Teresa of Avila
Today is the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, along with St. John of the Cross, she is one of the most important Doctors or Teachers of the spiritual life.
Teresa was born in Spain in 1515 and died in 1582. My Teresa, named after Teresa of Avila, and I were blessed to be in Avila on this day in 2015 for the 500th birthday party of Teresa.
Lets begin in the name of…continued healing and recovery for Gavin Hot-O-V and for Olivia Conneally
ONE
Teresa of Avila was adamant – God made every person to experience the higher levels of prayer in this life – all are meant for infused prayer or contemplation which is an experience of God – in some ways the beginning of Heaven on earth. The most important thing to reach union with God is daily meditation.
Teresa explains that mental prayer or meditation is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.
Prayer is friendship with God: And what does friendship take: time talking, listening and just being together. This corresponds to the three major expressions of prayer:
Vocal prayer - speaking to God;
Meditation – listening to God;
Contemplation – just being with the One who loves us
There is a simple method to meditation. It is like having coffee with a friend. Set a specific time and place conducive to a leisurely intimate conversation. Then Talk and share, listen and understand and finally just enjoy the time together. We can break it down to 3 R’s – Read, Reflect and a Resolution:
Read something from the Bible or from the Tradition, some good writing from a Saint or a spiritual author. As soon as something profound strikes you – stop reading.
Reflect or Think about what struck you
· Try to understand what you read
· Apply it to your life
· Draw practical conclusions for yourself
· Talk over all of this with Jesus in your mind and heart
Resolution
· Choose something practical and concrete to remember or to do today based on your meditation
· Write down your resolution and keep it with you
TWO
Teresa likens the soul to a garden that receives water through prayer. Without water, the garden dies. Without prayer, the soul is dead. According to Teresa, vocal prayer or just saying prayers or just saying things to God does not bring any water – because it is not a relationship. So the first way to bring the water is meditation. Without daily meditation, the garden of our soul receives no water.
And with the help of God we must strive like good gardeners to get these plants to grow and take pains to water them so that they don't wither but come to bud and flower and give forth a most pleasant fragrance to provide refreshment for this Lord of ours. Then He will often come to take delight in this garden and find His joy among these virtues. But let us see now how it must be watered so that we may understand what we have to do…It seems to me the garden can be watered in four ways. You may draw water from a well (which is for us a lot of work). By this Teresa means meditation – the 2nd stage of prayer
Or you may get it by means of a water wheel and aqueducts in such a way that it is obtained by turning the crank of the water wheel. (I have drawn it this way sometimes -- the method involves less work than the other, and you get more water). Here Teresa means affective prayer and the prayer of simplicity – stages three and four
Or it may flow from a river or a stream. (The garden is watered much better by this means because the ground is more fully soaked, and there is no need to water so frequently -- and much less work for the gardener). By this Teresa is speaking of the 5th stage or infused prayer
Finally, the water may be provided by a great deal of rain. (For the Lord waters the garden without any work on our part -- and this way is incomparably better then all the others mentioned). This is the prayer of union
THREE
Three conditions for growth in prayer. The first is to Seek to do the will of God from moment to moment throughout the day
“The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer—and don’t forget this, because it is very important—should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every effort to bring his will into conformity with God’s will… it is the person who lives in more perfect conformity who will receive more from the Lord and be more advanced on this road [of prayer]”.
FOUR
The next condition for growth in prayer is total surrender.
The rich young man in the Gospels captured the imagination of Teresa. Here was someone who really had their life together, kept all the commandments, wanted to inherit eternal life, but there was a major problem, he was prevented from deep friendship with Christ because of his disordered attachments, he was attached to his wealth, which he could not let go of to receive the infinite treasure of Christ – and he went away sad.
To reach Contemplation, Infused prayer, this experience of union with God which is like Heaven on Earth, an unavoidable condition is required: total surrender to God. "Let Your will be done in me in every way, and may it not please Your Majesty that something as precious as Your love be given to anyone who serves You only for the sake of consolations" (Life 11, 12).
We are afraid to say to God, “I am all yours – do with me whatever you want.” We hold back from giving ourselves to God because we think our happiness, safety and security lies in our health, relationships, wealth, ect. And because we do not give ourselves unreservedly to God, we prevent God from giving himself to us. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
What are you afraid of losing if you let go completely to God?
FIVE
The last condition for growth is Determination
Teresa insists again and again on determination. His Majesty wants this determination, and He is a friend of courageous souls (Life 13, 1-3). Courage and determination, on the other hand, do not go without recompense. "But I have seen clearly that God does not leave one, even in this Life, without a large reward" (Life 11, 11).
Have great confidence, for it is necessary not to hold back one's desires, but to believe in God that if we try we shall little by little, even though it may not be soon, reach the state the saints did with His help. For if they had never determined to desire and seek this state little by little in practice they would never have mounted so high. His Majesty wants this determination, and He is a friend of courageous souls if they walk in humility and without trusting in self. I have not seen any cowardly soul or any of these who under the pretext of humility remain along the bottom of this path who do not take many years to advance as far as these courageous ones do in a few. I marvel at how important it is to be courageous in striving for great things along this path.