Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus,
Virgin and Doctor of the Church
(Romans 4:1-8; Luke 12:1-7)
St. Teresa of Jesus is not to be confused with
St. Therese of the Child Jesus. The
former lived in sixteenth century Spain; the latter in nineteenth century
France. Both were Carmelite nuns, and
both have been named “Doctors of the Church.”
Teresa of Jesus, however, lived a long life in which she accomplished
the reform of her order and the writing of many books. Therese of the Child Jesus spent all of a
short adult life at the Carmel in her hometown where she wrote her insightful
and inspiring autobiography.
St. Teresa of Jesus (or of Avila as she is
often called) developed a doctrine of prayer worthy of attention. She used the metaphor of drawing water for
irrigation in her discourse. The first
water comes with much labor as if one were drawing bucket from a well and
carrying it into the field. It is the attempt to speak to God and meditate on
one’s own. This prayer often leads in
aridity and fatigue. The second water is
a gift from God who allows the pray-er, after concentrating her faculties, an
experience of communication. It is as if
God were granting the one praying a mechanical device to carry the water. The third water is a significant deepening of
the “prayer of quiet.” But the fourth
water is qualitatively richer. As rain
seems like a gift from heaven, in the fourth water the soul is completely passive. Nevertheless, it experiences the joy of full union
with the Lord.
In today’s gospel Jesus indicates the need
to connect with God. God is to be
feared, Jesus indicates, if we deliberately flout His will. Nevertheless, God loves us and will take care
of us if we allow Him. It behooves us,
then, to develop a close relationship with God through prayer.
