Spiritual hunger

Having got involved in setting up new groups in recent times, I have been struck by the number of persons out there who want to go deeper into their faith and want to grow closer to God, but struggle with just how to go about it. I think part of the problem is isolation - trying to make progress in the spiritual life on our own - with the help of books, talks, and attendance at mass. It took me a long time to realise that what I also needed and what I lacked was the opportunity for sharing with others who were already on the road: and then the question was how to find such persons? Out of my own confused desire to go deeper, I came to Carmel more than twenty years ago and I have never looked back. In Carmel we make the spiritual pilgrimage together, and that is an inestimable grace. We need God but we also need each other. A few people may be called to be solitary hermits, but that is a very special calling.