The Catholic Calendar for Friday, October 15, 2004
Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Teresa of Jesus, virgin, doctor of the Church

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Ephesians 1:11-14
Psalm 33:1-2,4-5,12-13
Luke 12:1-7

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Living the truth makes terrible demands on the Christian. It's almost impossible to avoid some type or other of "hypocrisy" -- that fudging of our real feelings and convictions, for fear of alienating or offending others whom we may consider "weaker" in the faith. And yet, Jesus exhorts us to avoid any kind of hypocrisy, for the day will come when all duplicity will be exposed.

St. Teresa of Avila was a "socialite" religious who first reformed her own faith, then reformed her own entire Carmelite community. She was a gifted woman of great courage who paid the price for her truthfulness by being rejected, humiliated by superiors, and mentally and emotionally crucified for the intensity of her vision. Now, she is venerated as a Doctor of the Church, and one of the greatest of guides to the spiritual life.

We must ask ourselves, whether religious or lay, seniors in the spiritual journey, or novices at the threshold, to what extent we have squandered the riches of grace God has bestowed on so lavishly to this point in our lives. If I were truly on fire with love, and committed to the daily discipline required, what good I might have accomplished as a bold and truthful apostle of Christ in that the portion of God's vineyard in which I live and work.

Time is of the essence. Let me resolve today on the feast of St. Teresa, to imitate her courage, and live the Gospel of Love without fear of offending either my superiors or my peers.

- Msgr. Paul E. Whitmore
(smartins at twcny dot rr dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:16 AM