Wednesday.blog
The Catholic Calendar for Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Romans 2:1-11
Psalm 32:2-3,6-7,9
Luke 11:42-46
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
For by the standard by which you judge another -- you condemn
yourself.
Today is the feast day of La Madre -- St. Teresa of Jesus of Avila, one of the great saints of any time -- so great indeed she has been the subject of countless artworks, poems, and works of literature. And the most remarkable thing about this saint was her loving practicality, her lack of judgmentalism.
When approached by the nuns she cared for, about the question of hearing voices and seeing visions, St. Teresa had her typically grounded advice, "If you think you are seeing visions, perhaps you ought to eat more." When experiencing a mishap on the way to visit a very important dignitary who could assist her in the establishment of her foundations she raised her eyes to heaven and said, "If this is how You treat Your friends, little wonder that You have so few." Her humor, her love, and her sanctity shone through the fact that she did not judge.
St. Teresa of Avila held up a mirror for each person to look in, but she did not comment upon what she saw in the mirror. She left that to the person looking. And so we should follow in her steps, neither judging nor condoning, but acting as a mirror image to the world, showing the world how to behave not by lecturing, judging and shaking a finger, but by loving it as Teresa of Avila loved her nuns. We need to love the world to salvation because without us there are a great many who will never hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And this too was the first mission of La Madre -- to bring the whole world to Christ and Christ to the whole world.
- JuandelaCruz (sriddle415 at yahoo dot com)
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