If We Live in the Spirit, Let Us Also Follow the Spirit

October 15, 2008

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

By Melanie Rigney

… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. … Now those who belong to Christ (Jesus) have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25)

"Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk." (Luke 11:43-44)

Piety

“Let nothing disturb you; nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God. God alone suffices.” –Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila

Study

Catholic Online Profile of St. Teresa of Avila

The second time I went to Reconciliation in the Diocese of Arlington, I was concerned about finding my place. (OK, about finding my place and that I’d accidentally eaten meat on a Friday during Lent.) I talked about how it seemed the simplest things I did, like peeling potatoes for a parish event, led to me being in the limelight in ways I wasn’t always spiritually or emotionally ready to handle.

The priest sighed. “Melanie,” he said slowly, “you’re what, six feet tall? You’re going to stand out no matter what you do. Accept it.”

Not the quick fix I wanted, I thought at the time. But, from the perspective of a few years, exactly what I needed.

I’d been trying to be St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, you know, she of the little ways. But I’ve found that the woman we celebrate today, St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila, is more of an inspiration to me. Teresa of Avila stood out too—for her beauty early in life; for her mouthiness (when she complained to Christ about the cesspool of intrigue going on within her convent, he told her that was how he treated his friends, and she responded, “No wonder you have so few friends”); for her mysticism; and, amid it all, her strong faith.

Slowing down long enough to pray was a challenge for St. Teresa into her forties. “I don’t know what heavy penance I would not have gladly undertaken rather than practice prayer,” she wrote, according to Catholic Online. “…This intellect is so wild that it doesn’t seem to be anything else than a frantic madman no one can tie down.”

Ultimately, St. Teresa took on prayer with the same gusto she did everything else in life. She levitated. She founded a prayer-based, back-to-basics convent. She was questioned by the Inquisition (and cleared). She fought with other religious orders. And through it all, she spread her philosophy on mental prayer, so clearly and succinctly put that her definition is part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Mental prayer is nothing else than the close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.”

The example of St. Teresa of Avila shows us that God loves us as he made us. If we live in the Spirit, we delight in developing and using the special gifts we each have been given—not for public honor, like the Pharisees, but to serve the Lord. Accept those gifts. Celebrate them. Be thankful for them.

Action

The 117th Arlington Diocese Men’s Cursillo Weekend begins in just a week, October 23. Use a God-given gift to support the candidates: write palanca, sing at Mananita, help with the Closing setup at Our Lady Queen of Peace, or be part of the community at Closing. Get your garden watered...and help water the gardens of others.