Saint Teresa of Avila

 

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Teresa of Avila.

If we listen or read her autobiography, she says a lot about being wicked, and sinning against God, but does not say what it is she has done. My husband Luigi said that when you are close To God, you are more aware of your sins. In her autobiography St. Teresa wrote that she was ‘very fond of St. Augustine...for he was a sinner too.’

What impressed me is that she spent a lot of her time talking to God. Although she is the total opposite of Brother Lawrence, who was a simple man, unpolished and awkward, they both ‘practiced the presence of God’. In contrast, St. Teresa was sophisticated, her father was one of the richest men in Avila, and when she was young, she was very concerned about her looks, make up, and even perfume. 

Much to the disappointment of her father, she entered the religious life at the age of 20. She was sick for a long time, staying in bed for almost a year. What pained her about her sickness was she could not pray all alone as there was always someone watching out for her. 

Eventually, she found the laxity of her Order disturbed her. There were too many visitors of high rank, and unsubstantial conversations that intruded on the practice of contemplation and solitude. She then founded a ‘reformed’ Carmelite convent with stricter monastic regulations which included flagellation! She was a reformer and during the last three years of her life, she founded several convents and even men’s monasteries. 

What transformed this frivolous young woman interested in romance novels into one who only lived to serve God with her whole heart, soul and body? We can say it was the mercy and grace of God. 

St. Teresa de Avila wrote: “Trust God you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and everyone of us.”

Have mercy on me, O Lord, a sinner! 

Guided by the Spirit

 “For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 1:6

The way of the wicked will perish, but while the wicked roam they make hell on earth. I read a missionary’s account of his trips to Somalia in 1992 when he represented many Christian relief organizations to see what they could do to help the people. The book is entitled, “The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected” by Nik Ripken. 

Somaliland was in the grip of a terrible drought, and caught in a brutal miserable civil war. Nik’s first stop was Hargeisa. For the seventy thousand people who still ‘lived’ there, there were only seven houses which had roofs still covering it. Everyone else were just wandering hopelessly through their devastated city with no destination. On top of that there were thousands and thousands of land mines scattered around the city.

Nik was informed by his contacts that in Somali there was “ninety percent unemployment, eighty-five percent starvation or severe malnutrition rate, more than three hundred thousand citizens starved to death over the preceding six months, as many as three thousand starvation deaths a day.”

When Nik went outside of Hargeisa, he just saw more despair and signs of violent and inhumane cruelty. Armed raiders destroyed the old fashioned hand pumps and permanently sealed off the wells by filling it with rocks and sand. All along the way there were rotting carcasses of camels, goats, and even people. The smell was horrific. In the little villages they visited, emaciated mothers were begging that they take their children. In other villages, all they found were stick thin dead bodies. 

Relief agencies were hesitant to help because over 80% of the relief goods were stolen and never reached the hungry. 

Nik asked why the callousness, and one of his staff answered with a Somali adage he had heard all of his life: “Somalia against the world; I and my clan against Somalia; I and my family against my clan; I and my brother against my family; and I against my brother.” This is the essence of evil: selfishness. 

I pray that I will root out any selfishness within me. But I cannot do it on my own. Only by God’s spirit will we be saved.

“Brothers and sisters: If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 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 5:18-25

Set Free

 “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

In 1944, during World War 2, Intelligence Officer Hiroo Onoda was sent to the island of Lubang here in the Philippines, to gather intelligence. Using the guerrilla tactics he was specifically trained for, Onoda and his small group survived in the jungle. When they saw leaflets announcing the end of the war in August 15, 1945, they thought it was Allied propaganda. One by one Onoda's companions either surrendered or were killed until he was all alone. In 1974, a Japanese student named Nario Suzuki, set out to find "Onoda, a panda and the abominable snowman". Amazingly he found and befriended Onoda. 

It was only when Suzuki brought Onoda's old commander, Major Taniguchi, that Onoda finally set down his rifle, ammunition, and hand grenades. He wept bitterly realizing that he had wasted so many years of his life.

