Memorial of St.
Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
(Romans 1:16-25; Luke 11:37-41)
May we call comfort and convenience contemporary
gods? People certainly pay them much
tribute. Drive-through services, for
example, abound: bank deposits,
fast food purchases, even prescription pick-ups are done seemingly as often as
not without getting out of the car. One downside of this form of convenience is that partakers deprive themselves of personal
encounters and a little exercise. Another is that fossil fuel producing greenhouse gases is being burnt. But there may be something deeper at stake. People need to ask themselves if the regular
use of drive-ins is God’s will. They would find St. Paul's critique of worshiping created things in today's first reading helpful in their self-interrogation.
For Paul the universe gives ample testimony to a Creator
and to the Creator’s will. For millennia
the latter was called natural law and well accepted in civilized
societies. Paul also believes that God
punishes those who do not abide by that law.
Venereal disease would be an example as a punishment for fornicators and
adulterers. Paul’s purpose is not to
give a philosophical treatise but to introduce God’s plan of universal
salvation through Jesus Christ. Humans -
he will show in the course of the letter - would not be able to abide by natural
law without the grace of Jesus.
St. Theresa of Jesus believed that often religious in her
day were ignoring God the Creator in favor of creaturely comforts. She reformed the Carmelite Order so that a
purer worship might be given to God. We too
might improve our worship of God by reforming our lifestyles.
