What Carmel Means to Me

WHAT CARMEL MEANS TO ME

John Hauck

Profession as a Carmelite 1955 : Priestly Ordination 1960

The year was 1938 and I was five years old, slowly approaching the anticipated age of reason, when my family moved from St John’s Parish in Fairview, NJ, to St Joseph’s in Bogota, NJ, a Carmelite Parish and that was my first introduction to the Carmelites. It’s now 2012 and I’m well past the age of reason (sad to say) and while I can’t tell you what I had for breakfast or where I put my car keys, I have no difficulty remembering the priests whose lives and examples led me to the Carmelites and the priesthood.

Fr Boniface Hund was the pastor at St Joe’s until his death. Then Fr Mark Gardner became the pastor. Frs Claude Engeman and Henry Goodwin served as assistant pastors, and each of them inspired me. My Uncle Herm was a Jesuit and became president of Santa Clara University in California. He was also a major influence in my life – but not that I ever seriously thought of becoming a Jesuit. Al through grammar school at St Joe’s, I knew that someday I would become a priest and that it would be as a Carmelite.

After grammar school I went to Teaneck High School for three years and then to the Carmelite seminary in Massachusetts, then to philosophy in Niagara Falls, novitiate in Pennsylvania, theology in Washington, D.C. and finally ordination at St Albert’s in Middletown New York. My priestly ministry brought me to the missions in Peru and Chile and later on to the Retreat House in New Jersey. I took a leave of absence in 1973 and get married. Since I was working mostly with addicted people at the retreat house, I continued that work after my marriage – and I’m still working in the addiction recovery field. I am still married with a wife and three daughters and I remain a priest and a Carmelite, despite ecclesiastical legalities. The Carmelite priesthood is an indelible and defining part of who I am. It enters into my daily life, into every decision I make, into the counseling I do for a living and into every breath I take. I can’t change that or leave it behind. Nor would I, even if I could. I’ve had a limited priestly ministry as a married priest, presiding over marriages, administering the sacraments when called upon, and offering Mass. All of this takes place in the context of a marriage which some may consider a distraction. I’ve found the opposite to be true. Marriage life brings a new spiritual dimension that fits well with priestly ministry. I am immensely grateful for my vocation as a married priest.

What does Carmel mean to me? It means that I’ve studied with, been taught by, prayed with, worked with and been friends with Carmelites all my life. The friendship goesas deep as blood ties between brothers and is not compromised by distance, time or even death. It is unconditional and based on spiritual values that are held in common and which lead us to God through our human contacts with one another.

Chapter Seven of the Carmelite Rule says to “meditate on the Lord’s law day and night.” This emphasis on prayer is the foundation of Carmelite spirituality that results in ministry. I’m not a saint but I’ve never forgotten Chapter Seven.

Brennan Hill, my classmate, wrote in one of his books that the “true cent of Christianity is not in a set of doctrines, a code of laws, a number of sacraments and rituals, church official or such controversies as birth control and which parishes should be closed. All of these have their importance but the center of Christianity is a person – Jesus Christ! Without him, his life, his teachings, his risen presence among us, the other aspects of church life are without meaning and purpose. All discussion on Christian faith must begin and end with Jesus, the one who is the Christ.” This observation and the many years I have been able to participate in daily Mass had been for me the focus of Carmelite life.

Last, but not least, is devotion to Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I pray to her a lot. I picture her as a small, strong, dark skinned and dark haired lady who was and still is an active and forceful person in what is called the “economy of salvation.” Truly our Sister by Elizabeth Johnson is a good book to read and ponder… also Quest For The Living God.

I remember well the day I left Whitefriars Hall in Washington to go to Middletown for ordination. At the top of the driveway stood Warren Carlin. He was ordained a year or two before me. He was thin with his fair in a brush cut and he was wearing black pants and a t-shirt as he waved good bye. And then he raised a clenched fist in the air and with a wide grin on his face he shouted, “Remember you are joing the greatest group of men in the world!”

He was right.

With all my love, my deepest respect, and my sincerest thanks, I remain…

Yours in Carmel

JACK HAUCK