Pray, Eat, Talk

ONE

In her autobiography Teresa of Avila writes;

“I should like the five of us who at present love each other in Christ to make a kind of pact that since the others in these times gather together in secret against God His Majesty to prepare wicked deeds and heresies, we might seek to gather together some time to free each other from illusion and to speak about how we might mend our ways and please God more since no one knows himself as well as others who observe him if they do so with love and concern for his progress.”

What a great example and beautiful desire. Teresa of Avila, who knew more than anyone about the spiritual life, knew she could not grow in faith and holiness on her own. She needed a small group of family and friends with whom she could get together regularly to share life and share her faith so that she would grow stronger and not weaker.

For this reason she often got together with her five friends: Fr. Garcia, Fr. Gaspar, the layman Francisco, and the lay woman Dona Guiomar de Ulloa.

If Teresa of Avila needed a team – how much more do we?

TWO

Pray, eat, and talk.

Last night I was with a wonderful group, I think there were five couples, so ten people. They get together every Tuesday night, they each bring a dish or dessert. They either listen to the Rosary Podcast or print out the transcript and read it and pray the Rosary. Then they sit around the table like a family, eat, talk about what they reflected on during the Rosary and apply it to all areas of life, marriage, parenting and grandparenting, work, leisure, travel – everything.

It was so simple, yet so fulfilling to sit with them at the table, eating good food and talking about the things of God and our faith and how both impact our lives and the world. We weren’t in a rush, and I could have sat there all night.

I think Teresa of Avila would have loved the evening as well.

THREE

The Icon of Pentecost.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Pope St. John Paul II, in his letter; Redemptoris Mater, the Mother of the Redeemer, said the picture or the icon for our times, the sign of hope for our times, is the scene of Pentecost.

At Pentecost we find the disciples of Jesus gathered around Mary in prayer in the upper room. The Church began with the followers of Jesus gathered in a small group in a home, with Mary at the center. And what did they do? They prayed, they talked, and I’m sure they ate.

FOUR

We make things way too complicated.

We can live a simple way of life. Meditate, which means to think about the Word of God every day, the Rosary podcast gives you an easy way to do this, then make a daily resolution, try to live better. Then regularly get together with a small group of family and friends, pray the Rosary, sit around a table, eat and talk about the things of God, of faith, and of life. That’s really all we need to do: pray, eat, talk.

Or if that is too overwhelming to begin with or if you have lots of little kids, then make it even simpler and just invite others to pray the Rosary, offer some simple hospitality and talk. Robert and Katie Reddig have been doing this for 92 Sundays in a row – January 2 will be 100! I'll be there.

The first step can often be the most difficult. Pick a few dates, invite someone to join you and build from there.

FIVE

We All Need Genuine Friendship.

We can tend to fall into the trap of seeking friendships that are either useful or pleasurable. And then when we find most people are not that useful and not that enjoyable we stop getting together and slip into isolation.

What we all need are true friends. The kind of friends, as Teresa described, who set us free from our illusions, because we can speak with them “about how we might mend our ways and please God more since no one knows himself as well as others who observe him if they do so with love and concern for his progress.”

I am full of pride and character flaws, but honestly, I am tired of living under my illusions. I want to be with people who really know me, my good parts and my bad, and people who really care for me who won't leave me in my illusions. People with whom I can discuss life, people with whom I can speak to learn how to mend my ways and please God more. Aren’t you tired of your illusions? Don’t you desire, like I do, real friends with whom we can grow in holiness and happiness together?