I was a bit more conscious of today's feast being of the great Carmelite saint, founder and Doctor of the Church, Saint Teresa of of Jesus (Avila). She has a particular hold on me because of her honesty and her extraordinary attention to human experience. This is especially true when you heed what Teresa is saying about friendship and those distinctions between the human friendship that what is shared with the Lord. The Office of Readings provided for us by the Church --and herewith published with my emphasis-- reminded me of something that's been on my mind for some time: am I mindful of Jesus right now? The sacred Liturgy is most direct in reminding us that salvation is given to us today. We are not saved at some point in the future, but right now. Eternal life doesn't only begin when we give up the ghost, but we live in the Eschaton at this moment of existence. Don't be fooled: Christ uses our human experience to manifest the promise of our divine destiny. So I ask you, Are you mindful of Christ right now? If not, why? What is distracting you? If so, in what ways are you paying mind to Him?
Pay attention to what Saint Teresa is saying:
If
Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can
endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us.
He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and
receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to
us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God
takes delight.
Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The
Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate
if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A
person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of
contemplation; on this road he walks safely. All blessings come to us through
our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the
best example.
What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side?
Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled
or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him
near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell
from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and
embedded in his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully
considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found
that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of
Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God's
hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an
intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.
Whenever we
think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many
graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a
pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep
this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some
time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts,
all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and
without effort.
