Europe 800 years ago was a melting pot of humanity. Cities were growing, Politics was a dirty game, everywhere within society people were on the move. Old certainties that had sustained communities were dying. The Church had lost contact with whole sections of society, urban poverty was a growing reality. Christianity and Islam were engaged in a conflict which seemed to have no resolution. This was the world which gave birth to the Carmelite Friars. Is God Calling You? For 800 years the Carmelite friars have been amongst those religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church who have responded to this call. Across the centuries Carmelite life has provided a valid response to the needs of an ever-changing world. The world in which the Carmelite Order was born has changed massively over the centuries but the challenges and opportunities open to us today are not so different from the past. Carmel is a response both to God's call and to the contemporary challenges of our world.