Give Yourself Completely

The Feast of Saint Teresa of Avila

(1515-1582)

Doctor of the Church

 

~~~ Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1 ~~~ Psalm 113 ~~~ Luke 11: 29-32 ~~~

 

Jesus said to them,
"This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation."

 

Saint Teresa believed that Christ alone makes all things new.

 

Today Jesus is explaining to the crowd that something greater is coming.

The prophets realized that they were not to be regarded as the one who was coming.

Jonah resisted; he was reluctant to answer the call of God.

 

Each generation births those who are still looking for a sign.

They are still looking for 'the one'.

 

Teresa is inspiring with her devotion to Jesus

and her conversational style of prayer.

Some have said, 'Teresa is contagiously inspirational'.

 

Teresa believed that it is within ourselves that we discover

the meaning of God's words.

Teresa assure us that those who practice prayer faithfully will receive all they ask beyond their greatest expectations an hope.

Teresa wrote. 'My house will be a house of prayer'.

She was not only referring to the physical structure of a house,

but also her interior house where God dwells.

Her writings expand on this concept of a house of prayer.

She speaks of the various levels of prayer as 'mansions'.

 

She wants us all to know that God waits for us in our daily prayer.

It is in our prayer when we should be acutely aware

of giving our self completely

to God...body, mind, and soul.

Gradually throughout her life prayer became her passion.

As Teresa grew in age and in her prayer life,

she began to listen better and surrender to her vocation.

 

 

It is only through developing our prayer life that we can begin

to hear the word of God more clearly.

Jonah had to be swallowed up and spit out before he would

surrender to the will of God.

What will it take for you?

What do you need to do to find more time to pray?

The more we begin to live as God desires for us to live

the more we will discover

the wonderfulness of God.

The more we discover the wonderfulness of God

the more energized we will be to continue to be in prayer with him.

 

There have been more books written on prayer than any other topic of religion.

Prayer is our feeble attempt at connection with our creator.

We want to keep in touch with God through our prayers.

We want to experience his unconditional love.

 

The reality of prayer is that it changes you over time.

Dare you take the risk of being changed?

Try devoting more time to prayer and see what happens.

 

Saint Teresa, teach us to cherish our prayer time as much as you did.

Saint Teresa, pray for us!