted to understand their faith better, and I must admit that I heartily concur with this idea. Despite the fact that some people want to dismiss them as 'mystics', our Carmelite saints and our Carmelite tradition actually have so much wisdom to impart about the Church and her teaching. Carmel is not just for 'mystics' - whoever they are!