Teaching spiritual life

On October 15 the Universal Church celebrates the feast of St Teresa of Jesus (1515-1582). This worldly renowned Spanish mystic and Doctor of the Church lived in very turbulent times both for the Church as well as the Carmelite Order. In his report to the Roman Rota, Pope Paul V declared: “Teresa has been given to the Church by God as a teacher of the spiritual life. The mysteries of the inner mystical life which the holy Fathers propounded unsystematically and without orderly sequence, she has presented with unparalleled clarity”. Her mystical writings remain an ever refreshing spiritual source that later teachers, like St Francis de Sales and St Alphonsus Liguori heavily relied on.

St Teresa’s approach to spirituality was rather a subjective individualistic one, thereby echoing the spirit of the 16th and subsequent centuries. As her religious name attests, Teresa had a strong familiarity with Jesus. For her, Jesus was the real and faithful friend a person can ever have. Notice how she managed to bring this to the fore, as this wonderful pericope taken from The Book of Life, which is read in the Office of Readings for her feast, powerfully suggests.

“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… 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 favours, 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”.

In St Teresa’s view Christ’s friendship will never cease, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. Christ’s friendship gives us the assurance that in reality nothing can dare separate us from his love (see Rom 8, 39).

Moreover, an authentic profound friendship with Jesus, as can be evidenced from St Teresa’s holy life, always promotes and strengthens ecclesial communion. St Teresa was bold enough to put her valuable abilities at the service of the Church’s and the Carmelite Order’s renewal.

May our hectic lives be rejuvenated by her wise counsel, so valid in this day and age. “Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough”.