How many of us are battling a war that was already won for us thousands of years ago? Romans 6:18 says “You have been set free from your slavery to sin..." 

Some men in the QC Jail are free even if they are behind bars,  because they have accepted Christ and walk in the way of light, forgiveness and love. And some people outside of jail are in terrible bondage to hidden sin, unforgiveness, addiction, pornography, etc. The list is long, but the first step to freedom is confessing our sin, bringing it out into the light, surrendering to God, and committing to do everything to be the person Jesus sacrificed His life for.

The Lord is My Shepherd

  "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:1 

The Lord is my shepherd. He leads me where there is everything I need, peaceful water, and green meadows. He protects me from my enemies. 

The Lord is my gardener (1 Cor. 3:9).  He takes care that I am fruitful, that I will bloom in due season. He prunes away the dead leaves and broken branches. He makes sure I am healthy. 

The Lord is my friend (John 15:15). Everything He learned from our Father He has made known to us. He has taught us what we need to know. Even the hard things. We are not His servants He said, because if He was, He would not have confided in us! Imagine the privilege we have as His friend! 

But the Lord can only be our shepherd and gardener and friend if we continue to be intimate with Him. If we have a relationship with Him. Otherwise, He will just be a stranger knocking at the door (Rev. 3:20). "If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and will share a meal as friends." 

Lord, what a friend I have in You! There is no one like You! How humble You are that You do not barge Your way into my life! You wait until I invite You in! Lord, shine Your light into every corner of my home, especially the dark places! Be my Shepherd, be my Gardener, be my friend! Without You, I am wretched and blind and pitiable! 

Blessed

Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it." Luke 11:28

Blessed, filled with grace, possessing the good things

God has promised, to whom?

To those who hear the Word of God. NOT only to those who read, but who HEAR. Faith after all, comes from HEARING, from listening to the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)

To be blessed with God's good things, we not only need to hear His Word, His promises, His instructions, we also have to observe it, obey it, follow it.

What good are instructions if it goes into one ear and out the other?!!!! Faith without good works is dead faith!

(James 2:17)

I was listening to a preacher one night, and he said the aim of reading God's Word is to become living bibles!Would you like to be a living bible? To be like one of Jesus' followers, walking in His footsteps-

following the living way, not a dead way with archaic rules, but following what Jesus taught? It's the only way to be blessed!!!

No Anxiety

 “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Peace can be very elusive if we allow the anxieties and worries of the world to reign in our hearts and minds. But we are called to peace, it says in Colossians 3:15, which says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Instead of anxiety, we should let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. Easier said than done? 

When my mom was diagnosed with tongue cancer, she would sometimes be very restless and anxious. But I noticed that when I read to her from the Bible, or she would listen to preachers on YouTube, she would calm down and God’s peace would strengthen her. All her life, she turned to God and His Word. She read through the Bible from Genesis to the Book of Revelation many, many times. I can say my mom was a strong woman who found her strength in the Lord. 

I think many of us today have feelings of uneasiness and foreboding about the future. We have concerns about our children. We have apprehensions about the leadership of our country and the instability of the economy. If it is not that, then we stress about our work, conflicts in relationships, finances or health concerns. But we are instructed to cast our cares, all our anxieties, on God for He cares for us in a very real way. (1 Peter 5:7)

My particular favorite promise is found in Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!…Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

May we imitate Saint Teresa of Jesus, who wrote, “Nada te turbe”, “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, everything passes, God does not change, He who has God lacks  nothing.” 

You Know Me

“O Lord, you have probed me, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

My journeys and my rest; you scrutinize,

with all my ways you are familiar." Psalm 139:1b-3

Yes, God knows us better than we know ourselves! He knows our idiosyncracies, our faults and failures, our weaknesses, but He also knows our gifts, our strengths, our potential. He knows our capabilities and like a mother eagle who teaches her young how to fly when it is time, so does our God allow us to endure challenges for a good purpose, it boils down to TRUST. Do we trust our Heavenly Father with our lives? 

