“Blessed is the one
who follows not the counsel of the wicked… but who delights in the law of the
Lord and meditates on his law day and night.” When I read through
the readings for today, I thought about the saint whom we celebrate today:
Teresa of Avila. Teresa is a Doctor of
the Church, a mystic, and a founder of 17 Carmelite convents in Spain. She lived in the
16th century in the era of the Protestant Reformation and the
Spanish Inquisition, not an easy time for someone God called to be creative, to
be a reformer, and to use mystical images in describing our
relationship with the divine. In fact, Teresa was
questioned and brought under suspicion by the governmental and religious
authorities of the day. Yet, this was also the golden era of Spanish Catholicism, as her contemporaries included Ignatius of
Loyola, John of the Cross, and John of Avila. Teresa has a lot of
great quotes, as she was known for her
quick wit, her sense of humor, and her gift of drawing people to her. The Carmelite
order, of which she was a member, had gotten far away from its roots and had
gotten very wealthy and ostentatious.
Teresa started a reform movement called the Discalced Carmelites, the
Barefoot Carmelites, that tried to get back to the order's roots in the humble
hermits that gathered around Mount Carmel in the Holy Land in the 12th
century. One quote I like
from Teresa of Avila is the following: “Remember that
you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only
one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only
one Glory, which is eternal. If you (remember) this, there will be many things
about which you will care nothing.”
One of the highlights of my
travels was a trip to Avila after I completed the Camino de Santiago in 2003. I
visited the house where she grew up, the church where she went to mass, and the
walls of the city that she passed through each day. I felt the presence of St Teresa so strongly
on that trip, and I feel her presence with me so strongly in my
priesthood. I cannot express in words
the love and devotion and admiration I have for Teresa of Avila, for the gifts
she has brought to our Catholic faith. Teresa followed God’s law in a very spiritual,
creative, and lively way, in a way that speaks to so many in our world today
and that has drawn many souls to our Church.
In fact, there has been several movements throughout history to make St
Teresa the patron saint of Spain instead of St James – this show what a
significant figure she is.
St Teresa of Avila, by your
intercession, help us to be faithful to our prayers and help us transform into
prayer all that we do in fulfillment of our duty. May our prayers be to us what
it was to St Teresa of Avila: the door to our conversation, food and strength
for our soul, and the golden key that will open the gates of eternal life. Amen.
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