Category: Teresa of Avila

Carmelite homily for Friday, March 13, 2020 – Lectionary 234 (Matthew 21:33-46)

Carmelite homily for Saturday, March 7, 2020 – Lectionary 229 (Matthew 5:43-48)

Because today’s Gospel passage is the same, this homily is repeated from Sunday, February 23rd.

The last line of today’s Gospel says, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  And sometimes we can hear this and say – oh, I’ve got to be perfect then; I can’t make any mistakes; I can’t make any failures; I cannot sin; I’ve got to be —  ‘ahhhh’ – uptight.  And that’s not what it means at all.  Because if you take it in the whole context, the Father lets the sun shine on the good and the bad alike and the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike, means to treat everyone with love.  Here’s what Saint Teresa of Avila has to write about this.  This comes from her book, The Way of Perfection (it makes sense), “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 are careful to observe when they commit them, where they commit them, and then 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.  What the devil is hereby aiming at is no small thing; namely, the cooling of charity and love the sisters have for one another.  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.”  So let’s not confuse ‘perfection’ and ‘perfectionism’ today. 

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.  

Carmelite homily for Tuesday, March 3, 2020 – Lectionary 225 (Matthew 6:7-15)

Because today’s Gospel passage is the same, this homily is repeated from Wednesday, October 9th.

Today the Gospel passage is the “Our Father.”  Saint Teresa of Avila notes that there are seven petitions – you know, like “thy kingdom come” or “give us our bread” or “help us to forgive” – seven petitions to the Our Father.  And she says, it is better to pray one petition mindfully than to pray the Our Father mindlessly.  This comes from The Way of Perfection.  So today, pray one petition of the Our Father instead of the whole Our Father.

Carmelite homily for Thursday, February 27, 2020 – Lectionary 220 (Luke 9:22-25)

Because today’s Gospel passage is the same, this homily is repeated from Wednesday, November 15th.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says whoever does not take up his cross and follow him is not worthy to be his disciple.  But Jesus doesn’t say why.  Why should we take up this cross?  But Teresa of Avila answers it.  She says, “If you wish to gain freedom of spirit begin by not being afraid of the cross.”  Because it is the crosses of our lives that pull us past ego, past fear, past self-appetites, past selfishness – and self.  It is the cross that brings us to freedom.  So if you wish to gain freedom, begin by not being afraid of the cross. 

Carmelite homily for Ash Wednesday, February 26, 2020 – Lectionary 219 (Matthew 6:1-6,16-18)

Humility doesn’t mean being smarmy and allow people to walk all over you or to treat you like a doormat.  No!  Humility means not being controlled by your ego.  That’s what we see in today’s Gospel.  When you pray, don’t pray in front of everybody so everyone says, ‘look how holy she is.’  Or when you give gifts or donations don’t blow a trumpet or call attention to it so everyone says, ‘look how, how generous he is.’  Or when you’re fasting don’t look all beaten up so everyone can say, ‘look how god-focused she is.’  No, that’s all ego.  The idea is to not let ego control this, but to let love control this, God control this, the other control this, your heart control this.  This is the call for Ash Wednesday.  Saint Teresa of Avila writes, “If there is no progress in humility, everything is going to be doomed.”  Let’s make that the focus for this Lent – progress in humility.  Which means simply, don’t be controlled by your ego, be controlled by love. 

Carmelite homily for Monday, February 24, 2020 – Lectionary 341 (Mark 9:14-29)

In today’s Gospel the people bring to the disciples a boy who has convulsions.  And the disciples can’t heal this boy, so they bring him to Jesus, and Jesus does heal him.  And the disciples ask, “Why couldn’t we do that?”  And he says, “Well, this one could only be healed by prayer.”  But the call is not  just for the difficult cases to pray, but to pray always, even for the easy cases.  Here’s what Saint Teresa of Avila has to say, “I say only that prayer is the door to favors as great as those the Lord granted me.  If this door is closed, I don’t know how he will grant them.”  So let’s leave the miracles to the Lord, the answers to the Lord, let’s leave everything to the Lord – except prayer.  Let’s do that, and see what happens.  

Carmelite homily for Sunday, February 23, 2020 – Lectionary 79 (Matthew 5:38-48)

The last line of today’s Gospel says, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  And sometimes we can hear this and say – oh, I’ve got to be perfect then; I can’t make any mistakes; I can’t make any failures; I cannot sin; I’ve got to be —  ‘ahhhh’ – uptight.  And that’s not what it means at all.  Because if you take it in the whole context, the Father lets the sun shine on the good and the bad alike and the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike, means to treat everyone with love.  Here’s what Saint Teresa of Avila has to write about this.  This comes from her book, The Way of Perfection (it makes sense), “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 are careful to observe when they commit them, where they commit them, and then 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.  What the devil is hereby aiming at is no small thing; namely, the cooling of charity and love the sisters have for one another.  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.”  So let’s not confuse ‘perfection’ and ‘perfectionism’ today. 

Carmelite homily for Saturday, February 22, 2020 – Lectionary 535 (Matthew 16:13-19) – the Chair of Peter

In the Gospel for this Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Jesus asks of his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  And they give a bunch of answers and finally Simon says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  And Jesus turns to him and says, “Your name is Peter.”  He gives him a special name.  But Jesus gives us a special name.  Here’s what Saint Teresa of Avila has to write, “To always live in calm desire to rejoice solely in Christ, one’s spouse.”  That’s the name Jesus, as we get closer and closer to him, gives us: spouse.  So, yes, that’s what we celebrate on this Feast of the Chair of Peter – our espousal.