Like our Father, the mother eagle doesn’t teach by “telling” her eaglet it has to leave. Instead the mother makes the nest increasingly uncomfortable by removing the soft materials and leaving the sharp thorns. The mother may also stop bringing the little birds food, encouraging them to fly somewhere else to find it. 

The mother isn’t cruel at all. She knows her baby is ready to fly and experience what being a real eagle is like! So it is with us, God allows us to undergo painful, confusing experiences sometimes, so we become the person He meant us to be! 

Teach Me Your Paths

 

"Your ways O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths." Psalm 25:4

What a wonderful prayer to start our time with the Lord! Even if we've been reading the Bible for years and have gone from cover to cover, we will never be able to say, "I already know Your ways. I can stop reading and learning now." 

Even monks, nuns, and preachers have to ask God to continually guide them and teach them His ways. In St. Benedict's Rule for Monks, there is this important dictate: "Listen, O my child, to the precepts of the Master and incline the ear of thy heart." 

There was a beautiful, very successful actress in the 50s and early 60s named Dolores Hart. She made movies with Elvis Presley, Montgomery Clift, Anthony Quinn, and other famous leading men. Just when she was going to sign a contract which would have made her even more successful, she left her flourishing career in Hollywood, and her fiancé, to become a Benedictine nun in the Abbey of Regina Laudis.  She found out about the Abbey when she went on a retreat there after an exhausting time in her career. She recalls, “I wasn’t expecting just how peaceful it truly was. I found inner certitude. I felt like this is where I belonged. It became more than just a retreat. It’s the kind of feeling you get when you meet the person you’re going to marry. The more I came to visit the more it came calling to me. And the more I knew God was present to me in a very special way that I couldn’t deny.”

She is now 87 years old, wears a beret on top of her habit to keep her warm, and continues to receive letters asking her about how to find God and get closer to Him. She listened to the ear of her heart, which is also the title of her autobiography. 

Faith is a journey, an adventure. We need to be courageous, listen to God so He can lead us, and open up possibilities we would never even dream of! 

Do Confirm the Work of Our Hands

 

"And do confirm the work of our hands." Psalm 90:17

What does confirm mean? It means to give permanence to, to prosper, to establish. I always ask this of God for myself and for others I pray for. Yes Lord, give us good success. Help us in our planning, and the weather, and synergy, and aid us in accomplishing our goals. Nothing can beat the power of two, me and Jesus! Without Jesus in the equation I am just noise. 

One of my mom's favorite verses was Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." Unless the Lord builds our family, our business, our career, our life, we labor in vain. All our sweat, our studying, our strategies all just go down the toilet if we don't put God in the equation. 

Father, sometimes, many times, I don't know what I am doing. Any gifts I have all come from Your generous hand. Thank You for prospering the work of my hands, for giving me good success in my family, our business, in our community, in my life. I could not have done well without You! 

In Your Midst

 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

“There am I in the midst of you.” “God with us.” As I ponder this I think what are we without God? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Man is a god in ruins." Indeed, without God what is the purpose of our life? Would there be any meaning at all? Who can give us the joy in our hearts even in the midst of challenges? Who would surround us with a palpable peace even as our heart breaks when we see people going hungry, losing jobs, being imprisoned unjustly? 

I think about how all around the world, God is with families, parishes, churches, organizations, fellowships, sending His Spirit, His wisdom, His refining fire. Yes Lord, send a mighty wind across the earth. Move among us! Your people are in battle!

Just as You sent Your Son, an innocent, powerless babe in the arms of an equally innocent and insignificant woman, to infiltrate the enemy's battle lines, so You now send Your people. We are only powerful because You are with us! We are only wise because You are with us! We are only committed because You are with us! We are only victorious because You are with us!

Exodus 14:13-14 says, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm...the Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still." 

Yes to You!

