Teresa of Avila

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all things are passing, Christ, contemplative, Doctor of the Church, faithful love, God alone suffices, mystic, prayer, soul, St. Teresa of Avila, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust in God

There is so much to say about St. Teresa of Jesus (3/18/1515 – 10/4/1582) who is honored today as one of only four women given the title “Doctor of the Church.” A Carmelite contemplative and mystic, writing extensively about the interior life, she was at the same time a woman of action, reformer of her community who worked tirelessly in spite of poor health at a time when the Church and the world were in great turmoil.

My life has often been punctuated by Teresa, beginning when I was 16 years old and spoke for the first time my desire to enter the convent to one of my high school teachers. In addition to her kind words, she gave me a small card with a prayer of Teresa printed on the back. I memorized the prayer which has shown up as a framed cross-stitch gift from a student, on a meaningful card at the time of my father’s death and in many conversations over the years when I or others needed support. For me, that is the gift of Teresa: her example of faithful love for and trust in God that carried her through every day no matter what was happening in her life and the life around her. A song by John Michael Talbot called Teresa’s Prayer has become a staple in prayer services that I create to remind participants of our place in this world. And recently I have come to love a chant by Darlene Franz, based on Teresa’s words. I sing it to myself, imagining God singing it to me when I am alone. I share these three texts in hopes that this great saint will be seen also as a companion on the spiritual journey giving voice to our own walk with God.

1. Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you. All things are passing; God never changes. Patient endurance attains all things. The one who possesses God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
2. Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks with compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.
3. Beautiful, gracious, painted in my heart, you were created for love. Beautiful, gracious, soul of my beloved, seek yourself in me.

One More Wake Up Call

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charity, contemplation, corruption, divisions, mystic, news, Peace, prophets, saints, sanctity, solace, spiritual maturity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, violence

It is sometimes counter-productive to read the news in the morning. I don’t often do so before taking up this writing task. I should always move toward what I know to be my priorities. After twenty minutes or so this morning of breaking my own rule and falling deeper into distress, I moved away from stories of corruption, violence and division in the world and turned to Thomas Merton for solace. Here is what he gave me as a motivational word for today:

If the salvation of society depends, in the long run, on the moral and spiritual health of individuals, the subject of contemplation becomes a vastly important one, since contemplation is one of the indications of spiritual maturity. It is closely allied to sanctity. You cannot save the world merely with a system. You cannot have peace without charity. You cannot have social order without saints, mystics and prophets. (A Thomas Merton Reader, p. 375)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gratitude bears much fruit

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dream, Great Spirit, Handsome Lake, heaven, hope, John, mystic, prophetic, rebirth, salvation, Seneca Indian, solstice, strawberry moon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I arrived at work yesterday, our administrative assistant (the genius behind the blog pictures) met me with a wonderful story about the Strawberry Moon. I suggested she take over the blog for a day so here is “the rest of the story.” (Thanks to Mary Pat!)

The news media were full of reports Monday about the rare occurrence of the Strawberry Moon on the same day as the Summer Solstice. How rare is it? The next time the two will be paired is in the year 2062. What the media neglected to delve into, however, is the spiritual importance of this full moon.

Among the Seneca Indians (and other Iroquois nations) the rising of the Strawberry Moon heralds a sacred time. The strawberry is the first fresh fruit to be harvested after the long winter. To the Senecas, the fruit represents rebirth and hope. They believe you will eat strawberries when you die because they line the path to heaven.

During this time, women and children are given the task of harvesting wild strawberries in special bark baskets. On the day of the full Strawberry Moon, the berries are pressed into a juice mixed with a little maple syrup and water. The entire village gathers for a festival that includes food, dancing and singing. The focus of the day is a ceremony in which the strawberry juice is shared with all. Before each person drinks of the juice, they express gratitude to the Great Spirit for all blessings received and surviving the winter. The juice was also thought to have invigorating healing properties because of its heart shape.

Centuries ago the great Seneca warrior, Handsome Lake, entered into deep depression and drunkenness after the collapse of his culture following the American Revolution. Years later, one night Handsome Lake had several revelations in a prophetic dream that were inspired by the life cycle of the strawberry. From this dream he created a new moral code to strengthen his culture that included abandoning behaviors such as promiscuity and insobriety, confessing one’s sins and striving for salvation. His “Old Way” is still embraced as the “golden rule” today.

In this morning’s gospel acclamation (John 15: 4A, 5B) the Lord promises “whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.” Inspired by the Senecas’ ritual of the Strawberry Moon, you might rephrase that to whoever lives a life filled with gratitude to the Great Spirit will bear much fruit.

Of Words and Voice

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desire, God, Kahlil Gibran, love, mystic, Mystic of the Month, poet, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, voice, winged heart

Last evening, at our Mystic of the Month gathering, I – and some of the attendees – reconnected with Kahlil Gibran, a mystical poet and “old friend” who lived from 1883 to 1931 and whose work was quite popular in the 1960s and ’70s. The most well-known of his books is The Prophet which contains 26 short, poetic essays on aspects and issues of life. It was a very meaningful text for those of us who grew up in the ’60s and I was happy to have a conversation about Gibran and his work.

The most meaningful part of the presentation, however, for me and the participants was the reading aloud of some key passages in a few of the essays. The process reminded me of how voice adds meaning to words. One of the women present spoke of the different interpretation she noted from her own previous understanding when I read a section. Hearing it aloud with my inflection made all the difference. So now I will copy a few lines of the essay on love and hope that in some places in the world there will be voices raised in praise of Love, bringing beauty and peace to this day.

When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.” And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: to melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night, to know the pain of too much tenderness, to be wounded by your own understanding of love; and to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving…

John of the Cross

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asceticism, being of light, Carmelite, light, Mark, mystic, mysticism, paschal mystery, poet, reformer, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theologian, Thomas Merton

The biography of St. John of the Cross reads with more twists and turns than a complex novel. It would be foolish of me to try to capsulize it here. Suffice it for me to say that the play of light and darkness was the constant of his years as I yield to other sources for comment.

Americancatholic.org summarizes his life in the following way: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (MK 8:34b) is the story of John’s life. The Paschal Mystery – through death to life – strongly marks John as reformer, mystic-poet, and theologian priest. Thomas Merton said of John: “Just as we can never separate asceticism from mysticism, so in St. John of the Cross we find darkness and light, suffering and joy, sacrifice and love united together so closely that they seem at times to be identified.” As John himself expressed it: “Never was a fount so clear, undimmed and bright; from it alone I know proceeds all light although ’tis night.”

Only one note would I add to these intimations of the seamlessness of seeming opposites in his life, that being the value of feminine influence, most visibly of St. Teresa of Avila, for his spiritual development and understanding of the unity of all things in God. The contribution to the mystical stream and religious life of Christianity by these two saints is vast, something to celebrate with all Carmelite monks and nuns in the world on this feast of John of the Cross.