Thursday – 28th Week in Ordinary Time – A – Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, also known as Saint Teresa of Avila, because she was born in Avila, Spain, on the 28th of March 1515. And she entered the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation in 1530. 1335 at the age of 20. Following years of illness and spiritual struggle, she experienced a profound renewal of her prayers prayer life. Imagine years struggling to find a good routine, a good discipline in prayer. I think we can all relate to that, we who are trying to grow in our spiritual life. In 1562, she founded St. Joseph's Convent in Avila, and beginning the reform of the Carmelite Order, she established 17 reformed convents and collaborated with Saint John of the Cross and also had as her spiritual director an amazing Franciscan saint by the name of Peter of Alcantara. She died in Alba de Tormes in 1582 and was canonized in 1622, and declared a doctor of the church in 1970.

My dear brothers and sisters, in the word of god that is given to us for her memorial, We hear from Saint Paul's letter to the Romans, and we hear him speaking about the power of the Holy Spirit in the work of cultivating a good prayer life. He says, “The Spirit, too, comes to the aid of our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Romans 8:26). My brothers and sisters, prayer is not primarily our achievement, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Saint Teresa understood that even spiritual dryness and weakness can become occasions for deeper union with God, provided we persevere in prayer. We keep ourselves plugged in to the holiness of God. we keep ourselves linked to the vine we who are the branches.

And so in today's gospel Jesus lovingly invites us. “Remain in me as I remain in you” (John 15:4). This is the foundation of Saint Theresa's spirituality. Prayer is friendship with Christ, remaining in his presence, spending time with him. What friend do we have that prefers not seeing us, not being with us, not spending time with us? Remaining in his presence means that we also allow him to transform us and the fruitfulness, of our Christian life depends not simply on what we accomplish, but on the depth of our union with him. There are so many things, we still yet have to give ourselves to, for the building of the body of Christ and yet, the fruitfulness of our efforts of our Christian life will depend on how deep our union is with Jesus.

Saint Teresa of Avila is in one of her writings says this, “Mental prayer is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends. It means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” This is taken from The Life article 8.5. Mental prayer is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends. How would you speak to your friend? With what joy? With what enthusiasm? How do we speak to God? How do we speak to our lord Jesus? How do we speak to our blessed mother, our guardian angel the saints? Is it monotone? Is it reflecting sadness? Is It drab? Is it boring? How would you speak to a friend? a good friend.

Saint Francis in the approved rule in the 10th chapter, reminds the brothers to pay attention to what they must desire above all else, and I quote, “to have the Spirit of the Lord and his holy activity.” In other words, to imerse yourself into the into the action, into the world of the Holy Spirit, into the environment of Jesus, which is an environment of compassion, mercy, love, positive vibes, that we can give to one another about our journey towards God, and not always be downcast and negative and pessimist. pessimistic, for we serve the God who created all things. Why should men on earth be so sad? when our Creator made them glad.

My brothers and sisters, in the world of Jesus. There's only joy but a joy that is deeper than any of the joy that the world can give. A joy that persists even beneath the most excruciating of circumstances, so that like him on the cross, we continue continue to be united to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Teresa teaches us to remain in Christ through prayer. And Saint Francis reminds us that the Holy Spirit must be the driving force of our lives. May you be blessed this day, my brother, my sister, as you continue to strive to do God's will in your life by loving those he has placed on your path.

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.