 “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:4

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Claire of Assisi. What an amazing young woman she was! She was beautiful and of a wealthy family. Her family lived in a palace in Assisi and owned a castle on the slope of Mount Subasio. Claire was probably used to clothes of embroidered rich silk from the clothes shop of Saint Francis' father. But she rejected her pampered lifestyle to take up the cross of Jesus.  Even when she was young, she prayed with dedication and devotion. 

She was only 18 years old when she heard St. Francis preach during a Lenten service. After that, she asked him to help her leave her father's home and devote the rest of her life serving God. She lived in humility and poverty for the rest of her life, and other young ladies would join her "Order of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano". They wore no shoes, ate no meat, slept on the ground, and lived like the poor, but in silence most of the time, praying and working. 

What would provoke a young woman to voluntarily leave a comfortable life for a life of deprivation and manual labor? Only the desire to obey God and follow in His footsteps! Lord, may we be yoked to Your will, and say yes to You! 

Grain of Wheat

 “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit." John 12:24

The lives of saints and martyrs are so fascinating to me. Aren’t they like grains of wheat, seeds of faith, planted in the hearts of men and women whose desire is to follow God? Some of the worldly bent would say they lost their lives in vain, but in the eyes of God, these precious men and women gave up, in the words of martyr Jim Elliot, that which they could not keep to gain what they cannot lose.

In the period of about 300 years when Christians were hunted like animals and persecuted in Rome, there are amazing testimonies, too many to count, of men and women who were willing to die for Jesus. Not only were these martyrs thrown to the lions, but some were doused in oil, and used to light up the streets of Rome! 

St. Ignatius of Antioch has the horrific distinction of being the first Christian martyr of the Colosseum. He was thrown to the lions and was said to exclaim, “I am as the grain of the field and must be ground by the teeth of lions, that I may become fit for His table.” 

Then there is St. Lawrence of Rome, whose Feast Day we celebrate today. He was deacon of the Church under Pope Saint Sixtus II at the time Christianity was outlawed. When the Pope was executed, St. Lawrence was then the highest official of the Church. As such, he was tasked to bring the treasures of the Church to the Prefect of Rome, for the use of Emperor Valerian.

St. Lawrence sold the sacred vessels and gave the money to the poor. Then he gathered all the widows, the orphans, the maimed, the leprous, the sick and brought them to the Prefect. “Here are the treasures of the Church," he proclaimed.

The Prefect got furiously angry that he had St. Lawrence bound to a gridiron and ROASTED!!!! There is a legend going around that St. Lawrence quipped, "This side is done, turn me around!"

But what he really said was, “Sheltered under the name of Jesus Christ, I do not fear these pains, for they do not last long.” Tradition holds that after St. Lawrence’ death, many turned to Christ as a result of his faithfulness to God and love for the poor. Yes, truly he was a grain of wheat that died and bore much fruit. 

May we follow the examples of the saints in the sacrifices we offer for God and for our brothers and sisters every day. 

Still, Small Voice

 

“After the wind..the earthquake...there was fire- but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound." 1 Kings 19:12

Elijah, the great prophet was running for his life in fear and anguish. After all the mighty miracles, his great victories over his enemies, he wanted to give up! 

God had to remind him, and indeed all of us, that our strength comes from being with Him, praying, and listening to Him. 

Sometimes we look for miracles, demonstrations of great power, healings, to grow our faith. But our faith will grow if we get to know the God of the Bible, if we read His Word and listen for His still, small voice. 

Write Down the Vision

 “Write down the vision...for the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfilment, and will not disappoint...” Habakkuk 2:2-3

Like the prophet Habukkuk and many before and after him, I too ask why God allows evil, why He does not put a stop to all the billion peso corruption scandals and injustice and immoral leaders that causes the misery of so many of my countrymen both here and abroad. The list is long and I know these questions have troubled many and have even caused many to abandon their faith. 

Habakkuk asks: “Why do You gaze on the faithless in silence, while the wicked devour one more just than himself? ....Shall he then keep on brandishing his sword to slay peoples without mercy?”

