Carmelite homily for Thursday, March 5, 2020 – Lectionary 227 (Matthew 7:7-12)
We all know that Saint Teresa of Avila received great gifts in this life. Despite opposition, the reformation of the Order, foundation of many convents, a great spiritual life which sums up, she says, in Mystical Marriage. And the nuns reported that she would levitate in the chapel. Great gifts! Here’s what she writes, “I say only that prayer is the door to favors as great as the Lord granted me. If this door is closed I don’t see how he will grant them.” In today’s Gospel we have Jesus say, ‘ask, seek, knock and it will be given to you.’ What ties it all together but prayer? This is the invitation of today’s Gospel – to pray. The ask, the seek, the knock will be given to you. And if Teresa of Avila is right, the great favors given to her will be given to you.
