Carmelite homily for Thursday, January 30, 2020 – Lectionary 320 (Mark 4:21-25)
In her book, The Way of Perfection, Saint Teresa of Avila, of course, speaks about perfection. And here’s what she writes (this is very good!), “Zeal for perfection is in itself a good thing. But it could follow that every fault the sisters commit will seem to you a serious breach and you will be careful to observe when they commit them. And when they commit them go and inform the prioress. Often you don’t see your own faults because of your intense zeal for the religious observance of everybody else. So let each one look to herself only, for perfection consists of love of God and love of neighbor; whereas, perfectionism comes from the devil.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus is talking about how everything hidden will be made known, will be revealed. Let’s not make that our job. Let’s make our job zeal for perfection in love of God and love of neighbor, and let God take care of everything else. As Teresa of Avila warns us – anything else comes from the devil.