Today the church celebrates the Memorial of St Teresa of Avila or Teresa of the Child Jesus. Saint Terresa lived in the 16th century. Together with St. John of the Cross, they made reforms on the Congregation of Carmelite friars and nuns.
In one of her famous works of contemplation, “The Way of Perfection,” a practical guide on how to achieve spiritual growth, she mentions three things that inform this short homily or reflection. She talks of three essential virtues for a prayer filled life:
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus strongly rebuking the Pharisees and Scribes. He is angry with them because instead of preaching God’s love, they focused on the following:
The essence of Jesus’ message is love of God and love of neighbour. Since God is love, whatever Jesus does flows from love for us. We too need to work from the same vision and understanding. Saint Teresa's three essential virtues for a prayer-filled life captures that message well.
Whatever we do as Christians, as believers, should be guided and directed by a heart filled with Fraternal love, a heart that is sincere and gives reverence to God not our oneself. A love that both embraces and lifts the burdens of others.
That kind of love requires detachment from worldly desires; it invites us to let go, not to draw attention to ourselves, to become selfless for others. That kind of love requires humility of Jesus, that made him empty himself to die for our sake. That kind of love invites an awareness of our own imperfections so that we don’t ride in pride or with a sense of self-entitlement.
Borrowing from Saint Teresa, we can pray for the grace to always allow ourselves to be guided by God’s love, as we relate and minister to people.