When we read a great novel or admire an artist’s masterpiece, everything makes perfect sense when we see the whole and not just a part of it. The same is true with God’s great work of heART. We do not understand why He permits a major 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Mindanao, deadly landslides and floods. 

We can be sure God has a greater good in mind for us and His creation. I am reminded of Charles Templeton, a charismatic evangelist who would hold successful crusades around Europe in the 40s and 50s with Billy Graham. But he became an atheist partly because of this same complaint. How can a good God permit all the misery and violence and evil in this world? 

God answers Habakkuk: "Write down the vision clearly...for the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it...The righteous shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

I think the key is the last verse. We need the eyes of faith because faith looks beyond the circumstances and rests on God's wisdom and His promises. The world has not changed much since the prophet’s time. Listening to the news about all the rape and killings in the most beautiful cities in the world can drive us to despair. What is God doing? Why does He allow any of it? Why did God allow Jesus to be humiliated and crucified?

I like the answer of Peter Kreeft, a Roman Catholic theologian. He compared Calvary to Judo: “The enemy’s own power is used to defeat him… Satan’s end was God’s means. God won Satan’s captives – us – back to himself by freely dying in our place.” 

So I try not to question God and His ways. I will just trust and have faith. Our God knows all the answers. We do not need the “answers” to our questions or the challenges life gives us, as much as we need God Himself! When we have nothing left but God, God is enough.

Follow Me

 “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

I like reading about saints. They were ordinary people who loved God extraordinarily. Because of their love for God, they were able to fear the Lord (which really means to be in awe of Him), love and serve Him. On August 9, a couple of days from now, will be the Feast Day of a Jewish woman who became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was murdered in the gas chamber in Auschwitz-Birkenau along with her sister Rosa, who was also a Carmelite nun. 

St. Edith Stein, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, rejected her family’s Jewish piety and became an atheist at the age of 13. In 1917, a colleague, Professor Adolf Reinach, was killed in the war. When Edith met the late Professor’s wife Anna, she was deeply impressed with Anna’s strong Christian faith and convictions. “This was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts…my unbelief collapsed.”

She started reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and became drawn to the Catholic faith. After finishing the book, she  declared, “This is the truth!” She was baptized on January 1, 1922. She was very intelligent and she continued studying and writing. She translated the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas into German. Soon she became a teacher and lecturer around Europe about the role of Catholic women. 

When it became difficult to teach because of Nazi restrictions, she entered the Carmelites as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She devoted her life to holiness and self-offering even as the Nazis forced her to wear the Star of David over her habit. Survivors of the death camp testified she helped all others with her there with great love and compassion. 

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross herself wrote, “I talked with the Savior and told Him that I knew that it was His cross that was now being placed on the Jewish people; that most of them did not understand this, but that those who did would have to take it up willingly in the name of all. I would do that. He should only show me how.”

Yes, Lord, show us how. Show us also how to be a “witness to God’s presence in a world where God is absent,” as Professor Jan Nota wrote of the Saint.

Insider Information

 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matthew 17:5�

We celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord today. In a letter he wrote shortly before his death, Saint Peter reminisces about when he Himself witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. He writes that, “we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen His majestic splendor with our own eyes. And He received honor and glory from God the Father when God’s glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son. I am fully pleased with Him.’ We ourselves heard the voice when we were there with Him on the holy mountain.” 

Saint Peter continues, “Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place...” 

This awesome experience made an incredible impact on the lives of Peter, James and John.  They each saw a glimpse of the glory beyond the cross. It was INSIDER INFORMATION and Saint Peter is telling us that, “We were EYEWITNESSES of His majesty! WE OURSELVES HEARD this voice from heaven!!! You HAVE to be attentive to this message!"

How urgent can that be? The message was so compelling that Saint Peter wanted to spread the message far and wide until he was martyred in Rome in the year 64 AD. Saint Peter said “Pay attention to what the prophets wrote.” Why? Saint Augustine said, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.”

Are we paying attention? Are we listening? We are privileged to receive this insider information! Let us not let it go to waste!