Sit! Mothers of Mysticism Series

 

So far this week we have stood in the sun with Catherine of Siena calling us to be brave and bold.  We have sung with Hildegard von Bingen who remind us that music softens the souls of those around us.  And today we turn toward the mother of mysticism, Teresa of Avila who was born in Spain in the 16^th Century.  While she, like Catherine and Hildegard, wanted to join a monastery, her father disapproved.  She also faced several severe bouts of malaria.  You may be well familiar with one of her most famous invitations to faith, 

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours.  Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out his compassion to the world.  Yours are the feet with which he is to go doing good.  Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.”

 

Pause with me to check in with your body, your full self.  How are you doing today physically?  Do you have aches and pains?  Gaze at your hands, how have you reached out with Christ’s love embodied in your fingers?  Look at your feet, where have you gone this week?  With whom has your path intersected?  What words have fallen from your lips?  What thoughts race around your mind?  What stirs and souls in your heart/soul?  You are an incarnation, in the flesh, living faith, of Christ who we follow.  Hold this truth that Teresa awakens beautifully, profoundly, powerfully for us.

 

Teresa also said, “Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.”  

In a world of FOMO (fear of missing out) we are constantly concerned that something better is happening somewhere else.  We race and run in all directions, frenzied and fearful that the grass is greener over there.  Teresa says no, right here is holy, because right here is where God is.

 

Teresa also said, “The surest way to determine whether one possesses the love of God is to see whether he or she loves his or her neighbor.  These two loves are never separated.  Rest assured, the more you progress in love of neighbor the more your love of God will increase.”  

And, “Prayer is an act of love.  Words are not needed.”   

 

Today, sit in silence listening for God.  Given what Teresa said above, we might be tempted to race off to save the world.  I think of the cartoon character Mighty Mouse, whose catchphrase was, “Here I come to save the day.”  We all want a cape or the lasso of Wonder Woman to right all wrongs.  Yet, contemplation, letting God get a word in edgewise in your agenda, letting God’s realm awaken in you is the first and final step.  It is only out of prayer that we seek to act and the act returns us to prayer to check in with the Creator who corrects and consoles us because our actions will always be human-size.  May the holy silence today be a moment of God serenading you with love.  Amen.