Sermon for October 15, 2013 ~
10:00 Healing Service
Feast Day of Teresa of Avila, Nun
St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish,
Tucson, AZ
The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse
For online access to the readings
click here. Matthew 5:13-16
I speak to you in the name of One
God, Father Son and Holy Ghost. Amen
Today is
the feast day of Teresa of Avila.
She is well-known as a Spanish mystic and
some of you may know of her already?
I am
curious what you know about Teresa?
You may
have heard some of these quotes?
Born in 1515
in Avila, Spain, she was formed at the time
of “the Renaissance” –
of the “discovery” of America
of the realization that the earth was round
Old and
sacred certainties were less certain.
May
things were doubted, questioned, researched, discovered.
Humans
were becoming aware of their “interiority.”
Sounds
like she could inform us today!
Teresa
became
A mystic
a religious reformer,
founder of convents,
author of four books,
the first woman to be raised as Doctor of the Catholic
Church and
considered one of the great masters of Christian prayer.
Her
biography includes these snippets:
·
Include
from Holy Women Holy Men
o
Close
spiritual friend of St. John
of the Cross
o
Took
pleasure in the study of the saints’ lives and “used to delight in spending
times of contemplation, repeating, “for ever, for ever, for ever, for ever,
they shall see God.”[1]
·
Born
into nobility, her mother died when she was 14
·
Nearly
died when she was 24 but attributed her cure to St. Joseph’s intercession
·
Experienced
profound conversion when she was 44
·
Performed
a miracle when she was 46, bringing her nephew back to life
·
Finished
her book The Life…a collection of her works and memoir at age 52, followed by
The Way of Perfection and her Meditations on the Song of Songs
·
At
age 56 she founded seven convents
·
She
was denounced in the Inquisition at Seville
and ordered to retire at age 60, but she did not. She wrote The Interior Castle and continued
directing the convents, experiencing declining health due to an accident
falling down stairs.
·
Despite
the demands of her administrative and missionary work, Teresa found time to
write numerous letters.
·
She
proved to be gifted with practical organizing skills, warm friendship, and a
lover of and beloved of God.
·
She
dies on October 4, 1582, but that was the year the Gregorian Calendar was
introduced, so the date became October 15.
If I was
to introduce you to her at a party,
I would
remark about her commitment to the interior life.
This
commitment was very ordinary and very accessible for us,
mere
humans who are not saints.
She
followed the St. Ignatius of Loyola “exercises”
for
discernment and prayer.
I
recently found this little book in the library,
“15 Days
of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila,”
by Jean
Abiven a devoted student of Carmelite spirituality.
The book
opens with,
“You are
going to spend fifteen days, dear reader friend,
in the
company of Teresa of Avila, or more precisely,
you will
spend fifteen days in the company of the Lord
with
Teresa’s help…”[2]
The
introduction continues to reveal that
Teresa’s
writings inform these prayer periods.
“…[here,]…we
find the progression of a soul,
which…asks
itself fundamental questions,
battles
against sin,
gives
itself to Christ with all of its spark,
a soul
which must continue to discern
how to
read him in daily life and
how to
recognize him through the [blessings] received…”
Indeed,
the author relays,
“…the
actions of her whole life serve as witnesses
to a
constant prayerful union with the Lord.”
Here are the stages that Jean
Abiven proposes
for his “15 days of Prayer”
·
Days 1 and
2: Getting onto the road: How do we pray? Who am I in the eyes of God?
·
Days 3 and 4:
The merciful benevolence of the Savior to the sinner that I am.
·
Days 5, 6,
and 7: Jesus presents himself to me, asking, “Do you want to follow me?”
·
Days 8 and
9: What do I do, Lord, to join you?
·
Days 10, 11,
and 12: Discerning the Lord’s initiatives.
·
Days 13, 14,
and 15: Remaining united to him in our daily lives through service to the
Church.
In each of these daily
reflections,
Teresa provides a kind of
spiritual banquet,
with include scriptures and
poetic writings
For example, The Business of Friendship
(p. 1)
It seems
to me that these reflections
bring
Teresa into our midst, this day.
Today’s Gospel reading from the
Sermon on the Mount, connects us to Teresa’s devotion to the interior life.
In today’s passage about being
the salt of the earth
and the light of the world,
we can imagine Teresa meditated
and prayed about this.
Her commitment to interiority is
what kept her soul “salty” and her light shining.
I found that The Message provides a fresh interpretation, in our own vernacular:
13 “Let me tell you
why you are here.
You’re here to
be salt-seasoning that brings out
the God-flavors
of this earth.
If you lose your
saltiness, how will people taste godliness?
You’ve lost your
usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14-16 “Here’s another
way to put it:
You’re here to be light,
bringing out the God-colors in
the world.
God is not a secret to be kept. …
If I make you light-bearers,
you don’t think I’m going to hide
you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand.
Now that I’ve put you there on a
hilltop,
on a light stand—shine!
Keep open house; be generous with
your lives.
By opening up to others,
you’ll prompt people to open up
with God,
this generous Father in heaven.
And so, this day, as we
commemorate Teresa of Avila,
may we find ourselves committed
anew to our interior life.
May we be the salt-seasoning that
brings out the God-flavors of the
earth in all our relationships
– family, friends, co-workers,
and even our enemies.
With God’s grace fresh in our
lives,
may we be generous with our
lives,
opening our interior life with
others and
sharing the God-colors in the
world.
May we know that God loves us
all, generously, freely, faithfully.
Amen.
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